Another Taxi Story....Yawn

Over the course of the past two years, I figure I have alluded to taxis in some form in numerous posts....well, here is another one.

Typically, in the past, I have only shelled out for cabs in due necessity, whether it be that I'm in a rush or it is too late for a bus. In the past month or so, I have taken them more out of convience...Dakar public transport has temporarily defeated me. During the span of the past month of taxi taking, I've had two interesting encounters.

First, early last week, I hit the snooze button one too many times. It has been a re-occuring problem actually...I don't think my body always likes trying to wake up at 5:45 - 6:00 (unless it is from a nap in the afternoon). With that being said, I had an appointment with an American student scheduled at the hospital and needed to get some work done prior to it. To compensate for the hour dealing with public transport, I figured a $3 (a lot for a Peace Corps Volunteer budget) taxi fare and 15 minute ride was what it was going to be.

I walked out of my house groggy and to the main road...flagged down a cab and was on my way. The ride was going smoothly. It wasn't the most structurely sound taxi I'd ever been in, but for here in Dakar, I trusted my life with it and it wasn't bad.

Half-way to the hospital, the driver said he needed to pull over real quickly to fix something. The car seemed to be working fine but because I was the consumer and he was the driver in the situation, I obliged. A couple minutes roll by, and then a couple more, and a couple more until he gets back into the car for good 15 - 20 minutes later. My anger/frustration/emotions don't always show (call it hard to read maybe) but I told him I wasn't paying him full fare. I think he chose to ignore me or pretend to not understand my wolof...not sure.

We pulled into the hospital and down to the Infectious Diseases' Wing and I hand him 1,000 CFA (not full fare). While I have suggested in the past about paying the fair price, I felt that was what I was doing. Unfortunately, my chauffer did not like this. We argued for about 5 minutes, somewhat heated. Can't say it was how I wanted to continue my morning but happens every once in a while. Finally, I just decided to get out of the cab. Wellllllll, not so fast little Justin. The brute strength of my driver's forearms and fist wrapped around my bag strap prevented me from getting out or possibly moving.

I consider myself an expert fighter and champion of mind games but this guy could have kicked my ass thrice (1 + 2 = thrice) times in a span of me blinking my eyes. So being the southern guy I am, I told him to remove his hands from my bag and then pay him the 500 CFA extra that I deducted when he stopped his working taxi for 15 minutes. The problem was that my change was in my pocket but because of the tight cut of my jeans, I had to stand up to get into my pockets....it took me another couple of minutes to explain this and promise him I wouldn't flee.

Finally, while the time was still hovering 8:00 am, I managed to still have my life and another story to tell.

Second, on the contrary to the last taxi story, this is one of a different nature. Because I have been in the mood lately of taking taxis out of convenience, I have not always been rushed when I've been in them.

Because I am currently house-sitting and needed to pick up an outfit from my house for a conference to attend today, I went home after work on Monday to get it. In order to get from my house to where I'm house-sitting, there is no easy way to get there based on public transportation, so I took a cab.

I went to my neighborhood cab stand and jumped into a cab. The driver was super cool and I soon realized as we were going up the incline over the bridge, the cab was struggling and going at a turtles pace. I was in no hurry, the driver was nice, made a joke or too about his sick little cab, and I was content being in that cab.

The trip that should normally take 15 minutes took 45 and honestly it was one of the most relaxing 45 minutes I'd had in awhile. It was close if not better than sitting in a barber's chair getting a hair cut. I'm fairly confident I snoozed off for a second or too. When I made it to my destination I thanked him for such a marvelous ride...it was great.

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Third, I know I said I was only going to mention two but I'm only going to briefly mention this one so when I read this in 35 years I will remember the time I was going downtown during W.A.I.S.T. at 9:30 at night to my hotel from the American Club and the taxi driver dropped me off at a dead end street in the middle of nowhere and said he did not know where the President's House, Place de l'Independance, or the Ponty (most recognized street name in Dakar) was...all of which were around my hotel...thes are places EVERYBODY knows. Despite being physically and mentally exhausted, somewhat furious, and fearing being robbed...I jumped out of the cab as it was still rolling and walked briskly down the street in and out of boutiques and behind trees...while being tall, lanky, and white, I was trying to camouflage myself into the surroundings. In the end, my survival tactics worked, I made it back in one piece. This was one of my weirdest cab experiences....I would have rather been a contestant on Cash Cab though.

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I don't know what any of yall are thinking when you read this or are questioning my safety here, I wouldn't change my time here as a whole at all. Love the excitement...one more year.

Psychiatric Wing Project Update

From a physical standpoint, my newest project at the Hospital Fann Psychiatric Wing continues to be a work in progress...which I look at as a good thing. While I was approached about the idea last May, due to the First Lady's visit, my vacation back to the US, and then Ramadan, is was not until October when things started. Over the course of the past few months, a lot of changes/improvements have been made. The cost of the project remains low and hopefully in turn, sustainable and potentially achievable by others.

