1) me learning to dice an onion in the palm of my hand--- dank, dank (Wolof: slowly, slowly). My skirt is a batik I made at a workshop- traditional wrap around skirt. Its mostly worn in the house. because its not considered "well dressed."
2) Memouna getting the plates ready. Big bowl for kids.
Big plate for the parents who eat in separate room.
Big plate for the parents who eat in separate room.
3) Left to Right: Moussa, Moustafa, Mame moussa’s
knee, neighbor/cousin w/ mouth open
knee, neighbor/cousin w/ mouth open
4) Left to Right: girl cousin, uncle, host mom, host dad
5) it must have been good!
Dear Ellen,
ReplyDeleteHello, I'm Kim's mom. I tried to send this message in an email and it bounced back....so I'll try this route. If your address is changed, let me know, as I attached some photos in the email.
I just got back from a week-long conference in Chicago and a lovely visit with your parents. They picked me up on Thursday evening, drove me from downtown at my hotel (the Sheraton on N. Water St.) all the way out to the 'burbs to see your church, your school, and your house. They fed me a delicious dinner, and I enjoyed meeting their latest foreign exchange student, Carla.
I lived for three years in Schaumburg and worked in Hoffman Estates in my first job out of grad school before moving to Texas. I had my Master's degree in Counseling from Northwestern and worked at a little agency called Spectrum Youth Service. That was back in 1977-1980. As we chatted on the way out to St. Charles, your parents and I discovered we were probably sitting in the same movie theater 32 years ago, listening to a young preacher (Bill Hybels) in the infant stages of Willow Creek Community Church. Coincidences are amazing!
I have enjoyed reading your blog and am fascinated and amazed to know about life in Senegal. You write so well about the complexities of your experiences and the tremendous adjustments to the culture. At my conference, I attended a talk, "Building Healing Communities" (this was a conference on group therapy), and there was a quote from Mark Twain: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." There was more to the quote but I couldn't write it down fast enough and so far I haven't been able to find it, but it comes from Innocents Abroad, 1857. Bravo to you for doing your part in reaching out to the world and opening up our narrow minds. I know from talking with your mom that you and she are big fans of Three Cups of Tea, and so am I. I spread the word about that book among my friends and we have all been so moved by Mortenson's work.
I have attached a few photos of our family....Chip and Vanessa and me at Hendrix College Parents' Weekend last fall, Kim and Mike at Christmas. Hope you enjoy them. And I hope you will come and visit us some day here in Austin. Did you ever come here when Mike was living here?
I look forward to knowing more about what happens to you in the months to come. Thanks for sharing on your blog!
Best regards,
Jan Morris