We took a sept place home to Dakar. It was Thanksgiving Day, a fact which had escaped us until a Senegalese who works with Americans pointed it out to us later that evening. Abraham and I bought the whole back seat to ourselves — three “places” — so that we wouldn’t have to spend 4-5 hours packed like sardines.

Like most sept places and buses, this car was decked out in Islamic symbols. The decals on the rearview mirror are of the founder of one of the several Muslim “brotherhoods” in Senegal. (more…)

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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