Université Cheikh-Anta-Diop

Today was the first day of classes and I would say that they went relatively well. All of our classes are in French and I knew immediately that it would take me some time to begin to comprehend everything the professors were saying. I was not completely lost, but there were some things I knew that I was missing. I was not too stressed though because the good thing about this semester is that I will be getting Columbia credits, but my grades aren't going to transfer or effect my GPA so I finally have the chance to relax a little. I also like this because it has allowed me to focus more on my experience here as a whole rather focusing solely on doing well in all my classes. I'm still interested in learning and making the most out of all of my classes there's just not longer that pressure of trying to perfect everything that I do, which is so prevalent in my life at Columbia. I have had time to enjoy the city, spend time with my family and I feel my attitude towards doing all these things is a lot better because I don’t have the pressure of classes.

After class Jack, Eura and I went to the Universite de Chiekh-Anta-Drop because we hadn't been there yet and we heard that it was close to the WARC. This made sense because during lunch a lot of people come to eat and they all look like students or professors from the University. Jack and Eura also needed flash cards for our Wolof class and I needed a notebook as well as a planner for myself. We thought the school bookstore would be a good place to find things. The walk to the University was about 25 minutes as we walked along the main coastal road, la Route de la Corniche West. This road is very beautiful during the day because it's right along the ocean and there are a lot of amazing views as you walk along it ,although MSID warned us that there are a lot of robberies that happen on it at night so it is best to avoid the road after 6pm. When we arrived at the University the campus layout was unusually open especially in such a tightly packed city like Dakar. It also looked a little warned down as there were signs which one could barely read. The University itself is relatively new as it was established in 1957, but it is likely worn down because the city does not have money to carry out any renovations. As we looked for a library or a student center we passed their science building and political sciences building. We then asked for directions to the library from a few of the students who were on campus and they pointed us straight forward on the road we were on to the one building we saw that looked relatively new and modern.

When we walked up to it and tried to go inside we realized it was closed on Mondays after noon during the summer until the school year began in October. The school year for the Senegalese runs from October to July instead of September to May/June like in the US. To our right we saw a little shop that was selling supplies and that was where I purchased my notebook and planner. Eura got a notebook as well, but they didn't have the flashcards that they were looking for. We asked the man at the counter if he could direct us to another place that would have a bigger selection of supplies where Eura and Jack could find flashcards and he pointed us to the right, however he did not specify exactly where the shop was. We then went off to look around the campus for about 10 minutes but we were unable to find the shop so we just decided to just walk back to the WARC through the University campus this time instead of along the main road. I enjoyed walking through the greater University campus because we got a chance to check out their lecture halls, classroom as well as the dormitories, which were on the interior of the school. The dormitories were quite a sight because we saw clothes hanging outside of almost every window to dry. This made me think about how it is luxury to have had washing machines and dryers in all of the dormitories in which I have lived. I really couldn't imagine having to hand wash and hang dry all of my clothes as often as I do laundry. Additionally, I think a majority of the homes in Dakar don't have a washing machine or dryer because of the price of electricity. My household and most of the other households in which the other MSID students are staying have maids who wash all of the clothes and the dishes. Although I wash my undergarments myself because MSID emphasized that it was disrespectful to give the maids your underwear to clean.

After exiting onto a road behind the campus we saw a whole slew of karts set up right outside of the school selling school supplies and we realized that this was where the man had tried to point us initially. These karts had all the schools supplies one would need and as we walked down the road we saw that they had books and electronics as well, you just had to bargain for what you wanted. At first I was very surprised to see all of these karts were set up right outside of the school for all of the students. At Columbia and many other Universities the most convenient place to you get your supplies when you're on campus is from the overpriced bookstore. However, here in Dakar and you got your supplies from these karts and you could bargain to get the best deal. Jack and Eura were unable to find their flashcards, but it was pretty funny listening to them try to explain what a flashcard was to all of the vendors. Jack was able to get a book written by the past President on his views for the future of the country that he negotiated down to 1000CFA from 7000CFA and Eura bought a dictionary that she negotiated down to 3000CFA from 7000CFA also. We then continued to walk in the direction of the WARC as we wanted to make our way there without using the main coastal route and next thing we know we had arrived. The walk was about 15 minutes this time around because we cut straight through the campus.