Melissa and Mayhem

Yes Mel, that's you

Directly following my trip home, I was lucky enough to get to bring home an extra great “sereche”! Melissa joined me on the way back to Senegal, where she spent a week falling in love with the great country this is. 

We arrived on the night of the 4^th, only to find that my bag containing ALL the gifts for my host family had been lost. I have NEVER lost a bag before, and this is not the country or continent  want it to happen in, but it did. I will give credit to Dakar’s airport, they have their stuff together as far as lost luggage goes. Once I figured out who I needed to report to, they were able to tell me where my bag was and when it was going to be there. Apparently, at that point, it was still in Miami (where I had a layover) and was going to be coming in on the next flight a couple days away. Because Melissa and I were on a tight schedule for the short period she had to see the ENTIRE country of Senegal, I could not wait for the bag and we headed out. 

We spent a night in Dakar, at the regional house, and headed for Maleme Niani the next morning. Arriving there in the afternoon and spending two nights (which is MORE then enough time), we had a fantastic time walking around town, greeting people, and getting to give Melissa a little insight to village life. They also gave her a name, Ya File or File (pronounced Yeah Philly or Philly). She had LOTS of tooxomas (people with the same name as her) and they all flocked to come and see her. Everyone loved her tattoos and piercings and thought her long, golden hair was beautiful. After two days of that, we decided to head into Tamba. We only spent a night there, which was mostly unpleasant because the power and water had been shut off for the hottest part of the day. But Melissa caught up on some sleep and the next morning we headed back out to Dakar. We were joined by some other volunteers; Anne, Anne’s friend Becky, Nick, and Ivy. Once in Dakar, we once again, enjoyed some delicious pizza, beer and beautiful American time. 

The next morning, we set out for our next adventure. We had made plans to head up to a town north of Dakar called Lampoul. This is where a GIANT sand dune is located and a couple of campements have popped up.  Getting to this place is less than easy to get to, but it is great once you are there.  We were also traveling during the mass religious to Touba. It made our transportation very difficult and the entire trip very congested. However we got there safe and sound, and we were ready to take on this mini desert. The campements in Lampoul are all outside and everyone stays in little tents on the sand dune. You can also ride camels, which we did. It was awesome. 

After our night with the camels, we headed back to Dakar where we spent a day out sightseeing and resting. Melissa had a late flight out on the 11th. Her trip was very short, but really great. I think we were able to see a lot of the country, and definitely the things that I see on a daily basis. Its is nice to have someone come out and see what it is I do every day and who I encounter.  

Its really fun to get to sight see in this country sometimes. I forget that this is still a foreign place for me and that one day I will not live here anymore. I want to be able to take advantage of what I am doing and where I am located. I want to be able to see as much of this country as I can while I am here. Having Mel come gave me the perfect excuse to go camel riding, hang out in Dakar, and go sightseeing a little. It is wonderful having visitors here, not only because I love seeing friends and family, but (selfishly) I get to go do things that I wouldn’t normally be able to do.