Dakar

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so this entry dates to April 8, 2009. again, almost straight out of my journal.

so on wednesday April 8, i woke up at 8:30 and took a shower, which basically consisted of washing my feet since my hair was in braids and i didn't want to get it wet. the wife of the guy we were staying with brought us breakfast which consisted of bread and butter with some weird coffee/tea concoction that was pretty tasty. by 9:30 we had left. first we went to the bank where i tried to exchange travelers' cheques, but of course they didn't. so they directed us to some sort of plaza.

we found a taxi for CFA5000 and left. we were in the cab for probably an hour and a half dodging cars, trucks, vans, horses, and people (actually, people need to dodge cars here, because cars don't slow down for people). Then we got too close to the middle of the road and a car was coming in the opposite direction. mirrors clipped and glittering shards of glass sprayed through the open window and some landed on my lap (not so much shards as dust). we pulled over and after 10 minutes of shouting, the driver got us another cab. they solve their car accidents by shouting and punching each other. it's kind of funny. we got in the other cab (at no extra cost to me...the two drivers simply split the fare) and played in traffic for what seemed like a few hours. the drives are terrifying because there are zero traffic laws. at one obnoxious intersection, one car wanted to cut into our line because there was oncoming traffic, but our driver wouldn't let him. so they kept cutting their wheel as we inched forward in traffic until their front bumper was scraping our back. our driver was Pissed and got out and started shouting until other horns forced him back into the car.

so to recap: 2 taxis. one accident, one on-purpose. and that was the start to my day.

eventually we got to a more corporate part of the city where i saw a bunch of huge banks. i said "those will take traveler's cheques," so the cap stopped and we got out. the first bank directed us to a second bank. i waited in line and when i got to the counter they wanted the receipts. which are at my house. in the gambia. so we tried more banks, but they all wanted receipts. finally i just exchanged $150 cash for CFA. i got CFA 71,900 and we went out and got another cab to take us to the market. i let mr jobe bargain with the cab driver and he got the price down to CFA2000. i bargained more and eventually started to walk away (key move when you're bargaining). mr jobe gave me a funny look, and as soon as he started to follow me the driver yelled at us to come back. he agreed to my price of CFA1700 lowered from CFA2500. he dropped us at the market, which was honestly a little disappointing. mr jobe apparently wanted to meet a friend, so he set off ahead of me about five paces ahead. i followed, but lingered. there were shoes, and fabrics, and purses, and jewelry. but all European. after a while we found his friend and what i'm assuming was his girlfriend. we all went inside his little tailor shop and sat. now when i'm in a market i don't sit. i shop. so i didn't like this situation.

fortunately a man came by with some beautiful african necklaces and i bought two necklaces and a pair of earrings for CFA5000. finally we left and the friend took us through shops filled with european shoes and bags. he and mr jobe walked ahead at a fast pace and i lingered. we started to go upstairs, and when i saw that it was more shoes and bags, i told mr jobe that i wanted african jewelry, not european. so we went back to the outdoor market. i bought a lot of stuff and met a nice guy who spoke english. he was so thrilled to have someone to practice his english with. he asked me if i had a husband. when i said no he asked "why not?" so i said "well, i do, but he's in America." (thanks for the advice, amber). while i was talking to him mr jobe came over and said "give me CFA2000 so i can buy shoes." grr...

we moved on and i bought more things. i constantly had to dodge taxis that just drove straight through the market. and women kept smearing powdered perfume on my hands. then we went back to the tailor's shopw. we sat and then mr jobe and i got a bus. we stood for about 45 minutes. i was dehydrated, hungry, and tired. finally two seats let up and we sat down. then a guy came by and asked for our tickets. i gave him money for fare. he wouldn't take it and an argument broke out. apparently we were supposed to pay a man in a cage when we got on the bus. because we didn't pay when we got on, they were trying to charge us CFA4000. mr jobe argued for a while, and about four people got involved. finally we paid regular fare. CFA400. the bus stopped and we walked home. i read for a while and then went to the internet for an hour. when i finished my hour i went outside and mr jobe was standing there. he told me that when i wasn't back for a while he started to worry. i told him that i had said i would be gone for an hour. he looked like this was news to him.

we went to get lunch around 7:00. all i had eaten that day was bread. i just wanted a snack because i knew that dinner would be soon. i got fries and he got fish and rice. we talked about cars and planes. he thought cars were super cheap in america. when i told him differently, he didn't seem to understand. we went back home and i read until the wife brought us dinner. steak and spaghetti. it was good. then we got bananas and oranges for dessert. i could only eat a banana and then i was full. i read and went to sleep. we had the mosquito net up. that night mr jobe was WAY too close to me so i spent the night kicking him away from my personal space. it was aggravating.

more tomorrow!

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Comments

[Erin Nelson]

So i'm curious why does mr. jobe expect you to pay for everything for him? obviously that is not fair! Well i hope you have a better vacation!!!

[Joan Carlson]

This is your vacation??!!
Your adventure blog has the makings of a great article for your college newpaper! Your going to have to change the character of this Mr. Jobe as he way too weird!!!!!!