Well I have had a very busy six weeks. The weeks leading up to February I was busy teaching and making up classes for time I would miss in Senegal for WAIST and on vacation with Heather. WAIST is the West African International Softball Tournament played at the Club Atlantique in Dakar. I traveled to Nouakchott for a mandatory safety and security meeting and then the virtually mandatory WAIST personal grooming session, before boarding a chartered bus for a eleven hour trip to Dakar. I had been looking forward to WAIST for the last several months and it lived up to my expectations. The event is a three day softball tournament for expatriates in the region. Peace Corps volunteers sent teams from Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, and Guinea. There were also several other teams made up of Americans living in Dakar. The Club Atlantique is a sporting club in Dakar and is frequented by Dakar's large expatriate community. There is a pool and bar, so I pretty much had my bases covered. The club is right next to the Atlantic ocean and you can hit a foul ball from one of the fields into the ocean if you pull the ball enough.
I had just finished playing one and half games as the starting shortstop for our B-team, when I looked up and saw a Brussels Airlines plane coming in to land. I asked myself, "Ryan what time is it? When does Heather's plane land? Is that her plane or are you confused? How many beers have you had?" I decided to not risk it and ran off the field to the nearest road and flagged down a cab. Well, I was right it was her plane...so I couldn't have been that out of it.
Heather and I stayed in downtown Dakar for the next four or five days. Downtown Dakar was a bit overwhelming for someone who has been living in Mauritania for the last nine months. There are tons of people everywhere, big buildings, good food, and the city is huge. I liked it a lot. I continued to play in the softball tournament until our team was eliminated. I then proceeded to support our A-team, which had a legitimate chance of winning the tournament. Our team progressed to the championship game, where I played the banner on my trumpet fresh from the states and cheerleaded with my trumpet throughout the playoffs.
We ended up losing in the championship game, but a fun time was had by all. After the tournament Heather and I spent the next day on the Ile de Goree. This was one of the places where slaves embarked for the Americas. The island is super picturesque and cars are not allowed on the island, which makes it incredibly different from Dakar. The next day Heather and I traveled to St. Louis Senegal and spent the next four or five days there eating, drinking beers, and going to the beach. I like St. Louis alot, it is so chilled out and a great place to relax.
After St. Louis Heather and I traveled to Mauritania. The beginning of the journey went well, but crossing the border to Mauritania was a giant hassle. Heather did not have a visa, which means that the border police had to do a little extra work. Crossing the border with a visa is already a pain, but the police were super pushy for bribes because Heather didn't have one. In the end we waited for almost four hours, had to pay the chief 7000 ougiyas, and had a terrible time.
Heather visited my site for about 18 hours. Thats pretty much all the time you need to see Akjoujt. We ate lunch at my neighbors house and she was given a veil like all the moorish women wear in Akjoujt. Heather flew out the next day from Nouakchott.
I then traveled back to Akjoujt. It was an awesome car ride, I was in the back seat of a car making a pillow shipment to Akjoujt. I was conscious for about three minutes of the three hour car ride. After returning to school, I discovered that one of the other English teachers had been fired and was not going to be replaced. So I am working more than before. Oh well, being busy makes it a bit easier to live here.
