Coffee and Kids

I found wonderful websites with great information about Senegal.  I found it very helpful.  A great read.  If your thinking of moving outside of North America my best advice would be to visit a couple of times and venture outside tourist routes. If you have children still in school visit local elementary schools and don’t be afraid to ask expat’s how they like living in that country.  Good luck with your journey ☺ http://www.our-africa.org/senegal Real estate websites http://www.dorgoo.sn http://www.expat-dakar.com/annonces/immobilier-senegal-22.html http://www.senegalcity.com/annonces.php US embassy:   American embassy in Dakar Facebook groups:  Dakar craigslist Senegal Classified  Moms group of Dakar Food & Resturant guide in Dakar

Where is home?  I looked up many definitions of home.  Home means "a place one lives permanently".  But what if you never have a permanent home or location would the definition be different?  As I child I moved constantly with different schools, different friends, different neighbors.  I learned early in life never to form an attachment to anyone or anything.  I consider myself a gypsy which defined as a nomadic or free-spirited person.  But when I find a location that I like I usually stay longer because it feels like what a "home" supposed to feel like.  Like knowing your neighbors, attending neighborhood parties, watching everyone babies grow and knowing if someone doesn't see you for a day or two they knock on your door and check up on you.  Is this home?  I'll let you know when I find one.

Remember when we were supposed to go to Germany in July 2016 well we were stopped at border control in Marrakech because I overstayed my tourist visa by 20 days.  In Morocco, if you overstay your visa you CANNOT leave till you fix your immigration status.  Well, I'm finally fixing my visa because we leave next month for Senegal and I already booked the tickets.  I have outlined below step by step on how to fix your tourist visa in Morocco. Here is step by step what you need to do to fix your tourist visa which is generally 90 days. Day 1 :  Go to Prefecture de Police de Marrakech  to schedule an appointment for court.  Take your passport with 1 copy of your passport.  The police clerk will give you a time and day to return to give your official statement on why you overstayed your visa.  *Phones are not allowed inside make sure you bring ID to leave with your phone at the front desk and yes it is chaotic & the front desk will give you a badge to go inside. Police statio

Tourist Visa is a generally a visa for a citizen of foreign countries who wish to enter in Senegal. Hence, 2013/2014 Senegal issued a Tourist Visa which you was able to pay online and they issue the visa at Senegal's Leopold Airport.  As of today, I learned a visa is no longer required, see travel alert below: ATTENTION: As of April 3, 2015, the State of Senegal has decided to abolish the visa paying on the national territory as of May 1, 2015. The following information should therefore be disregarded until clarification   The implementing rules. https://www.aeroport-dakar.com This is great news for this mom of four because it means this money can be used towards other things, like sightseeing 🗿.  So if you planning your trip to Senegal tick this off your list, a visa is not required anymore for US citizens 🇺🇲. Happy travels my friends and make sure you do something from your bucket list today! XOXO Rea

Waiting for flight 🛫 Traveling with kids what can I say it will be a challenge.  I’m divorced from my older kids father and have residential and physical custody but luckily my ex-husband is from Senegal the country we will be moving too.  We mutually agreed that it would be in the best interest of the kids to experience his home country.  He was a little worried about the kids adjusting but warmed up to the idea and agreed to the move. In order to move, I would suggest you get a certified letter from the father/mother agreeing to move the child (ren) out of the country.  Bring this letter with you and keep with your passport and visa information.  Here is more information about state requirements:   Requirements for traveling with kids . Now that my kids are older they are into iPods, nooks, etc.  I would suggest getting one of these types of devices for flights longer than 5 hours because they will drive you crazy on the plane.  My flight from Casablanca to Dakar is 9 hour

Sorry for the late post regarding our new Tribe member.  Village please welcome Vivienne Forte Puissante Mariama Ba.  She actually two years old now but better late than never lol.   One of God's wonderful creations. I gave birth to a baby girl on January 30th, 2015. Vivienne Ba photos

I created a bucket list of things I want to see with the kids.  I hope to accomplish this 2017/2018 year. Rocky looking around Lac Rose 🌸 Visit Touba Walk the bridge to St Louis Island Visit  Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary Tour Ile de Goree Visit the Senegal River Visit Langue de Barbarie National Park Take a safari in the middle of Senegalese savannah

Watching American TV shows or movies while living abroad on those rainy days when you can't sightsee is heaven sent. Throughout our travels, we relied on Netflix or Youtube but unable to watch our favorite current movies & TV shows because ABC/FOX/CW etc. block certain countries.  So now we found awesome website okay okay a bootleg website that offers free online access to almost EVERY movie or TV sitcom available.  Never say I didn't give you anything.  Just activate popup blocker because it has tons of ads but great screen quality and Chromecast capability. Link below:   123Movies 123MOVIES 

When we first came to Morocco I was not sure on pricing or what neighborhood I wanted to rent so I rented a long-term  Airbnb  apartment.  This gave me time to search areas and apartments.  I found several realtors who were willing to show apartments but be careful because of all realtors in Marrakech request 1-month rent (non-refundable) if you choose to rent one of their client's apartments.  Which in the states usually the landlord pays this fee.  Also usually 1000 dirham is asked for electric and water deposit and 1st and last month rent and sometimes deposit. So if the apartment is 2000 dirham a month you would need 9000 dirhams to rent a furnished apartment. In addition, try and stay away from tourist areas because people try and list their unit for more than what it's worth.  In Marrakech, 1 bedroom furnished usually cost around 2000-2500 dirham, 2 bedrooms around 3000-3500 dirham, and townhouse furnished usually 4000-4500 dirham a month.  Utilities usually vary depe