Living in Dakar and continuing my rehab has been quite an education on living in the two extremes of Senegal. From my rural village, where most people have never been to a city larger than Kedougou, (which is not a city at all), cannot speak Wolof or drive a car to this bustling, crowded European-like city where you can find any food product you want and take a taxi cab over to a bumpin club and see white people everywhere. Activities have included: Going to physical therapy, swimming and drinking bloody mary’s at “The American Club,” which is a pool/sports area/bar where PCVs get in for free and is filled with American and European families, eating paninis and ice cream wherever I go, going to the mall (a new one, that is more upscale and less affordable than many malls in the states…), and working in the air-conditioned Peace Corps office. Basically I have been living the fabulous princess life.
A couple of aspects about Dakar that have been frustrating have been 1. The sewage river that is the street outside of the PC office, full of mosquitoes and parasites just waiting to crawl into your body and make a nice warm home. 2. People are quite uptight. I am not the yelling, get angry type, and on a couple of occasions I have yelled at a taxi driver and almost exited a taxi in the middle of a traffic circle. Way down south, there is little to be that anxious about- more space, more air, more green. I rarely see someone get angry or barely even express emotion in my village.
So all in all, Dakar is a good time and perhaps a good refuge for after I have been in village for a long time. But I prefer Nafadji where I do not have to worry about sewage lakes or being hit by a car while crossing the street. I will be back next week and I could not be happier.
