Senegal National Monument and City Tour

We started our day with breakfast at 8. Vanessa and I set our alarm for 7:15, thinking this would be more than enough time to get ready for the day- I have to admit, we were so tired that we hit snooze a couple of times. Breakfast consisted of bread, Chocopain (a spread) similar to Nutella, jelly, lipton tea bags, and instant coffee. We all wanted to sleep just a little bit longer, while the kids were already outside playing soccer. After everyone was finished, we loaded up our van (making sure to bring plenty of water) and began our day. 

We visited the Monument of African Renaissance.  The former Senegal president made the decision to build the 7,900 ton monument, costing a total of 27 million and consisting of a woman, man, and child. The monument is 160 feet tall, which is much larger than the Statue of Liberty. It symbolizes the coming out of darkness (the woman's arm extended backwards), while remembering the past, and looking forward to the wonderful future (the child pointing forward).

Our team at the National Monument

To get to the monument, we climbed 198 flights of stairs, which, if I may add, was not all that easy. After learning the history on the ground-3rd floors, we took a very very small elevator to the top. I cannot believe that Miles and Michael both fit in it at the same time. Once we reached the top, inside the mans head, we had an astonishingly beautiful view overlooking dakar. As we were leaving, a group of children were arriving and began running up the 198 flights of stairs. It was really awesome  watching them be so excited and having so much fun. 

Next we loaded up our bus to go to downtown Dakar. We were able to walk around and even see the Presidents Palace, which is the equivalent to our White House. Although it was normal for the people in Senegal, it was really crazy to walk on the side of the road and dodge people, cars, and mopeds! 

After getting back to our van, we had the opportunity to drive through a low income area of town. It was interesting to see their way of life and how different it was from what we are used to- it makes me realize just how good we have it in America.

After lunch we went to the YMCA to see the school and have a celebration. They were just as excited to see us as we were to see them. Communicating was slightly difficult but we were able to introduce ourselves and figured it out as we went along. Alphonse performed with Max and some others- singing and playing the drums. We all danced and sang along the best we could. I could not believe that time went by so fast! (It now makes sense why the people in Senegal lose track of time so easily.) We had a blast dancing along with everyone and singing songs in French! After a few songs, we were served snacks and a soda like drink- which were so good that we had to have seconds and thirds.
Our bus arrived and after saying many goodbyes, we went back to the Villa Rosa for dinner. 

Singing and dancing at the YMCA welcome party

Dinner consisted of Veggies (which were amazing), white fish (including teeth, tail, and bones), and a fruit cocktail for dessert (which was also amazing). 

Over all, today was amazing and I cannot wait to get to go to the school and interacting with all of the children!

Today's blog post written by: Shelley Busbee