Day Un

My flight landed at 5:10 am and there was a short line of ten of us to get through customs as non-Senegalese visitors.  Five am is almost two hours earlier than I had told the hotel to send a car, so I made a few new 'friends' while waiting at the airport.   Chaz likes Rhianna but not Beyonce, and Obama but not "George Bullshit."  I've met three men named Abdoulaye.

I just checked into a small colorful hotel in the northern neighborhood of Mamelles -- ours is a tiny 2-bed room right off of an open cafe with pink walls and Castel beer.  I met Raul the hotel dog, got a flea bite, and took a quick *er* cold shower.  And the power just blew out while trying to post this.

First sunset in Dakar at Plage De N'Gor

So far, all is well, and the sun is only just over the horizon.  On the short 5-minute taxi ride from the airport, I got a glimpse of the ocean with the sun coming up, and there is new concrete block development throughout this northern neighborhood.  Most of the small neighborhood streets right here are covered in red dirt, and the one butcher shop I've seen is literally a goat on a table at the intersection of two red dirt roads.  Girls are in the streets, using palm fronds to dust off the roads.  I'm off to find a phone, walk to the beach, get Julienne at the airport.  Can't wait to compare notes with her.  Her one message from Pa-ree said that she wishes she liked museums more.