La Croix Du Sud Dakar

I arrived in Dakar after 12ish hours of flying/airport time around 2am on Sunday night/ Monday morning, with hardly any prior knowledge of Dakar or Senegal and no idea what to do when I got here. When my backpack finally came out through the baggage claim, its outside pockets had been completely emptied-- as in all the items in them were stolen-- and the perpetrators had half-heartedly tried to get into the bottom pocket of my bag but apparently had a ...

Greetings from Mauritania!   I am back from Dakar, am well rested and in high spirits.    It was definitely a good trip, but all the traveling has left me a bit weary.  It is good to be back to Awainatt.  I will just start at the beginning and yes, it will be censored...   I began by making stops in Aioun and Kiffa, visiting other PCVs and breaking up the arduous journey across the country.  Eventually, I made it to ...

... was face to face with Nelson Mandela and his wife! She got to bring him into his first living place after getting out of jail and she said she was so honored. Also throughout the night she was answering the phone as many leaders from all over the world were calling to congratulate Mr. Mandela about being released. After the explorer's seminar I played cards with Liz and some new friends and then ended the night chatting with Ashley.

... 45 minutes, and then to an hour, and then 3 hours. It is then confirmed they need parts and labor from Atlanta. We are stuck and Delta sends us to Le Meridien hotel. Getting out of the airport was a bit scary. There were lots of people, but maybe only 10% were there for the airport. That leaves the other 90% to look like they are loitering and just hanging around(looking like anything can happen). This just made me more ...

... fazendo-me inclusivé entrar nos restantes museus gratuitamente. A noite, posto em casa e altamente emocionado a agradecer o gesto da Tata, ela estragou tudo anunciando-me a quantia total que a amiga tinha gasto para que eu pudesse « gratuitamente » circular por Gorée « so para teres consciência do que poupaste ». Mas não poupei nada porque nunca tive nada né ? Caiu bwé mal, tipo presente que quando rasgas o embrulho encontras acompanhado de factura. Ok não tem makas.

... a few minutes he left us alone. Also on that trip we had to take a short taxi ride to get to the other village where we could catch the van/bus thing. Some of these "taxis" here are quite interesting. It really is a wonder how these things even start, let alone move. The one we took from Kayar was actually on jacks right before we left (not something that really inspires ...

... at a school, but it was not the right one and I knew it. I tried telling him in my poor French that he needed to go to ISD, but it was not getting acrossed. So, I called Mom. She told him where he needed to go and he finally got me there. I will admit I was a little worried. From ISD, Mom, Amy, and I went to the orphanage. OMG!!!! SOOOOOOO MANY BABIES!!!!! (See pictures). When I got there, I immediately made friends with a tiny little girl. She put her ...

... huge. Campus based uni but the technology there is nothing like that of UK unis they literally just have black boards and the lucky classes have OHPs no projector screens or anything. Loads of buildings to the unis though, they can only live on campus for there under grad degree and then they live in rooms of 2. Went ot the British Embassy to register which was pretty exciting! Pic of the queen and london on the walls. Also stole loo roll ...

... rec'd invites. Ambassador Christopher Trott is a friendly man, and made a good speech about cultural diversity and religious tolerance. Senegal is 95% Muslim, but has a strong Christian community also, with a huge cathedral in the centre of town. Of course mosques in every district - in cluding one just across from our office, which makes Friday's a bit noisy - but convenient for staff. It's a devout state, but very tolerant and peaceful. The Islam here is for the most part very ...

... booked a seat on the train, thirty-five hours, but at least maybe I can get some sleep, train tracks not being so bumpy, usually, by definition. The train leaves in the evening, so I'll arrive in the morning, and what I save on two nights' hotels will pay for the trip. Well, the travel writers blew it again. They don't tell you that this is the train from Hell. One look at that sorry caravan made me quickly regret that I had ...