Traveling to the Villages

Susan and Zach called yesterday (Sunday Nov. 8). It was about 8 p.m. in Senegal. They are doing well, staying healthy, and immersing in the local culture. They are taking tons of photos to share and put together into a slideshow when they return.

Their group was in Hoorefonde Village for their third night. This village is home to Aliou Ba, one of the West Africans from Summit County that are part of the cultural exchange trip.

Susan said they are being treated like dignitaries. Apparently they were welcomed by the entire village and got to meet with the village chief. The women wear beautiful fabrics. The kids have swarmed around Zach to the point some of the men have volunteered to help keep the kids back (Susan said it was like President Obama's secret service detail) when they are walking around.

It is extremely hot where they are - their entire group has been sleeping on the roof of a building rather than indoors. Zach has been conducting his water quality tests for his science fair project. They met with the man in the village who is in charge of the water treatment system - sounds like Zach had a great real-world experience with his studies.

Today they are traveling to Doumga Ouro Alpha Village, home of Oumar - the other West African from Summit County on the trip. Susan and Zach will then travel on Tuesday to her friend Mamadou's village and stay the night. Oumar has internet service at his village, so we may get lucky and get a post from Susan.

Alyssa and I had our own little tropical experience yesterday, though not nearly as hot or culturally rich as S&Z are having. I'll keep you wondering what we did.

--Todd

Dakar markets and Gore Island, Wednesday November 4

Todd here to post the latest update. Received the following email from Susan Wednesday afternoon (Wed evening in Dakar):

Just skyped with Zach's class. Very fun. We got to talk for about 20 minutes and the kids asked all sorts of great questions.

Things are going really well. We were at Gore Island today where they traded slaves. Very good tour with tons of info. We learned a lot - unfortunately a difficult topic, but worth learning about. We also did some shopping and Zach got to experience the throngs of vendors coming up to us, surrounding the van and us, being very pushy about selling us stuff. We have experienced the big markets where people who live here buy everything, and also an artisanal market with just arts and crafts and things like that.

Driving around the city is interesting - it ranges from dirt roads with more people walking than driving, to paved roads heading into the downtown area that are more crowded than any you have ever seen, with cars going in all sorts of odd directions. Yesterday we went down to the coast and played in the ocean a little bit. There are hundreds of little huts on the beach that people rent out and sit under during the day. Also, unfortunately, there is trash everywhere. Oh well.

Zach is doing great. He was still very tired this morning (imagine being waken at what feels like 1 in the morning!!) but he rallied during the day and seems to be doing really well now. The ladies who are feeding us were concerned about Zach yesterday because he didn't eat much, but now I think between him feeling less tired and getting used to the african food, he seems to be doing much better!

Tomorrow we are off to a game reserve and then to St. Louis, a city up the coast. One night there and then off to the villages. We are not sure how much access we will have to internet in the villages but will see.

End of Susan's email.

Here in Denver, Alyssa and I are settling into our routine. A local restaurant was holding a fundraiser for Alyssa's school and we went out for pizza last night. Alyssa got to play with a grapefruit-sized piece of dough while we were waiting for our meal. Grandma Bridges came over to the house after dinner to watch Alyssa while I went to the Denver Public Schools' middle school expo. In terms of crowds, not too much different than being on the streets of Dakar, just no dirt roads and heat to contend with!!

--Todd

In Dakar

It should be 4 in the morning for us but it is 11 a.m. instead. I am giving Zach some time to relax because he is tired. Our hotel is very simple with foam mattress bed and a shower with no apparent nozzle but still a trickle of water. This computer is very old and slow and has a french keyboard. I can speak french but cant type it. Just outside our door are women with babies on back and eggs on head. Horsedrawn wagon with kid selling salt. Kids with no shoes. beautiful fqbrics on the women. No seatbelts in cars but no need because we are in africa (their words). Mostly cinderblock buildings and many in abandoned construction phase. Mostly dirt roads. Customs was easy and everyone is very friendly. Typing very slow. Love being in Africa again and wonder if it is all too overwhelming for Zach on 2 hours of sleep. But so far so good. More later when I can.

Ready for Dakar

We are onboard South African Airways anticipating departure. They just handed out socks and toothbrushes, which gave Zach a good giggle.

Sadly, we just found out that a friend of Zach's, Jake, lost his dad last night. Our hearts are heavy because of this. Also we send our well wishes to Tim Tajchman right now as he fights his own battle with cancer. We send our love to both families.

The flight is 7+ hours. We will be tired when we get there!

Zach says: This jet is really cool (giggle giggle). One row has 2 seats on each side and 4 seats in the middle. Sadly tomorrow is the day when I take my malaria pill - it tastes really bad.

Zach was also excited about the "mobile lounge" that took us from one concourse to the other.

Thanks again to everyone for all the support for this trip.

This will be our last mobile post until we are back in US. We'll update via computers as possible and via communications with Todd.

Alyssa, how is Stewart??!!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Baggage

We checked 10 bags. This included 4 Project Cure kits loaded with medical supplies and one bag loaded with school supplies and toothbrushes. It looks like we all brought lots of granola bars, too!!

Last moments with Alyssa

We are at the airport. Alyssa is such a brave kid for watching us go. We will miss her and Todd! There are 6 of us travelling together today. We will arrive in D.C. At about 3:30 and then in Dakar at about 7:00 tomorrow morning.

12 hours to go...

We are in the final moments before our departure. We'll leave for the airport in the morning at about 6:30 a.m. I am excited and sad, all at once. Excited for the trip, sad that I will go for 2 weeks without seeing Alyssa and Todd. Alyssa and I have cried together about our upcoming time apart, but she is a brave and wonderful kid, and her time with her dad will be very special. I think this will be an adventure for all of us.

I took Alyssa over with me today to see my friend Mamadou before the departure. Mamadou came all the way down from Avon to say goodbye. We will be seeing his family in Ndindory in Senegal on November 10. While we were seeing Mamadou, I also say another friend, Binta, who gave me some things to carry home for her family in Oura Alpha. It was such a wonderful moment - they were all so happy to know that we would be traveling to their villages. They were full of love and happiness and it was such a great moment. Mamadou picked up Alyssa and carried her outside in his arms and Alyssa held her arms around Mamadou, and I thought to myself, what a wonderful thing it is to have my kids exposed to people from other parts of the world.

The picture that I posted here is not from today - it is an older picture of Alyssa and Mamadou. But I didn't have the wherewithall to take pics today, and so thought this one would be good.

So a little bit about Mamadou. He has two wives (very common in Senegal) and 8 children. He couldn't tell me the ages of his kids - that is not as important in his culture. His mother is still living, but I think must be very, very old.

My mom brought chicken noodle soup over for dinner tonight, a welcome treat considering all the last minute stuff this evening. Finally, though, everything is ready.

Zach and I will blog as much as possible on the trip. We found out it wouldn't be quite as easy as we had hoped thanks to a little communication snafu with AT&T, but we will do our best.

Stay healthy!!!