flat lizards

Hey hey!!

so before i forget, my title is PCT Kira Keuhn.. so completely ignore my last post! im sure mail will still get here if you sent it to pst, but just for the future! im an idiot i guess!!

so you want to know how africa is? i like it! should i start from the beginning?

so training in atlanta was great. they put us up in a sweet hotel and besides the 10 hour days of training stuff, it was simply amazing meeting people who know just as much, and little, as i do about senegal!! the peace corps likes to keep us uninfomed/misinformed/oblivious from time to time. its all good! all part of the adventure right?

the first day we got to thies - pronounced Chess - was exhausting. it wasnt the flight really, just the fact that we were in a federal building from before it opened until 4 hours later-ish sucked! i got 2 of the 3 possible shots (and had 2 the otherday and will get like 10 more) and then once we got to senegal, the sun wasnt yet up and we had to wait a while to get through customs and ride a bus for 2 hours. all in all a long day but sooo worth it! everyone is aamazing!!

so they have been feeding us very well (only bugs) and im learning wolof! weve had interviews on our language and business skills and we should know where we will be placed in like 3 weeks! ooo and im not eating bugs! there is baguettes and tea in the morn, rice and fish/chicken/beef for lunch and dinner. fresh fruit is everywhere and although i havent had a mango yet, i will tonight! it is all very tasty and moving to africa will not cause me to lose weight. (all my hopes and dreams down the drain. ha) so last night was pretty much the first night that we we not that tired that we all stayed up pretty late and talked. its kinda like summer camp! but thats changing right now!

today, 9 of us got in a peace corps van and drove north. every hour of so we would drop people off at a current volunteers site. they call this demystification. so me and one other girl are staying so far north we can see the Mauritania border from our volunteers bedroom window! its just across the river and its wonderful! we went outside today for bread and i got my first senegalese name! they dont bother to ask what your american name is, but mom and dad, so much for kira, im Binta until i get back to Thies!

oo and your probably wondering --flat lizard? i saw one on our walk to use the internet. rather unfortunate because we were on a side walk, so it must have been a bike that took it out? sad, i know.

thats all i will write for now!
send me letters and i will love you forrever! when i get stamps ill send you mail and the cell phone should be within the week!
love you

ps dad - call grandma and read this to her! love you!