Asalaam alekum!

The last few days have been filled with orientation activities, so there's nothing really captivating to report. We usually eat breakfast - les petits pains au chocolat are delicious - and then go to the CIEE study center where we have some sort of program instructing us on security, medical issues, culture, etc. On Monday, we toured the area where we will be living. I will be in the neighborhood of Sacre Coeur, although I don't know which specific area my host family lives in yet; I'll find that out tomorrow. The main landmark in Sacre Coeur, Immauble Mariam (a building that certainly would not be considered a landmark in the U.S.), is about a twenty minute walk from the study center.

Yesterday, we had a two hour intensive Wolof session. I am now able to greet people several ways - there's a lot of forms of "hello" and "peace" and "praise Allah"s but it's nicely formulaic. I can say my name and where I come from, and I now can kind of identify the Wolof phrase for "do you have a husband?" - helpful for walking through the streets.

This afternoon a couple of other girls and I walked to the Cornishe, the road that winds along the ocean. This is where all the fancy homes and embassies and hotels and toubab (white people) stores are. It's quite a bit cleaner in this area compared to Mermoz, and the streets leading to it are full of venders walking around selling phone cards and flip-flops and imported plastic toys to the tourists. While during the day, this area is full of joggers and sightseerers, we were told it is one of the more dangerous areas in Dakar after dusk for tourists and Senegalese alike.

A few observations:

An interesting thing about Senegalese society is the manner and importance of greeting people. A typical greeting can last for a long period of time because people basically continue saying the same thing to each other forms, in both Wolof and French. This means that you can continue to repeat the one phrase you know multiple times without looking too stupid.

The Senegalese, both women and to a certain extent men, are in general extremely well dressed. They seem to not only repel sand and dirt, but also to not be affected by the sun or humidity whereas most of the toubabs - foreigners - are looking completely worn down. There's a mixture of dirt and sand coating everything that has been exposed to the outdoors. We learned that cleanliness is extremely important here. People shower multiple times a day, and homes and courtyards are meticuliously cleaned. You would not expect this from the sheer amount of garbage covering every surface. Although the trash from the homes has to go somewhere...

Car rapides are not quite as terrifying (or rapid) as they appear. I'm still a little fuzzy about how you actually get to where you are going. Basically, you ask the assistant who hangs off the back of the door whether the bus you're using is going the direction of your intended destination, pay him and climb on. When you get to the correct spot, he knocks on the side of the bus - the driver recognizes his assistant's knock - and then you climb off. It's hot and crowded and a bit questionable, but extremely Senegalese.

That's all for now. Ba beneen yoon - until next time!