The AU Summit in Banjul

Greetings from Banjul. I leave early tomorrow morning, but I finally have some time to breathe and relax a bit today, so I thought I should probably get online to capture some of my expereince for you all while I'm still in the middle of it. . .

Where to start? I arrived on saturday night after a frantic day at the office and a drive to the airport where I seriously thought I was going to die. I know, sometimes people say that but are exaggerating, but I was litterally trying to remember whether my travel insurance covers sending my dead body back home(sorry mom). We were really late, so our driver was weaving in and out of traffic and driving so fast...

Anyways, when we got to the airport, we found out that our plane was delayed anyways, so my life flashed before my eyes all for nothing!

Once in Banjul, we spent all day Sunday making final preparations and then the conference we were hosting took place monday and tuesday. Like the previous conference in Bamako, it was also a logistical nightmare and I spent much of those two days going back and forth from the photocopying place to the conference and running around trying to make sure everyone had what they needed, but I'll spare you the details. In terms of substance and personal interaction, this conference was more rewarding. I feel like the participants took more of an interest in me and why I was there, which allowed me to talk to more of them and learn more about what they were doing. The conference was the 8th in a series of forums hosted by FAS to promote gender mainstreaming in the African Union (AU).

In terms of the summit itself, I haven't really had the opportunity to attend many of the other events, but it's been interesting to be in Banjul during the summit. It's by far the biggest event I think Banjul has ever had, and thery have been making a lot of changes and preparations for the conference (repqving streets, putting up signs all over with the President's name and picture welcoming people, carving statues etc).

I didn't actually get into the tozwn of Banjul itself until yesterday, when the meeting and press conference were over. And then, my trip was very short. I just went in with our chauffeur and he drove me around. Where we're staying, and where the conference is, is in Serrekundo (sp?), a town on the atlantic coast about 15km from Banjul. We're close to the beach, so I've spent a little time there as well. Today I went to a village a little ways from Serrekundo where a friend I met here grew up. He took me to meet his family and show me the town a little. At his place, his brother climbed up this huge mango tree and picked mangos for us to eat...zhich were so good.

OKay, my time is running out, so I'll write more about my experiences zhen I get back to Dakar.