The community I am currently a part of is the Dakar, Senegal area. This community spans throughout the city. Dakar isn’t that big of a city, especially considering that it is a capital city. However, it is densely populated in relativity to its size; the population is estimated to be 1.5 to 3 million, which goes from 1/9 to a little under a quarter of Senegal’s entire population.

The primary language spoken in my community is French, the colonial language followed by Wolof, the local Senegalese language.

The problems my community faces is dealing with housing (prices too high) and (un)employment, which is leading to poverty. In downtown Dakar, groups of people can be seen begging for money, a sign that my community’s economy is a low point. In order to improve this situation, more aid can be given, as well as training to increase the workforce. Also, more homes must be built, in order to reduce the demand, hence putting prices down. The government must also survey the money being transferred in Dakar, as many of the expensive homes are made in an effort of money laundering.

For my 9th week of SBC posting, I decided to follow activity 1’s prompt of demonstrating my travels. I have been to around 20 countries, in 3 (soon to be 4 in April) continents, as well as the Caribbean. As it would take an extensive amount of time to list each nation I’ve visited, and describe it in detail, I found it more appropriate to discuss my journeys in a more organised manner.  Instead of analysing my visited destinations one by one, I could state my favourite holiday per continent.

 

North America

Costa Rica (Central America, but still connected to the North American continent 

When it comes to overall places I’ve been in North America, I will choose the United States hands down. However, since I was born and raised there, as well as having lived in the U.S for 11 years, it wouldn’t be considered a real “travel”. As a result, I took Mexico, a country I visited in 2014. This nation was chosen ahead of Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada.

Costa Rica was a great destination for me because there was lots of natural beauty that could be seen all over. I was in a particularly touristic area outside of the capital city, so I was able to see some wonderful sights. My best experience in Costa Rica was zip-lining across the rain forest. The course I went on is the 4th longest on the planet, and I was able to enjoy my experience for around 10 minutes in the rain while observing the appealing environment below me.

Link

Africa

Tunisia 

Tunisia was ahead of Ethiopia, Senegal, Morocco, and Egypt. Tunisia is a mix of several components that made it a great experience: ancient sites, splendid beaches, and great places to explore in urban areas (restaurants, markets). I lived there for 18 months while my mom worked a diplomatic job; I lived in Tunis, the capital, but I was able to visit a few small towns in the heart of the Sahara, as well as Djerba, a city renown for its trademark colosseum from the Carthaginian civilisation built at the time of the Romans.

Europe

France 

France was selected ahead of Italy, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, and The United Kingdom . Since I turned 1, I’ve had the opportunity to visit France once a year, either as an actual destination or a stopover through my flight to Senegal from Washington, D.C. In these 13 years, I’ve been in the southern Cote D’Azur region, Brittany towards the west, the Alps in the east, and the famous city of Paris. From the ski courses of Chamonix, to the Van Gogh museum of Arles, or even the renown sights of Paris, France is full of wonderful places to go. There was no doubt in my mind that this is the number one European country I have visited. I am going to France once again this Winter Break, and I look forward to spending time in the city of lights, as well as the Alps.