Steel Trap

Dioss never ceases to impress me. I went over to his gallery this morning to discuss indirect costs and he was already all over it. Peace Corps gave us GERME books, which are business books in French specifically for West Africa, and I gave the two books about accounting and costing to Dioss so he could look them over, which he has obviously done multiple times or he has an amazing photographic memory. He honestly remembers everything I say. A lot of Senegalese people have unbelievable memories, I think I've mentioned that my counterpart Diof has half the population of Thies' cell phone number memorized. So, Dioss knew we were going to talk about indirect costs and he pretty much had everything already written down and ready to discuss.

Now that he's really interested in accounting and growing his business he wants everything to happen instantaneously. We have a pretty good grasp on his direct and indirect costs, but he didn't do that great of a job writing down each sale while I was in training so I really have no idea what his sales are and therefore can't effectively price his different cards, paintings on glass, canvasses, and the myriad of sizes of paintings on paper. I showed him how he needs to write down each card he sells each day not just the monetary total for the day and he promised me he would have a great log by next month so we can work on costing and pricing.

A very exciting thing that's happening at the gallery is a computer. Apparently Dioss had a huge sale from a foreigner a little while ago so that money combined with the money he's been able to save in his new bank account allowed him to purchase a computer. He's over the moon. His long term goal is to open up his gallery to young artists as a place where they can come and work and create a real artist community in Thies and he wants to have a little cafe or something as well. Short term, we will be learning Excel, in French (help me!), and he's trying to get internet installed so we will eventually working on a website as well. He's really got his act together so I'm excited to see where things go.

While my morning was super productive, my afternoon was a little more laid back. After watching an episode of Marina I've already seen three times so I can only imagine how many times my sisters have seen it, I headed out to the post office!

Shout Outs!

Mom & Dad
Thanks for the package! Fabulous as usual. Ahmed threw one of my t-shirts in the bucket of bleach water I was using to clean my floor last week so the new t-shirts are much appreciated as are all the delicious apple sauces and Indian food. I will say that this was the first package that I've received that was really messed with. From what I could tell, it appears as though customs opened a thing of applesauce, I could tell because it wasn't punctured but perfectly torn off, and then poured it all over the contents of the box. Luckily, some ziplock bags formed a barrier and nothing was ruined but I had to stuff the contents of the package in my bag because the box was foul and I had to leave it at the post office. As for the Etch-a-Sketch it is a huge hit. Ahmed really likes it, but Jeenaba LOVES it and got really angry when someone would try and take it from her. It blows their minds that it erases itself.

Kogelschatzes!!!
Thank you so much for the package. It is so much fun when I get a package I'm not expecting and this was a great package! I also gave my family some Cracker Jacks everyone really liked it except Ahmed who accused me of telling him I had candy and then not giving him any candy. I was forced to pull out the orange candies as well, but the Junior Mints are mine and will not be shared! The dried fruit is always welcome and the book you sent is one I read about in the New York Times book review. I can't wait to read it. I'm currently reading a really heavy book about early America so it will be a great change of pace and the guide book looks amazing too! Thank you so much!

I'm posting a little early tonight because we've started to lose power at different times and I haven't figured out the schedule yet! Wish me a good dinner and a short blackout!