We arrived in Senase around 7 in the morning. The first things we did was brush our teeth and eat breakfast. The meal consisted of white rice and stew, either vegetable stew or fish stew. I got the vegetable stew and man was it spicy but it definitely had a purpose. I cannot believe how tasty the stew was! It had the right about of spices. Afterwards we received our room assignments. Brian and I were rooming together in Joe’s house a few minutes walk from Fred’s. We got lucky because there were a handful of people that were staying whiles walk away. The houses seem like small strip of condos. The door of each room opened to the patio strip that opened to a courtyard-looking strip. It was a pretty nice room. We learned to control the usage of electricity the village only lets the power on after 9pm and before 7am. We quickly dropped our stuff off and left to go back to Fred’s to visit the children.
        The people and the children are incredible here. They are so welcoming in every way, shape, and form. You know those commercials where kids just cone up and hold your hand and pictures were taken all the time? The commercials weren’t lying, that’s exactly how it was. When we got to the school building, children were everywhere. They saw that I had goodies for them so they just came and swarmed me! It was so hard to make sure people weren’t taking everything, I soon gave up on that factor and just passed it out as fast as I could to get out of situation. They pinned me up against the chalkboard! lol. These two little girls clung onto me the whole time and stayed by me. They were so adorable. The children were specifically excited for the bubbles. I’m sure they’ve seen them before, but thy loved blowing and popping them. A mother saw how much the kids were enjoying the bubbles and asked if she could try. I told her she could keep the bubbles if she promised to share with the children. I don’t know how to explain the emotions I felt when playing with them. It was incredible. In a short time, however, it was time to get moving.
        Our guide at the time, Dan, was to show us the main square area. Everyone was wearing black and red. We learned that those colors symbolize that someone has died in the village. This is when things started to get frustrating. Because Fred wasn’t with us, everything seemed disorganized. We spent almost 2 hours just walking around. We decided that we wanted to go back to Fred’s and wait for him to come back.
        At Fred’s, we just relaxed while we waited for lunch and the other group to get back. It was an emotional roller coaster at this time. Our group wasn’t having a great time and there was one girl in serious pain because her back was fractured and felt like she was going into a relapse. We explained to Fred the situation and he understood incredibly and a tad frustrated himself. He promised to make it better. Dinner is when it started. We had fried plantains with a stew-like side dish. It was tasty and not spicy at all. We, as a family, bonded so much.
        After lunch was dance practice. That was exciting but not what I expected. The dancing was super easy for me bit extremely fun to perform it. Part of the village was there to cheer us on as they watched. It was pretty awesome. We felt ready to perform it.
        After practice, we were allowed to go back to our houses and rest until 7. This is when we met part of our family. Andy is Joe’s brother and was there to greet us and welcome us. He had very good English and helped us to understand the rest of the family. By now it was getting dark and I decided to pass out the glowsticks. They loved them and most never seen anything like it. It put a smile on my face to see their faces glow.
        The walk back was interesting. Though I had a flashlight, it was hard to see every ditch in the road. Brian and I tripped and almost fell more than a few times. We got there safely though. Dinner consisted of fish stew and fufu. Again, another spicy and delicious meal.
Instead of going to bed right after dinner, Fred wanted to show us the nightlife in Senase. He took us to a club that was. Five minute drive away. It was such a good time. Dan from the village danced with me and taught me moves that they use there. I had such a great time with him. I love the people here, have I said that yet? Lol. I met many villagers; they’re even greater when they’re drunk because they don’t get the concept that I’m not from around town. It was great time and everyone enjoyed themselves.
        Thankfully, everyone was dropped of by bus to his or her houses so we didn’t have to walk back in the dark.
        It was such a long day, the bed couldn’t have felt nicer. Brian and I later there talking for tenish minutes and then hears a noise outside our windows. We froze. I thought it sounded like “yo yo yo” but Brian said he kept saying “Joe Joe Joe.” I guess he didn’t know that Joe wasn’t home. It freaked both of us out and we turned our talking into a whisper. Shortly after, we fell asleep.