"The · darkest · thing · about · Africa · has · always · been · our · ignorance · of · it"

Bonjour! I'm sitting here at an internet cafe in Senegal, wishing I spoke French or Wolof. Why are you in Senegal, you may ask, or perhaps, where's Senegal? Senegal is the former French colony which surrounds Gambia on all sides except for a small stretch of coast. So while former British colony Gambia has one single type of bread across the country and often mediocre cuisine, Senegal is the land of pastries, pizza, and assorted other French items starting with "p" that I never order because they don't resemble the English word closely enough for me to guess.

There are some Mandinka speakers in Senegal, and I get very excited when I run into them and can speak in complete sentences. Otherwise, I'm getting by with my guidebook French, a few Wolof phrases, a lot of gestures and the numbers 1-99 in Fula.

As to why I’m here – first, WAIST – West African Intramural Softball Tournament—a gathering of West African PCVs, and this was where I came to ship Minty direct to the U.S.  (Flying him from Gambia would have meant going through Europe--nearly impossible these days after a severe tightening of their rules for shipping animals because a cargo handler was bitten a few months back.)