Month: January 2023

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Observations of Life in Senegal

As promised, a random compilation of things we’ve noticed about life in Dakar. It will be fun to look back on these in the coming months and years to see how we learn and grow in our perception of culture and life.

  • While typically very short, we do experience power outages somewhat regularly (the power just went out as I am writing this post :D)
  • There is A LOT of dust! We are amazed at how quickly things can get dirty in our house. This is one (of many) reasons we are so thankful for our house help Fatou.
  • It is culturally normal to employ a house help and a guard. Some people also employ chauffeurs, cooks and nannies as well.
  • Boutiques (picture little corner stores) and fruit/vegetable stands are very common throughout the city. We actually live directly across from a boutique which is very convenient if we just need to grab a couple of eggs. It is also an added source of security since it is open until midnight most nights.
  • Horse drawn wagons are not uncommon to see around the city as well as goats and sheep (the kids love this!). Our neighbors across the street actually have a goat who we often see in a room on the roof.
  • Roofs are often open spaces, particularly for doing and hanging laundry. Since we don’t have a yard our roof is our only outdoor space.
  • Dakar is a big city (3 million people!) so it’s taking some getting used to since our background is Midland, Michigan (40,000 people). While violent crime is not common, petty theft is. In our quartier there have been some thefts of bags from people riding on motos (“moto bandits”).
  • Because of the risk of theft it is extremely important to ensure windows and doors are locked and closed. All of our ground floor windows have bars on them and even the shutters have locks. We are thankful to have a little gate in the front of our house that locks as well.
  • Extended family will often live together in one house so each room of a house typically has it’s own bathroom. For example, our house has three bedrooms and a total of 4 bathrooms, each of which has a shower in it (another reason we’re so grateful for our house help!)
  • Many main roads are paved, but side roads tend to be dirt/sand which is the case for our road (the kids enjoy that it’s like walking on a beach each time we leave our house). We, however, don’t enjoy the amount of sand they bring into our house in their shoes 😀
  • While French is the official language here, it is usually the second language for most Senegalese. While walking around the city we mostly hear Wolof being spoken. This is the language of the largest people group here. We hope to learn some Wolof phrases and eventually tackle the language itself (especially Adam, our forever student 🙂 )
  • While some foreigners choose to drink water straight from the tap, most buy bottled water or filter it. We have a big filter that we fill each night before bed so we’ve got plenty for the next day.
  • There’s a guy for EVERYTHING. We’re finding this to be especially true as we try and set up our home. Recently we mentioned wanting to buy some fans and our teammate Dave said, “Oh I’ve got a fan guy, let me call him!” This is also true for meat, repair work, different types of furniture, fruits, vegetables, clothing, doctors…pretty much everything! It’s very important to network and build connections here. We are very thankful for the Cousens and other friends we’ve met here who are sharing their “guys” with us.
  • Finding a place (or explaining to a delivery person or taxi driver where we live) is less about an address (we don’t have an address for our house) and more about using landmarks. Trying to do this in French as we adjust to Senegalese accents and run into some people who only speak Wolof has been interesting (aka very difficult). Several times we’ve had to ask a guard or boutique worker to help us by speaking in Wolof to explain where we are.
  • The bugs are not messing around. They seize any opportunity to go for open food or a spill we forgot to wipe up (yet again, thank you to Fatou for being incredible at keeping our house clean!). We are also learning the tips and tricks to keeping things like mosquitos and cockroaches out.
  • We have to wash all fruits and vegetables in a bleach solution. This added work definitely increases our motivation to not let any of our produce spoil in the fridge.
  • Cash is king here. While there are a few places we’ve found where we can use our credit card, we mostly operate in cash (much to Adam’s chagrin). We had a number of large payments to make right when we got here (rent, security deposit, etc.) so Adam was taking daily walks to the nearest ATM to withdraw cash. Adam has joked that these 30 minute walks are his exercise routine for now. Unfortunately, we’ve learned that it is very common here for ATMs to be out of cash so sometimes Adam gets to turn his 30 minute walk into a 45 minute walk to hit the next ATM.

Thanks for taking the time to read through these musings!

– Selina (and Adam too!)

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Initial Thoughts in Senegal

We have officially been in Senegal for two weeks which seems crazy. Upon initially arriving I had a pretty bad sinus infection which eventually required antibiotics. Once starting those I recognized that I had been feeling much worse than I had realized. I am so grateful to finally feel clear-headed and able to focus on our new life in Senegal. Here is a super random compilation of initial thoughts on our move and first two weeks here:

  1. We are so thankful we took a vision trip in 2020 before deciding to move here. Even though we only visited for a week it allowed us to arrive this time and feel like we were someplace “familiar” instead of completely foreign.
  2. We are SO grateful that we spent a year living in France before moving here. The language learning is an obvious reason, although Senegalese French is *quite* different than France French, we are so happy to feel like we can at least try to communicate. Additionally, the initially shock of leaving family/friends/Midland was something we were able to process in a much more relaxed setting (Albertville) instead of amidst the shock and adjustment of life in a huge, West African city. Another plus is that grocery stores and the products in them are very similar here.
  3. Transition is hard. We’ve seen God’s hand on each of our transitions, making them so smooth. But even the smoothest transition is really hard. Packing, cleaning and preparing to leave, saying goodbyes, doing international flights with tons of baggage and two toddlers (while pregnant), arriving in a brand new culture and context…these are some of the obvious reasons transition is hard. On top of this is the tension it brings. At all times there is a level of stress and anticipation and worry that is very tiring. It’s not really surprising that I have been sick for both of our international moves. One of the hardest aspects of this tension though is the way it comes through in our kids. Desmond in particular struggles a ton right before our big moves. He can’t really communicate super well at 2 years old so he tells us he’s stressed through being very needy and sad. We noticed this before we left Michigan and saw the same thing in him before we left France. Again, this is draining on all of us! Transition is hard.
  4. Our kids LOVE Senegal. We are really enjoying it here as well, although there are a lot of things we are still figuring out and adjusting to, but our kids are just thrilled to be here. As much as they express tension before a move, they also express such relief and ease once we’re settling in a place. So far they have been in awe of the dirt road we live on, all the taxis and horses we pass as we walk in our neighborhood, riding in taxis, having bunk beds for the first time and exploring our new house. They love our teammates and our cleaning lady who comes a couple times a week. Mia already loves school and Desi isn’t upset about the first ever one on one time he and I get when she’s gone.
  5. “God is good.” “He is worthy.” “Christ is sufficient.” “His power is made perfect in my weakness.” These are mantras that I have been reciting to myself throughout the past year or so and God just keeps revealing the truth behind each of these statements over and over again. This last year in school was one of the hardest yet, but also one of the sweetest with my Lord. I have confident assurance and hopeful expectation that He is going to continue to reveal more of His goodness and worthiness this year as well as how sufficient His power is to accomplish His will, for His glory even in my weakness.

Stay tuned for another blog post with more practical, day-to-day thoughts on life in Senegal!

-Selina