Wishing You...

Candlelight dinners

Candlelight dinners are...

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romantic, yes...

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but also a frequent occurence for Philippe & I

as we've been experiencing many daily prolonged

power cuts that force us to light the candles at dinnertime

bet you wish being romantic could come as easy for you in the US, huh?!

Thanksgiving

Even though Thanksgiving isn't a recognized holiday in Senegal, those of us Americans here in Thies didn't miss the chance to get together & celebrate the holiday with lots of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, & more! We had a great time together & experienced just a little taste of home. :-)

check out this spread!

and, yes, that's real ham...

from the States :-)

let the eating begin

nap time!

but, wait, there's still dessert!!!

hope you still have room...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tabaski

Tabaski - this most important holiday is celebrated in honor of the sacrifice Abraham was willing to make in fulfillment of God's will. Interestingly, Muslims believe that it was Abraham's son, Ishmael, whom he was willing to sacrifice, not Isaac, as the Bible clearly tells us. The importance of Tabaski to the Muslim community is very much like the importance of Christmas to the Christian community. To celebrate this holiday, the head of the family often saves up for months in order to afford a ram to be sacrificed. If possible, each Muslim family sacrifices a sheep ("mouton" in french) in remembrance of Abraham's sacrifice. After morning prayers at the mosque, the head of the family slaughters the ram by slitting it's throat and letting the blood into a hole in the earth. After he skins it and divides it among neighbors and family, the women prepare a big feast.

Nov 17, 2010 was the date of Tabaski this year and I was invited by some friends to partake of this special feast with them.

this is Asstou, the neighbor lady who invited me

this is the head of the family

this is Seynabou, one of Asstou's children

this is Asstou's son, Bamba. He & Seynabou are twins

these are some more of the neighbor kids, Mamadou & Usman

Seynabou was enjoying the first taste of meat when I arrived.

Mind you, I was very careful to time my arrival for after the sheep was slaughtered. :-)

This is what was left...

then, the women began preparing the feast - here Asstou is cooking the meat over the fire

& lots of onions

(the Senegalese sure do LOVE their onions!)

and, Voila!...

dinner

After eating dinner with the neighbor family, I made my way to the house of my friends - Marie, Ndeye, Fatou, & the rest of their family. They also invited me to share in Tabaski with them.

this is Marie

Here I am with Fatou & Ndeye & some of the kids that live there too

this is Fatou & her brother, Chekh.

On Tabaski, the young people get dressed up and walk around with their friends visiting neighbors & family. The children also get dressed up and go from house to house asking for money as a gift (kind of like Halloween!)

Dinner for Two

Ever since I began dating Philippe, people have been telling me what a good cook he is. Granted he always helps in the kitchen when we make a meal, but last Sunday was the first time he gave me the chance to really taste his wonderful cooking skills! He made fried chicken (done Senegalese style) with a tomato sauce & it was Yummy! Sorry I don't have pics of the final product - there wasn't time for pictures cause it looked & smelled so good - but I do have some pics of my baby in the kitchen making dinner just for me. :-)

And, believe me, this man can cook! He's definitely a keeper!! :-)

Ewww...a Spider!

Check out what has taken up residence outside of our apartment....

Please pray that it stays OUTSIDE!

Stateside

On Sept 15th, I boarded a plane headed to Washington DC, ready to spend a 2 & 1/2 week whirlwind of a trip visiting friends & family in Downingtown, PA. The time went by so incredibly fast, but I was able to do so many things & saw lots of family & friends. I truly had a blast and came back to Senegal on Oct 2nd feeling so encouraged & blessed to have had the chance to go home, even for such a short time. The neat thing about the timing of this trip, was that I returned to PA almost exactly a year since the day I left for Senegal last year (I arrived in Senegal on Sept 18, 2009)! What a year my 1st year in Senegal has been! It was such a treat to be able to share some of my experiences in person with my church, my family, & my friends. I put together some pictures from my time home, which I hope you enjoy. Now, I'd appreciate your prayers for me as I begin my 2nd year in Senegal! Thanks & stay tuned!!

This photo album made with Smilebox

Four Days in NOFLAY

From August 9-12, I was in the village of Noflay w/ a team from Bunker Hill Community College, which is in Boston, Massachusetts. The team was in Senegal primarily to work with Philippe Sadio & David Bies. Philippe & David are best friends & partners in a sports ministry project that they created called, "Sport Life & Blooming". I really just came along to hang out with the kids in Noflay... & to spend time w/ Philippe. :-) David brought his family too - his wife, Mimi & two of their 3 kids, Jacques & Germaine. Below you'll see pictures of all the fun we had...

This free photo slideshow created with Smilebox

The Rainy Season

For those of you that have been wondering what it's really like here during the rainy season, below are some pictures so you can see for yourself...

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when the rains come

the front of our apartment becomes a river
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that we have to wade thru in order to get to the street

and the newly formed river spreads all the way down the street

and around the side of the apartment

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which makes travelling by foot quite...umm, interesting

Kids Camp at Mbodiene

World Vision sponsored a 4-day Christian youth camp that recently took place in the coastal village of Mbodiene (m-bo-gin). About 115 kids came from 4 different Serer villages (Kedougou, Kaffrine, Fatick & Kolda), some travelling an entire day or more just to get to the camp. Philippe & his friend, David, were asked to come & organize the kids games throughout the week and it was my privilege to tag along.

My time here definitely reminded me of the days when I helped out with the middle school youth group at my church in PA. Apparently, youth retreats are pretty much the same, no matter what country you are in - just plain FUN! :-)

Check out these pics & videos to see some of the fun things we did & learned during the week...

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"Holiday" with Tanja

At the beginning of July, Tanja Baumann, an 18 yr old girl from Germany, came to Senegal for 3 wks of holiday with her family. Instead of spending the entire time with her family at the beach, Tanja chose to spend 2 wks in Thies hanging out with Philippe... and me too. :-) You see, Tanja, loves soccer or I should say, futbol, and plays on a women's team in Germany. She has been playing futbol since she was 3 and is definitely passionate about the game. Philippe also has a love for the game & was able to provide Tanja with many chances to play & train with the boys at the local futbol school that Philippe actually attended when he was playing himself.

Tanja was so great and I, personally, had a wonderful time hanging out with & getting to know her! We had a lot of fun together & a cool thing was that she was here during the World Cup, so the 3 of us ended up watching the final games together & watched Germany clinch 3rd place. This picture here is actually of us having dinner at Massa Massa after we just watched the final game between Spain & Netherlands.

Below are several pics of Tanja at the CNEPS school doing a training session for the young boys with Philippe. Tanja doesn't speak any French, but apparently the language of futbol is universal. :-)

one of my favorite pics from the day... 'water break'...

She also had several opportunities to train & play with the older guys. She definitely held her own, impressed some of the guys (I think!) & made us proud! Check out these pics...

During her last visit to the field, Tanja & Philippe, were able to donate lots of new soccer balls, sports gear, & first aid kits courtesy of Sports Life & Blooming.

On a side note: I don't know if I can explain to you just how excited I was to see green grass when I came to the field for the first time! Grass has never truly been so beautiful to me before. It reminded me so much of home, that I actually told Philippe that he is going to have to bring me to this field every so often so I can get my fill of green grass & a small taste of my home in PA. With the grass, I was also so excited to see the first real lawn mower I've seen in Senegal, that I just had to take a picture... :-)