Senegal, Land of Dreams?

The Runs! 1-1

Presenting at All-Vol

I just got back from Senegal where I attended an “All-Vol”, ostensibly a conference where volunteers from all over West Africa exchange ideas and WAIST, the West African International Softball Tournament.

Still in Guinea, we drove our car on to this hand crank operated ferry.

Guinea volunteers talk about Dakar (the capital of Senegal) as if it were the Emerald City, Atlantis, and Paris all wrapped in one. I have a secret for you. We are not exaggerating. Senegal is Guinea’s neighbor to the north sharing a border with a small part of the northern Basse-Cote and the entire northern border of the Fouta Djallon. In terms of distance, it’s less than 10 hours from the regional capital of Labe to the border, but it terms of development it is light-years away. As you approach the border, the road becomes smooth and paved with a dotted line down the middle. Taxis that hold 9 in Guinea, by law hold 7 people. That is to say one person per seat. When we pulled into the first small town, I saw signs for “Espresso” everywhere. I was excited. I love coffee and didn’t know that the coffee shop was an integral part of Senegalese culture. I was wrong and the answer was even more exciting. Espresso is an Internet provider. Running water (potable in Dakar), electricity and Internet are ubiquitous in Senegal. When we got to the training center in Thies, a city like Kindia in that it is the closest large city to the capital, we were cautioned that every once in a while there would be a short black out and to not be alarmed. I couldn’t help but laughing. If we were in Kindia, I would be warning, “Every once in a while, we will have a short period of electricity. Don’t be alarmed.” In Thies, you could go eat at one of many air conditioned cafes that served everything from penne with shrimp to four cheese panninis to ice cream and pizza while providing free high speed wifi. Dakar was even better. I drank tap water! I drank draft beer! There is a real mix of cultures in Dakar. You can see the diversity of the city just walking down the street. A survey of our group would reveal that we collectively ate Ethiopian, French, Lebanese, Thai, Senegalese, American, and Koren Food. Also, we ate more ice cream than a person should in a week. Don’t even get me started on the grocery stores.

That's a real Aldo across the street from our hostel. Walking in is just like going in the one on M street.

The super market...in a shopping mall. They have their own line of store brand organic products

I scream, you scream, we all scream for N'ice Cream!

It’s easy to go on and on about Dakar. We decided that we needed to be careful, as Guinea volunteers, not to point out constantly to the Senegal volunteers how much harder we have it. Every once in a while, something would slip out (OH MY GOSH! Grass! They have grass fields!), but the more time we spent in Senegal, the more we realized how easy we have it in Guinea. Yes, they can ride a Ferris Wheel, or take hot showers, or buy American clothes in a shopping mall, but they are also constantly harassed and treated like tourists. Guineans are warm and welcoming. They treat you like family and know that you are in their country to get a job done and so give you respect. At the first leg of my trip I ended up in Labe, alone, after dark, with no phone. Apparently, there were bandits eyeing my bag and offering me rides just so they could steal all my things. What happened? The driver put my bag and me in his taxi and locked the doors. The woman who was riding next to me got in and offered to take me to her house so I could charge my phone and eat dinner until I figured out how to get to the Peace Corps house. The driver took me all the way to the Peace Corps transit house for free.  In Senegal I felt constantly affronted, harassed, swindled and ripped off. When buying something in the market, I kept my ears open for Guinean last names and would buy from these friendly vendors. Peace Corps Guinea is like one big family. I know everyone’s names, their siblings names, where in Guinea and America they live, and their favorite food. Seasoned Senegalese volunteers kept asking us if we were from the new stage and the new ones kept asking us where in Senegal we served. So even though in Guinea I can’t eat a bagel and drink iced coffee while watching Youtube videos, I feel blessed to have ended up in Guinea, the land of one million smiles and one kind of paved road.

Madeline Island, a completely deserted island paradise