Waking up in Dakar...

I awake near 6:30am to the sound of what may be a truck passing but sounds like a plane overhead. I wait for the sound to pass and I listen more. Nothing.Other than the gentle hum of the window unit and the oscillating fan set to blow on the shirt I washed in the sink last night, there is no noise, no indication of where I am.

I step onto the cool tiled floor and sneeze. There is mold in the room. I could not tell last night, but this morning it is very noticeable. Having crossed into the next room, which also smells moldy, I soon display the knowledge of my first trial and error lesson from the day before: Pull the lever up to flush, not down. Actually, it is more of a button than a lever. Any American would have pushed rather than pull.

I open the curtains to reveal the view that was concealed by darkness the night before. The sight does not match the sound I now hear at the window. I hear birds, but I see none. Unlike the area that I was led into yesterday, the back view of this university guest house looks as if a bomb went off or a construction project was thwarted years ago. What could easily be five or six, five-story buildings lie in gray ruins. In the center of that scene, in a littered courtyard sits a mature tree with bountiful foilage and far-reaching branches. The birds must be there I think. So this is Dakar.

I open the window to my bedroom and lean out for q few photos. I can see far from the fourth floor. The Caribbean color and landscape of the building I'm in blooms in sharp contrast to the gray ruins ten paces away across the courtyard. The faint smell of ocean brought in by a breeze erases the trace of mold until I close the window. This will be my first full day in Senegal. Today should be interesting; we will go to the central banking district to exchange dollars for CFAs...