rain rain rain

FINALLY! After some very very hot days where you could almost cut through the air, the rain came yesterday. Real tropic rain with drops the size of a tennisball. What a relief. I was on my way home from the office when it started. I thought Dakar was chaotic before, but yesterday I experienced real chaos (although the locals tell me that it can get much worse). The streets were like rivers and large pools formed rapidly where ever the water could pass. It was incredible to see. When I came home I celebrated by putting on a long-sleeved shirt for the first time since my arrival. Mmm, reminds me of the Danish Fall.

This is probably the last part of the rainy season, from now on it will get dry and cold (read: less hot!!). I say, I am really looking forward to that, cause with the humidity comes mosquitos. Oh, how they drive me insane these days. The first week I was here there were no problems. i could even sleep without a mosquito-net. But now, I sleep with the net every night, I put on repellent all the time, I cover my room and my things in mosquito-killer-spray OF DOOM, and still, the bastards manage to bite me. Even in my face! I don't know what I look like. My colleagues laugh at me everyday when I come to work with new swollen bites; "oooh la pauvre toubab". I just can't wait till they disappear....

Apart from the mosquitos everything is fine in Dakar. I have slowly started working at ENDA. I have become part of a team called LightingAfrica, which is a project developed in cooperation with the Senegalese government. The idea is to promote education on and access to lighting and electrification in the poor and rural areas of Senegal, and eventually the entire Africa. Solar energy is the source to this progress and microfinancing should provide the possibility for even the poorest to invest. In large areas of Senegal wood is the primary source to energy, which is detrimental to the environment as well as to the safety of the rural population. ENDA, as a neutral party with sufficient expertise, is then supposed to do monitoring and evaluation of this project proposal in order to gain funding from the World Bank to continue. My role has been to formulate the indicators of possible impact with their research as the backdrop. It is truly exciting to be part of a real project, and to contribute to the development in this area.

The weekend has been packed. Cécile has so many friends and family members who want to 'entertain' me. I went to the bar of Cécile's younger brother with a colleague Friday. Since I am doing an internship there, we were not in danger of thirsting. I tried all the different local beers, I need to know them all if I should become a good bartender I guess. Well, they were all very nice, as far as I remember. Saturday Cécile's cousin, Jacky, offered a guided tour around Dakar on his scooter. We saw the city centre, the coast line, the airport and finally we when to his cousin's house for a party. Or actually, i don't know if it was his cousin or his uncle or his brother or if they were even related. They are all somehow related here, and if they are not they probably grew up together. My boss is Cécile's uncle and Jacky's grandfather, and how that makes Jacky and Cécile cousins, I do not know... Anyway, the cousins took me out dancing the local 'mbalax' at a disco. Here it is not the girls dancing while the boys a drinking. Here the boys are going crazy on the dance floor, and they are not shy. The entire disco is bouncing in an inferno of arms and legs and big white smiles.

Waking up with hangovers Sunday, it was perfect that a friend of Cécile, Demba, invited me to the beach, I thought. Nice, calm and relaxing. But in Dakar, there is no such thing. Anders, you asked for pictures from the beach. I hope the following images can give you an impression beach life in central Dakar on a nice Sunday afternoon. It was fun to experience, but I hope my next beach adventure will take place a bit outside Dakar, where I have heard about the most amazing beaches. In the evening I went yet again to the beach, this time with Jacky and his friends where we enjoyed freshly grilled fish under the big African moon.

My hood

Here are a few picture from my everyday scenery in Dakar. First, three pictures is from my current home; my bedroom, the livingroom with the oldest son, Joe, and the roof terrace. The following two pictures are from my neighborhood, Grand Yoff. First, the local bakery/grocery store, and next you see one of the bigger streets in the area. Lastly, I have attached a picture of the famous "car rapides".

Je m'apelle Diouma

I have passed my first weekend in Dakar where I have had the pleasure of experiencing the famous "Dakar by night". And it is true what they say, Dakar never sleeps! I went out with some colleagues who took me dancing. I had great fun learning the crazy moves of the Senegalese traditional dance, jumping, kicking, spasming. I could get used to that. It was refreshing to get out and socialise a bit, and nice to get to know my colleagues better. Sunday night Cecile, the colleague I live with took me to her littlebrother's bar. It was like a big living room with colorful sofas, home-cooked meals and a very attentive host. He offered me an internship in his bar, which means that I can call him anytime and he will come pick me up and drive me to the bar. What a nice offer. This was also the night where I got my Senegalese name: Diouma Sarr. I guess they are slowly turning me into a real Senegalese.

Of course I also had some activities during the day. Saturday Cecile took me to the local market to buy vegetables and spices. Apparently, supermarkets are not that usual here. There are a few but the majority of people's everyday groceries are bought at their local market. It was a chaos of insisting vendors, dead animals, and blankets covered with all sorts of exotic vegetable and fruits.

Saturday I also had the chance to go to the beach by "car rapid", which is a kind of bus which is everything but rapid. They are small, trachy and extremely colorful mini-busses that take hours to get around the city. There is no real schedule of where the busses go, so you have to ask the driver if he will stop where you need to get off. When you want to get off you must tap a coin on the roof of the car. Luckily I had a helper with me to make sure we found the beach. The beaches are lovely here. The water is warm and the sand is clean. But it is difficult being a toubab (white person) on the beach. Everybody notice you, point at you and laugh if you look confused. However, it is not in a very mean way, but simply because there are no other toubabs around. One guy even called me a carrot!

Sunday is where you gather to eat a big lunch together with your family, friends and neighbors in Senegal. So Cecile and I spent the whole morning preparing a big traditional meal for lunch. It is called ceebu jën and it consists of rice cooked in a paste of tomato, some insides of a fish, garlic and chili, and with this you have fish and vegetables. The dish is served in a big bowl from which everybody eat from with their hands while seated on the floor. It tasted really nice and it was a very cozy experience.

Na nga def!

Well, big step for Cille! I have decided to make my own blog while I am in Senegal for the next 6 months. I am not quite sure how I will use it yet, but I guess I will post the latest new and thoughts when I have access to some internet.

Here in my first post I can tell you that I have arrived well in a surprisingly chaotic and strange city, Dakar. I have spent my first days in what I think is a cultural chock, trying to adjust my expectations and habits to the surroundings. Here there are mainly dirt roads, goats in the streets, few trafic lights; all in all not what I thought the capital would look like. People generally live under humble conditions in simple homes, driving worn-out cars, just getting by, but they know all their neighbors who they of course share everything with. I cannot even begin explaining all the things that are so fundamentally different from the reality I know from home. It is fascinated and overwhelming at the same time. I have to go with the flow and see what it brings, I think.

I am renting a room at one of my co-workers from ENDA where I share a living room, bathroom (no toilet seat!?) and a kitchen with her and her family. They are very friendly and Cécile (yes that's her name) is a great support, introducing me to the rest of the staff here at ENDA, as well as to the Senegalese life style. I have not yet started working, since the person responsible for my internship is not in town at the moment (no rush, we're in Africa). Hopefully he will be here on Monday and can give me some directions. I should not complain, I have enjoyed having some days to digest and read up on ENDA's current projects.

I can also report that it is hot hot HOT!! It is 35 degrees and even the locals are sweating. We are eagerly awaiting the rain. Heavy clouds but - no rain. Nevertheless, winter is coming soon with temperatures down to 20 degrees! Today I brought my camera to work to I have attached a picture from the office I am sitting in at the moment and the view from the top of the building (center of Dakar).