exciting welcome

So Julie is here now. I think she was just barely starting to get annoyed with my instinct to protect her. I had given her lots of warnings about this and that and she said something like, "don't worry, I'm a smart girl". But it isn't about smart, it is about being ready for that which you would not believe.


The following is the literal, unembellished truth of what happened on our walk today. If I weren't there personally, I wouldn't have believed it.


We took a taxi to Dakar this morning. It was about 12:30 on Tuesday afternoon. We were walking near the port with our backpacks on. We walked past a busy market section and onto a stretch that was less crowded - certainly not empty - at least 30 people in view and within a block or two. One of the numerous vendors came up with a T-shirt to sell. I replied 'non, merci' and kept walking. He kept pace, sort of holding the shirt out in front of me.


His friend was on my other side and i sort of ignored him as he waasn't specifically annoying me and i was sure i didn't want whatever he sold. (See where this is going yet?)


Then T-shirt guy sort of srepped between Julie and I and held the shirt up to show how well it would fit. And as I turned to tell him to back off, the friend was down and grabbing the side pocket of my pants. He was reaching inside in an attempted robbery in broad daylight on a busy street!


But i have good reflexes and a couple of wrestling moves left in me and i had his arm in an instant. The first guy fled as I twisted the arm and spun my assailant around with his back to the fence, my hand on his wrist, holding it up to his chest. I'm not a big guy but he was 5'3" and probably 110 pounds. And I was pissed! Besides, Julie had mirrored my movement and looked absolutely ready to punch the guy if need be.


And before you lecture me on 'he could've had a knife' or whatever - the crime here is 99.9% crimes of opportunity (grab and go crime). There are almost no guns here and violent crime is extremely rare.


He was being apologetic stuttering, "No, no problem!" To which I yelled, "I have a problem! Do I need to call the police?" He squirmed more and I let his arm go. Welcome to Dakar!


Lessons learned:

*

Don't let anyone in between us - no divide and conquer
*

Don't get surrounded - keep them on one side or the other - preferably with an escape route
*

If some has 6 t-shirts they may be selling them; if they have one shirt, be even more cautious


Do I think that having Julie here makes us a target - that we will be in constant danger at every turn? No, I think this was a random incidence of two guys pulling one of Dakar's classic scams.


And it isn't as though I keep anything of value in such a vulnerable pocket!