And so my adventure begins...
My trip to Senegal had a somewhat rocky start, as I completely mixed up what time my flight was supposed to leave. For some reason, I thought the flight left at 5:30 in the morning, when really it didn't leave until nine. Thankfully I figured this out the night before. As I arrived in Reagan National Airport, I was upset to find out that my bag weighed 65 lbs... so I managed to fit 15 extra lbs of stuff in my carry-on. I arrived at JFK, where I had a seven-hour layover. I could slowly feel insanity set in as I dragged my extremely heavy carry-on around the terminal, trying to pass the time.
I noticed cultural differences between the United States and Senegal even before leaving JFK. As I was trying to stow my super heavy carry-on in the over head compartment on the plane, I apologized to the man waiting behind me for taking so long. He told me to take my time and smiled, which I found surprising, because most Americans would be rolling their eyes and staring me down for making them wait. I had the entire row to myself on the plane, so I stretched out across three seats and slept the majority of the plane ride.
The landing was a bit harrowing. During some very severe turbulence, we were told three separate times that we were in the final descent. At four in the morning, we walked off the plane and into a thunderstorm. The study abroad program staff told us that it was extremely likely that our luggage would be lost or delayed prior to our departure, but thankfully mine came. I almost got trapped in a bathroom stall in the airport, which was rather frightening, but I managed to open the door.
The CIEE (study abroad program) staff picked us up at the airport and brought us to the Suffolk University Dakar dorms, where we will be staying this week. As we were walking into the dorms, I heard the Muslim call to prayer. It is currently Ramadan, so most people in Dakar are fasting from sunrise to sunset. I intended to sleep for just an hour or so, but when I woke up, my clock read 1:30 p.m. After sleeping a collective 13 hours (including the plane), I felt very refreshed, and went on a walk to the beach with another student. Afterwards, we went to see a giant Mosque that is also on the beach.
Dakar is absolutely beautiful, and in many ways a city I would never picture in Africa. Most people wear Western clothes and I saw many BMWs and Mercedes walking along one of the roads. Advertisements and billboards for cell phones and other stores are on many street corners. Most roads are paved, although the land itself is very muddy since it is the rainy season here. Palm trees line the streets and big, tropical flowers sprout up here and there. The weather is hot and humid during the day, but after being in D.C. all summer, it doesn't feel too much different. Tonight the weather is cooler, although I'm told it often rains at night. In many ways I do not even feel like I'm in a developing country, let alone an African city. There is a lot of garbage scattered around the ground, but that is the only negative aspect of the city I have seen thus far.
People speak a mixture of French and Wolof here, and some speak a little English. Although I'm confident with my French, I cannot wait to be immersed in it, so I can improve all the more. I will also be learning Wolof. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will be trilingual! The title of this blog, "Salaamaalekum" is a standard Wolof greeting. Expect to see bits of all three languages in the entries to come!
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