For our mid-term break we headed to a desert city music festival. We arrived early at the ‘taxi depot’ downtown, looking for a mini-van taking travelers on the 8 hour trip. Come to find out, they only depart at 4pm so that they can make the journey at in the cool of night. We chose to submit to their times rather than hire a private car. But, at 4pm when there weren’t enough takers to fill the van, we headed to a house on the outskirts of town to fill up with Tuaregs heading across the desert to Niger. The trip was long since we stopped for tea breaks, dinner, and checkpoints where each time our fellow-travelers piled out to be patted down and inspected. We arrived at 3am!
The next day we discovered that the music festival had been canceled for some reason. Fortunately, a familiar face pulled over, excited to see us...it was the driver-tour guide from our excursion last spring. Now friends, he invited us to accompany him as he showed around group of local friends who work in the oil fields together. We visited another ancient city; watched dune races, and attended a Tuareg festival where Jared was interviewed by the national news – what novelty to have a whitey from the US there! And we ate rishda (tender handmade noodles) in the old city, where they got a kick out of dressing us in their traditional wedding garments.
It was a spontaneous and extremely enjoyable trip – and Jared made some wonderful new friends who are genuinely good guys. It was my first time to really be around local men, since there was no where else for me to go. But these mid-twenty year olds were so kind and respectful to me; it was a great experience for me too, balancing out my normal horn-honking and stare-down encounters!
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