Guinea-Bissau to Casamance to Gambia to Dakar to NYC to Seattle to Bellingham to Guemes to Mexico to Colorado to Dakar - 28 Feb 08 to 17 March 08

The two weeks represented in this post saw me crisscrossing West Africa and North America in frantic lines, trying to see people in diverse locals with very little time. The first phase was the most critical: I had to get home in time to see my Grandma before she died. I got up early, before the break of dawn and went to the station in Bissau. I got in another car to Ziguinchor, Senegal, a place I had thought I wasn't going to see again for awhile. Luckily, there were no more problems with the ferry crossing and I arrived in good time, only to wait about 3 hours for a car to Dakar to fill. It was a Friday, the holy day for Muslims, and I was told most transport had gone to the holy city of Touba, so patience was the order of the day.

In order to get from southern Senegal to the north, one must pass through a tiny country known as the Gambia. The Gambia takes its name from the river that runs through its center. In the colonial days, the French controlled Senegal but the English had influence and interest in the region of the Gambia river, so they made a deal: the English sailed a boat up the river and periodically shot cannonballs to either shore. Where the cannonballs landed became the borders of a new English colony in the shape of the river at its center. We passed briefly through the Gambia, just long enough to stop and pay a transit tax, cross the Gambia river and then emerge from the other side in Senegal once more.

The border post in the Gambia.

Crossing the Gambia river.

I arrived in Dakar late that night, well after midnight, tired to the bone, stressed, alone and not knowing anyone or anything since I hadn't taken any information with me on Senegal, it not being in my original plans to visit the country on this trip.

The next morning I went to the airport and arranged a flight to NYC. The flights left everyday at two in the morning and the one that night was full, so I had to wait one extra stress-filled day and the next whole day until past midnight, the whole time wondering if I would make it to see my Grandma in time. I met a kid from the area who let me sleep at his house for a few bucks and took me to the beach one day. The next day I met a really great guy named Cheik who I was able to stay with on my return to Dakar.

The beach in Dakar.

I made it home on Sunday, the 2rd of March. I got to see my Grandma for about 24 hours before she passed on the next day. It was almost as if she had been waiting for me. I didn't get to speak with her, as she was already in a deep sleep, but I know she knew I was there.

After Grandma passed, we went out together as a family to a restaurant. Although we were sad about Grandma's passing, she had such a wonderful and full life that we thought it was more appropriate to celebrate so we went out and ate crab, something we used to catch and eat fresh all the time on Guemes Island where Grandma and Grandpa lived for 30 years when they retired.

Two days later we had a remembrance service for Grandma. All the people who knew her throughout her life came together and shared thoughts, memories and prayers for her.

Grandma Mary was Scottish Canadian, born in Nova Scotia and from the MacGillivray clan. Although she married an American and lived in the US most of her life, she never changed her citizenship and never forgot where she came from. It was her wish that her origins be observed at her passing, so we displayed the Canadian flag along with photos of her early years. We also displayed a book of family history that a relative in Canada researched, that included the crest and plaid of the MacGillivray clan.

My dad (center) with friends at the service.

My aunt and cousin at the service.

My mom (left) and Ameryl, an end-of-life specialist who stayed up with Grandma during the night while the family got sleep and helped us all with both the practical and spiritual aspects of losing a loved one.

After the service was over I headed up to Bellingham, the town I grew up in, for a couple of days at home. Here is my sister Kendal.

Here is my sister Allysun.

A family dinner in our favorite restaurant, the North Fork, with my dad, sisters and my stepmom Sonja.

Rainier Beer comes from where??!!

Around Bellingham. Looking across the bay with the Coastal Range of Canada visible in the distance.

Me and my mom Paddy at a friend's house.

Around downtown Bellingham.

Bellingham Bay in the afternoon.

On my last day in the Pacific Northwest, I went up to Guemes Island with the family to spend some time. Here is the house that my Grandma and Grandpa lived in for 30 years and where I spent a great deal of time as a child. It is now owned by my aunt, and various members of our family own pieces of Granma and Granpa's land where they had fields and a small farm. Guemes Island is a small island in the San Juan Archipelago of Western Washington.

The barn where Granpa used to go to putter around.

My sister swinging on a tree-swing.

A view of the ferry-dock on Guemes looking across to Anacortes.

The beach on Guemes Island.

A view across Puget Sound with the Cascade Mountains in the distance.

After a week in the Pacific Northwest, I headed down to Mexico for two days to see my son Ramses. He loves playing with the drumsticks.

Ramses' mom Andrea out in front of her new restaurant, "La Red de Ramses". Her father, Jesus, had a restaurant for over 40 years that was called "La Red" (the Fisherman's Net) and she is continuing the tradition.

Ramses playing at La Red.

After Mexico, I also made it home to Boulder for 2 more days to visit, pay my taxes and take care of other logistics before heading back to Senegal on March 17th to finish my trip. All of this travel, in addition to being exhausting, was also very expensive and out of the range of my already tight budget for my trip. My father, uncles and aunt decided to pitch in and pay for these expenses out of money from my Grandma and I would like to thank them for making it possible to come home and see everyone. It remains a final gift from my Grandmother.