True Stories about Transportation

Yesterday, after a day in Dakar, I opted to take a bus since the driver said it was leaving right after prayer.  I thought, great we’ll be leaving very soon.  I forget that time is such a different concept here in Senegal.  We left 45 minutes later.  For a trip that should normally take about 2 hours....it took us 4.5.  Lesson learned:  take a 7 place (7 passenger station wagon) instead of a bus!  

This bus stopped everywhere and let all sorts of vendors on at each stop.  We could have bought anything from produce and cookies to toothbrushes and cell phones.  These vendors swarm the bus and push stuff in your face telling you to buy this, isn’t it pretty?  To a man trying to sell me a Miley Cyrus toy cell phone I asked him "Why do I need that?  His response was "It's pretty!"   It really wasn’t.

Someone did board selling Cafe Touba, much to my delight, so I bought a cup.  I love Cafe Touba; a mystery mix of spices in scalding hot coffee.  Usually served in a flimsy plastic cup with no lid, you have to slurp this up quickly to avoid scalding your fingertips.  And slurp is the operative verb here.  Mix it with the air on the way to your mouth or risk burning your tongue.  I'm still working on my slurp technique and ended up with a burnt tongue.  This was all happening as the bus was lurching and swaying down the bumpy road....  No, this bus didn’t have much suspension, if you were wondering.

The bus played Wolof rap the whole way, which was actually pretty decent, of course, there were the occasional English words thrown in there.  Lots about “love”, which is one of the few English words the Senegalese men seem to know.  (Aside:  The other day, while walking around town a man stopped me, told me he loved me and wanted to marry me.  I told him I already have a husband and therefore cannot marry him.  He said, well, can I have your number then?  I said, you can call my husband and ask him if that’s okay.  He laughed.  I continued on my way.)

On busses here, there are some guys that hang off the back and side entrances trying to get peoples’ attention ultimately to get passengers.  They hang off the backs and side while the bus is in motion even on the highway.  They hop off and on never waiting for the bus to stop fully.  They are pretty amazing to watch.  What a dangerous job.

Earlier this week….a 7 place story…. I went to the bus station to get transport to a nearby village.  One has to wait for the car to fill up before it goes.  It finally filled up, and then we couldn't find the driver.  He eventually arrived, we pulled out and another car hit us.  We didn't even stop; one of the passengers yelled at the driver of the other car.  The hit wasn't horrible, but definitely did some damage.  It took twice as long to get to my destination because the driver had some personal errands to run.  Needless to say, I made it safely to the village and had a nice day hanging out with another PCV.

On the way home....same thing, wait for the car to fill up. This time, all these little kids kept staring at me, reaching through the doors and windows trying to touch me (the white person) and to get my attention so that I would give them money.  Eventually we left....the car had to be pushed to get it to start.  We then made it to the gas station where the driver added about 2 cups of gas to the car while the car was still on, in neutral, with no parking break.  I made it home safely.  Oh, these cars fit 7 passengers very snuggly.  This car had 9.  I was cramped and hot and rather uncomfortable!