The one where we did laundry.

Happy Tuesday! Almost a week since we left the good ol' US of A! Seems like its been months!

Monday morning brought all the other girls to the sewing center and with them lots of chatter and laughter--and our first bit of actual work! We helped get breakfast ready (still bread, butter and Nescafe) and learned what to do when we were done. I like that they're not waiting on us all the time now; we can do a few things ourselves. The girls arrived one by one at different times. They greeted us and got right to work. Some of them worked on the sewing machines and a few worked outside embroidering cloths and a few worked on an absolutely giant quilt on the floor in the main room. The power was unfortunately out for most of the day so they were limited on what they could do on the machines. They break for lunch around 1:00 then some of them come back later in the afternoon. Two of the girls have polio, one in a interestingly modified wheelchair (by interestingly modified she means that it is a plastic chair with bicycle wheels-M) and the other walks with crutches. I admire their tenacity and ability to get around--I can't imagine having such limitations. Constantly reminded of how awesome this life we have is and how blessed we are at home. (They really are such sweet girls. They would never ask for help but are so completely appreciating when you give it anyways. So very very humbling to be around-M)

Marissa and I were given several small tasks, most of which included cutting out pieces of foam, liner fabric and colored fabric for Veronique. These pieces will eventually turn into passport holders, coin purses, wallets, and things of the sort. Marissa would want me to mention how much faster she was at cutting her pieces than I was. Payback from the day before's sewing beat down I gave her, I guess. (The score stands A-1 M-4... yeah thats right, she doesn't know I've been keeping count but I've finished before her in 4 tasks. Can YOU say owned?-M) Other than that, we spend most of the day in down time, reading and such. I'm thoroughly enjoying all this time to be still. Its definitely something I don't have enough of at home and am so SO appreciative of here. (I am not as good as Andi at down time as any of you who know me will attest to the fact that I keep myself constantly busy so this is a challenge and a growing experience for me as well. It has allowed me to do things like do a deep study of Scripture and start a prayer journal. I also made an intercessory prayer journal before I left that has about 50 people in it that I have been praying for. You are most likely among them. I've also been reading Radical by David Platt and The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. The latter I'm about 5 pages away from finishing and its already become a favorite. I highly suggest you read it.-M)

It is beyond hot--topping out at 106 degrees today--but otherwise its pretty peaceful here. No one seems to be in a huge rush, nor are they super affected by us being here. Yeah, everyone stares while we walk two blocks to get water from the "boutique" (Imagine a gas station in an old western ghost town...-M) but they pretty much leave us alone. Veronique told us the Wolof word for "white person" was "tubaar" (sounds like tuba). Ever since, we seem to pick that up frequently out of the street conversation we pass.

(Interesting side story: Since we've been in Kongheul, I've seen two different African boys, one about 9 and one about 15 both with Albinism. It is one of the strangest things I've ever seen. The facial features and hair texture are all very similar to everyone else but the skin and hair color are so white.-M)

Other than the sewing help we've been doing, Viola called yesterday and told us of our first actual assignment: to order labels for the girls to sew onto the things they make so that when they send them off, it has their logo and "made in Senegal" on them. We've been researching different places in the US to make them and ship them here. The girls want to send their orders out by May 25, so hopefully we can get those here soon!

Television shows here are limited to either Senegalese wrestling, European movies with French captioning or really terrible Indian soap operas with French captioning. (Really reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly terrible... -M) Marissa and I entertained ourselves but subbing our own dialouge for the wrestling we've watched--before they wrestle, they have a dance off and some smack talk. We of course dialouged "Yo Mama" jokes during the smack talk. (about 90% of our entertainment here has been along these lines. Conversations with animals, creating our own dubs for tv, etc. It is a seriously underutilized form in the States-M)

(Another side story: Since the power was out last night we sat in chairs on the street to get some of the breeze and Andi and I began our Bible study through James. We figured it was appropriate as we've had a whole lot of trials since we've been here and are expecting to be stretched and challenged even more the longer we're here. It is so edifying for me at very least. We went through James 1:1-8 yesterday and even in 8 verses the Lord spoke so much Truth in the conversation that followed. He is doing HUGE works in my heart. We also have started to pray together every night in praise for the innumerable ways that we're now seeing that He has blessed us, asking that He bless the people we encounter through us and that He mold and shape us more into His character, and finally for a different group of the people we love every week. I've absolutely adored this time.-M)

Today we've been working on the labels and are also trying to get cards printed to tell the 10,000 Girls story to enclose in each shipped package and cut more fabric for the purses and such. (Sorry I have another side story: We were entrusted to buy the bread this morning! Doesn't sound like that big of a deal but communication creates a few more hoops for us to jump. We managed it successfully and I have decided that I am now at very least fundamentally conversational in three languages. Whoop!) More interestingly though, we did our first load of laundry! We went to the shop and bought soap (basically just dish soap but its say multipurpose so it'll work right?) and were corrected in our techinique by Veronique several times before either we were doing it right or she gave up on us. Needless to say, the water was a very dingy grey when we were finished. (Correction-The first bucket's water was stinkin' black. I'm still cringing thinking about how dirty it was.-M) BUT, three huge plastic buckets of soapy water and about an hour later, we had clean clothes! Whoop! (We've decided that this trip is essentially long term camping and we like camping.-M)

Now, we're enjoying another pair of fresh mangoes and fighting this silly internet to let us send in a quote request to another label company. You all are dearly loved and greatly missed. I love to hear back from you so send a text or an email or Facebook me or whatever (ME TOO!!!-M)!

If you want to send mail the address is below but just know this: the mail only goes to the headquarters in Kaolack which is two hours away from here and nine hours away from Segou (where we'll be in less than two weeks) so it'll be pretty darn slow getting to us. So don't worry if it hasn't gotten here in a few weeks! We'll hopefully receive it soon.

Much love,
m&a
(Or A&M bahahahaha-M)

Andi Mints OR Marissa Lang c/o
Viola M. Vaughn Ed. D
BP 2130
Kaolack, Senegal