We Have Arrived

Dear All,

It's 8:45 in the morning Senegal time. That's 8 hours ahead of those of you living in Oregon. We just finished a wonderful breakfast with our host A. S. (name hidden) here in Thies. The flight was largely uneventful but the plane was very full! Karen and I sat next to a woman who had a 2-3 year old girl sitting on her lap for the whole trip. Fortunately she slept most of the way and was very good. Delta gives you free movies and TV shows to watch on international flights. Has anyone invented a way to sleep on an airplane yet? Ugh.

After checking through customs without any problem (pays to know the local language) and getting our baggage together, we were met outside the airport by S.N. (name also hidden) and another fellow (can't remember his name). They had a nice big van for us to ride in. We were headed out to Thies where we'll be staying most of our time here. I think it's about 35-40 miles inland from Dakar.

The ride out to Thies was in the dark so didn't we really didn't get to see much yet. We're all bushed and headed for some shut-eye. The weather is wonderful at the moment. Probably mid-70's. Wasn't execting that!

My nephew had his DS swiped out of his backpack at the airport parking lot. He wasn't feeling real good and was tired and just not alert to the mob that surrounded us wanting to help us carry our bags. Someone zipped open his backpack and grabed whatever he could. Lesson #1: keep your zippers shut and your hand on your bag. Karen made the flight from Portland with only minor challenges and is probably the most wupped of us all. Some 6 hours from Portland to New York, followed by another 8 from New York to Senegal. Whew!

Will try to keep you updated as we can. Feel free to share this with whomever.

Off to la-la land,
Ken