Aida Joob laa todd

I entered the van to go to my new home equipped with my water purifier, med kit, mosquito net, 1 bag of personal belongings, and 1 roll of toilet paper. As the van approached Mboro, my new home, I was anxious, excited, and a bit nervous all at the same time. What would my family be like? How many brothers and sisters would I have? What would my house look like? How would I be able to communicate?

The van passed the market, turned off the main paved road onto one of the side sandy roads, and then was stuck. Bricks were blocking the street, and the van could not continue. After talking to some of the locals, the 2 LCFs (Language and cultural facilitators-aka our teachers) for Mboro decided to pull over to the side of the road, unload the van, and hire a donkey cart to take us to our home. We walked behind the cart that carried our stuff:

It was almost dark by the time I entered my compound. My family was very excited to meet me, and I was introduced to everyone in the house. Since I don't understand much Wolof, it essentially consisted of my mother pulling my arm, pointing to people, and saying their names and their relationship to me. The first night was a bit of a blur because I was exhausted and overwhelmed, though it was a very warm welcoming. The next day, I couldn't remember any of this and had to have it all repeated, plus use the light to make out faces.

I have been named Aida Joob. (In Zolof: Aida Joob laa tudd.) This is also the name of one of my sisters who lives in Louga (northern Senegal). As soon as I arrived, people were calling me that, making sure to use my name whenever addressing me so that I would know they were talking to me to tell me to do something or to ask a question (though I couldn't always figure out more than that). Everyone is really friendly. My mom is very patient and has taken the time to repeat a lot to me and to drag me by the arm to show me what she's trying to communicate. It has been a bit difficult since I entered the house only knowing basic Wolof greetings (so not able to communicate past the first few sentences), but I am slowly learning more. Yesterday, I got the entire family laughing by my attempts at several questions in Wolof, none of which they understood and which required a cousin to come and speak to me in french for a bit so that I would pronounce the words correctly.

It's hard to believe that I've only been living with this family for a few days; it feels like much longer. In this time I have (for the first time ever-not including camping trips I've taken): seen a cockroach, filtered my own water, used a bucket shower, and stopped using toilet paper.