February 2012

February 2012, a set on Flickr.

catching up with photos from Senegal.

I know, it's been a while

Well, it's been a while since we've posted here. We've thought about it often, but neither of us has been in the groove of posting. I'll give a quick recap of the past three months.

Back in January, the weather shifted to cool and we absolutely loved it. For us northerners, it was like having spring or fall continuously - only it never rained. The temps are now starting to slowly creep up and the humidity is following the rise in temperature - signalling the return of the rainy season in the near future.

Senegal managed peaceful elections and everyones concerns over the potential for an embassy evacuation were for nothing. Better prepared and not need it than not be prepared and need it. There is a new president, Macky Sol, and the people of Senegal are ever hopeful for change.

We snuck in a short vacation to Germany at the end of March. Carl had a conference in Garmish, so Matt and I joined him for a few days. While I would consider it a working vacation on many accounts, it was still nice to be out of a third world country and into cleanliness and order. We managed to travel to the top of the Zugspitz, spend an afternoon in Innsbruck, Austria, and visit the Porsche museum. It was a very nice trip - rain and all.

I've been brewing beer in an attempt to get some variety of flavor here. For the most part, we have two beers readily available here - La Gazelle and Flag, both brewed in Senegal. Neither is fabulous, but either will do on a hot day. Carl picked up a gas grill from some folks who are leaving this month. He's really been missing his Weber and considers this his big score. To go with the grill, we've found a butcher who has decent meat to grill and we stocked up on A1 on our last trip out of country. And, then, of course, there are the shrimp. Camerones (sp?). Monsters, really. I'd say Carl is pretty much set for summer grilling.

Some of you know, many don't know, that we have added two dogs to our family here. One dog I adopted from the street. Happy seemed to be the right name for him as he joined me on my morning walks. He was previously known as Dnindi (Dindi) as I was told just the other day. I fed him and gave him attention then took him to the vet and considered him mine. I think the vet just smiles and rolls his eyes when he sees yet another American adopting a street dog or ABD (African Brown Dog) as they are known. Then there is Joy. She came to us from South Africa. She is a bullmastiff (think the size of a small pony) and she is lovely. Two of her sisters are here in Dakar, too. We still have our cat, Rocket, and she is doing quite well. Not happy to be in the company of two dogs again, but she'll manage.

Soon, we'll be heading back to the states for another short vacation and when we return to Dakar and the full heat of the summer will be upon us. Sadly, come August, we'll be sitting inside with the a.c. on as it will be too blisteringly hot to venture outdoors much.

I hope everyone is well and springtime in your part of the world is beautiful.

Laurie, Carl and Matt

a change in the weather

The weather has most definitely shifted here. Temps are noticeably cooler and the wind is blowing constantly. Sand is everywhere. It's in our shoes, in the house, and in the car. There's a pile of sand in front of our drive that looks like and feels like a dune and makes it hard to back into our parking area. My morning walks are often against the blowing sand. The air is beige, as Matt calls it. This is more like what we expected when we arrived and we are only now entering the truly "dry" season. The temperature change is a relief and finds us reaching for something a little bit warmer to wear in the mornings even though we won't need it by afternoon.

The weather isn't the only shift we're feeling here in Dakar. The presidential elections are coming up at the end of February and there is every expectation that these will not be easy. Just in case anyone is wondering, if it gets too disruptive and/or dangerous, we could be evacuated from the mission. We're prepared to stay or leave if ordered to do so. Time and the situation will dictate. We continue to feel safe here and are maintaining our schedules as usual.

We hosted three Peace Corps volunteers over last weekend. They were wonderful guests and we enjoyed their company tremendously. They had so much to share with us about their experiences in the villages and were ever so grateful for a bed and a hot shower (and we were happy to share). I think the hot coffee was appreciated, too :) -oh, for the love of Starbucks and Amazon.com.

Dakar hosts the West African Invitational Softball Tournament (WAIST) every year and it is a fun weekend full of games both social and competetive. Teams are from a variety of sources, embassies, Peach Corps, NGOs, local schools - whoever wants to play the game. Matt and I watched games on Saturday and again on Sunday and Monday with Carl when he came back from Ghana. The US Embassy team lost to the Senegal team on Monday during the playoffs. Despite losing, it was an excellent game!

"I was trying to think but nothing happens"

As a kid growing up, one of the things I remember, and have always loved were episodes of the 3 Stooges. This timeless comedy was enjoyed by my Dad in the 30s and 40s, by me and my siblings (probably mostly by my brothers) in the 60s and now by Matt, Laurie and I in 2012 in Africa. We do not have regular TV so the DVD becomes especially important.

A couple of years ago, Laurie got me a couple of seasons of the "The 3 Stooges" as a Christmas gift. It was a gift that we have gotten many laughs from over the years. Erik, Heidi and Dani would come down and the Stooges would happen to be on and everyone was dialed in. There is just something very funny about Curley getting hit in the head with a hammer or the mandatory food fight that happens at any gathering of more than 5 people who happen to be in tuxedos. We have added to the collection over the years most recently getting a copy of a full length movie of "The 3 Stooges in Orbit".

