'Tis the season...

So I haven't done anything that I originally planned on doing for Christmas or New Years. I was hoping to go back to Kedougou a couple of days after Christmas but we got a text message from our security man saying we had to wait another 6 days to go back (jan 3). So there I was eating cake and watching movies in the Tamba house, anxious to return to my village, but now I had to wait 6 more days. I decided to hop on a 7 places, one of the nicest forms of transportation in Africa, and go to Dakar to spend a few days doing stuff. I thought it would be nice to have a change of scenery and that it would be a good opportunity to learn a bit about Dakar on my own terms. Dakar is the Capital of Senegal in case you didnt know. Its kind of a mixture between big American city culture and African culture. It really is a fascinating place. People are dressed in city clothes and have the same city "coldness" yet there are still goats and horse charettes everywhere and people selling toothbrush sticks and sugar cubes and bananas. And people still balance things on their heads. I walked along the beach one day with a fellow volunteer and we explored the down town area. It was lots of fun, especially when we got ice cream. That is one thing I go crazy craving in my town.

On New Years I didnt do anything, I know that sounds poopy but I wasnt feeling very good, so no new years story, sorry! Other than that I just explored the city and hung around the PC regional house in Dakar. Today I took the ride back in the 7 places. It only took 9 hours which is pretty much a record. This might be because they are gradually paving the roads. There are some roads on the way that are really terrible.
Oh, in case you didnt know, a 7place is a old station wagon that sits 7 passangers and the driver. At every city there is some sort of travel station called a garage, or gare. When you walk into the garage someone always comes up to you and asks you where you are going and they will take you to a car that is going there. There are always a lot of 7 places lined up waiting for business. There is a man that finds people to fill the car and takes the money, and as soon as there are 7 people in the 7 places to sit, the driver takes off.
Each driver has his own way of driving. It can take 9 hours or 12 hours to get from Dakar to Tamba, depending on the driver. This one was kind of scary but heck, he got us there alive so i am happy. You just never know with travel in Senegal. Its kind of a dog eat dog world. If you have to pee just tell the driver and he will stpo by the side of the road. If you are hungry tell him to stop anytime you see people selling things by the side of the road and those people will run up to the car and shove bananas, oranges, nuts, hqrdboiles eggs, and water in your face hoping to make a sale. The road trip snacks here are, i must say, a lot healthier than those in America. It's nice to be able to stop your car and buy a banana through the window. Oh the the driver often stops whenever he wants for random reasons. Once he took the long way through a city to drop off lunch for a friend.

So tomorrow I am heading back to Kedougou. I will probably go back to my village the following day in the morning to beat the heat. I have been away from my village for a long time so I just light stay a while. I will write when I get back!
Hope you all had happy holidays!