Warming Up

There’s a welcome crispness to the air when the temperature and humidity drop after heavy heat. That freshness though, can be a prelude to cooler, cold air. A cold breeze that penetrates your clothes and renders you perpetually chilly. The winter of Dakar is nothing like that of Detroit, but January was a windy, chilly month. At night I felt like the thin bed sheet and bedspread were not enough. The wind would howl through the balconies and doorwalls on this top floor, obliging you wear a sweater and to lift your feet off the cold tile. Down below at ground level, the hallways are perfect wind tunnels, bringing in the cold air of the ocean that literally slaps you in the face with its chilling power. Three days ago though, something funny happened. The cold disappeared. Sunday was less windy and chilly, yet still a Dakar winter day. Monday morning came and winter was nowhere to be found. Today, Wednesday, the novelty of the heat after cold is already gone, and the intensity of the African sun has returned. Last night, the balcony was comfortably warm. This afternoon, I had to cut my walk home short, because the heat was threatening to rob me of my remaining daily allowance of energy. It’s funny how it’s happened. I wrote on my calendar on Monday “Spring has sprung,” but now I’m more apt to write, “The heat is on.”

Just as a footnote: Since my return in January, at least one day a week of school has been cancelled because of random teacher strikes. We had one day off for the Muslim holiday of Ashura, and the next two days of classes have been cancelled because of the annual pilgrimmage of the Mouride brotherhood to their holy city of Touba. (I wrote of Touba in an earlier entry). Everything shuts down here in Dakar, because all the busses and taxis are booked for trips to Touba, as 2 million pilgrims are expected to attend the holiday--Magal--this weekend. Without transport, people cannot get to school or work, so they just shut down the capital city for a few days. This weekend, however, is the big West Africa International Softball Tournament that the U.S. Embassy hosts here in Dakar. We’ll have Peace Corps Volunteers’ Teams from other countries come in for a 3 day sportsfest. Right now I am scheduled to be playing in three games, maybe more. So, summer’s return, unexpected days off, and the emptying of the city, have coincided nicely with the pursuit of America’s national pasttime on the shores of the African Atlantic. Our team is called the Sand Sharks. Play ball!