Ghost Town

Today is Election Day in Senegal.
The last month has been filled with rallies, late-night drumming and loud speakers, candidate t-shirts, and more late-night drumming as local campaigns gear up for today.
Politics is on the collective mind, and, within the last week, is also all over our Peace Corps Safety & Security Director's desk. As of late, our cell phones have been bombarded with update after update of reported riots, violence and warnings related to the elections. We have just had a travel restriction placed on us by both the Peace Corps and Senegal Government. And this morning I ventured into town to get some veggies and found nearly every boutique, stand and store front closed and padlocked. Preparing for the storm? I hope not.
I know I am a world away from home. But after experiencing the campaign and election of President Obama, (albeit from across an ocean) I guess I just had it in my head that the Senegal election season would be less of a production. We are currently hulled up in the Kolda regional house with no intention of leaving the rest of today - though I am not convinced it wouldn't be fine. Being here this long, I sometimes forget that I do in fact live in a third world country with potential civil unrest. This evening could be interesting, but nothing like Grant Park! My hope is that it is also nothing like the LA riots.