First post from Dakar!

I've had an interesting few days getting settled in here. I was feeling poorly Tuesday and Wednesday, but I seem to be much better today. My host family, the Kobars, are wonderfully kind, and I have felt very welcomed by them. They live on the first floor of a building on a quiet street in the Mermoz district, a middle-class residential neighborhood. From my room, I can hear the bleating of the family's four goats, who live on the roof. One of them was born just three days ago! The buck is destined for Tabaski, which falls at the end of September. So it goes.

The MSID program staff are very patient with us, and our classes all look to be very interesting. There are eleven other students in the program besides me, hailing from all corners of the US. Today we watched the film "Bamako" as a starting point for a discussion about privatization and international development. To those who have access to it, I quite recommend watching it - I know the University of Illinois has a copy in their library. We also had our first Wolof class. Only one other student, Claire, and I have any prior knowledge of Wolof - we may have shown off a little.

Our classes are held at the West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar (the classrooms are, blessedly, air-conditioned). It hosts several other education programs as well, and the library is simply lovely, though we don't get our cards until tomorrow. It's about a thirty-minute walk from the apartment I share with the Kobar family - shorter if you take the cars rapides, one of the many kinds of public transportation here, or shortcuts (which I do not yet dare to explore).

There is also a restaurant in the courtyard, where we had a wonderful lunch of yaasa ginaar (chicken stew with onions), served over rice. Afterwards, there was ataaya, a tea served in small glasses with lots of sugar throughout the afternoon. I've already become very fond of it. My host mother still laughs when I ask if I can help in the kitchen, but I do want to learn a few dishes while I'm here.

Haven't had the chance to take any photos yet, as I want to get a better sense of the city before I observe in from behind a camera. Rest assured, pictures will come!