There is a really good bakery just down the street from my apartment, and it would be where I would buy breakfast this morning. I bought three different pastries and enjoyed them throughout the morning. If you’ve ever been to France, you know what I’m talking about when I say the bakeries are irresistible. I made this stop on my way to the train station where I would meet up with a group of the students for the day’s excursion… to Monaco! The train ride from here to Monaco is only 20 minutes, although today’s train was super packed (nothing I wasn’t used to from Dakar). When we arrived, we made our way first to the top of a large hill where the Palais Princier is located. At noon, we witnessed their “changing of the guard” ritual outside the palace, which was really neat, and then at 13h we took a tour of the palace itself. In between, I walked around the area, admiring the amazing view and beautiful architecture, and even stumbling upon the Canadian consulate by accident. The tour of the palace was self-guided, with one of those listening devices that you hold up to your ear and it explains all the history behind what you’re looking at. After the palace tour, we made our way to the Musée Océanographique. This giant building was split up into two sections: one is an aquarium with numerous exotic fish and the other is more of your standard museum. Probably the coolest part of the museum was the exhibit where I got to pet a real live shark! The rest of the afternoon consisted of visiting Monte Carlo. We saw (and even took a peek inside) the famous casino and opera house, as well as a plethora of very nice, very expensive cars. Monaco is actually the second smallest and second most densely populated country in the world with 18,000 people per km2. It also happens to be the richest country in the world (by GDP/capita) at over $150,000 per person. I witnessed both sides of the country during my time there.
My first full day in Nice was occupied with an orientation day program put together by the university. For those who don’t know, I’m in Nice for three weeks to take some summer French courses and also because I couldn’t think of a better place to spend the rest of my summer than in the South of France where the Alps and the Mediterranean converge to create one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. The first thing on the agenda was an early morning social outside for all the students to get to know each other. There are at least 20 countries represented here among the students, including: Canada, USA, Cuba, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, China, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Romania, Netherlands, and Belarus. Also outside were two billboards, filled with information. On the one, there were posted the class lists and schedules (three hours of class time in the morning, followed by an hour lunch break, followed by two hours of themed workshops in the early afternoon). And from the other billboard, I learned that they had cultural activities and excursion planned for us in the afternoons (or all-day on Saturdays) on four days of the week. Next up was a small presentation from the director, inside in the amphitheatre, about the program, the university, the city, and generally what to expect over the next three weeks. Afterwards, we received our “student cards,” which were about three times the size of a normal card and wouldn’t fit in any wallet, and then headed back outside for a buffet lunch. The sandwiches provided were very tasty and the live, jazz group accompaniment added a nice touch. After eating, I stood in line at the “InfoBus” to buy a bus pass for the month. Oh how I will enjoy the bus system here after what I had gotten used to in Dakar over the past seven weeks. Having a route map and a schedule will be so nice! At 15h30, everyone would regroup at the university and we would go on our first excursion: a walking tour around Nice. The tour lasted about four hours, during which I saw some of the most amazing views of the city while learning a ton of interesting history about the region. We also stopped for ice cream at the most famous place in town – it only took one taste to realize why!
Our tour ended at the Place Garibaldi, at one of the small cafés, where I had a really nice Rooibos tea blend. After today, I can safely say I’m going to enjoy living here for the next three weeks. My last day in Senegal. I went to church in the morning and on my way home, I had an interesting exchange with the taxi driver. I flagged down the taxi, stated my destination and my price, to which he beckoned me to get in. However, as soon as we started driving, he began to ask for more money. I told him no, we’d already agreed on a price and we argued for a bit before he shut up, accepting my price – I assumed. But when we arrived, I paid him and as I was walking away, he jumped out of the taxi, ran after me, and grabbed onto my bag, pulling me back, and yelling at me in Wolof (demanding more money I guess). This stirred up quite a scene and not too long after, there was a crowd circling around us. One of the bystanders heard out my side of the story and then yelled something at the taxi driver, who responded by letting go of my bag and heading back to his car, realizing he was now outnumbered. A little rattled, I thanked my liberator and made my way up to the apartment. There, I was greeted by an awesome Ivorian meal that Franck had cooked up to celebrate. A combination of the stressful taxi driver situation, my hunger, and having part of my mind on my flight this evening, caused me to forget to take a picture or write down the names of the different parts of the meal. I will do my best to describe it though. There was fish, like always, but done in a special fashion, different from the Senegalese way. There was a really nice, tasty red sauce, consisting of a variation of chopped vegetables. And finally, there was the piece of the meal that's the hardest to explain. It was these little, white, cake-type things that were kind of like a rice muffin but they weren't rice... Whatever they were (I will ask Franck for clarification), they were very good with the sauce! After lunch, I took my last Dakarian shower and then finished packing my bags – which turned out to be a small challenge. Hopefully nothing gets bent, broken, or damaged during the flight. My plane was scheduled to take off at 22h40. We arrived at the airport around 20h10, which gave me enough time to check in my luggage and then go back outside to spend some precious last few minutes with Franck. Nobody cried, but it was very emotional nonetheless, saying goodbye to what has been my home for the past seven weeks – and more importantly, saying goodbye to my new, African brother. After promising to stay in contact regularly, I headed back into the airport to make my way through security and board the plane to Nice.
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