A Month of Research in Senegal

Last year, I had the opportunity to go to my second African country. I spent four weeks conducting research in Senegal. The research was funded by the NSF (National Science Foundation) and I want to highlight a few things about that trip.

Language Barriers

Before leaving for Senegal, I saw online that the major languages were French & Wolof. However, because I had never lived in a country whose first language wasn’t english, I just estimated that everyone could understand a bit of english but spoke their major languages on a day-to-day basis. I had the shock of my life when I arrived Dakar airport, only to find out that most people couldn’t speak or understand english at all. In hind sight, I should have learnt some basic phrases in french.

My research advisor just so happened to be someone who could barely understand english and I was faced with the challenge of learning about my research from a french-speaking person. This didn’t discourage me from trying to learn about my research topic. There were two things I did to mitigate the problem. The first was to become best friends with google translate. A lot of conversations between my advisor and I were done by typing what we wanted to say in google translate, and having the other person read the translation. I know this sounds really tedious but it was an efficient way in getting the message across. My second resort was to ask another advisor in the lab (that could speak english) for the translation of some words that google translate didn’t help. After my first week, the language barrier was nerve-wracking but by the end of my third week, I had figured out how to cope in a french-speaking country with no prior knowledge of the language. I did this by employing google translate, talking to people with some knowledge of english and learning a few phrases in french.

Cultural differences

There are various cultural differences between Senegal & America. A major difference is religious orientation. Senegal is a muslim country and I just so happened to be there during Ramadan fasting period. This started after a week in Dakar and the difference was noticeable but manageable. For one, all the places to eat on campus and places around the city were closed until evening. This made getting lunch more difficult because I had to go further to find food but there were still some options available. Before traveling to another country, it’s really important to do some research into the major religion of the country as that can affect your travel plans and schedule.

Another major cultural difference is in dressing. People in Senegal generally dress more conservative and I believe it’s a mixture of their religion and general African culture. Their dressing culture is not extreme. The main thing to note is that you should aim not to wear sleeveless clothes or clothes that are too short (typically 3 fingers width above the knee).

Food portion & Exchange Rate

Portion size is huge! I worked out while in Senegal but still put on a couple of pounds because I was eating so much. I've attached pictures of some of the meals I had while in Senegal. Most were less than $5! Exchange rate will be your best friend. The current rate as at this article is $1=565cfa. Just for perspective, I spent about 300cfa for breakfast and 1200cfa for lunch everyday. The cost of taxi from where I stayed to the university was just 400cfa (about a 10mins ride). It's not my first time in a country with an exchange rate that favored the dollar but I enjoy that because you can do so much for a small price tag.

Ultimately, my four weeks in Senegal were truly memorable. I wish I had acclimated with the culture and language faster but I'm glad I eventually figured that out. Senegal was a lot of fun but not everything that happened there was amazing. My major issue was that the internet wasn't fast enough, but at least it worked. I enjoyed my time in Dakar and I will be visiting again for pleasure rather than business.