Day at the Beach

Today, Sunday was a very relaxing day as I had no work yet for my classes and I had all of the freedom in the world. I woke up and it was a beautiful and sunny day, as had been almost every other day we've been here, if it was not raining. I thought that it would be a great day to go to the beach since it was our first free weekend in Dakar and none of us had been to the beach yet. So I texted my neighbors Brittany and Jack, as well as a few other people in the program to see if they wanted to go to the beach too. Coincidentally, Brittany’s told me that her host brother, Yousou wanted to do the same. I first had a hearty brunch of egg, fries and onions with bread, prepared by my host sister Diro. It's a meal I've had a few times since being here and every time its been delicious.

I then met Brittany and her host brother Yousou outside of our houses and we departed for the beach. I didn’t know what beach we were going to and I had heard a few names of some good ones in Dakar (there are many being that Dakar is a peninsula), but I didn't ask Yousou which one we were going to because I was confident that whatever beach we went to would be a good one. As we started walking I thought maybe that we were going to the beach which is in walking distance from where we live, however Yousou then hailed a cab and I realized we were going somewhere else. As we drove in the cab I realized we were going to the northern area of Dakar called Les Almadies and we were entering the same area that we had just been the night before night. It was about a 10 minute ride all the way to where we got out and walked a few yards to the beach. As we approached the beach I was stunned by how beautiful it was. 

We went down to where there were a number of umbrellas set up with mats under each of them. A man approached us and explained that we had to pay 1000CFA ($2) for one of the umbrellas, a fee that goes to the people who were responsible for setting up the umbrellas and the upkeep of the beach. I wondered how they were designated with that responsibility, although I didn't question it any further because the beach was very clean. Since we got there during the early afternoon around 2pm there were not that many people present as many natives in Dakar work on the weekends. There were a good number Europeans though as Yousou explained that this was still vacation season for Europeans and many of them like to come to Senegal for their vacations because of the nice beaches and cheap prices. Brittany then rain into the water, however I had to take a few pictures before I go in because the beach and the area that it was in was so picturesque.

I then undressed and ran to the water too. Yousou stayed back relaxing under the umbrella and on his phone, although he came down to the sand eventually. As I approached the water the sand felt amazing on my feet as it much finer that the sand on Goree island, of which you could clearly see and feel the makeup (pieces of glass, rocks, trash, etc.). I spent a good amount of time just laying out on the beach and sinking into the sand. The water was extremely refreshing and feeling the waves splash against me was nice too. While we were in the water Brittany said that she thought this was the happiest she had ever been, which I was glad to hear. Although I didn't know if I felt the same, I knew I made the right decision to study abroad in this city. Over the next 3 hours we spent time getting in and out of the water and taking naps under the umbrella, an amazing afternoon. 

Yousou and I

Brittany!

There were also a lot of people who started to come to the beach and around 5pm/5:30pm it was full of Senegalese people who had just got off work as well as Europeans on vacation. We then packed our things and departed around 6pm, the perfect time because right after getting in the taxi on the way home it started to rain.