Trials and Troubles. Sort of...

New Year's was a LOT of fun. I was sitting in my hut reading when two other volunteers randomly showed up outside of my hut, thus concluding an 18 day bike trip. It was a nice surprise : ) We went to Mbour and stocked up on snacks, came back to my village, and tried to stay up until midnight. I was the only one who made it, and just barely. Also, I found out today that my watch has been at least 45 minutes slow for the past week, but it has made absolutely no difference to my life in the village.

The excitement is over now, though, and I am back to the battle in which I have been engaged for the past week. Call it the Great Fence Standoff. The fence next to my shower area (cement slab with a hole in the middle) is completely destroyed, and my family offered to get me new fence and put it up. But they wanted me to pay for it (only like...two dollars) but the rest of my fence is totally fine. That part broke because my younger mom sneaks branches out of it at like 6am to use for firewood, and the horses and donkeys both eat and scratch their entire bodies on it. So, I refused to pay on principle. I bought a whole new fence last year. This is just how things go in Senegal. I cant tell them to buy me a new one, so its been a week of passive aggressive endeavors on the part of me and my family. They steal part of my fence, I steal some of theirs, they dry leaves for food in my backyard, I dont tell them that their goats are eating the leaves after getting in through my broken fence, etc.

You may be thinking I need to get a life. I agree. But, for now, Im content to sit around reading Game of Thrones and showing my family that I have been here long enough to outmanouvre them in a typical Senegalese Standoff. I will let you know who wins.

Oh, and on January First, first action of the New Year, was to have the fence fall on my head while I was squatting over the cement slab. Of course.

Hapy New Year!