The problem with living hand to mouth- or at least my fancy middle class interpretation of the concept- is that when you are without your own modern comforts you are forced to rely on the generosity of others. This lack of control can lead you down all kinds of paths that have hilarious unexpected consequences.

Today started off great and normal. A long slow run, some work for the Embassy, a nap and then a movie at the cultural center…all activities that made me feel like my Sunday was successful. The only thing that remained was to go over and do laundry at Joni’s house before commencing a week that will hopefully give me an indication of when the exile from my household goods will end. This modest goal proved to be the WTF Moment of the Weekend.

My non-Embassy American Jenn (she does work there, but is a local hire and thus the most dakaroise of the crowd) and I walked over to Joni’s, thinking that doing laundry would be an easy evolution (note: there are no Laundromats in Senegal, and I don’t have a maid or washing machine in my temporary quarters). We got to the building, but somehow the laundry never got done. I am thinking that what happened instead was one long, strange dream sequence that I can only attribute to the fact that Sunday is the day in which I take my Lariam pill.

I don’t even feel like describing how we ended up there all by ourselves- with Joni out and about elsewhere. I will say that instead of relaxing at her apartment while the coveted washing machine did its magic, we found ourselves one floor above hers. The scene: two toubab girls, four Filipino men who only spoke Tagalog, a Senegalese woman, and a table of mostly eaten party food underneath a handmade sign that said “Happy Birthday Vladimir”. Oh yeah, Ice Cube’s perennial motion picture classic Are We There Yet? was also blaring on a huge flat screen TV to the non-English speaking group who still found it quite hilarious.

Don’t get me wrong- our impromptu hosts were very accommodating- it just wasn’t the type of teranga that we are accustomed to here in Dakar (really, I just wanted my Sunday to involve tranquil laundry at Joni’s place).  Alone and unattended, we ate some of their food I and tried to mentally remove myself by wondering how Ice Cube had gone from Straight Outta Compton to wrestling a deer in the woods of some Northern territory.

One of the guys in the apartment was super-excited for the potential of an after-party party, and his smile never waned as he kept dashing into the kitchen and bringing out more and more plates of prepared food for the two of us. My friend and I shot each other “Is this really happening?” looks as he told us in broken words that he was happy to practice English with us.

Again, not a threatening situation, just very bizarre and random…and not what we thought we were getting ourselves into when we got into the elevator.

As the promised 20 minutes left unattended turned into at least an hour, the Jenn and I started to plan a sort of exit strategy. We couldn’t hear over the endless slapstick montages of the Oscar-worthy film, so we headed for the apartment’s balcony to admire the viewless view that offered some refuge to our bemused brains. Safety! We declined the offer of Malibu coconut rum and weighed the pros and cons of ever getting our laundry done again if only we should quickly duck out now lest Joni never return with her house keys.

Sigh. 

My laundry is still over in that building, and it is still dirty. I will have you all know that I am completely grateful to others who charitably open up their apartments, their Filipino food and their washing machines to people like me who are living in a state of limbo. Really I am grateful– but my patience with this housing situation has long-since started to wear thin. I found an apartment two weeks ago, and I have been waiting for the green light to move in ever since. I know that things could be far worse, but after almost three months without the bulk of my luggage and household goods, this appreciation is dangerously depleted.

Incidentally, round two of trying to do laundry starts tomorrow evening. We’ll all just have to wait and see where the day takes me.

Really, we were laughing as I shot this little video on my phone, so take the phrase “this sucks” with a grain of salt