Our First Week in Dakar, Senegal

Saturday – We arrive and spend the first night in our new home, a first floor apartment with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. We have a small courtyard (“backyard”) for our kids to play in which is super!
Sunday – Several missionary families took us out to eat at a restaurant by the ocean. Lucas loved the view!
Monday – We met with Henriette, our house helper. She began working for us the next day and helps with laundry (washing by hand and ironing), cleaning, mopping, dishes and eventually we’ll ask her to cook some Senegalese meals for us. Dan also had his first driving adventure as our family went to a local restaurant for pizza! This was our first experience trying something on our own with our French dictionary. 
Tuesday – A missionary took us on a tour of 3 grocery stores in our neighborhood. They all offer something different so you learn to shop where for what you need that day. We also learned how to prepare fruits and some other foods as they have to be soaked in bleach water before they can be eaten. We also ate our first chawarma. It’s a sandwich of beef or chicken on a hoagie-like roll with French fries inside. Very interesting.
Wednesday – We visited a large supermarket because it was discount day! Then we tried our washing machine which Lucas thinks sounds like an airplane taking off in the bathroom. He’s right!
Thursday – Our kids were invited to a missionary’s house to swim and play. What fun! Later we learned how to clean our water filter.
Friday – Allison made her first big meal – spaghetti! Ha, ha! We can do this without electricity because we have a gas stove/oven. The oven doesn’t have degrees just the numbers 1-9 so we’re guessing on temperatures right now! Lucas and Alexis had fun meeting some neighborhood children.