back to square 1...almost

my first few days in dakar have been pretty good- the city is unlike any i've seen, mostly because it's so incredibly sandy here! we're surrounded by ocean, but i didn't think that'd mean that i'd be walking on sand on the sidewalks. it's not a problem, except when the wind blows. i've been staying with olivia still, she's been really welcoming and really helpful in terms of getting my first handle of this place. her apartment is a bit outside of downtown, so the other day i felt adventurous and decided to get myself downtown and try to find the beach. i even took the bus to get there-- which i was very proud of, and managed to navigate downtown using my lonely planet map. downtown was pretty busy and noisy as i guess is to be expected, but i was really driven to find the water. eventually, i figured my way around and found it- this picture is my first glimpse of the water in dakar, and my first real accomplishment here.

it was pretty beautiful, especially for its proximity to downtown. the water was still turquoise. much of the beach front property is expensive hotels and restaurants, but it was still a nice view.

senegal is a muslim country-- i haven't seen too much yet, but i can hear music from mosques once in a while and i've caught a few people praying towards mecca on the street. also, some of the men where islamic style clothing and some women are veiled.
i had my first real interaction with senegalese people (apart from olivia's boyfriend, babakar) yesterday when i met ame, one of the people working in disabilities linked to ashoka. he invited me to his house and i met some of his family, and we talked a lot about the stuff i could do while i'm here. his wife, adiabi, made a traditional senegalese dish, chebu jenn (fish rice) for lunch, which she said she would teach me to cook too! meal culture is really unique here, all the food is served on one dish in the middle, and everyone eats from it! no separate plates. also, you can't drink anything during the meal, only afterwords. thankfully, we had spoons, but i've been warned by olivia that that's not always the case- sometimes people eat with their hands! that'll be an experience i'm sure. ame and adiabi have a 2 month old daughter malika who is adorable. she's got the pudgiest cheeks ever. i also met a cousin of the family (i forget her name) and she took me to the market to get the stuff to make lunch- the market was fine, except for when we bought the fish and this woman was throwing around scales and fish guts like nobody's business. thankfully i avoided getting hit. apart from that, i'm pretty excited about the prospect of working with disabilities here- i'm going to be meeting some other people in the next week who can help me too. apparently there's a school for kids with disabilities nearby that i'd like to check out too. ame is working on a website to organize information about efforts to help disabled all over senegal, but any photos/information/videos that i accumulate on my travels this year can be used to help his site. otherwise, he seems really willing to bring me in to the stuff he works on here so i get a better understanding of disability issues here and the people working to improve it. dakar's not bad, but i still am drawn out of the big city. i wouldn't mind trying out a few projects in this area, but i also might talk to handicap international to try to get involved in projects that are more out there in the countryside. i'm excited to get things moving in the right direction! i haven't started any wolof classes yet, but i got a few words. i'm hoping to find a tutor or something, but it's hard with my plans so all over the place. we'll see though! my french is serving me well thus far. and i really like senegalese food too, so i'm pretty optimistic :) hopefully i'll have more things to report soon!