may i speak to Basse?

a couple of hours after arriving at my house in dadeville, the phone rang.  dad said that a man was on the other line asking for Basse, which is my Senegalese name.  i sat there for a second trying to figure out who would be calling me and asking for me with my Senegalese name.  i had no clue.  once on the phone i realized i was talking to Abdou, a senegalese who lives in new jersey.  he lives in NJ with his senegalese wife.  his wife Aita is from a family that i was close to in yoff.  i knew her from last summer, but this summer she was not in senegal because she had moved to america.  she had called her family a couple of times this summer while i was visiting and spoken to me on the phone. well she asked for my phone number, which i gave to her, but never expecting her to call.  to shock me, it was the first call i received after arriving home!

abdou speaks great English but aita can only speak wolof. so yesterday abdou called just long enough to get me on the phone so that i could speak with his wife.  i wish ya'll could have seen my parents' faces as they watched me speak wolof on the telephone. it was too funny.  aita just wanted to know if i made it home safe and to greet me.  it was so sweet!  the senegalese are so hospitable.

aita is about 25 years old and has a new week and a half old baby girl.  her family in senegal says she is not happy living in america.  for one, she does not speak english. two, she doesnt get to eat ceebu jenn for every meal. three, she does not have any friends... and many more reasons.  sort of a sad situation. 

i look foward to staying in contact with Aita throughout the year!