Rain Rain Go Away

It's the tail end of rainy season, but instead of tapering off, it still rains consistently. I'm so tired of the rains, especially when it hampers my commute to the office. I loved rainy season in village because the rains meant that I could hide in my hut with a book and a cup of tea- a glorious way to spend a few hours. I shouldn't complain too much about the rains because adequate rain fall is essential for the crops and due to lack of rain last growing season, the yield was less that sufficient. At the same time, I'm so over rainy days and trekking through streams and mud (thank goodness I brought my rain boots here: at least I won't get creeping eruption).

Now that I've moved north east, I can't predict the rains as accurately as I used to. In village, I was able to see a storm brewing and being swept in from the southeast. Here, we're at a weird point, where air currents aren't the same and storms seem to appear out of nowhere or telltale signs yield no rain. I get so confused and can't plan accordingly. Sigh.

As a result of the rain, streams and rivers appear all over Velingara. The rain erodes the roads to the point that I've been calf deep in water. I love being in Velingara, but rainy season makes it difficult to navigate and it makes me want to stay in the comfort of my apartment. However, on the plus side, rain packs down the sand, which makes biking a lot easier. There are fewer pockets of deep sand (remember my old enemy) to hinder my progress.

Rainy season is also the season of mildew, mosquitoes, and skin infections. The damp environment is ideal for things to grow (disgusting). When I came back to Velingara from home leave, I found a certain mildew-y smell permeating my entire apartment. It took me a week to wash all my clothes and to rid my apartment of the unpleasant scent. I also discovered that a mouse had made it's residence in my apartment as did a million mosquitoes. I'm not a super squeamish girl, but having to set up mouse traps and eventually getting rid of said traps was not a pleasant task. As for the mosquitoes, I arm myself with mosquito coils, bug spray, and my mosquito net. I think I'm fighting a losing battle, but I won't stop trying.

As much as I'm waiting for the rains to stop, I'm dreading the onset of the second hot season that squeezes itself in between the rainy season and the cold season. It's a short period, lasting three to five weeks, but it's miserably hot and humid. I can handle dry heat perfectly well, but the stickiness that accompanies humidity makes me highly uncomfortable. I can't wait for cold season to come, where I can lounge in my sweats and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate before bed. Only two months away....

Sorry for the rambling post and disjointed thoughts, but it's been a long week and my mind is elsewhere. I'll try to sound like a more coherent person in my next post!

Peace Out  

Home, Home in the city...where the heels click as you walk

I'm sitting at JFK, waiting for my flight back to Senegal. Despite having constant internet access, I've failed to update my blog since being at home. About two weeks in, I began a blog entry, but I was distracted and didn't get a chance to add on to my four sentences. Now that I have some time between flights, I've decided to update you on my whirlwind of a trip.

Let's start at the beginning, leaving Velingara... I luckily was able to catch a ride with a World Vision car that was going up to Dakar. It saved me time, money, and prevented me from having to lug my baggage all around Senegal. I then spent two days in Dakar completing some work at the office, and before I knew it, it was time to head to the airport and catch my plane for home leave. I had a quick flight to Paris and then was in for the long haul when I boarded a direct flight between Paris and San Francisco. Despite being a gruelingly long flight, it wasn't as painful as I expected (although, I had difficult seat mate who at one point wanted to steal my coveted window seat). Then I was home. There's a funny story involved with my pick up from SFO. The itinerary that I had was slightly confusing. It was an overnight flight, but it didn't state the date that I was to arrive. As a result, my family had gone to the airport a day earlier, thinking that I was arriving that day. I love my family; they're the best and will brave the airport two days in a row in order to pick me up =). Alas I was home.

