cher dakar

île de gorée, senegal

dear dakar,

listen, i think you're great, i really do. it's just....sorry, i'm not really accustomed to doing this.

i mean, we both knew when i came that it would just be for a few days and that we weren't going to make such a big deal of whatever happened. this was never going to be long-term. i just think that it's time we go our separate ways. what? all of a sudden that's not good enough for you? fine.

okay, for one: you don't make me feel special. there, i said it. i knew i wasn't the first westerner and that i wouldn't be the last, but you don't really acknowledge me. i know that you're seeing other westerners (and i don't think you should let them treat you the way they do, but that's beside the point), but you only pay attention to me if need a fare or are trying to sell me sunglasses. have you ever thought about how that makes me feel?

what? you need another reason? fine. you never finish anything; it's almost as if you can't commit. i know, i know: you have the tax credit for building so that it is more economically viable to always be in construction. but still, you've hardly finished your infrastructure and it's not making you look good. i need someone who can go the distance.

you also haven't shown me that you're ready to have me in your life. your streets are too narrow and the sidewalks are non-existent: you know i'm a pedestrian. you make me crawl over that barrier every day in yoff and your bus service is too infrequent. this doesn't allow me to get to know you: the real dakar.

and you know i don't date smokers. your air pollution makes los angeles look like a new age oxygen bar. the sun is always hiding and i can barely see your cliffs, your best feature. why don't you show me your cliffs?

i know what you're going to say, and, yes, you do have your charms. i will definitely miss the breeze off the atlantic and how you cater to so many of my needs: the diversity in cuisine, banking, the abundance of telecentres, the fact that you have a malian embassy. but don't even think for a minute that you can take credit for the tranquility of yoff or the beauty of île de gorée: they are separate entities. you are frenetic urban energy, for all its good and bad, and cannot claim otherwise.

i'm sorry. i really didn't want it to end this way. i really did have a nice time, it's just that you're not my type. let's just give ourselves this one last night, one more sundowner, one more echo of the call to prayer, and i'll be gone. so let's put the past behind us, let bygones be bygones, and just try to enjoy ourselves.

ne pensez pas deux fois, ce n'est pas grave.