Transportation and Attention

There are 2 things here that have been difficult to adjust to: transportation and attention.

Transportation. THere is more public transporation in Dakar than I've ever seen anywhere else. Of course, I've never lived in a really big city like New York or CHicago, so maybe it's not that much more than those places. But, the types of transportation are a little different. Generally there are 4 types of transportation: taxis, the Dakar Dem Dekk buses (Dem Dekk means come and return in Wolof), car rapides (oh what fun), and flat carts pulled by horses. All transportation is super cheap, and all forms of transportation scare the crap out of me. I've only ever seen one stop sign (nobody stops at them) and there are a few traffic lights downtown, but they don't work. Everyone just honks their horns a lot, you keep your eyes open, and pedestrians don't ever have the right of way. I know it sounds terrifying, but I haven't yet seen an accident.

So, the taxis are just like run-down versions of taxis you'd see in the US. It's about $1.25 to get from my neighborhood to school, but you have to barter in French, or, preferably in Wolof. When you speak in Wolof you're more likely to get a better price, because then they know you're not just a tourist here for a quick stay with lots of money to blow.

The Dakar Dem Dekk are like city buses you'd see in the US, but way overcrowded. In the mornings and evenings there's always at least 100 people on each bus, crammed like sardines. They cost about 30 cents to get from my house to school. On the paved roads, the ride is ok. But, from my house, there's about 10 minutes of driving on very uneven dirt roads, so it's an adventure for a while. The hardest part of riding on that bus is trying to get off. Because, you get pushed toward the middle of the bus as more people get on, and then have to climb over dozens of feet to get to one of the exits. Sometimes, you don't get there in time and have to wait for the next stop.

The car rapides. Oh boy. These are the really colorful buses that are a famous symbol of Dakar. They're not really big, like a large van. There are about 15 seats, with room for about 10 more people to stand. There's streamers on the back bumper, and on the front hood is painted "Alhamdoullilah" which means "praise be to god". They cost about 9-15 cents to get anywhere in Dakar. They're kind of difficult for me to use because there's not really much of a set route. You just have to listen for the "apprenti" who hangs off the back yelling "DakarDakarDakar" or "OukamOukamOukam" or wherever you're going. Then, you tell the apprenti exactly where need to get off. If he forgets, you have to bang on the top of the car to signal you need to get off. The apprenti has a series of different bangs to tell the driver to go, stop, or wait. The pollution from the car rapides and motorcyclettes here is pretty bad.

Then, there's the flat carts pulled by horses. I think they're some sort of Arabian descended line, because they're kinda small, and they have the beautiful heads and necks that Arabian horses have. They're just always really skinny. There's a flat-bed cart that the horse pulls, and a man sits on top with the reins. They don't transport people usually, just things like construction supplies (bricks) or other goods (produce).

The other thing that's been difficult to deal with is all the attention I receive as a white woman. And, despite how much I understand about why it happens, and all the injustices that incite it, it still drives me crazy. I've been proposed to about 4 times, and strangers approach me and my friends everywhere we go to talk to us or get us to buy their stuff. We went downtown on Sunday, and the street vendors followed me everywhere. I literally couldn't get rid of one lady for about 10 minutes. And, I understand that they make a lot of money from tourists who look like me, but still, it's tough to deal with. Also, it's been difficult to make friends in my neighborhood that are women. Men are the ones who are always in the public sphere - going to work/school or hanging out outside. Women tend to stay at home more. Of course, it's only been a few days since I've lived in my neighborhood, so I'm sure that will change after a while.

It's been easier and easier to communicate with my family. I'm learning a lot of language in context. Like, I think I'm saying something correctly, but then realize that people don't really say it that way. But, it's also difficult to communicate with other people outside my family because they speak French, Wolof, and English all together sometimes. Like, we'll start talking in Wolof (becaues I know a few greetings and phrases) but then have to switch to French because I don't know much, and then I may not completely hear something in French and ask them to repeat it, so they say it in English with French/Wolof accents and I don't understand because I think they're still trying to explain it in English. But, I'm sure it will get easier and easier. I'll probably come away with a Senegalese French accent. In Wolof they roll their R's instead of using a throaty R like in French. So, when speaking French, they often interchange the different R's. That sucks for me because I can't roll my R's.

Yesterday I met some people who run a clothing tailor shop in my neighborhood. If you greet people, even if they're just random people on the street that you don't know, they get really excited and you could end up talking for 20 minutes. I'm getting more and more comfortable the more people I meet around my house. There are about 6 other CIEE students who live nearby, about 2 streets over. It's still a little difficult to learn directions, because a lot of things look the same, and there's no street signs. But, I'm learning landmarks little by little. Ouakam (my neighborhood) is right below this huge statue that the Senegalese president just decided to build. There's a lot of controversy about it because it cost the government like 19 million dollars to build, and that's a ton of money for the government of a developing country to spend on a piece of art when people in rural and urban areas are starving, don't have safe water, and children are begging on the streets. That's not just my opinion - it's pretty common among Senegalese people. There's also controversy about how the woman is clothed - it's pretty scanty for people here. The statue is supposed to be a symbol of African Renaissance. Here's a link if you want to know more about it.
http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Senegal/Cape-Verde-Peninsula/Dakar/blog-459197.html