Hirande Americain pur Beyngu am Senegalnajo

Jaraama Yimbe fof!!! Hello Everybody!
So I'm back to the training center in Thies, and I just finished my last week of homestay with my host family.  The last week went by so fast :(  Today I said good-bye to my host family, packed up my room, and thanked my family for their support and assistance in learning Pulaar.  They have been amazing!  I do admit I've had my frustrations with them like I do my own real family, but the experience they gave me was unforgetable.  I was truly blessed with the best Fulbe family in Mbour; I was sad to say good-bye.  I even teared up when I gave my two moms a hug, and kissed baby Binta good-bye while getting on the Peace Corps bus.  It was hard :( I hope to see them again soon--maybe when my real mom in America comes out to see me.  They would love to meet her and I think she would like to meet them too!
Because it was my last week with my host family, my friends Pam & Ali and I decided to cook dinner for my family.  In prior weeks we cooked dinner for their host families too, but my family was last on the list.  We decided to make them an "American" dinner but it technically was Italien.  For Ali's family we made Chili, for Pam's it was fried rice--haha! not quite American either--and for my family it was Pasta!! :)  We went to the supermarche and I bought 2 bags of shelled noodles that looked kinda like gnocchi, a can of tomato sauce, onions, garlic, and fresh basil.  Also, because there is a gas shortage in all of Senegal I had to buy fire wood to cook dinner over.  Since we were cooking over a fire, Ali had the brilliant idea of making dessert for my family too.  We made SMORES!  The girls and I had fun cooking over a fire in the middle of my compound.  Once it got dark we had to use the light from the fire and flashlights because my family has no electricity.  The dinner was delicious!  My family seemed to enjoy it, even though they thought the fresh basil was weird and didn't belong in pasta.  Here in Senegal, people often put basil in their tea.  I know, I think it's weird too :) hahaha! Well, I know that the girls and I enjoyed the dinner too!  Any bit of "American" food makes us so happy here.  Just to have pasta for the night was amazing.  Something so simple back home means so much more here.  My family liked it and were happy that the Americans were going to cook for them. 

The best part of the night was definetly dessert.  We melted the marshmellows (which were Haribo brand and had weird flavors like strawberry and lime but still worked very well) in the fire and then used a "graham cracker--like" cookie and French milk chocolate to complete our dessert.  The dessert was a hit! The family loved them!  They had a difficult time saying the word "smores", but were fascinated with the combination.  It was pretty funny too because they had never eaten marshmellows before.  We let them try it for the first time, and they really enjoyed them.  I'm surprised we were even able to find marshmellows here in Senegal; I'm glad we did though! The smores were delicious! :)

So dinner and dessert was a success, and I'm happy I was able to do something to show my family that I appreciate them opening up their home to a crazy american and helping me become Senegalese!  Living in Mbour with the Djallo family was great!  I learned so much and I can't wait until next week when I move down to Kounkane to be with my new host family for the next two years. I hope they are as wonderful as my family in Mbour! 

Check out my FB page for more fun photos!  I finally got a chance to upload the remaining photos.  We are swearing in on this upcoming friday--like 3 days from now.  So check back for a new blog post about the ceremony! Love you guys and miss you tons! Hope you all are doing well! Sending love and kisses! :)