After 12 hours of airports, airplanes, and waiting in lines, I am finally at the hotel in Dakar! I got my first taste of Senegalese culture from the two women sitting next to me on the 8-hour plane ride. They were very patient with me as I tried speaking to them in French. I soon realized that I had not thought this plan through very well, as there is a rather large difference between speaking french to someone, and being able to understand their beautiful, yet still unnerving mix of rapid French and Wolof. I think I spent more time looking at them with a deer-in-the-headlights look than actually conversing...

As we drove through the city towards our hotel, the buzz of anxious laughter and conversation disappeared almost instantly and a unique african song playing from the radio took its place. I couldn't take my eyes off the buildings we passed. Just as I had come to expect, my senses were overwhelmed with the color of each building, the smell of the breeze coming off the ocean, stray dogs and goats in the street (one of them we affectionately named “Zik” after the billboard above him) and horses with carts in the middle of the road waiting to be used.

After our very first authentic Senegalese meal of rice and beef, we decided to explore the city as much as we could in the short time that we had between orientation activities. A short walk to the beach easily turned into two hours of climbing the rocks on the shore and people watching. I am quickly realizing that it will most definitely take the entire semester of living in this city to just scratch the surface of the history and cultural adventures that await us!