The Market.

Downtown Dakar Market (photo from internet)

Posted by Alexis:  

  Today was the day we went to the market in down town Dakar (more like downtown New York City!) Our uncle's maid helped us every step of the way. Our mission was to buy fabric for our African dresses being made this week. Our maid's  jobwas to help barter. We first needed to take two taxi's into town because we all couldn't fit in one. Most of these taxies would not pass inspection back home. Some had cracked windows, none had seat belts, and one we rode in, we were afraid the whole back end would fall off, seeing as the car was hardly welded together and we were able to see the ground moving beneath us. (AHHH!) Not all taxi's were as bad as that though. Anways... When we got in to town the hustle and bustle of the people and cars was almost dizzying. Everywhere we went cars were honking, people were trying to sell us things, and we were constantly trying to stay out of people's way.
     When we found the fabric shop it was tiny and cramped with people buying and selling. The venders of the shop kept telling us to take our time and look around. It was nearly impossible for me to pick anything out, there were SOOOO many to choose from. So little time, and so little space ( as it is, I am a terrible decision maker). Whenever I would look up at a piece of fabric, they were convinced I wanted to look at/ inspect it up close, unfortunately, it was a bit of a hastle to take down and put back so I tried hard not to take too much time. The three of us girls, ended up with three very different and beautiful fabrics. Once they were all picked out, the vendors asked a very high price for the material. Our maid spent a good half hour just bartering with the vendors, nothing they asked for seemd acceptable to her, but in time they agreed to lower the price enough and we got our fabric. =)
     After we bought our fabric, we went to the tailor. He worked and lived in the same few rooms of his apartment. Neither mom, Justine, or I had ever had any clothing made specifically for us. We had no idea what to expect or what we wanted so when he asked, we made up our minds as the questions were asked. He measured us in several different places, wrote down some things we wanted on a piece of paper and we were done. Simple as that. It was exciting, knowing that a dress was being made for me, and only me. I'm anxious to see how they all turn out, because I really have no idea what I actually even asked for!


-Alexis