A Peace Corps Vacation

Hello from Dakar!

As you can see from the photos I posted yesterday, I’ve had a fantastic time in Sénégal so far –more like a vacation than a typical medical evacuation! (Thank you, Peace Corps!) Dakar is wild – totally different from Benin (and the rest of West Africa, from what I've heard). It's much more westernized and modern. There are real grocery stores (the new one that just opened near to Peace Corps headquarters has a better selection than Shaw's in New Haven and is absolutely beautiful!), tons of restaurants serving world-class cuisine, and paved streets full of cars and buses (rather than motos). It's the start of tourist season, so there are lots of souvenirs to buy and foreigners running around. The locals are more western too: they can usually speak at least some French (and even a little English, or at least enough to tell you to buy their stuff (“Ce n’est pas chère! Eet's not expenseeve!") and are more likely to wear western clothes than pagnes and boombahs. They even exercise on the beach, California-style. The scenic drive to downtown Dakar reminds me of visiting Marcy in LA – cliffs rising above beautiful beaches, people working out and jogging along the coast, kids playing on real play grounds...it's crazy!

I traveled to Dakar with my friend Michelle, another Benin TEFL PCV. Since it takes a full day for me to get from Penessoulou to Cotonou, we had to spend the night before our flight – which also happened to be the night of the U.S. presidential election – at the Peace Corps office in Cotonou. A bunch of other PCVs were in Cotonou for a meeting, so we all got together to watch the results come in on satellite television at the PC Administrative Officer’s house. (Thank you, Iffy!) We stayed up all night, cheering as states were declared blue and getting more-than-a-little teary-eyed when President-Elect Obama gave his valedictory oration at a little after 6 a.m. our time. It was a special place to be for this particular historic moment—serving in the Peace Corps in West Africa when America elected its first African-American president. For the rest of the day, everywhere we went people congratulated us, telling us that they too had stayed up all night to watch history in the making. Never have I been more proud to be an American or felt such solidarity with my countrymen and women. January 20th can’t come soon enough!

Michelle and I got into Dakar late Wednesday night, and we spent Thursday morning taking care of our medical appointments. I was totally impressed with the medical care here – the medical facility is state of the art, and the service was better than the States! On Thursday afternoon, we explored the area by Peace Corps headquarters (which is about a 20-minute taxi ride, or a 45-minute bush-taxi ride, away from downtown Dakar). There's a “dead yovo” market (a second-hand clothes market, so-called because a yovo – white person – would have to be dead to give up these gently-used clothes...kind of sad, really, when you think that in reality people just gave these clothes away and bought new ones) on the vacant lot next to the office on Thursday afternoons where I bought a pair of jeans for 500 CFA (about $1) and 4 t-shirts for 1000 CFA -- sweet deal! We went to dinner at a seafood place on the beach and drank a few too many Gazelles (cheap Senegalese beer) before heading to a bar with a couple of other PCVs in town. It was a lot of fun!

On Friday we were invited to attend Peace Corps Senegal's swear-in ceremony. In comparison with our swear-in ceremony, their initiation was a smaller, more intimate affair held at the U.S. Ambassador’s house and attended only by volunteers and a handful of American and Senegalese officials. The Ambassador gave a moving speech about the important role played by Americans serving abroad and about the impact of the U.S. presidential election around the world that made me feel very patriotic and warm and fuzzy inside. They served lots of yummy goodies (mini hamburgers! avocado shrimp bruschetta! cream puffs!), which we happily mooched like true Peace Corps Volunteers. (As we jumped a line of newly-minted volunteers for a second round of hors d’oeuvres, Michelle remarked that if you’re waiting in line, you haven’t been here long enough. We know better by now! Hahaha.) On our walk home from the ceremony, we stopped in at the biggest, ritziest hotel in the neighborhood just to have a look around, and when we stepped out onto the patio I realized that it was the same hotel where I spent the afternoon during my layover on my trip to South Africa a year and a half ago. It was every bit as posh and luxurious as I remembered. How funny to stumble upon it again!

On Saturday, we explored downtown Dakar. We visited the grand marché and bought touristy souvenirs and fake designer handbags (I am proud to say that I no longer run away from agressive vendors and taxi drivers, now I can discuter with the best of 'em—I got my bag for less than US $10!). Then we took a long walk along the coast, visiting the Presidential Palace and Senate House (and snapping photos with a bemused guard in traditional uniform) along the way. It was fun, but by the end of the day we were completely exhausted!

On Sunday, we took the ferry out to Ile de la Gorée -- a lovely tourist trap off the coast of Dakar. It was crazy and a bit overwhelming to be with so many foreigners! In an effort to escape the tour groups, we decided to do our tour of the island in reverse, beginning with the old fort and the marché and ending at La Maison des Esclaves (House of the Slaves -- Dakar was a big center in the slave trade), the biggest attraction on the island. However, in our cleverness we forgot that Sénégal is still in West Africa (despite appearances!) and most places take a repós in the afternoon, so by the time we got to the Maison it was closed until 2:30 -- which was also the time of the next ferry back to Dakar. So, we ended up skipping the historical site and having a nice lunch by the ocean instead. Oh well! It was a really good day just the same.

Monday was our American day. We took a day off from sight-seeing and lounged by the pool at the Club Atlantique, a kind of fitness center attached to an international school where PCVs can swim for free. The club is a little slice of America abroad: kids run around the patio and take swim lessons from an American-accented instructor while moms tan on the sidelines; a snack shack serves an array of fried foods (I ate my signature grilled chicken sandwich and french fries blissfully smothered in ketchup); lifeguards stand on duty; there are floaties and noodles in the pool. It felt like home!

Tuesday was another marché day, and today we have plans to explore a smaller, less touristy island off the coast of Dakar. Tomorrow we hope to go to Lac Rose, or the pink lake, and maybe even ride camels in the desert!

As you can tell, I'm having a really good time, and I really can't believe how lucky I am to be here. (Again: Thank you, Peace Corps!) That said, I am anxious to get back to my village and get back to work. I miss my students -- and my puppy! -- and I'm feeling really bad for being away so long during school. Hopefully I’ll be back in Penessoulou by the end of the week. Vacation is nice, but I’ve got work to do!