I move in to my own place this week, and it’s not a moment too soon.

No, it’s not because construction has commenced on the empty building across from my current bedroom window:

It’s not just because I miss my stuff either (trust me, I do miss my shoes and nail polish). More significantly, I am getting kinda bored with my running route.  Sure, the vistas out onto the Atlantic are pretty, but if you take the same route, run after run- the novelty kinda goes away. 

Right about now the Petite Corniche has started to feel like the GW Parkway (ladies, you know what I am talking about).  The only perceivable difference is that I don’t think people wash their mouton along the GW Parkway (or maybe they do, I haven’t done that trail since last year…).

Speaking of stealing…I would like to take this moment to express my extreme gratitude for the kind soul who has put me up for the past month or so. She’s works in the embassy office that is kind of keeping tabs on me here during my stay in Dakar- and let me just say that I am extremely lucky to have landed in an office full of such great and diverse people. Here are some of them:

These pictures above were taken at last night’s office Hail and Farewell.  I mentioned stealing up above- these photos were taken by (and stolen from me, although she doesn’t realize it yet) the very generous and extremely hard-working Vermont National Guard officer who is putting me up here in Plateau.  Her name is Joni, and she is sadly not in any of these photos up above. Somehow, this is kind of fitting-  because she is always on the job, making sure everyone else is settled, and squared away.  

Never fear though, here’s an equally appropriate photo that I snapped of her on the job last month:

There she is on the right, during a trip I took with her as she escorted AFRICA COMMAND’s Command Sergeant Major to Thies, a town outside of Dakar. She’s always on the go, on the phone, or coordinating these kinds of official visits between the Senegalese and American military.

If all goes according to plan, I will be moving out of Joni’s place on Thursday and into my own hermetically sealed apartment that is located closer to the university (this will give me new running options!). After four months without my household goods, it will be fun to discover what the movers broke or what I actually own these days…

All of that said, I want to take a moment to sincerely thank Joni for putting up with me over the past month or so.  She’s a real asset to the Air Force, and I’m not just saying that because she took pity on an itinerant and slackerly naval officer. Everyone in the office is always ridiculously busy, and despite their schedules everyone -especially Joni-  has reached out to ensure that my transition to Dakar was extremely smooth.

Merci!