Toubab Dialaw

Since we haven’t had power and water for any reasonable length of time since last Wednesday, this post is a bit late and a bit long I have recently discovered that the blackouts are due to the government not paying the electric companies so they ration out the power that the government has paid for. I’m not just saying this…our section of our neighborhood seems to be the worst hit. Although, we had water pretty consistently up until last week which was apparently a common problem amongst other households. I haven’t figured that one out…or the internet ‘blackouts’. Despite the lack of basic amenities, I had a great weekend (partially because I just escaped). Thursday afternoon, a few of us, Kat, Liz, and James, we went to Les Marmelles, a light house not too far from our neighborhood. There were great views of the water and the city (you can’t see the trash piles from that far up).

On Friday, we re-grouped and went to our gym for breakfast…because our gym is actually a country club with a nice pool with a small restaurant that serves salads, crepes, and croque-monsieurs (French ham and cheese). Clearly made for the French diplomat’s wives, but we ate it up. Of course the ham was still beef ham considering the large Muslim population in general. Afterwards we went to Ile de Madeline, the smallest national park in the world. A guide showed us around the island and told us a bit of history. We also got to climb around in a baobab tree. Afterwards, our guide left us to sit on the beach that was deserted. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. In December, when it’s colder in Europe a ton of birds come down so we’ll have to return.

This weekend our program sponsored a trip for everyone to Toubab Dialaw. First of all, the food was amazing because we got salad, pasta, cake, real milk, and fruit salad…and the bread was toasted in the morning. Other than eating we batiked (which is painting a cloth and dying it) and danced at night. The West African dancing is amazing, they move their feet ridiculously fast. I don’t think I’ll quite get to that level after just four months of dance class. It was a great break from the usual grind in Dakar and we were all sad to leave. To be honest, I think we really just miss the food and the beach that had less trash than usual.

Last night, our assistant director informed us of an exhibit opening at the IFAN museum in downtown Dakar. A group of Spanish photographers traveled around Senegal and South Africa and took some amazing pictures. The opening had a bunch of free appetizers, drinks, and a mildly functional air conditioner that we stationed ourselves next to after viewing the photos. I am very grateful to the Spanish embassy for my great dinner that involved no rice at all and even had puffed pastry with cheese. Dairy products are hard to come by in the normal Senegalese diet. We then walked over to l’Institute Francais for more of an escape and to celebrate Liz’s birthday with some French desserts. Sometimes we feel like all we do is try to escape Dakar, but it seems that most of the ex-patriots do the same. At least we get some sense of French culture in these escapist moments.