The Visit

Sept 3/4 Arrivals from the US:
On September 3: Lyn
On September 4: Mom/Don, Dad/Jay, Jerry/Chris

Sept 3/4 Catch up on Sleep:
Dakar, Senegal is on GMT (London time). This is 4 hours from EDT, 5 hours from CDT. You will be tired from travelling all night, and the time difference. We hope that you can spend the first day relaxing and catching up on sleep. When I arrived on February 2, I was so tired and slept until three in the afternoon, and I only woke up because we had a wedding to go to on that day. You will have one full day to catch up, explore the neighborhood, in town, etc.. They say it takes one day per hour time change to really adjust.

Friday Sept 5 Wedding, Day 1
On this day, we will start with the civil ceremony at the local - I don't know what you call it - kind of like a city hall or something? There are one in each of the different neighborhoods of Dakar. Anyway, we will have the civil ceremony there. After that, we will go to the church. I don't have all the details yet, but it's a Catholic Church - seeing as I am not Catholic, it is not going to be a typically ceremony. After that, we plan to have dinner with everyone - around 60 - 80 people, which is out-of-town visitors, family, and close friends.

Saturday Sept 6 Wedding, Day 2
On Saturday morning, we will travel around 50 miles to Thies, Jeanne's home town. This is the day of the traditional ceremony. There will be an incredible number of people at Jeanne's house on this day. This one is out of my control - just going with the flow on this one.

Sunday Sept 7 in Thies
In Thies, you can discover the town, spend time with the family, etc. People may be coming to the house to congratulate us, etc. I may also have a person or two from my family in Guinea (Fatim's uncle and Aunt) who may come and we can spend some time with them.

Monday Sept 8 Dakar, Ile de Gorée
We will most likely return to Dakar on the 8th and go to a beautiful island, just off the coast of Dakar, called Goree Island. It once held slaves before their long travel to Europe or the US, but today is a very pleasant place to visit.

Tuesday Sept 9 - Friday Sept 12
During these days, we can plan either day trips or overnight trips to different areas in and out of Dakar. This could include the beach at Popenguine or Toubab Diallo, the north coast of Dakar (Les Almadies), art markets, or whatever comes to mind.