Just when I had finally adjusted to life in Africa.  To the sand.  To the heat.  To the bathrooms (err lack-there-of).  To the food.  Peace Corps took us on a field trip to Dakar.  Then everything changed…

I have been hearing from current volunteers about how amazing Dakar is, but I didn’t believe them.  My initial impressions of Dakar during the car ride from the airport, were that the city was dirty, crowded and nothing impressive.

I’m not sure if a couple months living in a Senegalese village changed me, or if maybe I was just too jet lagged to notice the first time, but Dakar is AMAZING.  I could have closed my eyes and been in any Eastern European capital city.  Dakar has sidewalks, restaurants, swimming pools nice cars, beautiful houses, big grocery stores with shopping carts, and most importantly—air conditioning.  Going to Dakar was like going to Disneyland. Peace Corps took us on a tour of their offices in Dakar, then a quick driving tour through the city.  Then we went out to lunch at various restaurants around the city.  I went with a group to an Italian restaurant, and I had a calzone.  With pepperoni.  A real treat in a muslim country.

Anything and everything you could possibly want, you can get in Dakar—for  a price.  That is the one caveat.  As a Peace Corps volunteer, I can’t really afford to live the high life in Dakar. I cannot afford 14 dollar cocktails and 8 dollar boxes of corn flakes when my monthly salary is less than 300 dollars… But it is nice to know that Dakar is there.  Sure it may be a 14 hour car ride away from Kedougou.  But it is there.  Just in case.