Dakar: Alxamdulilaay!

Alxamdulilaay (Thanks be to God) A common expression here. You can practically add it to any sentence in Wolof. That and inchallah (God willing). But here are some pictures of my school where I take classes 4 days a week and my new neighborhood Sacre Coeur 3 which is about a 15 min walk away.

This is my school CIEE Study Center

View from the school terrace

Pictures of the neighborhood where I live—Sacre Coeur 3

The airport is awfully close

The common and cheapest mode of transportation: Carrapide

You just jump on whenever you see one, pay 20 cents, and tap a
coin on the side of the car when you want to get off. The trouble
is knowing where it is  headed. There is an apprenti hanging off of
the back who can tell you.

another mode of transportation. horse carts just mesh right in
with the carrapides and buses and cars and taxis.

Love,
Stephanie

Jamm ak Jamm

 

My school!

My home! The window to my room is on the left of the balcony

I finally made it to Dakar, Senegal on August 26th, after almost two months in France and Germany. That was the easy part.. I am in a group of 40 students from all over the US and the first week we stayed in a small hotel right next to my school CIEE Study Center. Orientation was great but when I moved in with my host family things started to turn sour.. It wasn't the family that was the problem it was the other member of the household: cockroaches and mice. If you know me, you know I am terrified of bugs but this went wayy beyond my phobia. They needed to fumigate their household. There was some drama and a lot of me hassling the housing coordinator but I was finally moved to a new family during the third week. I had been living with a friend's host family for a week, but I absolutely loved them so it worked well. Although I am completely happy with my new family, I am still getting to know them whereas most of the students have been living with their families for two weeks and have already adjusted pretty well. So I am still in the process of getting in the swing of things but it shouldn't take too long!

The view from my rooftop!

One day I heard a goat baaing upstairs. Most people have goats here especially since the big holiday tabaski or "fête du mouton"is coming up. Families will kill a goat and then eat the meat and share it with the rest of the community. I haven't experienced it yet, so we shall see. Anyway, I go up there expecting one goat and instead there is practically an entire farm, including 5 goats, rabbits, chickens, and pidgeons. I guess I know where my dinner has been coming from now...

My host sister (8) Aisha! She speaks better french than me

the cab ride back from downtown Dakar. All cabs are decked out like this one. Also cab rides cost 2 bucks tops!

hanging out at the Institut Francais Downtown. A nice little escape from the noisy dirty city

one of the hundreds of mosques in Dakar

La Corniche (the coastal road of Dakar)