So last Tuesday I moved in with my host family! So far it's been great, I love my family, they're so fun and caring and patient. Even though I've absolutely loved being with them, I am so exhausted from speaking and trying to understand French allll the time! I sleep so much now! There are 6 people in my family and they're all so great!

First there's my papa. He's really talkative and outgoing and makes me laugh so much! I love it when he gets home from work and says, "Ah, ma fille!" (my daughter)  and I reply, "Mon papa!" He gets so excited when I call him papa. He always sings when he walks around the house, or at least I think it's singing. Most of the time it just sounds like he's just making random noises.

Then there's Mama. I spend most of my day with her because she doesn't work right now, but she's in the process of taking classes to become a pharmacist. She's so sweet and funny. She's been teaching me how to cook and is really great about explaining cultural things to me and teaching me French.

Then there's my brother Dakan. He's actually my host mom's younger brother. He's always singing songs in English and it cracks me up! I'm guessing he's around 16 years old but I'm not sure I haven't asked.

Next is my sister Robekah, I think she's about 13 and is actually the niece of my mom. She's lives with us to help my mom out with all the household chores. She won't let me do anything for myself! And she loves my hair! Every night she brushes it and tells me how soft it is.

I also have a little brother named Alex, he's six years old and loves to talk! Between my bad French comprehension and his little kid voice I can barely understand him but it's getting better each day. We spend a lot of time together trying to talk and he asks me what life is like in America and how to say things in English. He always tells me that my hair is messed up because he likes to brush it too. After he brushed it one day, he said, "Tanti, the next time your hair is messy, you call me, ok?" He makes me laugh so much, the other night, Mama told him to go take his bath but he didn't want to so he said, "I don't understand you, I'm like Tanti, I don't understand French, I only speak English!"

And last there's my baby brother Enoch. He's 1 year old and so adorable! He's still a little unsure of me though. He doesn't cry when he sees me but just stares. He’s already starting to warm up to me though. He has the cutest laugh and while me and Mama sit in the courtyard and cook, he likes to kick and empty plastic bottle back and forth all over the yard and he's perfectly content just doing that!

I'm lucky and have my own room, however I have been sharing it with a cockroach that always runs away before I can find something to kill it with. By African standards, my house is pretty nice, we have electricity but we don't have running water. We don't have a big dirt courtyard but a small cement one.

Yep so that's my family and my home! My French has already been improving having to speak it allll the time. There are some days I go without saying a single word in English! But each day it gets a little bit easier.