After a visit to the doctor last week, i have been informed that I AM FINE... not the answer that i was hoping for because "you are fine" does not explain the fevers, vomiting, etc. (ill leave it at that)... the process to find a parasite is not fun and involves certain bodily functions im sure you dont need to hear about. Anyway, im fine and my health is slowly coming back. Maybe my stomach is just weak and cant handle the GOURMET food i am being served haha.

I arrived back in the village a few days ago and have stayed quite busy. Today i planted a small garden... AGAIN... i have not had much success in having a garden in the small space behind my house. Im not sure if the soil is not good, the sun/shade is not correct, or if i just suck... maybe all 3. After several tries and zero luck, i decided to move my garden elsewhere. I chose a spot in my counterparts garden. I sent out photos of his garden a few months ago but if you dont remember, it is beautiful and he is a wonderful gardener. I am hoping with a little coaching, i can actually get something to sprout! I am growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and brocolli. People here have never seen brocolli and dont know what it is. I bought plenty of extra seeds in Dakar and have extended a few of them to friends throughout the village. I am hoping this catches on and they like it. It is difficult to get people to think outside the box and try something new here so i only gave out the seeds to people that seemed really interested. My friend Cisse lived in Italy and he knows about brocolli and became my spokeman for the afternoon. People seemed more interested in the seeds after they heard him talking and not just me....Im still the NEW toubab in the village and people dont always trust what i say.

I am in the process of starting an Enlgish club. Most teens in the village have studied English for several years but rarely get the opportunity to practice with a native English speaker. I talked it over with the headmaster at the school and he agreed to let me use one of the classrooms after school. I am planning to do classes 2 times a week. I have been doing a lot of private tutoring and it is getting time consuming. I am hoping the classes will eliminate most of the private sessions and i will be able to reach out to more students.

My project with the elementary school is coming right along and i should be able to turn in the budget within the next two weeks. After i have the budget complete, i will just have to wait and see if the project gets approved. If so, construction of the fence/garden and well should start soon thereafter.

As of now, things are going great other than the fact that it is getting extremely hot. It was 105 degrees in the shade last week! I am adapting the the heat quite well though. I dont notice it much unless i am directly in the sun. Hopefully mother nature will continue being nice and bless us with cool evenings for a few more weeks. I am dreading going back to sleepless nights and sweaty sheets...

I hope everything is going well for each and every one of you keeping up with my travels. Take care and more to come soon:)