Back to Africa: Senegal Edition

Nearly a week ago, I left the cold, winter behind and headed for Dakar, Senegal to spend my second semester. I am here looking at development studies, learning Wolof, practicing French and otherwise getting to appreciate the Senegalese culture. Ever since I learned about Ousamane in my intermediate French class, I have been interested in Dakar. When it came time to start looking at study abroad options, the CIEE Development Studies Program seemed like a perfect fit. Not only did the academic portion sound great, I was finally heading back to Africa.

 Five days later, I am slowly starting to understand what’s going on around me. I have begun to learn the names of the other students in the program. I know a couple phrases in Wolof that maybe a cab driver won’t quote me a price for tourists. Like the other students on the program, I am also learning about different aspects of the Senegalese culture. For example, eating around the bowl is common. When we went to the Baobab Center, we learned the proper etiquette for eating this way. This included learning how to form your rice and not using your left hand. We were reminded that each family is different and that there are those who use utensils at the table. Two days ago, I learned about my host family and met them for the first time.

One thing I haven’t yet learned is how to cross the street. I always joke that I can’t cross the streets in NYC because the cab drivers are going to run me over. I never truly became a Parisian since I couldn’t cross the street without the crosswalk or the protection of other Parisians jaywalking. I’ve yet to see stop lights here. I have learned that pedestrians don’t have the same rights as the US. Finally, since traffic never actually gets stopped, you’ve got to make a run for it when you get the chance. You can also hope that people in the cars feel bad for you since you’ve been standing there for almost 5 minutes so they let you through.

For the next four months, I will continue to discover this beautiful city of Dakar and the country of Senegal. I will learn how to navigate the public transportation system. My bargaining skills in French will improve while I’ll have the basics down for bargaining in Wolof. I don’t see how I could complain about the weather when it’s always beautiful outside. I’m sure that I’ll be frustrated by things that don’t work the way I expect them to. Not everything that I will encounter will be fun and in fact, I’ll be learning about some serious issues that the country of Senegal is facing. But, If I was going to let those factors get into my way of a great experience here, I should have never bothered coming. 

Photo: A view from the terrace where CIEE is located