It's Been a Whirl

The last several weeks have flown by. Grandpa and Grandma came for a visit, I got medevaced, Auntie Megan came, we took a family vacation around Senegal, we celebrated Gusi's birthday, the family left and now life is getting back to what it was before.

Our family vacation ended up being quite an adventure. We went to St. Louis, the old capital of Senegal for a few days. Our car ended up getting vandalized while it sat parked RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE LOBBY all night. They tried to steal our diesel by cutting the tube that leads from the spout where you fill up your tank to the actual tank under the car. We found the hose wrapped around our back tires early one morning, but after smelling the hose we knew they didn't get anything. Still, it didn't occur to us that they had CUT the tube; we thought they tried to jimmy open the door to siphon it off from the outside, not underneath the car. It wasn't until we were on our way out of St. Louis filling up the tank that we realized it was spilling and not going into the tank. That meant driving back to St. Louis to find a Toyota dealership to see if they had the part. Everything ended up being closed for a long weekend, but a mechanic came by on his moped and clamped on a metal pipe onto the cut tube and off we went. It was an exercise in patience for all of us.

Of course, the fun didn't start or stop there. The day we went to the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary was unforgettable. We had hired a guide and a car to take us there. We piled into a 7-seater Peugot. In case you've never had the pleasure, the car looks like a station wagon from the 1980s with a small third row seat. About 2/3 of the way there the car breaks down. Actually, something happens to the "tree-frame" (that's all we can get out of the translation) and we're stuck in the middle of nowhere but on a well-traveled road at least. Everyone gets out, Grandpa risks his life trying to stop a car coming down the road, Auntie Megan takes pictures of animals, Gusi plays race car driver with the steering wheel and I just roll my eyes at the luck we've drawn. Finally, someone takes pity on us and gives us a ride to the park in their pick-up truck; our guide meanwhile orders another car from St. Louis to pick us up after the bird park tour is over. We go on a boat ride, see thousands of birds, get a lot of sun and find our ride waiting for us when we return. Then we stop for lunch and continue on our journey. The suspicious part of all of this is that the same 7-seater Peugot now has an extra person that has tagged along with the driver. Hmm. This person seems to be telling the driver how to drive. Hmm. Why the hell are we squeezed in like this with no air conditioning and windows with no handles on them? We end up getting to the point where our first car broke down and stop. Uh, why has this guy been sitting in the same exact spot for 5 hours now? Our guide then informs us that the two drivers want to tie the broken-down Peugot to the one we're riding in and tow it all the way to St. Louis--another hour or so without the extra weight. NO WAY! Papi is adamant. The guide agrees with us and says we should continue and the first driver must wait for someone else to come. But the drivers are buddies and the second driver won't leave without towing his friend. Gusi is fast asleep through all this. The arguments occur outside the car in Wolof and get translated to Papi and I in French through our guide. NO WAY are we towing the car, it's not safe. So the first driver tells us to get out and wait for a car so his friend can tow him--he's tired of waiting. The second driver tells us to get out of his car and starts to tie the two cars' bumpers together. Papi tells him in no uncertain terms that if he ties the cars together or dumps us here (with two seniors, a sleeping child and a pregnant woman in the bunch) in the middle of nowhere he will go directly to the police in St. Louis where these matters will be settled the hard way. The second driver relents; the first driver curses and our guide shrinks with embarrassment. As luck would have it, a tour bus full of French tourists slows down as it approaches us. Our guide and the tour bus guide are friends and have room to give us a lift back to St. Louis so we climb in. When we get back to the hotel our guide tells us that in 8 years of doing this, nothing like this has ever happened to him. We tell him it wasn't his fault but Papi reflects on what would have happened if we had taken our car? As it turns out, with the cut gas tube, it could have been extremely dangerous.

So, we were all a bit happy to finally leave St. Louis and Murphy's Law behind us. From there we went to Sine Saloum to a small resort. We relaxed and had a nice time, chatting, swimming and taking boat/kayak rides.

It was kind of a relief to get back to Dakar. I'd traveled around Africa before for work and had these types of encounters of the African kind and realized that I was glad I didn't have to deal with this anymore. It was good to be home. But (what was I thinking?) the next day I had planned Gusi's birthday party so we were in full party-preparation mode. The party went well. Gusi was sung "Happy Birthday" to in English, French and Spanish; he stuck to his cupcake diet quite well and the families that came seemed to enjoy themselves.

Then Auntie Megan left. Tears were shed by Gusi since he grew close to her during her short stay. Then we had a series of Easter parties. Then Grandma & Grandpa left. Gusi kept saying that he was going on the airplane to Arizona too and would take his backpack.

So after all this, we are trying to settle down. I realize that it will be short-lived because in just 10 weeks we will be going home to the US. I've got a lot to do before then. A LOT. And so the rat race continues.