T-minus 3 weeks before Megan and I fly past Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), to Berlin, then to Spain, then to Morocco, and then to… just plain South, deep into the heart of West Africa. We’ll avoid the snake charmers, don’t worry.
By February we’ll be in Mauritania and then Senegal, as I further debase the French language by trying to re-learn the language of love in 3 weeks. Then some more travel as we start up a fellowship volunteer project, maybe in Cameroon. Next posting, I’ll confirm if we got it. (I started this blog as a requirement, so I’m hedging our bet that we’re 3/4 of the way there.) We’ll finish in the summer in Kenya, home of my Chicago roommate Robert and his cousin Sandra. Kenya’s a land I’ve always dreamt of going, probably since reading my first Zoobook in grade school (a multiyear gift from my Grandma Shuey). The Constant Gardner helped, too. Other can’t-miss spots in Africa? We’re open for suggestions.
On the communication front, I’d advise friends/family, if they want to reach us, there’s email — I’m good at the reply button. Then there’s Skype free-international-phone-calls-via-computer technology: sign up here (http://www.skype.com/), then search my name, or agentorangechicago, and you’ll get me.
Curious note: I haven’t put my name in this posting anywhere. I’m kind of iffy about that. The thought of being Googled make me gag. It may appear automatically after this first post, so who knows? Just call me David S or agentorangechicago. No Facebook for me yet. I may have dabbled in Friendster, but I made Myspace talk to the hand. And this is my first Blog ever – I can hear the jaws dropping. Many people have told me to get one. I just have always felt they’re an indulgence, a distraction, or maybe I’m a closet ludite or contrarian. Because I’ll soon be in Europe, I’ll wax philosophical and let my existential side ask, “Why do I not want that friend in 11th grade to randomly get in touch with me? Or anyone that I’m not already emailing? Do I need more attention? We all die, so why feel the need to live eternally — as some digital avatar — on the internet?” As I’ve been cell-phonelesss for 3+ years, I’ve concluded: invisibility in Chicago has its perks. Doing rather than recording. Checking my ego. Living.
What’s changed? I think I owe it to my friends to keep them updated. And with lean online time in Dakar, a Blog does the trick. Reader 0? Add a comment, let me know what you want to hear.
Finally, what’s up with the blog name? First, 30 minutes of thinking of something cute is 25 too many, and so I just wrote “Afrique” (working on that French!). Second, I thought, what word blends with Afrique. Acquiescence. Of course. The plan is simple: Go to Africa as open as possible, as humbly as possible, with as few items as possible — and see what happens.
So let’s see what happens.
- David S. / Chicago / 12.3.2007 (American-style, Dec. 3 not Mar. 12)
