The Market

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Today was exciting. I went into downtown Dakar for the first time. We started out at the school this morning, and we broke up into groups of six. Each group left with a guide, a Senegalese university student. The guides taught us how to ride the Car Rapides, which are the crazy buses they have here. Actually, they are more like trucks with a cover on the back than buses, and they just cram more and more people inside. The boy on the back, who is called the apprentice because he may one day become a driver, takes money from passengers and bangs on the metal of the vehicle to tell the driver when to stop and go. They have amazing memories. Of all the passengers in there, they can usually remember who got on where and where they asked to get off, and who has paid and who hasn’t. And they’re like 12 years old.

So we crammed into the Car Rapide and rode it a half hour or so into the heart of downtown Dakar. We got off at the last stop, which was the right in the middle of the market. They told us that today might be a little crowded because Saturday is the busiest day for the market, and they weren’t exaggerating. It was crazy, overwhelming, smelly, loud, and really cool.

The market isn’t a destination exactly, it’s more like a route. People put up their stalls lignin the road, which is full of cars. This means you have to weave in and out of stalls and cars, all the while fending off ridiculously persistent salesmen. A lot of people just sell one product, and they carry it with them on their body or in boxes, so they can just follow you. One man selling beaded bracelets followed us for about an hour, after two girls bought bracelets. They push their wares right in your face and try their best to engage you in conversation. We were spoken to in French, English, Wolof, and Spanish.

I got suckered into buying a shoulder bag. I glanced at it because it was pretty and padded and I thought it might be good for my laptop. I was thinking, “I could come back and get that some time, when I actually have money.” I only had 3000 CFA and some change with me. The guy saw me looking at it, and started trying to talk me into buying it, saying it was only 10,000 CFA (about $20). I said, “No not today I don’t have any money.” And he told me that he was sure I had money, let him look in my bag. I would have just walked away, but my group was stopped there because another girl was buying a statue, so I ended up giving him everything I had, meaning I had to borrow money for lunch and the bus. They are persistent way beyond the point of obnoxious.

Anyway, by the time we headed back to the bus to go back home, we were all exhausted. The heat, combined with a lot of walking, and repeating “Next time” hundreds of times really wore us all out. I’m defiantly ready to go back another day, I’ll just make sure I go with less white people. We seem to attract those persistent salesmen like flies…

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Photos

Half the Group
This is about half of the CIEE students. Our two guides are sitting on the right.

New Bag
This is me, sweaty, hot, and disgusting, with my new bag.

Comments

[JQ]

Nice bag!
I like it a lot. You're saying your room is messy, wait a little that I send you some pics of mine here hahaha. Did you improve your bargaining skill? Maybe you should see if they offer a class a l'university. have a great day! love you bye.