Dakar

Some first impressions:

I think the coolest it has been is 85 degrees. That was at night. Sweating actually all of the time.

There are no stoplights and everyone disregards stop signs completely. Whatever driver is bravest wins the intersection.

Pedestrians never have the right of way.

Goats, cats, dogs and horses are just as common as people in the street.

Mangos are the cheapest food (200 cefa, about 40 cents)

If you can speak any wolof at all people will be much friendlier to you

There are sporadic rainstorms almost everyday for about ten minutes each

The streets are mostly orange sand that turns red when it rains and floods the street

The power will go out for no reason at all the time. Not because of technical difficulties, because the government has decided to give another part of the city power for awhile.

Akon is from Point E, Dakar (where I live and where my school is) and everyone is obsessed with him.

My Super Sweet Sixteen plays on TV here in french and people watch it.

It's Ramadan right now, so we're actually the only ones eating at restaurants during the day.

People break the fast at 8ish, and eat dinner at about 10:30

Nutella, bread and instant coffee is the most common breakfast.


About classes:

I'm learning wolof in french, which makes my brain hurt a lot. My french is questionable but is improving fast because it has to. Everyday I have either french or wolof for 2 hours before lunch. Some days I also have my cultural seminar or field study seminar, also in French. After lunch I have art class! Next week will be visual arts, but later on dance and music. We went to visit le village d'art on Thursday where most of the artists we're working with live. It's very close to the ocean and somehow a quiet haven  away from the rest of the noises of the city. There are painters, sculptors, wood carvers- they use clay, bronze, wax, cloth, paint, wood anything. Their art is everywhere and it's incredibly beautiful. Next week we get to learn glass painting I think. We also had some musicians just come and jam at our school to show us the instruments. We learned to dance a little bit and I loved it. Arms and legs everywhere. My school has some classrooms with walls and some open classrooms. We have a really beautiful courtyard with the biggest slugs I have ever seen. I haven't seen any really cool animals yet, some geckos, cockroaches, slugs, so many flies...some birds. We go on a safari of sorts later.

More on my homestay in a moment!