Pig Shots and Increased Levels of Dorkiness/Fluff
This morning I woke up at 8:26 AM…the earliest I have woken up in a while. I went down to the glamorous (<– sarcasm) Leon County Health Department for my H1N1 shot, which was administered by a lovely woman, Fran, who kept rubbing my back. Twas awk. For some reason they were out of legitimate rooms, so I got the shot in what could have been a storage room for spare furniture. We’ll never know I guess, unless Fran is reading this. If she is, do us tell us what we were doing in there because it was unclear to me.
After that I ran some errands, including buying Allyson’s graduation gift, which is pretty good (but not as good as the grad gift she got me). I also got more passport photos. For some odd reason, the PC needs 18 2×2 photos of yours truly. Unfortunately, I wore a light gray shirt to CVS, which uses a white background, so I now have 18 photos of my floating neck/head. They’re a real trip.
Later, I took a nap, woke up for half an hour, then napped again. I love Double Nap Days (DND for short).
I had lunch with the lovely Brittany (my cousin, for those of you who don’t know/are slow), then went to Trail & Ski to look at Jesus sandals. The PC recommended I buy some sandals for daily use, so I am going to do it. It’s just strange because I have never been a sandal person. I have worn Converse or slip-ons or something forever, or I wear flip-flops. The Jesus sandal is this whole other branch of the footwear family tree that has eluded me. Luckily, the chick at Trail & Ski was an expert. Evidently there has been an epic debate amongst hippies for years about whether Chacos or Tevas are better. Both sell hiking/outdoor sandals (Jesus-style). I tried on both, and they seemed similar, except for the Tevas were $45 cheaper. Both kind of look like strappy women’s heels from the junior prom circa 1993. I still am on the fence. I went home and found myself on camping message boards where all sorts of people discuss this topic. If you have knowledge, readers, then drop it ASAP because I am buying a pair tomorrow.
I went with my Mom to the eye doctor to look for prescription sunglasses (please see second half of post title). I have never been one to wear prescription sunglasses for this reason: I am 22 and not 58. I am not knocking them, so don’t be offended. I wouldn’t have bought some if I truly hated them. I just have always thought they were weird. I wear contacts with regular sunglasses, or I wear glasses and deal with the sun. I ended up getting a pair of tortoise-shell Ray-Ban knock offs. I love them b/c the inside is lime green. I will rock the hell out of them. I mean, the locals in Senegal are gonna come a-runnin’ when I bust out of the bus from Dakar*. “A rock star!” they’ll say (in Wolof).
Tonight, the plan is to embarrass myself singing karaoke (when I say “possibly” I mean “most definitely”).
PS: For those of you turned off by the fact that this blog is mostly humorous and less educational, then you are gonna be disappointed. Unlike my brainier sister Lindsey, my blog will focus more on my experiences and my thoughts on those experiences and less on history. I like that sort of stuff, but when I look back in 10 years, I want to read this and remember the times when I was scared shitless or dealing with hilarious situations abroad. It’s the stuff I live for. It’s, to me, what traveling is all about. Learning, of course, is a must, but when I look back on all the places I’ve visited, I remember laughing at the crazy stuff I did. Getting lost and spending two hours finding my way again is more fun/memorable than a castle. This blog WILL have stuff like that though. It’s just that right now I’m in Tallahassee, Florida, which is less exciting than West Africa, so I am filling my blog with fluff.
PPS: Fluff fluff fluffity fluff.
*Dakar is the capital of Senegal. I am flying from DC to Dakar on Tuesday the 10th, then taking a 2-hour bus ride east to Thiès (pronounced “chess”), which is where I will train for nine weeks.
Take Offs and Landings 
I prefer nerd, actually. And we’ll be needing photos of you modelling the Jesus sandals. Asap.
Jamilla, my love! You have the best blog…I’m so excited to read about your adventures. You are going to be so cool with your Jesus sandals and Ray-Ban knock offs – the Chuck Bass of Senegal. I miss you!
Proofread fool. “which is WHERE I will train for nine weeks”.
OK, “Chuck Bass of Senegal” needs to be a tag.
Oooh boy. If this is what Florida posts entail, I can not wait until Africa. Please post pics of the jesu-dals (obvi you’ve figured out the word I was attempting to create) and your BA sunglasses. Love you boo 🙂