Arrival

We arrived in Dakar early this AM after fifteen hours of travel.  I entertained a number of overlapping contradictory emotions/voices en route, from elation, to relief, to panic (why am I doing this?!), to counseling (you'll be fine).  Moving through customs and baggage claim was no problem, despite the few pirates (guys who insist on helping you collect and transport your baggage).  We took it all in stride, remained patient, handled one detail at a time.  Only a few passengers deplaned in Dakar, the flight continuing on to Capetown, another eight hours down the continent.  As a Delta steward remarked to Randi:  Oh sweetie, you don't want to get off in Dakar.  That's REAL Africa!

ISD Director, Wayne R, met us at the airport, and drove us to our new flat.  We're on the third floor of a four-story building on a poorly maintained side street, about a 15 minute walk from school.  The flat is large:  three bedrooms, three baths (the master bath has an adult-sized bathtub and a bidet), a large kitchen and living room, high ceilings, and good-enough furnishings.  All residencies in the neighborhood are set behind gates or high walls, each guarded by a Senegalese guy, some in uniform, others in t-shirts and jeans.  There is clearly a lively social exchange among the neighborhood so-called guards, as they congregate in the shade of trees.

It's the rainy season here (through October), and though we had no rain today, the clouds felt very tropical, big and billowy.  This shouldn't be surprising being that Atlantic hurricanes are often spawned in north Africa, departing the continent by way of Dakar and the Cape Verde Peninsula, headed for the Caribbean.

It's very humid, though we've had a pleasant breeze throughout the day.  In the moment we're cloistered in the air conditioned living room.

We toured the school with the Director this afternoon.  The school is relatively small, serving about 300 students K-12.  Classrooms border a central grassy field, a unique feature in this part of Africa.  The school is adjacent to Club Atlantique, which has a 25 yard-ish lap pool, weigh room, snack bar, etc.

My classroom is a nice size for a smaller group, no frills, certainly will need to be transformed in advance of the school year.  Or, better, the kids and I might take on the setting up of the classroom as an opening project:  how to turn it into an efficient and pleasant work environment.

Many things to do:  shop for groceries (there's a Casino chain grocery market just down the street);  jump into the Atlantic;  get Randi a bike;  look for a photo printer;  jump into the Atlantic;  get a little notepad for recording the names of the many new people we're meeting;  jump into the Atlantic.