a different lifestyle

So having lived alone for the last three years in a two-bedroom, two-balcony, duplex apartment with 24-hour guard service (all paid for by my employer), I have now, as an unemployed/retired person (a lady of leisure??), moved into a very small apartment with four other people.  I have my own bedroom and en-suite bathroom, but share a small entrance hall cum living room, a very small cockroach-infested kitchen, and a tiny balcony (aka the smoking space for the rest of my flatmates).  We do seem to have reliable electricity and internet, although sometimes there is no water.  Oh, and there is a cleaning lady who comes every day, but who only speaks Wolof.

My flatmates are from Senegal, France, Syria and Switzerland, and the French-Syrian couple have a kitten - thankfully I love cats.  Both the conversation and the food has been good (the Syrian is a keen cook and loves to cook for others).  However the Senegalese lady who sub-lets to the rest of us fell out with the Syrian guy last week, and after a dramatic day full of shouted accusations and insults, with both parties going to the police, the French-Syrian couple have to move out - which is a great shame.  We'll see whether the Spanish lady who will take over their room is such good company.

It's a very different way of life ... kind of like being in a student flatshare ... but so far I'm enjoying it.

I've had a fair bit of admin to do, dealing with my former employer (returning equipment, getting exit forms signed off, etc as well as a 'goodbye' lunch and presentation the day after my contract ended) and with the company who will ship the bulk of my possessions back to the UK, not to mention time spent setting up a local telephone account and mobile money account, and settling into my new accommodation.  I've been quite busy.

I've managed to fit in a little relaxation, including in a couple of different restaurants along this coastal part of Dakar, chatting with friends over a few glasses of wine, and saw a couple of live music performances before Ramadan started yesterday which puts an almost complete stop to live music for the month, sadly.

So will I get bored?  Well it's hard to tell as yet.  I have a To Do List, and have so far watched four episodes of Andrew Marr's "A History of Modern Britain", sewn up the hem on a pair of trousers, labelled and filed a part of my digital music collection, and worked my way through the first four chapters of a French text book (a little late in the day, I know, but I would like to improve my French and then dispose of the CDs and textbooks before I move on from here).  I've also picked up a couple of new Wolof phrases.  I think the To Do List will keep me busy for quite a few months, and by late summer I'm hoping that COVID travel restrictions around the world will be lessening, thus giving me the option to move on if I feel the need to by then.  I certainly don't envisage moving back to London within the next year, although it's really too early to know whether or not I will find myself wanting to get back into the world of work.