Abraham and I have asked ourselves that question countless times since arriving in Senegal. There was the time we were walking past a building under construction, and witnessed something we had never seen before. It took 16 men to get cement to the top (4th) floor of the building. Four were at street level, tossing shovels full of cement in unison up to the second level, where four more men were standing and proceeded in unison to toss shovels full of cement to the 3rd level, and so on to the 4th level where four more men were waiting. Abraham, in his business sense, remarked that there must be a more efficient way. Still, this was low-technology in action, and it was almost beautiful to watch the coordination as the cement traveled up the building. If only we had our camera.

There was the time I was walking home from Score, our grocery store, and saw a man steal something from a roadside stand. The woman at the stand started yelling and running down the street after the man. Pretty soon another woman joined in, yelling something in Wolof. Then two men joined them, followed by several other people as the melee progressed down the street. Even kids joined in. In the end, the guy had no chance, as about 20 people were running after him. He was finally caught and surrended the goods — a small box of something — and lay on the ground covering his head as people berated him before dispersing.

Every day I see things I would love to take a picture of, but it’s usually not possible. First of all, it’s too risky to carry a camera downtown. It would attract too much attention, and eventually someone would try to steal it. Then there is the other consideration, which is that it’s disrespectful to thrust a camera in someone’s face without their permission. So we are usually left with photographing scenes where people are in the background or have their backs turned to us.

The above picture is an example. We took this on Sunday as we left Ngor, on the northern shore of the city, to go to nearby Ile de Ngor.

Still, there were many things to photograph on that outing. Here we are getting onto the boat that would take us on the five-minute journey over to the island in the background.

Here one of the boats is pulling up to the island. There were two small beaches there, full mainly with expatriates and a few Senegalese.

It was actually more interesting to go beyond the beaches and explore the tiny island. We came upon some interesting houses, randomly placed art, and spectacular views.

The day ended, as always, with our return home. We live on the top floor unit with the arched balcony.

There are some, however, who never mind having their picture taken and who are always happy to see you. Three dogs live at our building: Trey (the orange dog, and if you’ve seen the series Sex and the City, you will understand the name), Fenster (beige dog), and our favorite, Blackie. If I could adopt this dog and take her home, I would. She is always happy to see us, very affectionate, smiles (really!), and wants nothing more than to be friends. I think I’ll end this posting now so I can go downstairs and give her a pat.