WAIST in Dakar

My vacation to Senegal was perfect – fun, relaxing and rejuvinating. The first three days I participated in WAIST (the West African International Softball Tournament). Peace Corps Mali brought over about 30 people and divided up into two teams – POP and Ikatigi – to play in the recreational side of the tournament. I was on team POP.

We did fairly well considering how exhausted we were from several days of harsh travel (see my blog about the bus). We ended up losing in the quarter finals to the Mauritania Pirates (Mauritania brought over ALL of their volunteers, and divided them into three teams and one group of spectators. The Pirates, their most competitive team, has taken the tournament 4 times out of the past 5 years. They actually practice beforehand!). The Pirates beat us 7-5 in a really fun and exciting game. They ended up winning the whole tournament again, beating the Senegal Bashers (a team full of US Marines) 17-2 in the championship game. I think we might have a chance to compete with them next year! Our uniforms received TONS of praise. We had traditional Bobo shirts and Dogon hets made. I had countless people asking if I would give them or trade them my hat. Everyone agreed that we had the most creative and best uniforms out of all the teams. Another team came close by wearing togas made out of either bedsheets or mosquito nets. The rest of the teams mostly made and wore t-shirts. I stayed in downtown Dakar at a woman named Vickie’s condo along with three other volunteers. Vickie works for the US Embassy in Senegal, and was kind enough to host us during the tournament. Her place was amazing! I got to wash my clothes in a real washing machine, and then dry them in a dryer! And I got to take hot showers! Such things aren’t readily found in Mali. And the city of Dakar is so modern! Almost all the roads are paved, and there are actually hired workers sweeping up trash on the main roads. There are countless tall buildings (compared to only a few in Bamako), and there are real restaurants and stores. I saw sporting goods stores, grocery stores, beauty shops, fast food places (although no McDonald’s or Starbucks), etc. Bamako only has a couple "Toubab stores," which are pretty much strictly for Toubabs (aka foreigners). And the real sit-down restaurants are hard to find. Mostly you get street food (i.e. women cooking food outside on a table, like rice, beans, chicken, noodles). In Dakar, Senegalese and Westerners alike were shopping and eating in restaurants. There were ice cream and pizza parlors (I got to eat a calzone!). And the FRUIT!! Pears, plums, mandarins, orange oranges (Mali’s oranges are yellowish-green), and big, yellow bananas (Mali’s are bite-sized and greenish). I couldn’t believe it. There was such better selection and quality. It’s amazing the difference in quality between a coastal city and an inland city in a landlocked country. Fruit like that never makes it to Bamako. After the tournament ended, 13 of us headed a couple hours south to a small village on the coast.

We rented a house for 5,000 cfa (about 10 dollars) per night. The house was GORGEOUS. Two bedrooms, a deck, patio and porch overlooking a white-sand beach and the Atlantic. And the beach was practically ours – there weren’t any other tourists around. It was incredible.

We ate Yassa (chicken and rice in an onion-lemon sauce...very tasty Senegalese dish) our first night for dinner and played cards. All but three of us left the second day, but Yuri, Jackie and me stayed for two more nights.

We hiked up the

cliffs overlooking the beaches and found old French forts or something up there.

The views were incredible. I was so happy to see the ocean again! Finally, we began our long journey inland to Mali. And after a relaxing vacation and an exhausting return, I can honestly say I’m happy to be back home. :-)