Transatlanticism

Hey gang! I arrived safely in Dakar at 12:30am Wednesday. The flight was rather long, because I had a layover in South Africa that extended my journey by about 20 hours. I could regale you with Seinfeldian witticisms about being in a plane that long, but I will spare you the trivialities of the plane ride. Getting out of the airport was quite an interesting experience. As soon as you get your luggage and leave, a group of about 10 people come up to you telling you that they have your ride and try to carry your bags for you. Luckily, my dad did some research on the airport and I knew to expect this. My ride from the airport was delayed for 2 hours because a sudden downpour flooded many of the roads in Dakar. In the meantime I was trying to avoid all the people trying to take my bags and direct me to cabs. At one point, two men started raising their voices next to me and a guard ran over and beat both of them across the back with his nightstick and kicked them out of the airport. At first I was frightened by this, but then I realized if I stayed near this guard, I would be bothered less, and such was the case.

I spent the night in a hotel in Dakar and left for St. Louis the following morning in a seven person taxi. The taxi ride was about 6 hours and luckily, some local graffiti artists were kind enough to draw some graffiti in English for me to read. My favorites were:

Cocktail Explosion
Sunshine Next Level
Pee = Diamonds

I assume they mean something to the people who wrote them.

I met my host family yesterday and they are all very nice. I went into the city today with one of my supervisors (Nicole) who showed me around to the major points of interest. I was considering buying a bicycle to get around, but after seeing how people drive in the crowded streets, I think I’ll stick to taxis and walking. I’ve already seen two people get hit by cars while crossing the street. Also, cows and goats are everywhere on the streets and cars often hit them as well.

I will be taking and posting a lot of pictures, but I must wait a few days because there is a large Muslim holiday on Friday and many people will be worshipping all day and it is impolite to be taking pictures. Also, I need to find a strong internet connections somewhere in the city where I can upload photo. The one picture on this blog took about 10 minutes to load. St. Louis population is about 180,000, but on this holiday on Friday, there will be a million people here. Many have traveled long distances and are sleeping in the streets tonight.

My first class is on Monday so I will be spending this weekend making lesson plans. I will post again soon!