Heading out to N'gor Island for dinner on a little boat.
Friday I was able to visit the HLM market, one of the big markets here, which specializes in fabrics. It was such a site to see-various vendors selling everything and anything, all trying to strike a bargain with you. We were focused on the fabrics though, and there were so many beautiful patterns and prints to choose from that it was almost impossible to select only one or two. I ended up settling on a handful and even was able to have a few made into dresses by a local tailor (available just 3 days later)! While the dresses I chose were pretty simple, he makes some incredibly intricate pieces with all kinds of embroidery and bead work that the women here wear and all look absolutely beautiful.
Fabric purchases from HLM
The rest of the weekend consisted of a low key Saturday at
the beach and watching the World Cup games. I was with a group of very big Brazil supporters so it was great for them that they pulled out the win! On
Sunday, this same group of random Columbia students all in Dakar made our way to
the Ile de Goree (or Goree Island). Goree is a small island located off the
southeastern tip of Dakar’s Peninsula, about a 20-minute ferry ride from the
port. It is considered a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its use in the 15th-19th
Century as a trading post. Now, it is a beautiful little island with colorful
houses surrounded by lush greenery. Unfortunately, the island has a grim
history. One of the stops on the island is the House of Slaves, which was used
just as the name suggests, before slaves were transported out of Africa. The
island offers a place to reflect on this very sad portion of history, but today
also hosts many other things such as various artisans and their shops. We walked
around the entire island and saw numerous paintings, tapestries, jewelry, and
so much more. A few artists we saw were even hard at work, making art out of
sand, crafted into various scenes of Africa. It was hard to figure out what to
buy with all the beautiful options! Despite the island’s small size, our visit
took the majority of the day and was topped off with a well-deserved ice cream,
which I think resembles more of a gelato here than what we’d consider ice cream
but either way it was delicious! All in all, it was a great ending to my last
weekend here.
First views of Goree from the ferry
Some houses on Goree Island
Beautiful greenery
Artisans market on Goree
The Columbia Crew
More artwork on display
Now that I’m about to head off and thinking about my month
here, while there were some glitches along the way (such as my second night
when I couldn’t figure out how to get home!) and definitely difficulties with
the language barrier, I am really happy that I was able to have the opportunity
to travel to Senegal and visit the Sahel. The large majority of people I met
here showed me nothing but genuine kindness and made my trip extremely worthwhile
and for that I will continue to be grateful.
In terms of the project I came to work on, well,
as I’ve found with most research, it is still a work in progress. One of the
things we are trying to address is how to make better seasonal predictions of
the West African Monsoon, so that people here can have the most accurate
information available to them to help with their livelihoods. My preliminary
work is finding that it is really hard to more accurately predict the rains
more so than we already do, due to a lot that is still unknown about the
chaotic nature of the atmosphere. But, I still have lots of time to keep
thinking and working on this, so the work won’t end here! Perhaps one of the
best portions of the trip has been working alongside Ousmane, my supervisor
here. His dedication to applying climate science in a way that can be used in
his own country is really inspiring and is definitely along the lines of where
I can see myself working in the future. I’ve also enjoyed being able to see and
experience the region that I study a great deal. So, until next time, I must
thank Senegal for all the ‘teranga’ (hospitality) that has been shown to me and
for the unique and great experience that being here has provided.
A car rapide, one of the symbols of Dakar. Until next time!