The little world traveler. When people asked if it was his first flight, he'd just say, "Pfffthhht!"
Our South African Airways flight landed in Dakar at 6:11am. Getting off I thought…
80° is warm. Smells like ocean and… incense. Wow – humid too. This feels like Atlanta in the summer.
That guy dressed like a thug just kissed the ground. He actually kissed the ground. He looks so happy.
I hear Wolof. I’ve forgotten 87% of my Wolof.
Those three must be Peace Corps Volunteers. Totally unaffected and uninterested by the craziness going on at the arrivals terminal. Can you call a big room a ‘terminal’?
That couple must be here for the first time. I recognize that overwhelmed look. Part amazement and excitement, part ‘what are we doing here?!’.
The customs agent is asleep at his desk.
I hope Cheikh filled out the customs forms correctly. This is the tricky part… Praying for no hassles, praying for no hassles… Phew. No hassles. Yalla baaxna.
That customs agent is wearing a down coat and winter hat.
Is that… Yup. That’s a cat wandering around baggage claim.
Alec is going to grow up with this scene seeming normal.
Those signs are all handwritten in marker:
- Authorized personnel only.
- Form line here.
- No entry.
Are we the only ones who didn’t wrap our bags in Saran Wrap before checking them?
All five bags made it!
30 more steps… Mmm… More ocean and incense.
Nope. Don’t need a taxi. Don’t need to exchange money. Don’t need to rent a car. Don’t need a tour guide.
The streets are so empty at this time of day.
I hear birds – lots of birds. It sounds like waking up in Côte d’Ivoire when I was little.
Home.
Hmm… The top deadbolt has been pried off the door…
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So about the deadbolt being pried off the door…
Apparently one day while we were gone, our househelper got locked out on the balcony. (The door locks automatically – very easy to do.) She was able to get the attention of the maintenance guy who had to come up and pry the lock off (how? who knows.) in order to get in the apt to rescue her. Fortunately she had only locked that one deadbolt (which we were going to replace anyway) instead of all four locks and the iron security door!
KARI BORDERS, how dare you leave your mother hanging like that!!!! What happened? Did they get in???? You are in big trouble and you better call your dad and me!
I’m with Cile on this one! Except, when I went to ask…no, DEMAND an explanation, I see that you’d already written one. Whew!!!
That happened to me once, luckily my roommate was home to let me back in!
Lol Kari. Way to keep us on the edge of our seats. You’re brilliant!
i cannot tell you how often i imagined coming back to senegal, and how i would just sit in the middle of some intersection in dakar (with all the beggar women, and kids selling pnuts!) and just sit there and let myself get covered in that horrible dust and listen to the horrible taxi traffic, and just immerse myself in everything that is senegal. sort of like at the airport!
Love this post. Takes me back…I’m with Jana.
Loved this. Eloquent and funny!
Happened to some GA Tech grad students a few months ago. We set the ladder truck up and went up with a credit card and opened the door. These are supposed to be the best and the brightest. In four hours and the best idea they had was call 911. Tuition money well spent Mom and Dad.