Day 25: Soiree

Today passed without any significant events. After staying up very late the night before, I only slept till about 1030, which wasn’t long enough. The rest of the day consisted of a trip to Cresp, a quick swim in the ocean, and a long nap.

For the night activity, Sophie (American program assistant) had invited us to meet her friends at a soiree in another suburb of Dakar. We met at Cresp around 2315, and took taxis to the place where this soiree was to be taking place. We were accompanied by Sophie’s husband Paupis (pronounced pope-eese), Alexa, Alexa’s boyfriend, and a couple other Senegalese men.

The soiree was being held at an outdoor bar/restaurant place on a quiet street. This town is called Baobab, and seemed to be an upscale neighborhood of Dakar. When we arrived at around 0030, there weren’t that many people there. The five American students that came were Rich, Deb, Kristin, Lindsay, and me. In the beginning, the five of us, and the rest of our entourage just sat in chairs, got drinks, and chatted. There was a DJ who was playing some loud music but no one was really dancing.

At some point, everyone started dancing and the place became pretty crowded. At around 300, we decided to leave and got a cab back home. We all got dropped off at Cresp and walked home. Note: you may think that it would be unsafe to walk home at 330 in the morning, but let me assure you that it’s extremely safe here. People here do not believe in violence. True, we stand out because we are light-skinned, but for the most part, people won’t bother you. At worst, someone might “Psssst” at you, trying to get your attention. This is Extremely annoying. It’s the accepted version of “Hey you!” We all think it’s very rude. Sometimes people will say stuff to us in Wolof, and then everyone will laugh. Frankly, it’s not very nice. Regardless of all this, I feel much safer walking around late at night here than I would in Boston or even Brookline. And that’s saying something.

Also, don’t get the impression that I’m out walking around at 330am every day. I’ve only had to do it once or twice, and I try to avoid being out that late. No need to worry.