Dakar and Softball...

I've just spent a week in Dakar and its been a fantastic, sleepless and busy week.

Lets see... I was here originally for the West Africa Invitational Softball Tournament (W.A.I.S.T.). My region, Kaolack, had a team. I didn't play because there are so many people in my region who want to play and frankly, I haven't played softball since freshman year of high school so I would have been very bad at it. Plus I don't like hard projectiles coming at me. There were plenty of people walking around with black eyes and other injuries by the end of the long weekend!

All the Peace Corps participants stayed in a homestay. I was with two girls from PC Benin. We had a lot of fun together. I spent a lot of time with them. I reasoned that I can see and talk to PC Senegal people all the time and far less frequently do I get the opportunity to talk to PCVs from other areas. The family we stayed with were lovely and had a very nice house right near the Peace Corps office and by many good restaurants. Days were spent by the pool or watching games and evenings were spent at good restaurants and bars. It was such a difference from everywhere else in Senegal. Even Thies is completely different. Dakar is much more metropolitan. I really, really had a good time. Lol, oh yes. There was a date auction one of the nights too to raise money for scholarships to help keep girls in school (literacy amongst women in Senegal is only around 30%). I bid (and won). It was a lot of fun. I bid on someone that I was told to and didn't know but it ended up working out well.

The day after WAIST we had an all PCV conference and talked about Malaria prevention and funding options. Malaria kills more people in Africa than any other disease. It really is a problem. In my area in particular because of the delta. There is a lot of standing water. Kaolack is also really bad because of the excessive number of open sewers.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Sokone, I'll have been gone for four weeks exactly. I'm definately ready to get back to my kitten and my bed! Until next time...