Morning, Noon and Night...

I thought I would take a moment to describe the flow of a typical day here in St. Louis. While each household has it's own take on how things get done, our household feeds so many people at most meals the schedule is usually fairly predictable.

Morning, we have breakfast whenever we like. I have been eating at about 8, which is much later than everyone else who has to take care of their portion of the 12 kids! breakfast is always 1/3 white baguette, 1 morsel of cheese (La Vache Qui Rire type of cheese which suspiciously does not need to be refrigerated), 1 package of dried milk to mix in with Nescafe instant coffee. I supplement my diet with fruit from street vendors that I have to hide in my room. At times I have felt like a squirrel lately.

Most people then go to work. Lunch break begins at 12, but lunch is eaten at 2pm, when all the families gather together to eat, and most shops and schools close down until 3pm. Lunch is one of the dishes I described yesterday which is quite filling if it isn't too spicy. Today two boys came into the kitchen with take-out versions of the dishes, so I assumed one of the ladies makes money cooking for other households.

We often have leftovers from our meals. I noticed that the 14 year old girl who does all the dishes takes the bowls outside after we eat. Today I followed her out and saw that she gave the bowl to a few boys who I have seen begging, which made me feel a bit better to think that maybe the community actually takes care of these kids. Though I am sure I saw a boy sleeping in the middle of the football pitch last night, a scene which is familiar in the streets of St. Louis.

Dinner in Senegal is 9pm, which makes the weekly outings with PA quite late. The women in the house seem to always be hanging around and there are constant gatherings on the front steps and in the living room. There is no end to stories to be shared it seems.

When you meet someone on the street here, I have heard it said that it can take up to 5 minutes just to properly greet someone. There is great importance on making this connection with everyone you know that you come across, and to not do so would be considered rude. There is the usual As-Salaamu Alaikum (Peace be with you) greeting with the obligitory Walakum-us-Salam response (and peace be with you). There is of course the Wolof greeting, to which I know the response is Manga-fee Reek and of course en Francais c'est Ca va? et on repond Oui merci, Ca va (and then comes the Madame ou Madamoiselle question or the question of your name as a means to invite you to see whatever wares are being sold ;) ).

Otherwise, today's my anniversary. Can't believe I've been here 7 whole days!