Bienvenue - Senegalese Teranga

Walking through the airport, I was excited to see a couple people I knew!  Brother Jeff and several other Senegal-bound travelers had already made the trek and were “home”!

As we were boarding the plane, I noticed not only was first class predominantly Black, but so was business class, as well as most of the airplane and the flight attendants. This was my first time having this experience- some might be thinking, “Duh!” but I have traveled to the Caribbean and the DR, which are majority Black and never experienced a majority Black plane. It was mind-blowing. Having shared the photos of those waiting at the gate, I shouldn’t have been surprised, and yet I was! This was going to be a lot of first, I’m going to have it trust the process. The flight was uneventful-except the food; yum! Papa Dia is well-known in Aurora, and I would soon learn he is a celebrity in Senegal!  

We were greeted by several dignitaries who also helped us quickly get through customs with ease. I was anticipating at least an hour for the customs process because we had a large group, and we stuck together. It was fascinating to see all of this play out. By the time we arrived at the hotel, even I felt like a celebrity! While I knew it would be exciting, I couldn’t have anticipated this level of hospitality, and when Papa said Senegalese Teranga was incomparable, he was right.

It was the drum serenade that did it for me!  These guys played for  20+ minutes or so with a lot of passion. They played for our group generally and then for Papa Dia with even more passion and enthusiasm. It was a beautiful homecoming and I felt humbled by all of the formality-it’s as if we were traveling with the royal family. These guys played some passionately; you could hear their heartbeat and the Senegalese Soul Music. Their ability to play with so much heart not only amazed us, as we stood silently listening; they stopped track, and those on their way to other places also stopped to watch what was going on.

 

We checked into the hotel and received our room assignments from the delightful and eager-to-please front desk staff, who graciously welcomed us.  After a brief rest, we headed to my favorite part of the day-shopping! As is his nature, Papa Dia urged us to use him to help negotiate prices before we made purchases, and after watching him in action, I tried my skills and pushed for such great deals I now feel terrible and need to go back to “donate” to the artisans.  I’m sure Papa will tell this story differently, but this is my blog, and my words it! No matter how it was told, my elephants will not only be a beautiful reminder of my time in Senegal, it will also have a story where evey Papa Dia himself noted, "the student becamae the teacher!"

We had dinner at the hotel and was entertained with acoustic music by William Seck. Lulled into some sort of state of euphory; many of us were indeed home for the first time and feeling all of the feels that are foriegn and familiar all at once. We are all looking forward to more TERANGA:

Thiès - our trip starts here and will progress...

Eyeglasses - Papa Dia's SenLunette Eyeglass Business

Reserve of Bandia Safaria - no elephants but lots of other animals

Acoustic music will be a thing this trip-already enjoyed Willam Seck

Negritude literary movement is Senegal's Harlem Renaissance

Gorée Island, the point of no return, we are all looking forward to visiting

Artisaanal village of Thiès with amazing artists

Not a bad first day in Senegal!