giovedì 17 aprile 2014

Dakar Mon Amour





I consider Dakar a shabby, featureless, polluted, chaotic city with a bunch of interesting touristic spots. Nonetheless everytime I am somewhere else abroad or in Senegal I miss it sooooo much. It's like to become a Dakar addicted, it's like the pulsing beat of Senegal has grabbed me and my friends.
So why am I such a crazy fan of this shabby city??? I finally found an answer, a reasonable answer one of those morning when still aslept I headed to the roof, after a "bonjour" to Marie and Fatou (the lovely, hard worker, bonnes of the residence), for my early morning yoga session. I took a look downstairs attracted from the swarming voices of the small, wonderful hectic kids starting their day of school. I also noticed the beautiful young ladies on their duty to buy a baguette (here in Senegal having breakfast with a buttered baguette and black coffee is almost a religious ritual), then I saw the young girls hurrying toward the bus stops that will lead them to school, and finally some masons relaxing in the middle of the bricks that are going to become one more building of this cimented city.
It was then time to start a deep breathing session waiting for the breakfast but also waiting for a day of exploration of this amazing and stimulating ugly city.