Abraham and I took the camera with us on Friday as we ran our errands. We’re starting to do this with increasing confidence, no longer intimidated by the craziness of downtown. Still, we have to be discreet. I still stand out, obviously much more than Abraham, and people constantly approach me, either selling me something, directly asking for money or trying to scam me for money.
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Abraham and I have asked ourselves that question countless times since arriving in Senegal. There was the time we were walking past a building under construction, and witnessed something we had never seen before. It took 16 men to get cement to the top (4th) floor of the building. Four were at street level, tossing shovels full of cement in unison up to the second level, where four more men were standing and proceeded in unison to toss shovels full of cement to the 3rd level, and so on to the 4th level where four more men were waiting. Abraham, in his business sense, remarked that there must be a more efficient way. Still, this was low-technology in action, and it was almost beautiful to watch the coordination as the cement traveled up the building. If only we had our camera.
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Water has been a recurring theme of our stay here. This is interesting considering our previous year in the Arizona desert. As Dakar is shaped like an upside down triangle (hmmm) and almost completely surrounded by water (it’s connected to the rest of the country by an isthmus on the northeast side of the city), I guess this was inevitable. What’s striking is that the coastlines are all very different from each other: The west faces the Atlantic and is rocky with cliffs and a few small beaches — it reminds me of northern California. (more…)