We can't believe it's our last full day in Senegal! This trip has been life-changing on so many levels- the personal relationships we have made, the misconceptions vs. the realities, and the questions still swirling in our heads. This trip will forever be in our hearts and minds. After our delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel, we met with the group for our final curriculum session of the trip in a cabana by both the pool and the ocean. We talked about ways that we can bring all we experienced here home with us in a meaningful and impactful way. We loaded the van for our much anticipated visit with the prime minister of Senegal. We were supposed to meet with her (yes, she's a woman!) the Monday we arrived in Dakar but with the terrible flight delays of our companions, we had to reschedule. She was very accommodating in allowing us to meet with her on a Sunday. We got there only to find out that the prime minister had just arrived and wasn't ready for us. We waited outside and had a meaningful conversation about philanthropic foundations with some of the staff. We were escorted through with minimal security. We got into very small elevators, four people at a time, and went up to a waiting room. We learned that the prime minister is appointed by the president and is only the second woman to hold this office. Senegal has a law that 50% of government officials must be women. Even the police chief is a woman. That was empowering to see and hear about. We were escorted into a large meeting room with a long conference table and microphones for each person. We felt very official. The prime minister entered and we all stood up. She was an elegant woman who is very approachable and kind. She lived in New Jersey and worked in the UN for two years so her English was excellent. She asked us to all go around and introduce ourselves and was impressed and surprised to see a 14 year old in the group. Later on, she told Shayna that in ten years, she looks forward to seeing her holding a government position. We had an interesting discussion for about an hour. We asked her about corruption, LGBT rights, and how she is working to involve women in solving the conflict in the Casamance region. We presented her with homemade challot from the hotel, and an AJWS t-shirt, tote bag, and bracelet. We took many photos with her and thanked her for taking the time to meet with us. It was a once in a lifetime experience for us. We drove to a beautiful restaurant on a very nice beach for our final lunch together. It had a ship theme and felt very much like The Rainforest Cafe, with its big aquarium, diver mannequins and fish hanging from the ceiling. The meal was delicious and those eating fish and seafood said that it was the freshest they had ever had. We enjoyed our pesto pasta and "Brie candy." This was a well known spot as there were plaques with the many famous people who had visited the restaurant. I had the good thought to talk to Chariff, one of our tour guides about where he bought his souvenirs for all of us. He said that he would call his friend and she would meet us at the hotel to show us some of her work. Five of us gathered in our room for the shopping expedition. We lightened her load but made our once half empty suitcases hard to zip. We took one last walk over to the neighboring mall and grocery store to pick up some final Senegalese treats. Back at the hotel, we showered, face-timed, and packed up. At 7:00 pm, we said a sad goodbye to three of our fellow travelers, Bekah, Stefanie, and Toni and made plans to reunite in New York or San Francisco. The rest of us met up to go out for dinner before heading to the airport for our very early morning flights back to the US. At 8:00 pm, we checked out and gathered in the lobby. We went to a restaurant called Just 4 U, which is also a live music night club. Unfortunately when we arrived at 8:30 pm, our group was the only one there and we learned that the music doesn't start until midnight. Better than music though, the ten of us engaged in a lively and heated discussion about polygamy, a common practice here in Senegal. Rosalie gave the women's perspective while our two male tour guides shared their point of view. They both had grown up in large families, where their fathers had several wives and they had many siblings so we could tell it was not out of the question for them to do the same. At the present time, they each had one wife. Abdoul, our guide, wanted us to leave at ten in order to arrive at the airport four hours early. Many of us disagreed and delayed the departure by ordering dessert. I'm sure we made him very nervous when Julie made jokes about not needing to leave so early. First, she wanted to order soufflés, and then offered to take Rosalie home before heading to the airport. It was a night full of many laughs and fun memories. Shayna also received her 31st and hopefully last mosquito bite, as the restaurant was outside. We finally left at 10:40 saying a sad farewell to Rosalie, the on the ground program officer for Africa. We hope to see her on her visit to the Bay Area in March. Her warmth, incredible translation and upbeat attitude added so much to our trip. We will miss her. We said goodbye and went to the airport. When we arrived there at 11:00 pm, the check in counters had not even opened yet. By 12:15 am, we approached the check in desk for some security questions. We got through security and to the gate and had a lot of time for shopping. We met up with Ruth at the gate. She told us that they made her unpack her whole bag, claiming that the wooden statues could be used as weapons. She refused to check the bag and took it on with her. What a great traveler! We were very excited to spend our last 8,500 west African francs. We found ourselves in the duty free shop, buying kinder eggs and mini mentos. With only 2,500 left in our pocket, we went in search of the perfect souvenir and found it..a patch for shayna's Megillat tiyul (travelers scroll). Marc has been creating this for the girls from their birth, collecting patches from all of our travels. In the corner of a small shop, we found one priced at, you guessed it, 2500 francs! We met up with the group heading to New York and sat in a bar area to play a few games and visit before our journeys home. I opened my wallet to give Ruth 3 dollars for her peanut purchase only to discover 40,000 francs, equal to about $80, I totally had forgotten I had it. Debating whether to exchange the money back to US dollars since we don't know when we might be back in Senegal, we decided to do a last look around the airport shops. We discovered one we had missed, an artist gallery with Senegalese crafts. We found the perfect gift to take home, a handmade collapsible stool made of different colored leathers. The shopkeeper packed it up well and we added one more carry on to our collection. Saying goodbye to the rest of the group, we got in line for our flight, only to discover it was for Tunis airlines. Making our way to our line (they kind of all melded together) we went through another extensive security search where they took away the batteries in our flashlight. That was a weird one since we had gotten them through our five other flights. On board by 2 am and in the air by 2:30. We were a little concerned when the flight was nearly full when we boarded but soon realized it was coming from South Africa and we were joining a flight in progress. We slept most of the way (with two vegetarian meal services) and landed at Dulles on time to catch our flight back to SFO. We were able to go into the United Lounge (thanks to our premier card) for a quick recharge and a great way to end this incredible journey. San Francisco, here we come. If you are interested, we are happy to share more stories and photos in person! Thanks for joining us on this adventure!!