Will Copeland's D2D Blog: First Day in Dakar

Busy Streets of Dakar

We made it safely to Dakar.  I’ve been here about a whole day.  What I notice immediately is the busyness of the streets.  Vendors reach towards open car windows hawking cell phone SIM Cards.  Cars swerve in and around traffic without stoplights and with little regard for driving lanes.  The sidewalks and streets are full of people. Some of the people are dressed  casual in T shirts but many are regally dressed in long dresses, headwraps, coordinated robes and pants.  A lot of people wear flip flops. 

From the Roof of our hotel

Vendors Selling Goods

I went to dialysis today in Dakar.  I found the staff to be friendly, curteous, and professional.  Clinique Madeleine is obviously an upscale hospital.  The streets are well paved.  The nearby buildings are solid stone.  There is an abundance of white people roaming the halls.  

Me and My Boy Boubacar

I met a new friend.  Nicknamed “Old School”, Boubacar served as my dialysis technician.  He loved hip hop—we listened to Fat Joe,EPMD, 50 Cent, Dilated Peoples, Adina Howard, Mary J Blige, and others as he helped facilitate my treatment.  He was born in 1981 like my brother.  He quizzed me on my French and said it was “assez bien.”

I have come to feel safe in Dakar.  After conversation with others in the delegation I wonder if this is not naive.  For example, when we got off the plane we were surrounded by young men who gave us handshakes offered to carry our bags, tried to sell us SIM cards.  Were these enterprising young men, hustlers, or thieves working to distract and disorient? 

There is so much to learn about travelling.