Christine: Apartment

Our apartment is on the third floor of this building. Several horses hang out nearby during the day, helping transport supplies for the construction and brick-making in the area.

My team moved into our Dakar apartment one week ago, and we have been enjoying getting to know the area. We were fortunate to find, with some help from a local friend, a great furnished four-bedroom apartment which will serve as both our home and office for eight weeks. The showers may be cold and the kitchen small, but we are thankful for both, along with a comfortable living room and an ocean view (from the roof, at least).

The view from the roof of our building. The island in the distance is Ile de Yoff, one of several small islands that surround the peninsula upon which Dakar is situated.

We are about a ten-minute walk from the beach and are very close to a small grocery store, plenty of fruit vendors, and a lively street with lots of small businesses. Like many places in Dakar, we don’t have a precise address, but rather a neighborhood and several landmarks (which we routinely list off until our taxi driver recognizes one). What we’re finding is that in many ways, Dakar is a city that doesn’t sleep (much). Drumming and singing can sometimes be heard late into the night, and we are sometimes awakened by a 5 a.m. call to prayer. We look forward to doing more exploring, to meeting our neighbors, and to participating in the social and cultural activities nearby.

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