The Streets of Dakar

A couple years ago I decided that most cities are probably pretty much the same. I acknowledge that they all have their own personality and unique skylines- anyone who has talked to me very often knows how staunchly I defend the Twin Cities as one of the best metropolitan areas in the States- but at the heart of it cities are all comprised of lots of concrete, industry, skyscrapers, noise, serious people, etc. Dakar is really no exception. Traffic is crazy, taxi drivers honk mercilessly, and business people walk around in very nice suits. 

The thing that I notice about Dakar is the garbage. Every day my route to school takes me past an area that is littered with organic and man-made waste. I can't be sure if people leave their piles of garbage there or if it is a low-lying area that naturally attracts trash moved by wind and water, but every day a clean-up crew is there, filling garbage trucks with all the debris and hauling it away. It smells awful and looks pretty disgusting. This problem with garbage exists on a large scale here. Material culture has moved in, but the culture of reduce, reuse, recycle (or even don't be a litterbug!) haven't had time to evolve yet. I have seen people carrying garbage bags down to the beach, only to watch as they dump out the garbage and take the bag back to refill it and repeat the cycle. It's discouraging, but what else can one really expect? The infrastructure for garbage disposal doesn't exist.

The funniest byproduct of this trash conundrum is the litany of polyester braids, animal innards, and people's clothing that finds its way onto the roads. I wish I had started a count of the number of extensions I see on the road because everyday I see at least two or three. They also hang from the tailpipes of many taxis. Fake hair is everywhere! But so are other things you would never expect to see on the road. The other day one of my friends saw the hindquarter of a cow laying on the street. I also often see rats the size of small cats decaying and feral dogs and cats eating the remains of unknown and unlucky little critters. Its part of the reason that leaving the city last weekend was so nice, although garbage was a problem there as well. Garbage is an inevitable part of human living in the modern era, I just wish there was a more pleasant way of dealing with it.