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.
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