again comes the weekend

So I think this should be a bit of a shorter blog because it's only been a couple of days since I've written, but who knows.
Those bug bites I was concerned about? Fleas. Yup, FLEAS. Gross. The worst part is not the itching but the fact that in spite of the dermatologist's diagnosis, my family is mortally insulted by the fact that I would even suggest that I could have gotten these bites somewhere near, in, or around their home. As soon as I told them it was "nope, he's wrong, no fleas in this house." But they did end up washing and treating the mangy dog and letting me spray my room and bed and clothes with some kind of dangerous chemicals, so hopefully the problem will resolve itself, or else I'll just deal with a couple of flea bites for the next three months. And yes, that's about how long I've got left here.
This weekend was fun - dance class on Saturday was super tiring, mostly because we just keep going as long as the drummers feel like it, or until it's so obvious that we're not having a good time anymore that the coordinator drags us out of the teacher's talons. I love the dancing, but when we begin at 9 and keep going till 2, it gets to be a bit much. This time there were tons of new people so we redid the old dance, then began a new one which also involves a song in Serrer. The dances we are learning are actually real traditional dances that have been performed for years.
Saturday afternoon I came home to lunch with the family and a lot of other relatives - there were probably a good twenty kids in the courtyard while I was on the roof for a bit talking on the phone to my parents. They taught me later how to play this sort of tiddlywinks kind of football (soccer) with bottle caps and a rock, which sounds impossible and is but theyre really good at it. Another thing they really like is foosball and they go frequently down the street where you can pay 25 cfa to play on a battered up but sturdy old table out in the street. I played once and made a fool of myself.
Hannah and I got up the courage to ask Maman Amitie if we could go to the beach at Ngor on Sunday, and after much grilling and assuring her we'd be safe and together she said yes. So in the morning we got up and got ready, then walked to meet some people Hannah had to meet with about a presentation for class. I sat and read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in French, which Reine lent me last week. It is AMAZING to read it in French, plus its a sort of junior version so it's easier to understand. They changed all the names of characters to make more sense in French - Snape is Rogue, Malfoy's name and Hedwig's gets an e added to it, Filch's name is different, et cetera.
After her meeting we went to a store and bought baguettes, laughing cow cheese, beef slices, and cookies, and then went to a stand to get oranges and bananas. I bargained for the taxi myself and we headed out to Ngor. Once there you have to buy a ticket (500 cfa or $1 round trip) to take the pirogues - long fishing boats with a motor that can hold about 30 people. They give the toubabs life jackets, and you have to take of your shoes and get wet up to your knees in the ocean to climb into the boat. Its just a few minutes ride over to the island of Ngor. There's a small sandy beach but we chose to hike around for an hour or so first on the rocky coast. We ate our lunch on the rocks at the highest point on the island, and the ocean was out of this world. I have never seen so many different blues at once. Afterwards we spent a couple of hours on the beach lying around and swimming (COOOLD) and talking to some dudes from the peace corps who'd been in Senegal 5 months or so and spoke Serrer. We took the pirogue back and another two taxis (slightly more expensive this time). The rest of the evening was uneventful except that everyone in the family is really into these stupid horror films that are always on TV. They scare me so I read in my room instead. We wanted to go see the Superbowl at the US marine house but we felt kind of bad just leaving again, especially at 23 o clock on a Sunday so we stayed in and just went to bed early. Hannah was convinced there would be buffalo wings, for some reason, but it turns out there were not and that it was just like a bad frat party. Plus the Colts won. Not that I had a preference beyond seeing my Chicago pals happy.
Anyways, that's that. If nothing exciting happens soon, stay tuned for the first installment of "A day in the life of Lili." Or something like that. All I can say is wulla ba. That's one of countless Wolof expressions that essentially mean nothing and thus can mean anything you want. Peace only.