The First Brave Souls

My friends are getting ready to jump on a plane right now to go back to New York City. They were here for 10 days, traveling and exploring Senegal and hanging out with us. Ethan and Alan (and no, the irony of their name combination is not lost on them--they've heard that joke before) were the first brave souls to come visit us who are not family. I consider the fact that Gusi is the only grandchild to be the main motivating factor for having the grandparents visit us. Not that I'm complaining, but there's more motivation to come to Africa when your only grandchild is living here. Friends, however, are a different story. Many told us they would come visit yet only Ethan and Alan have done so. Perhaps we'll have more guests in the future.

What was so great about having them here was the simplicity with which they approached their trip. They got to sleep in late (how they did it with Gusi getting up at the crack of dawn and wanting to wake the entire household I don't know), have lunch at the beach, get mobbed by vendors, bargain for objets d'art, travel to St. Louis, tour the National Bird Park, visit Lac Rose and be surrogate uncles to Gusi. They took it easy and had a good time.

Tomorrow morning when we wake up the house will surely feel empty. No more talking until 2am about our glory days in college (Ethan and I went to college together) or our travels around the world or politics or religion or history. No more wonderful meals cooked by Alan with his sous-chef Ethan. But I guess that is what is so nice about having had them here, the time we spent together making more memories. Next time we see each other, we will be able to reminisce about this visit. Meanwhile, Gusi and I will have to read his "Good Night New York City" book a bit more often so he knows where his two new uncles live. One day soon, we too will visit them. Good Night Dakar.