Île de Gorée

I apologize for my absence. The weekend leading up to Tabaski (Eid al-Adha) was spent in a little touristy artsy community tucked away in Toubab-Dialow, and post-Tabaski, I was taken ill. There was no appropriate time window to pop in with a post and pictues. So hello, this is me writing to you at the end of week 3 here in Dakar, Senegal. In all honesty, time has been passing by so quickly I get freaked out thinking about it. Once our schedules were set in place, things just proceeded in their own momentum. These first couple of weeks at school have been great. I feel more connected to my classes through living in the "reality" of our discussions on development and progress in economic, social, and environmental matter. Field trips and classes seem to go hand in hand when it comes to learning, as opposed to the system of theory before application. You're pretty much thrown into the midst of it all here and then gradually working on organizing the pieces you pick up. (And they are too many!)

On with the post. CIEE took us to visit Gorée Island on our first weekend here. We took the morning ferry from the port downtown at 10am. We stood outside the gate for 15 minutes, our passports in hand, before being let in. The ride was about 30 minutes, and we got to be on the top deck because the lower deck was full and so we could grab nice pictures of the whole island.

When we got to the island, we dropped by the House of Slaves (Maison des esclaves) and took a short tour of the place. It was really helpful that they have a standing exhibition of the place's history and significance, as well as a researcher/guide on site who gave a short background lecture. The island was one of the first places in Africa that the European colonizers settled in, having Portugese, Dutch, English and French ownership before Senegal's independence. Although it is difficult to trace the history of Gorée Island as the slave port of Western Africa, the place still stands in remembrance of the colonial and slave trade history.

There were two other museums on the island - Historical Museum of Senegal and . Albeit sightly run down, they both housed interesting information about archaeological research in Senegal, religious history, and important Senegalese figures pre and post independence.

After the tour, we had lunch and then hit the beach. There were also small market stalls tucked behind the receiving area of Gorée Island, where determined vendors invited us to look at their products. The architecture of the buildings on the island were reminiscent of the vibrant Carribean scene, but without the lively community that comes with it. At noon, the island was teeming with life. Tourists and locals alike flocked over to enjoy one of the more well-managed beaches here in Dakar, and to take in Gorée Island as it is.

Till the next one!

Downtown Dakar

As part of our orientation week, we had a downtown Dakar sortie (fieldtrip) with our cultural pals (local students working with the CIEE center). We gathered as a group and took the TATA buses from Mermoz into downtown, which was a 15 minute ride away. As any tourist visit would, we stopped at some of the city's most important locations.

The neighbourhoods that we, students, live in are vastly different from downtown in terms of the magnitude of cars, people, and things to see/do. We were dropped off by a large conglomeration of market stalls selling everything from cuts of leather to fake Nike shoes, bags of fresh fish to syrup-ed Madd fruit in disposable cups, engine parts to wax clothing. Beyond the cluster stalls of waterproof tarp lie the dynamic informal economy that many Dakar locals and people who have migrated from rural areas and other West African nations depend on.

It was 10 am in the morning but our stray hair strands were already plastered to the sides of our faces, at the napes of our necks. There is no such thing as not sweating in your first-week transition period, and cold showers are your best friend. Being new to Dakar, I had no sense of place nor direction. To be frank, I did not know what we were going to be doing. But all in good exploration fun, no?

We split up into groups of 3 and walked around for a bit, stopping by at notable location and taking in the sights and sounds. One thing that was notable was that there was more green cover downtown than anywhere else. The shadow of foliage and concrete buildings covered our sweaty backs as we passed through bustling traffic, displayed merchandise, and people. We were also surprised to learn that there were two major hospitals in the city, one geared towards expats and civil servants and the other more cost-friendly for other people. We did not do much that day, as lunch took up most of our time. Serving lunch for 40 is not an easy task.

Here are some photos I took that day. Next post on our visit to Île de Gorée coming soon!

 African Arts Museum

Parliament 

Place de l'indépendance

Senegal Teranga

Greetings from dusty, vibrant, ever-lively Dakar, Senegal. I am here on a 4-month semester abroad as a third year student from Soka University of America, under the Development Studies program offered by CIEE. Currently, I am sitting with DEET on my ankles and my 5 year old host sister leaning on my left arm. The dining room space is occupied by my host father and two other siblings, and the never-absent background noise of the television set. My sweat trickles down my temples and evaporates at the slope of my newly-tanned shoulders, beads pooling at the little crevices of my joints. As I type silently on my laptop under the harsh glare of the fluorescent ceiling light, I am reminded of any other day of the week I have experienced so far.

Before I jumped right into this turn-table journey, I made a few promises and objectives to myself. Of course I see this experience to be more than a timeline of achievements and "realizations" set in stone, but to deny that I chose this path without a sense of eventual "achievements" would be a denial of the self. With that said, I wish to document my stay here in Senegal at least once per week. Plainly aesthetically speaking, it would be a personal (and if you my readers find it somewhat useful, then otherwise) photo journal of the places I visited, the people I came to know, memories I've made, and the things I've come to love. I acknowledge that I speak from a fresh slate, not knowing the place and time and changes and wide history of the African continent, not more than that diaspora literature piece I read in class. Hence, I would like to express any apologies for any ignorance my posts may display, as far as interpretation goes. Please bring to light any insinuating instances, and I will do my best to achieve the woke-ness I should possess, the humility I should come to learn. As a work in progress, walking into a brick wall head on is only a natural phenomenon.

Until then, toodles as I continue to shift through my photos!