papa has come home (2/26/03)

papa has returned from mecca, and i got to hear about the whole drip. it sounds like bootcamp meets church. sleeping on the ground with only a light blanket, hiking miles and miles to holy sites, much praying. i could go through the day by day account but that would take hours, hours that i don't have. but if you ever get a chance, you should talk to someone who has completed this pillar of islam, it's quite interesting and warrants respect. i also saw photos from mecca with everyone praying in unison. have u ever seen 3.5 million people praying? have you ever seen 3.5 million people in one location at a given time? He brought back with him holy water, which we all drank. i'm now blessed. i've been blessed by many religions (this includes directly being blessed by the pope). i think i'm in good standing.

anyway, this weekend i went to st. louis, which was a nice experience. we stayed in little bungalows with...water pressure! i had the best shower ever (according to someone who has been taking bucket showers for 2 months) and the body gel they supplied was divine. i was definitely spoiled. we also went to djoudj bird sanctuary, reknown throughout the world. i saw crocodiles and loads of pelicans flying 2 feet from my head. i avoided any bird droppings however.

while on the subject of animals, i'm liking the cows. i think i always have stories about animals, but they are hard to avoid here..and they amuse me. so as i walk to class at the university, there are always cows on the main road, just chilln. some are eating, some just stand there. some look at you as if you're the one that is crazy. adorable.

i also had an interesting experience on the car rapide last night, to reinforce the notion of communal society. i was sitting down and this grandpa got on with two young children. He only had room for the smallest one on his lap, so the young girl was left all alone. As I've seen before, when this situation happens a random person takes the girl and sits her on his lap. I had the honor of taking care of her. she was the sweetest little girl, greeting me and smiling. i held her for about 15 minutes until her stop arrived and she got off with her grandpa. very seldom would someone entrust a random person with her child in the states or in europe. the last time i witnessed this, it was even more impressive because the mother put her child in the car rapide and told the nearest person what stop she needed to get off. the mother then left her child. when the stop arrived, the random person helped the child get off and that's how the story goes.

another culture shock: marriage. no, i'm not married altho there's almost one american student who comes and gets married. anyway, apparently, both parties aren't required to be present for the wedding. for instance, i'm going to the wedding of a friend next weekend whose fiance is in italy. he won't be coming back for 7 months. regardless, she's getting married and moving in with the family next week. at least she knows the fiance. there are the even more shocking cases of people getting married who have never met and don't even meet on their wedding day. all i have to say is deedeet...which means no in wolof. dafa dof. that's crazy. coming from my western take on things.

well, i must leave y'all but i hope i have succeeded in keeping y'all thoroughly entertained. let me know if i'm slipping. love u all

maya