La Medina

This morning, my host brother Papis took me into town on a little adventure that finally allowed me to get a little taste of the other side of Dakar...

We got on the bus near our house in Mermoz and took it down Ave Chekih Anta Diop past the University to le Medina, another neighborhood closer to downtown that is much poorer than where I'm staying. BUt before I describe the neighborhood, I should tell you what happened on the way there...*

While we were on the bus, we got stuck in really bad traffic, which isn't that unusual for Dakar. But I knew something was out of the ordinary and that it was worse than normal because everyone on the bus was standing up, looking out and trying to see what the holdup was. Then I finally saw it - apaprently just a few minutes previously, one of the men who directs traffic had been hit by a car and was lying in the middle of the road. They had covered him up and there were people gathered around him, some crying. None of them seemed to be paramedics...but it looked like they may already have decided that he was dead since he was covered up. But they hadn't moved him out of the street, so that's why the traffic was pretty much stopped. Cars had to drive around him and all the onlookers to get by. It was pretty awful. Though, the way people drive here, I guess it's not that surprising.

After getting around the accident, the traffic lightened up a bit and we arrived in Medina about 10-15 minutes later. There is a big market there where people have little stands and sell pretty much everything you could want - lots of imported stuff as well as fruits, fabric, household goods, clothes, etc. I bought a new cellphone (because the one I was using belonged to my other host brother and was really big and clunky). Then, Papis took me into the neighborhood where his girlfriend lives. She, her two sisters, their baby and young son, and their mom live together in one room, about 15' X 15', with two beds and a tv. They cook and wash etc. outside in the courtyard shared by other families that live in the same complex. They were really friendly and their baby was SO happy, the happiest baby I think I've ever encountered. He smiled the entire time I was there.

Then, after hanging out with them for awhile, we went to Papis' friend Mustaffa's house, which was a short walk away through the same neighborhood. There were people out and about everywhere we went, a lot of shoemakers sitting on the side of the road working, people doing their laundry, or just chatting. There was a lot of garbage on the side of the road (and in the road) ... I don't know if they have a garbage pickup system, but it appears not.

Mustaffa lives in a studio with his cousin. By studio, I mean, again, one room with a mattress on the floor, a dresser and a couple chairs and that's all. Oh and a stereo that plays cassette tapes. I don't actually know where (if) they cook. I assume their bathroom is in the hall and is communal. But that was unclear as well. The paint on the wall was turquoise and peeling, badly. We listened to some Reggae and just hung out for awhile. They mostly spoke in Wolof, but would switch to French when they discussed something pertinant to me...but mostly I have no idea what they were talking about (reaffirming the fact that I need to learn the language).

That was my morning. Apparently my host mother would not be please knowing that Papis took me around to his friend's houses (she's a bit overprotective of me), so I had to tell her that we just walked around downtown. But I'm glad he took me there, because it was a good chance to see a couple of houses of young Senegalese folks who live in much less luxury than where I'm staying in Mermoz and have a better sense of what life is like for the majority of people here.