Blogs from Dakar, Cape Verde Peninsula, Senegal, Africa - page 4

Editor's note: I decided not to write this entry since it's not my first time experiencing the often overwhelming welcome to the continent. I have apparently forgotten that things that happen here are not normal. It all seems so familiar and ordinary to me (yes, I'm aware that this means that there is probably something very wrong with me). Instead, I offer up my mom's account of our first few days of Africa. If you want to read about my first week in Africa and see how far I've come since then, you can read it here. After finally arriving at the Dakar Airport, we had to maneuver our way though the throngs of other travels. We waited in an endless line to get our passports checked when a parade of mothers and babies cut in ... read more

Wow! I can’t believe the hospitality. I just had a bunch of bread and Nutella given to me by some Senegalese deckhands. I’m pretty sure it was their supper! So I got my Level 1 diving certification card today. My instructor Mamadou took me on two hour long dives, which placated my ire. Le Doyen is a lazy fuck. His sore leg seemed to have completely healed today, as soon as some girls wanted to go diving that is. Oh well, all’s well that… I sort of have a bed on board, which is good because I’m exhausted! ... read more

An uneventful day as it was apparently too rough to dive. I went to Ile Goree today, very quaint. Met a Belgian girl who works for the Red Cross. She has three masters, so it sounds like I’m on the right path. She sort of ditched me for supper though, so to hell with her. Also I recently has the difficult experience of trying to explain what laser eye surgery is to my African friends! Their only response: On na pas ca ici… ... read more

I finally left that rat-infested whore house “Le Provancal” and am at “Oceanium” where I’m about to start what very well may become a life-long love of scuba diving, or today might be a once only. Yesterday evening was grand! Finally got an email back from Kiryomi, telling me that they were going to see Youssou N’Dor. Thinking that I’d go a bit early to ensure that I didn’t miss them I showed up at 11:15 pm. Of course they didn’t arrive until 1:15 am (with two dudes --- Salif and Baidou). The show didn’t start until 2 am. At first I thought I was in the wrong place because it was a Gendarmarie base, but no. Anyway the guys turned out to be cool and the show was pretty rockin’! Senegalese girls! Wow! Best butts ... read more

Due to the lack of appropriate medical facilities in Guinea, I've been whisked away to Senegal for my mid-service check up. Despite all the fun forms and doctor visits, I'm choosing to see this as a second vacation. First things first, the moment I got off the plane, I was greeted by sliding glass doors. I'm travelling with another volunteer from Guinea and we took this as a sign that Dakar would be a little different than what we were use to in Conakry. The customs officials immediately inferred that we were Peace Corps volunteers and started speaking to us in Wolof (the predominantly spoken local language in Senegal). We apologized in French, saying we didn't understand. But apparently Peace Corps is very well known here, and has a great reputation because this didn't really bother ... read more