homestayed in
dakar..
haven't done that in a while. like riding a bike.
made friends with the owner of a local bar..
..we caught a share-taxi north and
don't think there's a working speedometer in this country.
saw senegalese college life.
walked a safari, because there are no lions..
..animals have it good here
basking in the shade
playing in the surf
doing whatever the hell nocturnal porcupine rodent creatures do
with so much room to stretch out and get comfortable
even the crabs will throw beach parties (zoom in)
animal unemployment rates are kept low,
thanks in part to the delicious carbonated beverage industry
exotic meals are only a well-timed pounce away
the chef never asks, "would you like flies with that?"
you don't have a choice.
and winged citizens enjoy all-you-can-eat crepes
..chocolate syrup only for paying customers..
the risk of injury is low,
because that solar-powered electric fence was the stupidest idea ever.
piggyback rides here are safe enough for the most overprotective of parents
overboard goats are quickly thrown a life preserver
and leashes are just fashion statements
strolled along the mauritanian border.
negotiated another ride south..
senegalese drivers exhibit the utmost professionalism
they are especially courteous when i reveal my nation of origin.
rather than as a beacon of liberty and freedom, people here associate america with that new car smell.
while others prefer a more outdoorsy scent
people risk life and limb to maintain their seatbelts.
stayed in home-compound #3 in a coastal town of 7,000..
our courteous hosts were part of a dance troupe
they invited us to a baptism..
..where i learned the origin of
aretha franklin's inauguration hat.
ate family-style-to-the-extreme.
awesome.
hard to worry about germs when the food is this good.
sorry, did you need a close up? this good.
or how about.. this good.
had enough? this good.
and just to save you some time, let me cram your french fries directly into the sandwich.
(it happened more than once.)
after eating..
found kindred souls. a nation as concerned with dental hygiene as i am..
..toothpicks and these tooth-cleaning sticks everywhere..
if flossing were a religion,
my face would've been chiseled onto
this sculpture by now.
had to be there.
think tourists who slink chains around their luggage in a country as safe as senegal ought to be denied entry at customs.
went to
goree island, home of an ancient slave house.
bumped into this little tour group, on thanksgiving day no less. there has to be a funny name for turkish canadians akin to 'tofurkey'.. can-turkey?
didn't realize senegal had pioneered the fake palm tree cellphone tower.
or..
the late-night watermelon vendor
the beverage cascade cooling system
the allahparazzi
the tigerspike shoe
the garmin gps satellite search failure, even though it worked in spain
the ultimate confidence in her wrapping abilities
the
wolof word for yes pronounced 'wow!'
the outdoor furniture store
the untended city fire
perhaps related: the jewel-bead thong
..which i would rather be caught wearing than this shirt.
the koranic bullhorn
the powdered milk, nescafe, and horse-sized sugar block morning trio
the good cop bad shirt routine
the caption contest
the surprisingly comfortable chair
the alternative
the braidy bunch..
let them try on me. doesn't look good/takes a long time/hurts/isn't washable/...
.../impossible to balance anything on top of.
a better hairstyle
wonder if we should tax american tobacco companies' foreign profits more, because a pack costs less than 5¢ per cigarette right now.
slept by a fan.
agree with einstein. staying in the same place makes you age faster..
..also, on relativity: those bucket ice water baths will make me appreciate my next hot shower about ten billion times more.
read some reviews..
(
1) the world's greatest newspaperman
(
2) good news about the news business
(
3) the real bonnie & clyde
(
4) cambodian genocide trials
"many cambodians have grown so cynical about the tribunal that they hope for a different kind of punishment - that they will be reincarnated as bugs."
(
5) honduran politics
"even if zelaya had acted unconstitutionally, he should have been brought before the courts, not thrown out of the country in his pyjamas."
(
6) berlusconi ahmadinejad parallels
(
7) iranian protest synopsis
(
8) billionaire fluctuations
"the total net worth of the 100 richest americans fell 18 per cent, though they were still the wealthiest national group with $775b."
wondered about work being done on the bridge between linguistics and computer science. seems like a baby step into artificial intelligence research. shouldn't we have written the
babel fish algorithm by now?
11/26/09
