Bye Bye Bike Town

After about 13 hours on the road, I'm back in Dakar. Or close anyway. My hotel seems to be in a wealthy suburb outside of the city. According to Lonely Planet, I'm within walking distance of the Pointe des Almadies, the westernmost point in Africa, which is pretty cool. I hope I can find time for a walk. The hotel, Le Lodge, has wireless internet, but the signal isn't quite strong enough in my room, so I'm in the dining room, where I just had a ridiculously heavy formal French meal.

The drive back was just as bumpy as the drive out to Tambacounda, but was easier to take this time--perhaps because I was in the front seat this time, perhaps because I knew what to expect. What I didn't expect was the traffic getting into Dakar. We dropped off the bike boys in Thies, about 70km from Dakar at about 6:45, arrived in Dakar about 9:45 (that's about 23 km/h, for those who don't like to do math). I suppose the traffic is a good sign in a way: at least it means that there are enough people in Dakar who can afford cars to clog the roads.

All day, I kept being struck by the omnipresence of one company: Orange (pronounced in French, in which it rhymes with several words), the mobile phone company. In every village along the road, there was a bright, shiny orange square, without exception the newest, cleanest sign on the block. In the larger towns, there were big "Orange boutiques" and signs wishing us "bienvenue" as we entered and "bonne route" as we left the town.

I liked the bike boys, but I'm a little relieved to be free of them. Five days with four straight jocks was a bit much for me. The fact that I am gay and they are not was on my mind quite often when hanging out with them--in part because of the frequent comments about women, in part because of the whole jock thing (even though I now hang out mostly with jocks, it's not the same). I didn't manage to come out to them, although I don't think it would have been an issue. What does that say about me?

Now I'm trying to figure out if Levent, the other EngenderHealth person on the trip, who just arrived from Turkey, is gay. Why does that matter to me? And why can't I just ask? Well, he seems very nice, regardless of his orientation.