Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Trip home....one last story...I think

The other day in Atlanta, I took MARTA up to Buckhead from Atlantic Station to meet a friend for lunch. I took the bus and then subway up there. Public transportation in the US is far different than in Senegal. While I found it to be far more reliable it felt sterile and lacked character.

On my return trip, I decided to just take a cab back to my buddy's house. I got in the cab and told him the address. He asked me if I was from Atlanta and I told him I lived in Africa. He went further and asked where and I told him Senegal.

It turns out he was Somalian but when civil war struck he moved to Dakar for 3 years and lived in a neighborhood adjacent to my old one. It was another cool encounter. We spoke in English and Wolof talking about the things that make Senegal great...food and hospitality. Also, we talked about how Senegal has changed since his days there. He had been in the US for 11 years driving taxis.

As we do in Senegal, I tried to negotiate the fare (in Senegal set fares don't exist and negotiation is done prior to entering cab). We both laughed as my wallet cried.

It's a small world.

Trip Home

The trip back to the US is close to being over, very close, actually sitting in Concourse E waiting for the plane to arrive. Goodbye USA for 10 more months and then who knows where to.

The bags are packed with who knows what. Turned out my two checked bags were a bit heavier than I had anticipated…53 pounds and 51 pounds, so I had to do a little rearranging at the airport. I didn’t think I was going to have to be that guy. Turns out, my entire luggage, carry-on and all weighed about 135 pounds. It should be interesting getting it all to my apartment come tomorrow morning. I just didn't have enough room left for a blender.

The trip home has been a quiet and quick one. Most of the time was spent in Charlotte and the beach with my family, with stops in Chapel Hill and Savannah. Time in Atlanta was short, very short, lasting about two days, so I apologize for not getting to see nearly everyone I wanted to or for as long as I hoped too.

Go Dawgs!!!


Story Stateside

Fresh off Delta Flight 35 from Dakar, Senegal on the morning of Friday, July 18 a buddy of mine picked me up from the airport in Atlanta and we were off for the start of one of our friend’s bachelor parties. We made a stop at Chick-ful-a and then Costco to pick up food and drinks for the weekend.

The minute we got out of the car at Costco, I couldn’t have been any further from life in Senegal. While I consider Dakar home, coming back to the US to visit, especially the first day back, a lot of catching up occurs. My mind was on the number of pounds of hamburger meat we were going to buy.

Well, that soon changed and it became clear yet again that it I a small world. Walking in to the store, I looked over my shoulder and there were three men of African decent (African-American, African, other, I didn’t know) walking in. One was wearing an outfit native in Africa and prevalent in Senegal called a boubou. I didn’t find anything unusual about this, but his buddy was on the phone and all of a sudden, I picked up a bit of Wolof coming out of his mouth.

I couldn’t believe it, it brought me back home.

The minute his buddy got of the phone, I turned around to say hello in Wolof. Their eyes widened and smiles spread. We talked for a bit outside and then again inside the store for awhile. They all lived in the States now but were Senegalese.

I’m not going to lie, it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in two and a half years.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Oh wow....I've had writer's block too long...I promise I have some posts coming.