Proof

This is the mansion I live in, unfortunately, this photo doesn't do it justice because it goes on and on to the right. I recently found out there's another story meaning it's 4 stories high. I also recently met yet another inhabitant: a guy from the Ivory Coast who is studying to be a doctor. I've recently been spending some time with him and his friends (from Chad and Morocco) who are both interesting and who speak French unlike most of the Senegalese youth who chatter away in Wolof right in front of the Toubab's (whitey's) face.

I was trying to somehow show how enormous the African Renaissance statue is. It's to the left of Sean's giant head. Lots of money was questionably spent on that bad boy (not Sean).
MAM!!! The process before taking this photo was fascinating. I motioned to her that I wanted to take a photo of her which resulted in a good 5minutes of primping and prepping. She had to rewrap her headscarf, check herself out in the mirror from all angles, and finally drape her veil just so. Then she just sat, not smiling (a shame) looking straight forward until I told her I was done. Most recent Mam story: this morning she asked me if I was coming home midday for lunch by asking "midi?" and motioning eating. I answered "waaw" (meaning yes in Wolof) at which she immediately began to enthusiastically chant/sing "midi! midi! midi!" as I ate my breakfast.
This is a "car rapide" which is essentially a short bus covered in folk art with seating in the back and a man hanging off yelling where it's headed. They're everywhere, going in all directions. Ironically, they're the opposite of "rapide" as they're mostly falling apart and much worse at weaving in and out of traffic than the numerous (also falling apart) taxis. They cost about 20cents to ride but are a bit of a gamble as it's not always clear where they're headed. I'm going to get better at riding them because they inspire joy in a way I can't explain, also because not many Toubabs will brave them.

Since Muslims are supposed to pray 5 times per day, seeing people pray on the street is not a rare event. This was special because these are three 8ish year old boys praying together-entirely unimaginable in the US. Also entirely unimaginable is being woken up every morning at 5am by the call to prayer. This morning, I woke up just before 5 and experienced hearing multiple calls to prayer from all across the city. I have come to find the call beautiful, and hearing layer upon layer of it from all over the city was incredibly powerful. Then I went back to sleep.

Rooftops of cartier Baobab, Dakar.

I have so many more photos to share but it takes FOREVER with blogspot and I don't really want to post them on the facebook. If anyone has any brilliant ideas let me know, otherwise I just keep doing it like this little by little. Also, any requests or questions are welcome...I'll see what I can do.