The dancing gene skips a generation

There are about 15 volunteers currently working with Projects Abroad in Senegal. The number fluctuates almost every week. Three are from the US and the others are from Europe. I’m going to be here for a relatively long period of time, so I will see most of the volunteers come and go over the next 6 months. It’s sad to see some of your friends leave because it’s quite certain you will never see them again, especially if they’re from Europe or elsewhere. Because of the large international mix, you do get exposed to a variety of interesting people and accents. Everyone from Europe speaks English fluently and most know at least a little French. There a lot of people from Germany here right now, and a few from the UK. There are social events sometimes where all the volunteers get together for dinner or drinks or something. There isn’t really a whole lot to do in Saint-Louis for fun. There aren’t any movie theaters here, but there are two discotheques. Both are pretty small, and there isn’t anyone there until about 3am, but after that it can be quite fun. When my friend Cecilia (from Norway) was leaving for home, we all went out to one of the discotheques. I got to debut the famous Vito dance moves, mostly inherited from my father. My dancing also helped me work on my French. For instance I was really cutting a rug when I heard a Senegalese person say, “l’americain est horrible!” which MUST translate to “that American sure can dance!” I also heard, “Il est stupide” which must be some colloquialism for “I wish I had moves like that.”

My friend Julia (from Scotland) is having her last night in town tonight, which is going to be kind of sad. I’ve tried not to get too close to any of the volunteers just because I know I’m going to have to watch them all leave. It’s kind of a strange setup because you of course want to be friends with all the volunteers, but as soon as you meet them, your friendship has an expiration date, usually about 2 months, so you want to befriend them, but not become emotionally attached so it will be painful when they have to go. There are only 3 volunteers here now that were here when I first arrived in September.

On a separate note, my salmonella is completely gone, and from what I’ve heard, it was fortunate that I was only sick for a few days. Maybe the stars were right. It seems I am well suited mystically-speaking for life in Senegal. My hair can apparently lift curses and my astrological sign grants me immunity from certain bacteria, so my body is well adapted to the supernatural fauna of Senegal. So rest easy, Mom.