Ile de Goree

Happy Mardi Gras! I'm celebrating by having a nice dinner at a new restaurant in town, with free wi-fi Internet. How bizarre, to be using this fancy wireless computer here, with a guy selling nescafe from a cart strolling by, and kids dressed up in their best "yere wolof" for Mardi Gras. This past weekend I and three friends took a one-night vacation to Ile de Goree. It was amazing! We took a ferry to the island Saturday evening, at a time when most of the tourists were leaving for their hotels in Dakar. Ile de Goree looks like a town in Southern France, with its homogenous architecture of courtyard gardens, metal balconies, and red tile roofs. In the evening, quaint streetlamps came on, illuminating the narrow stone walkways - no cars on Goree, just pedestrians, which is completely relaxing. We had dinner at an oceanside restaurant. I'd forgotten how much I love the sea, the special smell of salt air and how relaxing the waves sound. Goree is a quiet paradise at nighttime; we strolled around, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. The next day we followed crowds of tourists around to visit the island's attractions. Most famously, the slave house, which is veyr well preserved. The top floor is a tiny museum, once the old airy masters' quarters, built directly on top of the stone-walled cells beneath, where the slaves were housed. A door leads directly out to the sea - they called that, dramatically, "the door of no return." Goree also has a very nice little museum dedicated to Senegalese women, and another great museum covering the history of Senegal from prehistoric times, built upon an old fort. Of course, being a popular tourist destination, there was tons of art for sale (of varying quality) bombarding us throughout the day, all the way up the hill to the summit of the plateau. Bits of old military bunkers and defunct guns scatter the island as well. Several artists set up their studios in the empty cement buildings - an appropriate reclaimation, I think. For me a night on Ile de Goree was a heavenly respite from the stress of training, not to mention the constant noise. And I took my first hot shower in Senegal! Oh, it was so wonderful, it defies description! Needless to say my backyard bucket bath can't quite compare. But, now it's back to Thies and long training days. Today we practiced grafting trees. It's a fine art I definitely have not mastered.