Senegal part 2

We walked out to the bus, my hair already a ball of frizz. What a great way to make a first impression. We walked into the airport and I was shocked. It looked like a dank little cellar basement. It didn't help that it was about 50 degrees with 200% humidity. We were jetlagged to hell, travelled through5 time zones (strangely enough, Senegal is only three hours ahead of eastern Canada) and could barely walk.

I desperately needed the bathroom, so Jerri stayed with our luggage while I found a toilet. They pointed me to the lavoratory and I was delighted to discover that it had a real, honest to goodness toilet (fans of this blog will remember my aversion to Turkish toilets). No toilet paper, but I had tissues with me. Flies buzzed around while sweat dripped off my face.

We looked around the waiting room for our hosts but no one was holding a "Welcome Karla and Jerri!" sign. Did they forget about us? We walked outside and luckily we saw a sign for the conference. We loaded everything up in the car and sped off.

We drove about fifteen minutes to a small residential area outside the downtown area. We were staying in a guesthouse beside a mosque and a few shops.

We were led upstairs and introduced to everyone. I saw Adriana again, which was awesome! I bounced up and down for a good five minutes. I didn't know anyone else. Since I knew the Romanians, I would be sharing a room with them, while Jerri would share a room with one of the French participants, Gwen.

I think we "Romanians" got the worst part of the deal. Adriana and Oana were sharing a double bed while I slept on a mattress on the floor. No air conditioning, a weak fan and no cross breeze. Some of the male participants were sharing rooms five times as big as ours with excellent AC.

Everyone was super friendly and welcoming. We joined in a big game of Assassin, which brought back memories from Bulgaria. Instead of five people, we played it with twenty and everyone had a specific role.

By now, I caught my second wind, and I had to force myself to go to bed. I couldn't wait for the conference to start!