I am not sure what the difference is between the Stooges and current comedy or action TV. As a parent, I have never feared that the Stooges might have some negative impact on Matt. It is violent but the violence seems to be so outlandish, even a 10 year old understands that it is not real but extremely funny. I dont know.

Our experience in The Gambia last week illustrates the international appeal and power of the work of Moe, Larry and Curley. We had just completed a 5 hour journey across the grasslands to Barra, Gambia. We stopped there to wait for a ferry to cross the Gambia river to Banjul, our final destination. The problem was that only 2 of the 3 ferrys were running on the Friday afternoon before New Years. It was packed. We arrived Barra at about 1 PM and didn't get on the boat until after 5 PM. We had a wait on our hands.

Matt was sitting in the back of the 4 Runner watching the Stooges on his portable DVD player as we were parked. Funny that we take this piece of equipment for granted these days. Anyway, Barra is a very crowded place and "the shakedown" is very prevalent. That is, everybody asks you for money for something. Everybody. After a while, we had the windows closed and the AC on. Matt's DVD player was drawing a crowd of kids to his window. They were trying to see in the back through the dark glass. I looked back and told Matt that he could just open the window. He did and before long, the magic appeal of the Stooges found its way to West Africa. The Gambia uses English as its primary language but these kids probably spoke more Wolof than English. The howling of children laughing was almost too much. The entire back window of the car was filled with faces who couldnt contain the laughter. Really neat.

I guess that the message is that Matt probably did more to break down walls with this simple action than he will ever know. People remember this foolish slapstick for whatever reason. I hope that one day that these children get to see the Stooges again as adults and remember the white kid who gave them their first exposure to "the boys". I also hope that Matt gets it that sometime the most difficult problems between people can be solved with a little laughter and being brave enough to open the window in a strange land.

Larry , Moe and Curley get it.

The best of days to you. Carl

And a new year begins and we forget to push publish

Over the New Year weekend, we travelled to Banjul, The Gambia. The Gambia is south of us by about 5 hours, give or take a few potholes, overloaded vehicles and wild bands of monkeys (these 5 hours do not, however, include the 4 hour wait for the scary ferry or the lack of road signs on the other side of the river, which led us to being very, very lost in the dark in yet another foreign country - ah yes, adventure). My not so secret mission in Senegal (and now The Gambia) will be to label the roads, you know, like highways and streets, each and every one of them. While I'm at it, I'd like to build some restrooms.

The Gambia is a former British colony, situated at the mouth of the Gambia river, bordered by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean - the British needed a port in Western Africa and The Gambia was formed. The fact that it is an English speaking country was a bit of a relief and was greatly appreciated.

We stayed at the Kairaba Hotel which was very nice and full of Europeans on holiday. The beaches were clean and the weather was delightful, although a little breezy and cool. We managed some fishing on the Gambia River and Matt caught a frogfish and a red snapper. Sadly for Matt, we had no way to freeze or cook the snapper, so we gave it to the boat captain, Amoro. The frogfish was happily released back into the river. That was one homely fish.

Upon our return to Dakar, we found that the public transportation system was on strike over the high cost of fuel. The strike lasted for two days. In a city of 4 million, the public transport system is very important as the great majority of workers do not have vehicles. Needless to say, the city streets were quiet even with the undertone of unrest. With elections approaching at the end of February, I believe we'll see more public protests.

Back again

Apologies all around for our quiet over here. Much has happened since our last post and not all of it good. I suggested to a friend that we had had our run of bad luck in threes since our arrival and his quick response was to say that in Senegal you're not limited to three. After his wife gave him a swift (and probably painful) punch in the arm, he retracted his statement to say that we are now heading into good luck from here on out. Let us see. Humor is an important commodity here.

A short comment about our most recent bad luck. Our house was broken into and some of our small electronics were stolen - the camera, the laptop, our cell phones, an ipod and a small amount of cash (apparently our intruders didn't understand that the wife in the house might have all the cash and despite having gone through my purse, they missed the greater amount of grocery money that I keep. They took Carl's paltry cash instead. Hah). They came, they took, they left. We probably interupted them as we were gone for less than an hour. They likely scaled the back wall (and our neighbors guard saw nothing, humph, imagine that!). The house was locked so they busted open a security grate, broke a window and opened the back door. Many lessons learned on that one. We'll be able to replace our things later, our house has been reinforced, and we are wiser for the experience. Hate that. Interestingly enough, we think the peacock was trying to tell us there were intruders as he squawked a number of times before we left and we couldn't figure out what he was doing. Peacocks are territorial like geese and will get protective of what they consider their property (we learned that later, thank you very much). He gets extra corn from here on out.