Currently, Mboup (psych wing technician) and I have brought in 70 tires and enough composted material to fill them, added landscaping touches and started the planting of flowers, and redone the fencing to better secure the project as well as increase it's size. We are hoping to add roughly 50 more tires and add a shaded seating area that will hopefully be used in the next phase of the project. Also, we are hoping to continue to beautify the landscaping.

Here are some pictures of the project since the beginning....

June 29, 2007:



November 14, 2007:

Experimented with two in-ground beds (one pictured). Later removed.

One of two raised rock wall beds

February 27, 2008:

The top rim of the tires is cut and then the bottom is lined with plastic. The cut top rim is then used to secure the plastic

March 5, 2008:

The fence posts and fencing were all removed, then re-installed in order to extend the perimeter of the garden

March 15, 2008:

Entrance

Two Year Anniversary here in Senegal

Saturdays at the Office

Saturdays in the Dakarois work schedule is something I have never understood....some places are open, some aren't....some people work, some don't. Basically it isn't like a typical Monday to Friday were a lot of people work nor is it like a Sunday where nobody works. Regardless, for me, working on a Saturday noticeably feels different.

It is not every Saturday that I go to the Hospital, but I try to go in at least once or twice a month to check in on things, and each time, I thoroughly enjoy it. On Saturdays, the Hospital is very quiet and relaxing, which is the reason I enjoy going. I can go in for an hour and call it a day, just to check in on things. I don't feel obligated to change into my work clothes, but feel comfortable wearing shorts and tennis shoes.

With work on the Psych project reaching momentum and Mboup, the gardener for the project being out of town, I decided to go in yesterday to water the Psych garden and hangout with Lope, one of the gardeners from the Infectious Diseases Ward.

After spending a bit of time at the Infectious Diseases Ward and having breakfast with Lope, I headed to Psychiatry. When I got there, I noticed a few patients beside the garden in some shade socializing. One of them I had met a few times over the course of last week.

I started watering and noticed a couple of them were speaking English. I wasn't entirely surprised, partially because The Gambia's proximity to Senegal and numerous conversations I had had in the past with some patients in English. What surprised me was that they were speaking English with each other.

A few minutes later, the only girl in the group, and the best of the English speakers walked to the entrance of the garden and asked if she could come in. I invited her in and gave her a tour of the garden and had a nice 10 minute conversation with her. One of the other guys, the one I had met before came in as well. As the conversation wound to a close, one of them asked if I wanted a cup of aataya (tea) in a few minutes.

As I got back to watering, I thought in my more about the meaning of the project to me, the meaning of conversations with the patients to me and possibly to them, as well as the potential support group that these individuals have with each other on this Saturday afternoon in the shade drinking tea, speaking English, and an American to the side. As a result, I gave them a handful of mint for their tea and continued to talk to them for a bit across the fence before finishing up my watering.

When I finished, I closed up the garden and ended up chatting with the group for a few minutes and had some tea and for some reason it was one of the more memorable things that I've experienced here.

Out of the group there, everyone, including myself, had a story, but it didn't matter on this Saturday to this group. The warmth I felt was strong.

It is weird how words sometimes can't sum up your thoughts, and this moment is one of those cases. Basically, the time I was at the Psych project strengthened my emotions for wanting to stay in Senegal another year as well as realizing more of what my potential is and should be, and not settling for less.

Hope you have all had a great weekend.

http://www.ocidakar2008.com

Since I have been living in Dakar, the city has been gearing up for the Islamic Conference. Every major road has been and some still are under construction. Upscale hotels have been built, yet ironically, none to my knowledge have been completed.

Its seems over the past week, a big push has been made to finish up the road projects to the best of their ability, or atleast to get them so a dignitary can be driven on them. The results of this push were evident when I was coming home yesterday evening from the American Club in a taxi and the typical 20 minute trip took an hour...it'll be interesting to see what happens once you put motorcades on them.

Referring back to a couple months ago when the street vendors rioted, it seems that the government is trying to keep them off the busy streets during the Conference (I somewhat agree). I can only assume this off of observations because last night when I was coming home, all of a sudden, about 75 street vendors came running off a bridge carrying their peanuts, phone cards, q-tips, steering wheel covers, etc with the police following close behind. My cab driver and I got a good laugh.

The city should get interesting over the next couple days and I must say, I'm looking forward to being here for it.

One more year....

Because rumors have been flying here in Senegal and I had given little information about when I was going to return back to the US, I just wanted to inform everyone that I decided to extend my Peace Corps service for a 3rd year early last week. My responsibilities here will change for the most part as well as increase but the details and paperwork is still in the works.

I will most likely be back in the States sometime this Summer, around July/August, for a mandatory one month vacation that comes with a year extension.

This decision is one that I am happy to of made and really look forward to the year to come.