Happy New Year!!!

I just got back to Kaolack yesterday and a about to hea back to my village in a few hours. I spent the last few days in Dakar eating good ood and getting fat. I enjoyed New Year's Eve. I wet out with only Senegalese people. We got tickets to go out on a midnight cruise out on the water... If you didnt know, Dakar is surrounded by beach! The midnight cruise wa nice...everyone was soo dressed up. Wore jeans! People here drss up sooo much. We got on the and the boat started cruising around 11. We were sitting in the front row an i noticed there was a box of sand in front of me about 5 feet ahead. I asked what the box was for and someone said it was for fireworks.... So about 11 55... the captain of the boat comes out and starts putting fireworks in the sand... I told the people i was with that i thought it was dangerous for s to be sitting so close to such big fireworks...they assured me that it was safe... the next thing i know, someone says it was the new year and the captain starts shooting off the fireworks one by one. NO ONE EVEN COUNTED DOWN TO MIDNIGHT!!! most people here are muslim and dont drink... it was very tame and people were more concerned about watching the fireworks than saying happy new year or kissing joe shmoe beside them... bizarre! Anyway, so the captain knocks over one of the fireworks and they start exploding on the boat a few feet away from us... So loud and dangerous. At that poin, my face was burried into the guy's chest next to me... Apparently i make friends easy here haha...no one really seemed to think it was scary but me.
After the little explosion, the boat cruised for about an hour and went around this little island. I am not sure what is at this island exactly but i heard that it is really historical. I think it is where the first slave trades took place. I want to go there next time i am in the city. I was told there ae still shackles and chains and eerything there. Not the nicest thing to see but still cool.
I am heading back to the village today and decided i am going to go to the high school in town and start teaching English. I dont know how it will all work out but im sure they will jump on the fact of having a free english teacher... hopefully that will go over well and i can start being productive.
I hope everyone had a happy new year and had a drink for me :)