Today I made it to Abidjan

So after traveling for the past nearly 24 hours, I finally made it to Abidjan! I was able to make it through customs, picked up my luggage (which the TSA chopped the lock off one of them to "randomly" inspect) and then rode around for an hour with a driver who had to drop a couple other people off who are also coming here to work at the US Embassy. Let me just say, seeing soldiers in camo roaming the streets with AK-47s is a new experience for me. I thought this was going to be a cakewalk. Hell, I lived in Harlem for 14 months so I can handle it here, right? Yea I just made sure I made no eye contact with anybody, eyes forward always!

I just got into my temporary apartment about 30 minutes ago and I can't really complain. I mean, it has wireless internet! This is not something I expected in the third world. It is very warm inside though and carrying a 40 pound suitcase up a spiral staircase where the steps are basically a foot tall each was no small task. Now I am just hanging out, relaxing for a few before I attempt to sleep. My driver will be here in about 7 hours to take me to my first day of work here. Unfortunately for me, I am still on east coast time and so it feels like 7pm right now, not midnight. Tomorrow could be a long day.

I am going to start taking pictures tomorrow (no, not of the soldiers as I hear that is a sign of cultural disrespect and the last thing I need to do is create an uproar with a guy who has an assault rifle). But I have yet to see what the city looks like in daylight so maybe there will be some good opportunities to showcase some nice aspects of Cote d'Ivoire for you all. If so, I will make sure I do. If not, well then I will just show you what the city looks like anyway!

Good night everyone!