Well you can tell by the way I use my walk I have extra time to reflect on Dakar’s roving culture. Especially those who find it perfectly acceptable to stop midway through a busy rotary (that they had no business walking through) in order to light up a smoke.
Guess what? I have no class again this week. You might think less of me for being on the computer more frequently than I should, but this habit continually provides late-breaking insight into my dynamic college timetable.
Yesterday was Monday. At about noon I got an email from UCAD with the word “information” in the subject line. The e-mail declared that as of last Friday our first semester is bouclé (essentially completed), and the new semester would pick up next week. Thanks UCAD, that’s good information indeed.
As I continue my intermittent course of study, I am starting to understand why my classmates are always coming off as such better students than me. They always seek out (and read) supplemental studies that they pore over, and always start on assignments long before I even feel stressed about them (ahem, statistics assignment). I think that one reason they feel this sense of urgency is because you are never sure if instability will trump what we Americans enjoy as a predictable college syllabus. No opportunity for learning is wasted by my classmates. They make me want to be a more motivated student.
So as you and I enjoy the hold music that is my latest period of academic suspense, I’ll share with you some images from last week that I found worthy of posting. I’m trying to keep my eyes fresh as I pass the one year mark here in Senegal, and not get too jaded or desensitized to what is still pretty fantastic observational fodder.
Sure it’s weird that this taxi driver is using the other seatbelt buckle to fasten himself in- but it’s more bizarre that he is driving with the belt fastened at all. The only time I see taximen putting on their seatbelts is when they go by a traffic cop. And they don’t even click it into the buckle- they just weave it past their shoulder so it stays in place for the “I know you know that I never really wear my seatbelt” game that is played with the police.
You know those seemingly useless buckling procedures that aircraft crew continue to review, despite the fact that seatbelts were invented in the 19th century? Yeah, they are still doing that for the benefit of Senegalese taxi drivers. You know one day they are going to find themselves on an airplane, en route to New York with their new American bride who they picked up on the corniche one lucky day….
You see many forms of artistic expression on the boots of taxis- most display a Nike swoosh, an evil eye or “Alhamdouliahi”. The writing at the bottom of this particular car brought new meaning to my opinion that taximen in this country are unrealistically optimistic and slightly deluded individuals.
I like getting stuck behind car rapides, primarily because it provides some great people watching. There are also a fair number of these “transportation” vans that have an inexplicable sticker of early 80s Madonna affixed to the window- I think from the “Like A Virgin” years. This particular car rapide didn’t have the sticker- but I was trying to get a closer look at what sort of antenna was sticking off the top….a CB radio perhaps?
Nah, it’s just two soda cans. Fanta to be exact. I’m still working on a theory as to why they are placed there. Lord knows the brakes and taillights don’t really work on these rolling hulks of intrigue, so I don’t think they are doing any Smokey and the Bandit-style radioing to one another.
So that’s really all I have for you today. I do enjoy being out on the town and checking stuff out. I’m starting to think that I should make the switch from a course of study based on pure economic theory, and instead conduct some sur le terrain research that shows how the economy actually works in this country.
I’ll bring it up in school next week. That is, if I have class.