Starting blocks - arrival in Dakar

It has been a tumultuous past few weeks, getting the administrative details ironed out just 24 hours before leaving the country on November 2nd and arriving in the west African nation of Senegal at 5:00 am today.

The flight was uneventful but the arrival was a tad ridiculous. Leaving the flight, we arrive on the tarmac and were met with airport agents sent to verify that we have the right to disembark. First time I have t0 show proof that I had the right to exit an airplane. But okay. After getting my luggage and passing all the luggage through a scanner (designed I suppose to screen potential drug traffickers and illegal firearms entering the country), I see a man holding a sign with my name. Good so far. But then as I exit the airport four young men come to help me with my luggage - actually they just walk along side me - and claim that they are with the driver. But when we arrive at the car, they ask for a tip Suddenly I realize that they were just posers. I give them a few dollars to change into local currency and they pretend that it is not enough and do not return with any change. Finally the driver intervenes and all the money is returned. I have experienced far worse in other airports, so no harm done. Now in my hotel room watching the sun rise and contemplating how this blog will evolve.

I started this web log to help keep my friends up to date on my experiences abroad but also to help me to reflect on my path. Work details will remain vague but I hope to paint a clear enough image of the political and cultural conditions and my personal life in Senegal to give an idea of the stakes involved in the work I am doing here.

I used the title "road map" because that is what I hope to help evolve during my time here. Maps are living documents. The creative process involved in generating any kind of road map is very interactive, inclusive, and interpretive. The types of monuments, side interests, natural and human-made features along a given stretch of road are subjective and will vary from one community to another. Road maps reflect the perceptual reality of a people. It lays out what is important to them. It tells us how to get from point A to point B but it includes identity, cultural pride, and communal promotion. Impossible to imagine a foreigner drawing up such a map. It is the product of open dialogue, unspoken gestures, hidden knowledge, and social acquiescence. I hope to be a stimulus for the emergence of such a road map in Senegal relying on local civil society groups to lead the way.

Finally got the room temperature of the room to an acceptable 80 degrees. Time for a shower and will attempt to head to the office for at least a 1/2 day. I only have a couple of days in the capital before I leave for the southern town of Ziguinchor this weekend.