Post 1, 9/27/07

Hi everyone,

I only have a couple mins so I'm gonna give you the quick details before a more legitimate blog later.

I am in Senegal.
I live with a family of about 20 named Cisse in a city named Thies - pop. 500,000.
I have already spent 5 days in the bush, eating almost nothing and crappin in a hole.
I am learning the lanugage Jaxonke, I'm the only one in my program learning it because it's an obscure minority language. That means I'll be sent to the Kedegu (sp?) region, which is in the southeast, and the most beautiful part of senegal, with mountains, forests, and waterfalls. I'll be a 2-hour bike ride from the nearest city.
Because of this, i will have access to internet cafes as often as i have access to mail, so I my elaborate blogging scheme is not nec. I will be able to do it all by myself on a computer most likely made before I was born.
My address here is:

PCT Andrew Jondahl
Corps de la Paix
b.p. 299
Thies, Senegal
West Africa

Letters are better than email, cuz I have time to read and reply with thought, rather than a mad rush. But email and facebook are good too, cuz I'm all about immediate gratification.

In Senegal, you have to greet everyone you see, even as you ride your bike down the road.

If someone hands you something, you have to take it with your right hand. Never touch anyone here with your left hand, it is most definitely dirty.

More on that later, about to run out of internet time.

Love you all, keep in touch.

Andy