Watch this first. (Yes, it was filmed in the pitch black).

Are you a little l lost?  Good. Then you feel the same bewilderment I felt when I first arrived and tried to calibrate my surroundings with Megan’s Happiness Factor.

I am super fortunate to know very cool people here in Senegal. They force me to perform random acts of sociable behavior that I would never otherwise do.

It has taken me five months to arrive at this conclusion, which I guess is about average, given my surroundings.

See, the thing with venturing into the world on your own is that you automatically sign yourself up for interactions that you may or may not enjoy. My latest magical mystery tour in Senegal is no different. In typical fashion, it is only after many experiences of “what the hell have I gotten myself into now?” that I feel confident of my decision-making skills, and that they won’t adversely affect my morale. It’s all a part of feeling settled in one’s environment and becoming proficient in distinguishing between normal patterns of behavior and the ones that you really want no part of.

The Choose Your Own Adventure lifestyle might make you feel like this…

…but what you hope is that it will more often turn out to be something like this.

Allow your eyes to roll at the following anecdote that demonstrates my stray and subsequent return to mes habitudes:

I attended a large embassy event shortly after I arrived in Dakar. Billed as one of the largest social events in West Africa (for toubabs), I knew I should check it out, even though doing so was against my social tendencies. 

Now if you know me, you won’t be surprised to learn that I was bored out of my mind as soon as I arrived at the function. I don’t do well in large groups, but I wasn’t sure if my urge for flight was a product of me not knowing that many people. Perhaps that was the case, and I simply needed some time in my new surroundings to give things a chance.

As it turns out, no, that’s not the case. It’s still simply the fact that I hate big gatherings and would rather be at home darning socks than hanging out by a picnic table and staring off into space for socially-acceptable stretches of time. 

What does my decision to remain lame and recuse myself from future communal activities mean to me? It means that after five months, I feel grown up enough here in Dakar to make decisions that make me happy both before and after the fact.

Not many people at this beach. This makes me happy (hey, it’s all about me).

Still, this isn’t to say that I should simply revert to always doing what I have always done. What worked in the past doesn’t necessarily apply for the present. The social circle that I have formed here is a direct testament to that.

Remember the nonsensical monologue you watched up at the top of this post? That’s my good friend, who really is more opposite of me than any of my other friends. The first couple of times I interacted with her, I thought “Good lord, this girl is ridiculously quixotic-  there is no way I could ever hang out with her and not want to choke her for delusional and scatterbrained thought processes….”

Quelle surprise – I was wrong (Yes, Megan was wrong twice in one week)! I don’t know why I didn’t run from her like I did the annual embassy softball tournament, but I went against my typically curmudgeonly comportment and started to hang out with her diverse social circle. Guess what? It has paid off immeasurably, and the unlikely friendship has exposed me to a  side of Senegal that I never would have accessed otherwise.

Some examples:

Watching a practice session of the National Women’s Soccer Team

Being welcomed into the coach’s house on multiple days to eat amazing food, play with his incredible children, and relax à la sénégalaise

Soak in beachside visits like the ones above, as well as enjoy drinks at a car rapide bar located right next to said beach

I have gotten to do all of these things grâce à Jennie, a person who is easy to misjudge if you are not paying attention. So I guess I should end this long-winded post by saying that I really can’t have complete trust in my new-found dakarois comfort zone and simply pre-exclude myself from things. I am sure that there will be more cookouts to attend where I am forced to take mental vacations…but if that’s the price for being invited to go on future cool adventures, then I guess I can stand a little discomfort.

 I loved to read as a kid, but only picked up these books once- and I promptly died after making my second “adventure choice” in chapter 2.  Traumatized by the idea that this portended a life of failure, I went back to reading normal books. And writing a book of my own at the same time.