That’s the view from my rooftop deck. It isn’t anything overly special, but since getting our patio furniture back, we have definitely taken the opportunity to enjoy it with the wonderful Nouakchott evening weather. I would have never guessed moving to the desert I would have a house with a view of a pretty large pond. Go figure. As you can see the architecture is definitely more akin to North Africa versus sub-Saharan Africa, with most houses in our area being these concrete monoliths.

Life in Nouakchott is very simple. I’m going to be blunt and say there isn’t much to do. No movie theatres. No shopping malls. There’s no respectable culinary scene. No green space. No parks. No monuments. No entertainment venues. Outside of a solid beach 15 minutes north of the city, there really isn’t much else. However, as time goes on, I continue to appreciate how much I love my life here. What this place has is wonderful people and good conversation.

The highlight of my week was going to a neighbors house where they baked homemade pizza and we sampled some Mezcal. Something fairly trivial for most folks back home, but deeply meaningful to me. Get togethers like this happen on a weekly basis, and despite living in a place with “nothing to do”, I find myself with a more robust social calendar than at any other point in my life. We talk about local events, world events, new items in the grocery store, potential countries we might live next, school issues, video games, whatever. Everyone here knows that this isn’t an easy place to live, but because of that, everyone has bonded together to make Nouakchott something really special.

I feel fortunate to be here for my first tour, as a means of setting a foundation of what a good community looks like, and how good diplomats conduct themselves even in the harshest environments. I feel like it helps set the tone for the rest of my career, and tells me that location ISN’T everything. I finally understand why more seasoned diplomats on the FS Subreddit will never give a straight answers to the question: “If you could pick the location of your next assignment, where would you go?”. Many answer, “wherever the best job and team are located”, and I feel like now I finally get it.

Today marks 3 months to the day that I arrived in Nouakchott, and 6 months since I joined the Foreign Service. Although I have a long way to go, I find myself really appreciating the opportunity and enjoying the simple things that make the job and lifestyle so wonderful.

For the next couple of weeks, I plan to hand over the reins to my wife Angeli. I get a lot of questions about the impact the FS has on spouses, and who better to answer some of these questions than my spouse? Until next time! –Nick