Senegal 3: Our house

We live in Cite Malick Sy, a suburb about 1 km from the hospital. As evidenced by the relatively larger houses and cleaner roads, it is meant to be the rich end of Thies. Hence the need for a security guard and four locks. It is also mosquito Mecca, which means unlocking the four locks is usually done very rapidly while shaking all four limbs simultaneously. We are very fortunate that the previous tenants pretty much encased the house in mesh.

Our other front door.

It is a great blessing to have aircon in the bedroom. It is also the only unit in the house, which means we spend a lot of our time there, beneath the haven of the mosquito net (now replete with pieces of sticky tape covering all the large holes), eating and watching stuff on the laptop. It is also the only non-humid room, so all our laundry dries there. It's our sanctuary.

Everything one could need in life.

Conversely, the kitchen is the hottest and dirtiest part of the house. Its main failing is that there are dozens of cockroach-like insects that live in and behind the cupboards, which have a habit of regularly coming out between 6 and 10 pm to roam and forage for nutrients. Not even the fridge is off-limits. They are also seemingly impervious to local insecticides. Fortunately, we have a lady who comes twice a week to clean.

We cook every night. There is a relatively limited range of meat, vegies and spices available, but fortuitously the local supermarket has soy and oyster sauce for stirfry, and stuff to make decent pasta also. Instant noodles get trotted out on particularly tiring days. Lunch is usually bread (flamed), butter and sugar. There are also heaps of snacks: nuts, Pringles, Nestle Crunch, biscuits. Breakfast cereal is a bit of a luxury, being twice as expensive as back home. It’s not quite the healthy eating pyramid.

The scrubs help to absorb oil splatter.

Why, that burger is almost as big as her head!

The cable TV was utilised frequently once it was fixed, but has been declining in favour with time, mainly because of the unfavourable channel distribution. 400 channels, only about 5 English ones, of which one is Bloomberg and the rest are televangelical. The TV also suffers from being situated in front of the most uncomfortable couch in the author's experience, surpassing even all the ones in Bendigo doctor housing.

Still hard on buttocks despite modifications. Note stains.

Blackouts occur daily. If we are particularly cursed, they happen multiple times and/or at night, which takes away our climate control and entertainment. Usually they last less than an hour, but sometimes they can go for 4-6 hours. It is one of the worst things about being here, and there is no better feeling than seeing the lights come back on or hearing the humming of the fridge resume again. In fact we usually make sure all the switches are on during blackouts to maximise the joy of the power returning.

There has been a lot of craving and longing for the comfort, order and familiarity of Melbourne. Especially during blackouts. But all things considered, we're very lucky to be living where we are, to be able to wash our clothes in an automatic fashion, to have a non-squat toilet, a stove, drinking water, relative cleanliness, privacy, security, electricity, and 3-minute noodles.

Lifesavers.