It was a fun filled five days at home, where I ate grandma's home cooking and had my sister play hooky from work to watch a Giants game among other things. Then I was whisked off to LA on another airplane, just in time to attend an amazing friend's bachelorette party. We went to Santa Barbara for wine tasting, where we surprised her with a limo (such a change from Senegal, where I'm ecstatic with a Peace Corps or World Vision ride). We visited four wineries before it was off the a beach house for more bachelorette party games (including a pirate ship pinata). On Sunday, we had a leisurely trip back to LA except for the part where we were hit by a firetruck... We were stuck in traffic in the left most lane and a firetruck, passing on the left hand side, clipped the driver side mirror. OOPS! So we exited and filed a report with a police officer, but we had to wait for CSI to show up in order to take pictures, which brought the ordeal to two hours. Two hours where five girls dressed in tie dyed shirts sat on the side of the road with a firetruck and a police cruiser. We drew a lot of interesting stares and who knows what other people thought we were doing. Back in the States for less than a week and I'm already hanging out with firefighters and policemen. The adventures don't stop.

After that began the week in LA. And what a week it was. The thing is, when I was there for school, all my friends were also in school, so seeing people was much easier (that and I had a car). This time around, there was a little thing called work that got in the way of hanging out. Fortunately, I'm a pro at entertaining myself and I had no trouble keeping myself busy. Evenings were completely the opposite. My evenings were filled with drinks and dinners and seeing old friends whom I used to see on a weekly basis. It was so much fun to chat and catch up. Even though there's email and facebook, it's not the same talking to friends over a delicious cup of coffee or a nice glass of Cabernet.

Before I knew it, it was the day before the wedding. Luckily, my friends had an awesome tailor who was able to alter my dress in time. We had mani-pedis and went down to the site of the wedding for the rehearsal. It was hot! I know what you're all thinking, the girl lives in Senegal where it reaches over 120 degrees Fahrenheit and she's complaining about California heat? Well, in Senegal, I wouldn't be wearing makeup or care if I'm dripping sweat, because everyone else is. America is different... sweating profusely in a pretty dress is not attractive ( no matter how pretty the dress- well, unless you count a tennis dress and are a professional tennis player). The rehearsal went off without a hitch and I finally met the groom's parents and was able to put faces to the email addresses. The groomsmen were great and even though we had just met, we were getting along as if we've been friends forever. The rehearsal dinner was at an adorable Mexican restaurant, where the tables were decorated with noisemakers including mini tambourines, maracas, and bells (which may have been a bad idea, because even though we are all in our mid twenties, we have a childlike streak that loves toys). It was so much fun and I got to catch up with great friends.

Wedding day. Bridesmaids up early to get hair and makeup done. The trusting bride left it up to us how we wanted to do our hair, which was great because we were able to have our own style. It was great being done up, if only I had hair and makeup teams follow me around, it would make my life easier. We had snacks and a lunch of finger sandwiches (you can't have the bride and her girls fainting from hunger) and champagne! Then, game time. Dresses on, shoes worn, final spritzes of hairspray, last swipes of lip gloss and GO! The ceremony was beautiful and the bride was stunning in her strapless gown and veil. I had to try so hard not to cry ( I mean, I couldn't ruin my makeup) during the ceremony. The bridesmaids had tissues conveniently stowed away in various places, just in case. So, I can gush for pages on all the details of the reception and party and guests and so on and so forth, but I will probably bore those of you who've made it this far (that and my flight is boarding soon and if I don't finish this before that point, I never will). So, if you want to hear more, I will write you a really long email.

After the wedding, I went down to San Clemente for two nights to see my friend who's wedding I'm missing in October (sad face). Then it was up to Santa Ana to see my friend from Peace Corps. It was so fun and slightly surreal to see her in the states. In Peace Corps, we are in such a insulated environment it was so fun to see people outside of it. After a nice brunch, I was off to Irvine. My awesome friend made time in her busy med school life to hang out with me. She's coming to visit me in Senegal!! I'm so excited to have my first visitor!! And then home. Whew. I'm tired just recounting it.

I'm going to recount my last two weeks really really fast... Sorry, I'm tired. Lots of great food with the family, Sonoma wine tasting (I know, I already went wine tasting on this trip), Brunches, lunches, seeing old friends, fancy french dinner with the little sister, chinatown, dim sum, trip to Sacramento to see my cousin's baby and to see family, ice cream, shopping at target, movies, beach, playing hooky with the sister (again) to eat fresh oysters, in & out, and done. I know that a lot of those involve food and it's no where near comprehensive. But, it's a new post after a month and I gotta go. America was great, but I can't wait to go back to work. That's it for now!

Peace