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.