Made it to Dakar, Senegal, Africa.
Wow.
Words are hard to come by to describe the place. It's exotic, mysterious, friendly, with much potential...mixed in with shantytowns, poverty, hustlers, panhandlers and the like. You will see Mercedes dealerships next to horse drawn carts. Third world meets first world. We are not in Kansas anymore Toto...
Dakar is an enigma. Looks modern from a distance. Harbor had a cruise ship in it yesterday and there are skyscrapers downtown. But mixed in are folks trying to sell you anything, and some are pretty aggressive. Imagine border towns in Mexico, then turn up the gain x20. I'll never have trouble buying a car again after interacting with some of these folks.
But the overall experience is amazing. We went south out of Dakar (the capital) to deliver humanitarian goods to an orphanage and a school the other day. The pic above is with some of the students and teachers of the school. They were very happy to see us. They sang and danced and played futbol (soccer) with us. We held the babies and unloaded the supplies and all that good PR stuff. That for me was a very rewarding experience. If you ever wondered if your charitible donations make it to Africa, recommend using Project HOPE or Project Handclasp. They do, I've moved the boxes ;) The Mormans also donate lots of stuff. Thanks guys and gals from up Utah way. I also handed out lots of candy, some toys I've collected along the way and NASA stickers. They really liked that stuff. I've never seen kids so grateful and happy (and I have some happy kids myself, hi guys ;)
More later. Hope you all are doing well...and keep those comments coming! I read every one of them.
Dakar...now, it would be really cool to be in Dakar at the conclusion of the Paris-Dakar rally. Sadly, though, I think you missed it...they ran the rally back in January.
ReplyDeleteWell, actually, you missed it by more than that. This year, they ran the Paris-Dakar rally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Valparaiso, Chile, and back to Buenos Aires. Yes, I know that neither Buenos Aires or Valparaiso is anywhere near either Paris or Dakar, but with the political situation in Africa being what it is, you just can't be too careful.
Speaking of which, Be Careful Out There. I know you travel with some rather muscular gentlemen who carry M-16s, but even they can't take care of every possible contingency.
Maybe we can catch the 2010 Paris-Dakar rally. I understand that there's a leg running through Houston...
So, I guess you found out how hard it is to play futball in combat boots. If your Africans play as good as my Iraqi's did, you guys probably got your buts whooped. I blame it on the boots.
ReplyDeleteSo, how do you travel around Dakar without getting a nice layer of dust on those BDUs and pretty black boots? You obviously didn't ride in the 2.5 Ton in the background or your teeth would be brown. Well, at least you look good representing. You really want to impress them? Beat them a futbol! Bring your tennis shoes to the next village and remember, there's no refs watching and no shame in outscoring children!
A bunch of us back home have decided that if you need something to fill up your free time, you could take up model building. Here's an example of a nice ship model to get you started:
ReplyDeletehttp://usns.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=96&Itemid=124
Just click on the nice picture of the model to see how it was built.
Are you SURE they were happy to see you? The young lady standing next to you doesn't seem to sure about that... ;-)
ReplyDeleteSorry, man - it's been WAY too long since I had a chance to abuse you! ;-)