I am here.

The Wolof answer to “How are you?” is “mangi fi rekk,” which translates literally to “I am here.” Apparently, the idea is that being “here” is comparable to being “fine”. Being “here” is more than enough.

So here I am.

I’ve been in Dakar about two weeks now, and I am starting to really settle in. To tell you the truth, there were some bumps right off the bat – a brief scare on the plane where I thought I’d lost my wallet and phone; then a missing driver at the airport, leaving me to figure out how to find my apartment at three in the morning. But it’s been more or less smooth sailing from there.

View of the village from my rooftop

I’m living in an apartment in the neighborhood of Ngor, up on the northern coast of the Dakar peninsula. It’s a quiet area of the city – most of the activity seems to be on the southern part (though I haven’t actually made it there yet) – but there are a few restaurants and shops around, and I’m about a two-minute walk from the beach. I ventured down the see the water the first day I was here, and was amazed by the wall of people I met there! In fairness, it was a Saturday afternoon, but I have never seen so many people in one place. I could hardly make my way through the crowd to walk along the beach, let alone find a sandy spot to sit with a book. Instead, I scrambled over people’s beach blankets, under their umbrellas, and was more or less just carried through the crowd, until I identified a path back up to the road. It was fun to see the bustle of the afternoon, but not quite what I’d envisioned.

The following day, I decided to scope out a more peaceful patch of beach, so I took a pirogue (a long and motorized canoe – the Senegalese answer to Thai longboats) across the bay to the island of Ngor, which is only a five-minute ride from the jetty just behind the apartment. My roommate/AirBnb host advised me to go early, which turned out to be a great tip. Although the boat was full for the ride across, within minutes of clambering off on the other side, they all dispersed and the island appeared to be totally deserted. The island is tiny, but I spent a few hours just crossing back and forth the small streets, enjoying the peace and the colorful homes and guesthouses that cover the island. It’s supposedly home to a number of artists, some of whom paint the murals of the cobblestone walls that line the narrow alleys. I followed the seaside cliffs on a circular tour of the island’s perimeter, where I found some more fun houses and, of course, gorgeous views of the eastern Atlantic. When I’d crisscrossed the island so many times I had the streets and the sights memorized, I paid for a lounge chair at one of the nicer restaurants, where I sat overlooking the ocean for a few more hours, until I felt ready to hop on the pirogue back home. Though I’d been watching the boats come and go across the bay, I was shocked to find the beach nearly as busy as the mainland had been the day before – I had to fight my way through the crowd to get onto the boat.

On another free day, I set out for a walk, since I didn’t quite feel I had the lay of the city yet, and walking around usually helps with that. I walked down to yet another beach (notice a theme?), west of my village. In fact, Almadies is the westernmost point of Africa, apparently. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of construction going on down there right now, but both sides of the tip of the peninsula are lined with small shops and restaurants. After walking along the edge to see all that was around (including the huge and beautiful American embassy complex), I settled down in a restaurant by the water. I’d like to head back down there, to check out some of the market stands that were just getting set up. I guess I have to reset my internal clock – things (meals, shopping, music, bars) here get going a lot later than in happy-hour-friendly DC.

My internship has finally gotten going, with real assignments and projects to keep me busy. The first week was slow, because most of the staff (my boss included) were away at a training and on missions, but since most of them have returned, I’ve been able to meet a lot of people working on very interesting things, most of whom have suggested I work with them on something. Though my primary task for the summer will be to write a report on UN Women’s work to engage and empower youth, there are a few other projects starting to take shape that I’ll be involved in, and every time I mention something I’m interested in, there’s someone offering me a way to learn more about it. So I’m looking forward to a busy and productive summer!

Mangi fi rekk.