More in Popenguine & Arrival in Dakar

I've arrived in Dakar & I'm currently writing from the House of Hope (on their computer which features a silly French keyboard with a bunch of keys out of place...so if I spell anything zrong or ,isplqce qny punctuqtion ,qkrs; itùs the keyboqrdùs fqult:) It's really good to be settled here (I'm living in an apartment attatched to the house) and to have finally met the boys and all those I will be working with. Everyone - literally everyone - I have met thus far has been wonderful and I truly feel welcomed and loved here. I'm excited to tell you about my first day with the boys, but first let me back up a bit and fill in the gaps between now and my last post.

So, I arrived in Dakar yesterday from Popenguine, a small coastal village (population: 900) outside of Dakar. I spent two days there with Iain & Linda who (among other things) are in charge of welcoming and orienting new team members here to the field in Senegal. Bringing me out to Popenguine was really a brilliant idea as it afforded me the oppportunity to adjust to the time change, the culture change, and the language change in a more relaxed and tranquil setting than the hustle and bustle of smoggy Dakar. Iain and Linda are absolutely lovely (I expected nothing less from a couple of Brits!) and they really made me feel at home as they introduced me to life in Senegal.

One of my favorite parts of orientation was a walk around town with Iain to buy some vegetables. That simple trip took nearly two hours. OK, we could have done it a little quicker, but it is an indication that things do take longer here. For example, anyone that Iain recognized as a friend we had to stop and say "Hi" to. Even if we were in a hurry, it would be rude to simply walk by or offer a hurried "Hey! How are you?" as we would have no problem doing in the States. In Senegal, it is customary to stop and greet everyone you know, ask them how they are, how is their family doing, etc. And for close friends, it is polite to sit down and chat for 5-10 minutes. Afterward, the host will walk his guests out the door and down the street a bit before excusing himself. So you can see how even a simple run into town for errands can take a while, especially in a small town where everybody knows everybody. But I really appreciated the politeness and friendliness which I'm guessing at least in part just a small town thing but was a reminder that people do things differently in different places, and sometimes I like how they do it better!

This came as a surprise to me, but Popenguine is a center of pilgrimage for Catholics.

Every year during Pentecost, thousands of Catholics from across Africa (and some from as far as France) descend upon Popenguine. There is a large covered seating area for services and a TV studio to televise the event as well as a large Stations of the Cross featuring a black Virgin Mary which was said to have been sighted years ago (hence the pilgrimage site).

Wednesday morning I left Popenguine for Dakar. I was honestly quite apprehensive about leaving and having to speak French full time now. The people I was about to come in contact with and work with knew no English :/After Linda & Iain had warned me that time and appointments have a different meaning in Africa and to get used to things happening behind schedule, my taxi driver showed up 20 minutes early, haha! There was a fair bit of traffic but the ride went by quickly after the driver picked up his cousin, an English teacher...so much for diving right into the French-speaking world, haha. I arrived at the WEC guest house, and my trip to Senegal began in earnest.

OK, so I'm not quite caught up, but I'll get to the rest soon. This computer is slow as molasses and I keep hitting the wrong keys. Thanks for everyone who is reading this and thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. A quick note about that - despite the insufferable heat and humidity at night here, I've slept like a baby which is pretty remarkable considering I've had a lot of difficulty sleeping at home for months under ideal conditions (AC, earplugs, various medicinal sleep remedies, white noise machine...I know, I'm a dork). I can only chalk it up to a team of people praying for me and for that I am very grateful! God is good :)