Kadija

Hello all,

It's about time that I sent out another one of these... In most recent news, I moved in with my host family this past Friday night. The first two days were a bit distressful as there were probably 20 unknown faces meandering about inside the house for my new baby host brother's baptism. My family consists of my father Pape, his wife/my host mother Soucane, my little sister Kadija (4), my b(r)other Amadou (2) and the new baby whose name I have completely forgotten. There is also a maid named Marim and another woman who might be a maid, but also might be an aunt or a sister...I have NO idea.

This little anecdote will be about Kadija as so far, she is my favorite family member. She is 4 years old and has little beads in her hair and wears blue jeans. I would otherwise be able to understand her simple French were she not a human flute. Her speech is sooooo fast and sooooo high pitched that I am better off guessing what she is saying that listening...

Last night, she spent the entire evening in my lap, poking my skin and freckles. She asked if they were Henne (Henna tattoos) and I told her no, they were natural and the sun made them. Of course, this made her jaw drop. She was also enthralled with my slight sunburn and my blue eyes.

Later, she tinkered with my watch and its light-up and beep functions. My Clown Tent bracelet was also a hit, but was taken away when she yanked on it on my wrist.

Essentially, Kadija played with every single thing I was wearing. I was a veritable toy. We watched about 2 hours worth of TV, talked about bug spray, tied ribbons around our fingers, and kicked her little brother off the couch.

Little kids are the same everywhere...