October is probably the hottest month in Dakar. The rains have stopped, so there's nothing to combat the extreme heat. When I walk outside in the middle of the day it's so incredibly hot. The lowest it has gotten down to recently is 86 degrees, and that's at night. My room of course is always well over 90 degrees, but the fan makes it possible to relax and sleep. I have forgotten what it's like to curl up under a sheet or blanket and go to sleep. I'm very lucky to have air conditioning where I take class. I am simply in awe of the majority of this country that are spending this month refraining from eating and drinking during the day. I cannot imagine not being able to drink water when it's 98 degrees outside, especially when the majority of them don't have access to air conditioning. One of the girls who takes classes at the Baobab Center had a frighteningly close-call with a taxi late last week. She was on the sidewalk and at around 6pm, a taxi swerved off of the road and almost hit her on the sidewalk, and there wasn't anything in the road that the taxi was swerving to avoid. She said the only positive thing about the experience was that all the people on the street started yelling after the taxi. The girl said a little kid even yelled a few English swear words at the taxi while shaking his fist. Someone at the Baobab Center told us that during Ramadan it really is a good idea to avoid public transportation during the few hours before sunset. This is because most of the taxi and bus drivers have not had anything to eat or drink all day, and are by then quite hungry and tired.
My Rotary host counselor invited me over to his house for lunch today. I hitched a ride with his son and ended up spending the afternoon there. I read the paper and enjoyed the air conditioning while my host counselor, his son, and a coworker did some work related to a Rotary presentation. I relaxed on the couch and watched music videos with a relative of theirs. The relative and I ended up eating lunch together, just the two of us, because my host counselor decided to leave the house for a bit and his wife was busy elsewhere. The relative works for the United Nations as a child advocate and previously worked with UNICEF. It was fascinating to talk with her about her work experience, how she got involved, and the benefits and difficulties of the jobs she has had. She has been working in the Democratic Republic of Congo and had some incredible stories to tell. She said she was burned out and thus was taking her three weeks of vacation to try to recoup a bit so that she'll be able to better focus at work again when she returns. I'm hoping to stop back by the house sometime soon so that I can spend a bit more time with her before she heads to her next job in Burundi. I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the edge of the pool with my host counselor. We talked about the projects his Rotary club is working on and possibilities for my sponsor club and district in Illinois to get involved. Right now, their major project is building a health center for women and children in a village about 100km outside of Dakar. It's very much needed. He showed me pictures from the site. I'm going to meet with him sometime at his office this week so I can see more specifics and we can brainstorm possible collaboration possibilities.
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