candle lit showers, pasta and ketchup, deo (or lack thereof) and life with a maid

Candlelit showers: the power goes out her at least once a day... maybe two, three, or flickers on and off a few times. this means that many daily activities become romanticized by the flicker of a candle... this means that dinners, showers, homework are all sometimes done by the light of a candle.

bread withdrawal: we eat bread here so much. baguettes that is. i usually have some baguette with butter or chocomousse for breakfast. for lunch or at least an afternoon snack i have bread and fromage from BT on the corner. and we usually have bread with dinner. meme si i have bread every meal, if a long break comes up in between bagueete time, i go through bread withdrawal. and evern though i have it every meal i still look forward to having it. i don't know if i'll be able to go back to sliced bread...

deodorant... or lack thereof: sometimes when i ride the car rapide, have riden on a crowded bus... or when the fan blows towards me pasat my professor... i wish that everyone in the world could enjoy the benefits of deodorant.

pasta and ketchup: so here they have a lot of the same foods as in the US but they eat them differently. for example, they have peanut butter and jelly here but my brother went on about how PB and J sammiches are the grossest thing ever. my family does eat pasta semi-often (alhamdoulilah) but usually with different stuff. sometimes they eat it just with chunks of meat... and one time we ate it they offered me ketchup with mine... my brother found it really odd that i don't eat it with my pasta. they have fries with a lot of stuff here, but never on the side. they put coleslaw inside their hamburgers, and a 'hamburger complex' comes with an egg inside. and tonight my brother said again how much he hates milkshakes... i reassessed our friendship at that point...

life with a maid: Leonie, our maid, is probably the one i talk to the most even tho neither of us speak perfect french and now she speaks to me first in wolof. she doesn't eat dinner with us (but after a few weeks i asked why... she enjoys eating on a low stool in the kitchen cuz its more fun -wolof style). she makes my bed, puts up my mosquito net and clears my dishes if i don't do it myself fast enough. we have another 'maid' who comes once a week to do laundry. but in all cases i still feel selfish having someone else do work i consider my own... i've gotten used to it even though i still rush to make my bed in the morning before Leonie realizes i'm up....