Diop, Mariama Diop.

I have many excuses for not writing until now. Orientation week was hectic, for one. I got sick the last day we stayed in the hotel, and my first night at my homestay was probably one of the worst nights I've had in my entire life. (More later on how I'm feeling MUCH BETTER now!) Also, the heat, when it's not making me want to go crazy and jump into the ocean to cool off, makes everyone sort of lazy. I'm much more inclined to spend the two hours we have for lunch break sleeping on the mats here at school than blogging, even though I have so much to recount! But today I'm fasting (more on that later, too!) so I'll try and spend the time I would normally go out for lunch writing instead.

Let's start with the weather. It's September, which is either the worst or the best month, depending on how you look at it. Our program directors have mostly assured us that if we can make it through September the weather will become much more tolerable. For now it is hot and humid. It's still the rainy season, and this year has been especially bad. Apparently it hasn't rained 10 days in a row like it has in decades, and the suburbs of Dakar are badly flooded. Some flooding is normal, though, because of the uneveness of the roads and the HUGE potholes everywhere. Every taxi ride is a new adventure and it seems completely natural that all the taxis and buses to have 'Alhamdoulilah' or 'Thank God' written on them. As in, Thank God this bus hasn't fallen apart yet andThank God my taxi driver didn't get stuck in a three foot pothole and Thank God I got to school in one piece!

This is the sidewalk outside the hotel where we stayed for orientation. You can see to the side one of the buses, overflowing with people. On the left is another picture of one, the picture taken from the back of a taxi. The back doors stay open on the buses, normally, for air and so that people can hang onto the back for extra places. It's pretty insane to see. You can sort of make it out on the picture on the left, sorry for the bad picture! The taxis are much more civilized in terms of seating, but are also falling apart. They don't go fast like the taxis of NYC, but one still feels as though they are about to crash. Narrow roads that would be one way in the States are both ways, and with people walking in the streets and stray dogs everywhere. Your taxi will head straight for the oncoming car, and veer into it's path to get around a particularly bad pothole, only to swerve back at the last minute. It's terrifyingly fun.

Taxis are also an example of the culture of bargaining here. Today in Wolof class we learned how to bargain in Wolof, but I've already become an expert with the French that I have. To get to school every day I flag a taxi at the corner and say, Salaamaleikum to greet the driver. I ask how much it is to go to the Comissariat du Police at Point E. Taxi drivers are mostly illiterate and no one knows the street names anyway, so it's important to know landmarks to get to where you want to go. The taxi driver will tell me to pay 1200 cfa, and I respond that I'll pay 800. He says that 800 is not a good price and that 1000 is not a good price. I tell him that 800 is the good price and that I can wait for another taxi. He tells me to get in, but first I check that he has change for my 1000 bill, because no one has any change in this country. By the way, the 800 I pay to get to school is about $2, since the exchange rate is about 426 cfa to a dollar. Now that I know more Wolof, it will be easier to bargain. I also think I'll start at 700, so that I can concede 100 cfa before settling on 800. I drive a hard bargain!
Okay, well here's a picture of a beautiful mosaic on a bridge that you can't really see, but you can sort of make out the taxi jaune et noir in the picture. Maybe later, when I feel like scaring my parents, I'll post the pictures I took the insides of the taxis. Falling apart doesn't even begin to describe it!

Class is starting early, so I'll post later this week about the food here (so amazingly good) or something, but for now I'm happy and healthy and hot as heck!

Mariama Diop

p.s. Our host families give us Senegalese names. You can call me Yama for short. :D