Not a lot of talking, but a whole lot of fun!

This weekend was pretty fantastic. Friday night a bunch of us chased down a Chinese restaurant (right across from the Chinese embassy) and gorged ourselves. Yum. We also went to Just 4 U and laugh at the other toubabs dance.

Saturday morning some other girls and I made a trek to the ritzy part of town where all the rich businesspeople and ambassadors live to a patisserie we'd seen. Pain au chocolat has never tasted so good. And it was guilt-free since there was lots of walking involved!

Saturday afternoon was pretty special. We returned to a pottery shop/workshop where the artists are all handicapped that we had visited earlier in the week. They make beautiful pots, sculptures, and jewelry instead of being on the street begging and everyone is like one big welcoming family. They invited us to come and make art with them. Those with ceramics experience used the pottery wheel, and the unartistic ones like me sculpted little animals and ashtrays. Assane, a deaf-mute boy probably about 12 years old helped me make a horse and an elephant. It was an unbelievable experience. He was an exceptional communicator, an expert sculptor, and a totally joyful human being. I was amazed at how much we could communicate nonverbally, even without official sign language. I had a really great time and can't wait to go back next week when our stuff will be fired and we can paint it.

Sunday was pretty lazy. I did homework and watched TV with the fam, made ataya, and read a book. It was just what I wanted. I've become friends with my host cousin/maid. I go with her to go buy bread and stuff for dinner sometimes. She doesn't speak a whole lot of French, but I think she likes having someone who isn't barking orders at her (like the rest of the family) to hang out with. My goal is to go with her on errands a lot and make her life a little less miserable. I want to find a small gift to give her before I leave too.

This week is going to focus on getting my ISP topic nailed down and start working on my proposal. There are some other small projects to work on, which is lame since the big ISP is lurking and needing attention right now. This week we also have our visual art classes. I'm doing batik. Since I've kind of become a fabric junky while I'm here, it should be just about perfect.

PS--I finally got ALL of the Kedougou photos up (My Photos Part 2) with some captions. Enjoy.