Last week was spent minding the house and entertaining Matt as break started on the 16th. Hence, he had the one computer most of the time and internet was pretty spotty for us anyway. So it goes.



So, on to better news. Two weekends ago, we travelled to Lac Rose, the pink lake. It was definintely one of the best things we've done since we've been here. Remote, rustic, the friendliest people and none of the hustle and bustle of the city. We rode horses on the beach one day, four wheelers the next. The food was fabulous - a chicken tagine and fresh french bread for dinner. Fresh squeezed juice and fresh bread and jam for breakfast. Simple and lovely. We will go back.



Lac Rose has a small salt mining operation. The lake is pink during the dry season when the water is low and the sun is high. We saw the pink when we arrived. There is a high concentration of minerals that reflects through the water with the sunlight. Close up, it looks rusty.




The dunes we rode through are the same dunes where the Paris to Dakar Rally used to end. The race is no longer run because of the dangers north of here. I'm pretty sure Matt was thinking he was racing the rally over the dunes. It was exciting. We came over one dune and found a Touareg with his camels. Although I found the camels interesting, I found the herder more interesting. I typically identify the Touareg people by their azure blue robes and the particular turban they wear on their heads. I do not see them often, but they are a distinctive people, indigenous to the desert. They have a long history of a nomadic lifestyle, impacted greatly by development. I do hope to reach a point where I can ask people for their photograph, but I have a respect for these people and, even though it is quite obvious we're not from here, I still dislike the "tourist" aspect of some of our experiences.




Our Christmas was quiet. Although the country is 95% Muslim, Christmas is celebrated by many, Christian and Muslim alike. Everyone was dressed in their finest and the sounds of fireworks lasted long into the night. The Santa at the grocery store was a little bit creepy but Matthew didn't see him, so we're good. We opened gifts under our very first fake tree (imported from walmart), hung out at the soccer field for awhile with other families, and then had dinner with friends. As with the military, people tend to take care of each other, particularly in these faraway places, more so during the holidays. We are grateful to our new friends here in this community. There is much to be thankful for.

I understand people have had a hard time leaving messages on the blog. I have also been unable to respond to those comments that are left here, go figure. In any event, thank you for reading and following our adventures.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Elections in West Africa

Hi Everybody, Carl here. It has been a bit since my last post, so here goes.

Senegal looks to conduct Presidential elections in February. This process serves as a shining example to other African nations as to how the process should work, mostly.

Recently, there have been several examples of poor election process such as in Cote Ivoire last summer and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in November. Cote Ivoire wasnt necesarily bad election process, it was more about a bad president who refused to accept the clear mandate of the elections and refused to leave office backing this with military power. Getting the picture? France (yea France) finaly went in, captured the guy and he is currently on trial in The Haugue for war crimes. Not a good example of democratic election process but ultimately a process that worked, somewhat.

The DRC, well now there is another kettle of fish. This is a huge country with untold natural resources, probably lots of oil that held an election a few weeks back. It is told that NGOs spent upwards of 700 million USD just to ensure the validity of the elections! Ok, lets start off with a 32 page ballot! Smelling like election fraud yet? They conducted the election and of course all of the 161 candidates are claiming victory! You have got to love it. The Catholic Church claims to have information on voting irregularities and the true winner but they refuse to release this information as it may start a civil war. A Civil war that has factions that support the major contenders and a military which will splinter to support multiple candidates. Holy Moley.

All of this makes the Senegalese elections seem tame in comparison. We have a sitting President who came into office and initiated term limits to 2 elections. He did this right after his first election so he contends that he has only been elected once since term limits were instituted so he is of the opinion that he can run again. The people of Senegal have said no. The President recently proclaimed his formal candidacy for his third election. Senegal law requires 50% of the popular vote to win an election. The President tried to write legislation tht would allow a win with only 25% support from a popular vote. Well, the people went nuts, rioted and he backed off.

Today there is a great deal of anxiety about the time between now and the next election. Parties proclaimed their candidates on 23 December. Riots because the President threw his hat in the ring as expected. The end of January is when the legislative council will rule on the legitamacy of the Presidents bid and campaigning may begin for all. Probably more rioting. Then the elections at the end of February will not produce a 50% popular vote for any one candidate and well you guessed it, probably more riots. A run off election will be forced in March if there is less than a 50% popular vote.

Laurie , Matt and I were driving home one afternoon when traffic came to a standstill. Matt started complaining that his eyes were burning and yes, there was rioting at a local university with CS gas thrown in healthy doses. A few days later, an opposition candidate for President was approached by a "band of thugs" and he responded with guns killing one (evidently on you tube), he is currently on trial for murder. Politics Africa style.....

Who knows what the future will bring? The good news is that Senegal will direct these elections for better or worse. The populace is generally peaceful and interested in change for the better of all. They want a better and more prosperous country and you can not blame them.

Anxious in the short term and hopeful for the long term.

All the best. Carl