It’s Friday afternoon in West Africa, and we’ve got a pretty nice day outside. I don’t want to force feed you any more Haterade when it comes to this country (merci for calling me out, Tim), so here’s a nice light entry blog to ready for the weekend.

In recent days, Dakar has made impressive leaps forward with respect to improving its hit or miss infrastructure. While I remind everyone that this is truly a safe city, the lack organization can make living here a little dicey from time to time (especially for us runners). Still, I kind of appreciate that the streets are pocked with a million oversized speed bumps- because this keeps underexpericenced motorists from killing themselves due to excessive speed and lack of technically-sound navigation skills. I liken it to putting a bunch of driver’s ed kids out on the demolition derby track and watching the tragicomedy ensue….

So check it out. These beauties went up on Senegal’s Independence Day:

Yes people, let there be traffic lights. In case you haven’t been paying attention, this country doesn’t have functioning traffic lights, nor do motorists have any regard for people standing at a zebra striped crossing.

From what I have heard and seen, these were only working for the big independence celebration. On the multiple times that I have wandered around downtown, I have never seen them functioning.

You might take your fancy power grid in Westernlandia for granted, and thus don’t find my crack reporting terribly remarkable- and I fully understand where your spoiled ass is coming from. But traffic lights aren’t the only new public construction initiative that I have noticed this week. Another pedestrian friendly project is underway, just outside of my house.

I had to walk to the corniche yesterday (about a mile away), and as usual had to pass the baguette car on the side of speeding traffic. There are no sidewalks on this road, and so I just try to keep my wits about me as the rusted, choking beasts of public transport barely slip by.

Construction has been going on forever in my neck of the woods, and it wasn’t until I was a good quarter of a mile up the road (and again, walking in the road), before I noticed this weird flat thing running parallel to the right of me.

Holy shit! They are building sidewalks! As a runner, I find this particularly exciting. I’m not kidding.

I’m not gonna be negative, but my excitement was short-lived when I realized something:

The damn Made In China vendors are already placing their modest stands on the sidewalk before the sidewalk cement is even fully poured. Sigh. Guess I’m still gonna be in the streets…

So the pedestrian walk lights have been installed, but they aren’t really working. The sidewalks are going in, but this only means that prime property is now claimed by vendors. No problem, it could be worse- we could have just continued on as we are now without either of these gifts. I think that the Senegalese people definitely deserve some improvement in their quality of vie quotidienne. No time like the present. Besides, next year is an election year here…coincidence??

Even if he doesn’t know it, this guy’s shirt says it all: it’s high time Dakar stopped regressing in terms of development. The people here deserve it.

I look forward to showing you more miracles of modernity over the seventeen months.