First impressions of the city

The first impression when you get into the city is “what a mess!”, a labyrinth of streets which all resemble each other, from the sand on the ground and on the roads to more and more sand which is never-ending. It’s like the sea continued into the town and it gradually, little by little invaded the streets, or rather on the contrary like it’s retreating… Litter too, never-ending litter… People throw anything on the ground with no exceptions. Dakar is a massive anthill but in the end everyone has their place or finds their place.

I lived in Dieuppeul, north of the city and I therefore had to go to the south when going to the city centre. It’s an anthill punctuated by products which are sold in the streets (mangos, roasted peanuts, roasted almonds —> with a bit of sand inside :P) and markets (Sangada, La Gueule Tapée (Dakar commune) yes…). Anyway, my ‘baptism’ into the markets was over with very quickly since with my first purchase I was scammed. I paid around a third of my salary for a bag and a tapestry to go on my wall… Basically I paid what I’d pay in Belgium. But hey, in hindsight I tell myself that it was part of the adventure and that fortunately sometimes we pay them a fair price (Belgian prices) and not just the Senegalese price….

The first thing to which I grew accustomed was that you’re never left alone. Simply because wherever you go there are people who’ll accompany you, follow you, talk to you. Not just to ask for money but to find out where you come from, and eventually to marry you to get a European passport. This didn’t bother me for a second. Until the end it bothered me a bit more because sometimes you just want to be alone and to not have to hear the same old spiel but it is all part of the culture and adventure.

I very much had the hostel experience since the windows didn’t shut and you could hear everything that went on outside. For example, my first meal at the hostel was… chicken and chips! But not like the Belgians that’s for sure.

Next, you get used to the morning prayers around 6:30am. The majority of Senegalese are Muslim. Some are Christian and there are still some animists but not many, they’re mostly in the countryside and live in the south of the country.

I equally got used to (albeit not straight away) the cold water. Fortunately for the first few days I didn’t have to wash my hair!

I also had to get used to eating spices but thankfully they were warned at the hostel that I didn’t like it so they left the dishes normal without hot spices and in my host family they didn’t eat spicy food either!

You also get accustomed to seeing animals everywhere, on the road, eating the litter which is all over the town… The Baobab too, tall and impressive due to their age and size.

Finally, you easily grow accustomed to the very pleasant climate in this season, the Senegalese dances, the typical music of Senegal, with sounds of djembe, the Senegalese smiles, their deep kindness and many other things…

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