Alive!

Nanga def? (that means--How are you?-- in Wolof).

This blog means that I am alive and well in Senegal. Things are quite different here than anything I have ever seen. The people are poor, the houses are...shelter.

For the next few days I am staying with a missionary couple that has been here for about 1 and a half years. We arrived about 5:00 am (1:00 SC time), and as we drove to the house it looked as if the neighborhood had been bombed. I imagined what it might have looked like (of course, the neighborhood hadn't actually been bombed. It just looked that way).

We went to bed about as soon as we got there. I was woke up to a loudspeaker that was calling the almost 100% muslim population to prayer. So far there have been three calls today, two more to go.

Things are a tad slow at the moment, but that is because we are a week early, and it hasn't totally become real that we are staying in poverty because the missionary's house where we are staying is nice compared to those around it. But in about a week I'll be living in something not so luxurious.

We are starting to learn the language...and that is really cool. Right now all we can really do is greet people. There are some other students here that have been here since January...they had a three week language class and then were thrown into the fire. They have been giving us tips.

This is beginning to get long. keep praying. The last week or so, I haven't really been able to hear God, or feel his presence. It is like I can hear the silence. It is a little frightening, but I know that he is faithful. I will try to take some pictures soon.

Buttcheekonhim---if you run that all together, it says "see you later" in Wolof!