Catching up....

Coco Beach Hotel...

Happy 32nd Birthday Justin (April 21st)!!

A very sick Jusin, one Friday morning....

Ok...first off...apologies for the delay in blogging!! We are now finishing Week 5 here in Dakar, and lots has happened in the last 2 weeks! I'l try to catch you up without too many boring details!

Justin was able to meet up with some US Military folks that were in town a couple of weeks ago. They met up with the Senegalese Marines to teach and observe some military training outside of Dakar. From the anguish on his face when he returned...its apparent that driving in and out of Dakar is quite the task! They spent about 6 hours in a car that day (3 hours out, and 3 hours back) just to go spend a couple of hours observing. Note: the lengthy car ride is only because the traffic here can be gridlocked for serveral reasons...1) road construction, 2) cars breaking down, 3) taxis picking up or dropping off passengers, 4) cars dodging HUGE potholes, 5) animals in the road..etc. Nonetheless, the concept of little to no traffic rules, can make for an unpleasant roadtrip!!

Unfortunately, Justin endured his first bout of sickness here in Dakar. We have no idea what brought it on...but at about 2am on a Friday morning, he began multiple trips to the bathroom. 2 hours later, he was so dehydrated, that he nearly passed out!! YIKES!!! We called the front desk for medical help, but the answer we got was disheartening..."have someone go buy some medicine." (in very broken english). So we called a colleague for some easy advise..."take a fever reducer, sip some water, and try to hold out until you can go to the Embassy clinic in the morning". So that's what we did. They gave him some rehydration packets (aka fancy gatorade), some asprin, and sent us home to rest. So we turned that day into movie and room service time. Thankfully, the hotel had an English Movie channel! And by Sunday morning, he was feeling back to his old self!! Yeah!

Last week, he was also able to link up with some other Army folks to head down to The Gambia! (its another country, but surrounded by Senegal).It took them about 8 hours, and lots of off-road driving (because of the bad roads), but once there...sounds like they had a good time. They visited the Embassy, the teaching hospital, the National Museum, and some local eateries! They stayed 2 night at Coco Beach, and loved the accomidations...beautiful beach, pools, and wonderful breakfasts each morning. Good thing, cause Justin spent his 32nd Birthday there!!

Back in Dakar, I was running around with my friend, Megan, a Navy Almsted Scholar here for 2 1/2 yrs, who will be attending the college here for her 2nd Masters degree! She arrived in Dakar about 2 months before us, and really knows her way around! She is definitely a go-getter (to say the least)! She speaks fluent french (which is the official language here), and is even taking classes to learn Wolof (a dominant local language). She is a runner, and does crazy 10 mile runs here in town (early mornings, because it gets HOT)...but allows me to join her on the shorter ones! I will blog about our 2 days of productivity shortly...until then, enjoy some pictures!