There's no such thing as a free lunch!

It was a surprise to find out that shopping for food in Dakar was akin to shopping in a high priced grocery store in DC! Sure, you can get (somewhat) better prices from the little street vendors who sell their fruit and veggies in tantalizing stalls along side the road. But how do you go about not getting charged the Toubab prices on everything?

Well for me, it's been a matter of taking Rokhaya out shopping with me, or simply handing her the cash and telling her what we need. Or really, what is more often the case, she tells US what we need and then she goes out and buys it for us. How did I become so dependent on someone, so quickly? It's only been 3 weeks!! And yet there it is, Rokhaya has helped to make our transition so much easier.

Rokhaya came to us via the previous people who lived in this house and worked for the Mission. She has been a very welcome addition to our household. While I fully intended to continue living the way we'd always lived; Scott works, I take care of the kids and the household, and everything that goes along with that...the truth is, we need help here. The house is very large and ALL white. I'm talking white tiles everywhere. Dakar is extremely dusty and within a day our house looks well, soiled. Rokhaya has this whole housekeeping thing down. By the time she's done, it sparkles and smells great. Then she's in the kitchen doing what she loves most, cooking! This lovely lady can cook extremely well and I can tell that we'll need to watch our waistlines closely.

Through her experience in the kitchen, we have been introduced to various wonderful Senegalese dishes. Yassa Poulet, Thiéboudienne and Maafe have already passed our lips in an amazing explosion of flavors. But, also such delicacies as lasagna and bruschetta have graced our table. Yes, watching our waistlines indeed!

Yassa Poulet

Maafe