on saturday nicole and i took a trip to thies. we were originally going to try to go to either lac rose a tortoise village near there first, but we woke up to pouring rain (rivaling that big rainstorm a couple weeks ago). we decided to go to thies first and then if it cleared up and we had time, to visit the other sites on the way back. managed to make our way onto a bang bang bus going to thies.
i think i've mentioned bang bang buses before but never explained them. they're really car rapides (though anything but rapide), old mini-buses that they pack full of people. two people on each side and then seats fold down in the aisle and they put another person there, so 5 people across. probably fits a total of 30-40 people. there's always an apprentice hanging out the back, trying to solicite customers as they drive along. when someone wants to stop, they bang on the bus, and there's another set of banging when the bus is ready to move again. hence the name bang bang bus. at first riding in a bang bang bus seemed so foreign and strange, but now it's normal.
we made it to thies, after going through some flooded roads (we saw a couple cars stalled, water running into them). nicole's friend laura met us, after some excitement. the taxi driver didn't understand the directions and left us at a telecentre near where we were supposed to meet laura. we called her from the telecentre and she said she'd meet us there. we were then trapped there talking to some other guy there who wanted to practice english, asked us for our address, and proceeded to tell us his views on violence, the state of africa, and immigration to the US. we finally called laura again and walked out to meet her. she'd called the telecentre to get directions and the guy who answered told her there were no toubabs there and it wasn't a telecentre. then he came back to tell us that she had called and was on her way there. really strange. laura took us on a nice walking tour around thies, which is a nice city. she's apprenticing with a tapestry weaver as part of her PhD research, and took us to see the weaving place, which was really interesting. then another bang bang bus home.
other than that it's been more work. nicole leaves tomorrow so i will be the only intern remaining for another 2 weeks or so. everything's going according to plan, but i'm being more cautious now and expecting some type of setback. we saw the completed mold at transtech today and they should have the first piece come out of it tomorrow or thursday. we will go on friday to inspect it. toure has finished building the wood/glass frame and the dimensions are perfect. so far, so good.
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