Hey Toubab...

Sunday, June 4, 2006

Dakar is a city with nearly two million people and almost entirely surrounded by the Atlantic. In my nearly three weeks as a resident of Dakar’s Pattie D’Oie (may be a few letters off) district, I feel as if I have seen all 2 million inhabitants, but it wasn’t until today that I actually got to go to the beach. Like every other first experience I’ve here, losing my Dakar beach virginity was just as memorable…just not necessarily great.

Sunday here is typically a day of rest…more so than in the US. It is kinda nice because the streets aren’t as crowded, at least in the morning. Usually, I have tried to stay somewhat busy on Sundays, because I have found out from my endless days in the mountains prior to coming to Senegal and some endless hours here, that the more I am doing (or at least that I am pretending to be doing) the easier it is to cope.

For some reason, this Sunday was a little different. I ended up getting out of bed around 10. I blame that on a late night of playing UNO with my brothers. Yes, I miss Friday and Saturday nights in Athens. I headed to the cyber café for an hour to catch up on some emails. I guess all that work made me tired because I came back to the house after a quick stop at the gas station, tried to read some, but ended up napping for 2 or 3 hours. I can just hear my mom now: "J…do something constructive with your day."

I wake up sweaty as I always do here around 2:30. It is the combination of having a somewhat comfortable foam mattress, Africa, and the fact that I am still waiting on my air conditioning guys to come out here. Lunch was served shortly after 3 and everyone looked as if they had just woken up…for the day.

Two of my brothers, a sister, and I decided to go to the beach. I was pretty excited. The two beaches I’ve been to in Senegal have been awesome (Pictures of them can be seen in past posts). So, I was pretty excited, minus the fact I had a cast on my hand. I didn’t know what beach we were going to, but I figured it would be a good one.

We got in a clando and headed to the beach. Once there, we each had to pay 200 CFA (40 cents) to get in. That could have been the worst investment of 40 cents I have ever made. Apparently, Sunday is not only a day to rest, but a day to go to the beach. I have never come close to seeing that many people crammed into one area. It was terrible.

The portion of beach that we paid to enter probably was probably 200 feet long and not very deep but had I’d say at least 1,000 people there. Not even Mrytle Beach is this hectic. You could not move. We finally found a place to sit but had to move a few times over the course of an hour or two.

It was absolutely nuts. There was trash and debris everywhere. I’m thankful for one or two of the vaccines now in my body. Teenagers/young adults were participating in one of Senegal’s pastimes, wrestling, causing crowds to shift and sporadic fights and arguments to break out.

There are always one or two that can ruin it for all…this was no different on this day. I think I was the only white person/toubab there at the time and some fat guy making a fool of himself comes up and says "hey toubab" and then starts speaking basic Wolof to me thinking I wouldn’t understand…but I responded back under my breath not even looking at him. They teach us to try and ignore these sort of remarks…but it can be frustrating, especially when its everyday.

I’m not going to lie, that was probably the most pissed I’ve been since I’ve been here. I don’t get upset too easily or that often, but I came close to losing it today. I didn’t show my frustration or anger, but it was burning.. It took most of the remainder of the day to collect myself.

We stayed at the beach till just before sunset. I’m sure that I will be going to Dakar’s beaches again, but hopefully I can find more relaxing ones.