Gej naa la gis, blog! That's Wolof for, "long time no see." Naka tang bi? That's Wolof for "How about this heat!?" and it is now how everyone greets each other. BECAUSE IT IS SO HOT. LIKE LIVING IN A CONVECTION OVEN. And it is only February. Sources say that May is positively volcanic. Back-of-the-leg-sweat has become a very significant problem. Yesterday, there was also no water. I generally don't have water in my room between 8am and 10pm because I live on the second floor, but yesterday there was no water anywhere on campus. Like not even water that you could buy. Considering the blazing, 100° heat, I am impressed that I lived to tell the tale.

But what of the happy, exciting things that have developped over the weeks since I last wrote? Well, I am now entrenched in extracurriculars, and the prospect of scheduled meetings and rehearsals fills me with unimaginable joy. Especially considering the fact that my classes don't start until mid-March. I have joined the Catholic choir, the members of which are super nice and very happy to have me join them. In fact, they were so happy to have me that they gave me a solo to perform at this special thing they were going to! Unfortunately, I was so excited at this opportunity I did not stop to ask what the special thing was or where it might be. The next day I found myself on a bus heading for the bush and realized about an hour later that I had signed myself up for an all-day church retreat. Oops! Ten hours later, after much Jesus, juice, drumming, and rejoicing, I returned home with the following life lessons in my pocket: Always ask clarifying questions; when you don't understand what people are saying, don't just say yes.

I have also joined a theater group on campus. At our first meeting they cast me very appropriately as the aging Senegalese actress Awa who is ostracized by her friends and family when she tells them she has AIDS. Probably the part I was born to play. The people involved are really nice, except there is this one guy who apparently thinks that I have no reading comprehension skills because at every rehearsal he explains how the scene goes despite the fact that I have already demonstrated that I have it memorized. It gets really annoying. It is also annoying when he asks me to marry him and take him to New York. Hahaha, I say "Ndank ndank mooy japp golo ci naay!" Translation: slowly, slowly you catch the monkey in the brush; read: back off buddy.

Coming up! Saint Louisiane nightlife: can it still be called nightlife when it's 6 in the morning?