So I finally made it to Senegal!! What a surreal experience getting off the plane, walking onto the tarmac, and then realizing you're in Africa. We took a red eye out of D.C. Tuesday night (March 6th) and flew directly to Dakar. I kept myself busy watching "My Week With Marilyn" and drinking Tanqueray and tonics, which were complimentary I might add...best gin and tonics ever!

Once we arrived in Dakar we went through customs which surprisingly didn't take as long as I thought, and I was greeted with my first Senegal welcome, a security guard calling me "Jackie Chan!!" and sticking out his hand for a fist pump. The funny thing is--is that we acted out a scenario in orientation about an Asian American guy being called Jackie Chan and how we should appropriately react. I clearly went along with it and gave the guy a fist pump...sorry Peace Corps.

I'm currently in Thies, pronounced chez, where we are staying at the Peace Corps training center. The set up is much like a summer camp complete with a dining hall, and boys and girls cabins. My first real culture shock was during lunch yesterday where we had to sit around a very large aluminum bowl and eat out of it community style with spoons. They served what looked to be small grain rice, beef, and assorted veggies. It was very delicious, but also a very new experience. Cutting beef with a spoon took a lot of team work with the others sitting at your bowl. I would not suggest this type of meal for my germaphobe brother.

Other than that, my last two days have been filled with a lot of orientation material and interviews on what kind of sites we wanted to live at. I also had a language interview in French, which seemed to go well, but we get our results back later. The other volunteers are also really cool and I seem to be getting along with them. It's crazy to think that these are the people I will be spending the next two years with! I will hopefully post pictures soon, but until then hope everyone is doing well back at home!

Also, if you know a cheap/free way to text/call international, my number is:
221 77 883 8432

Just keep in mind, I'm 8 hours ahead of the west coast.