Birthday Story

OK, I am back in Praia right now, we ended up getting back a day early from Dakar. What I wrote below, I thought I had posted previously, but I guess that it didn't go for one reason or another. So here is my second try at it.

Right, well, I thought I would have more chances to check my email, and write a bit on the blog while in Africa, but this really is the second time I have checked stuff. Well, actually, the third, but the second time was in Togo, and I could not open my email until the last ten minutes, so I did not get a lot done that time. I actually got my results for my Foreign Service Written exam, but don't have a secure computer to check the results on, so I may wait till I get back to Cape Verde, or I may risk it after I publish this. Thanks to people who send me birthday wishes. The day before my birthday, we had gone up to 12 of 12's village, and spent most of the afternoon walking around and meeting people. We had a good dinner that people preparedfor us, and then me and Some Girl taught her how to play 13! The hope is that 12 of 12 will teach it to the other Benin PCV's, and if we all meet up at WAIST next year, we can have a country tournament or something. So, we had made a cake (using a Dutch oven, no less) and they sang me happy birthday. The actual morning of my birthday, we bounced back to Cotonou, stopped quickly at the PC office, and then 12 of 12 helped us get a taxi that was supposed to take us to the Togo border (or the frontier, as they like to call it). The driver charged us a higher rate than HCN's, but said that he would help us with the paperwork that we would need to get across the border, since we were getting our visas there. So, he drives around town for a bit and picked up one other guy. Then, as we are heading to the frontier, he gets a call from his boss or something and he has to drop us of. So, he leaves us at this other random taxi stand on the road, and we get our bags moved from one car to another. I am still going around yelling about the 3,000 FCFA, making sure that the original deal would still be honored, but Some Girl is pissed, since she thinks we're already getting over charged, and does not want me screaming the amount out. So, our bags are in the back of some other taxi, and they are just waiting to find more people who also need to get their visas processed at the border. Some Girl then starts screaming at the taxi drivers, because she knows we're getting ripped off, (she asked the other passenger how much he was paying to get to Lome) and they yell for a bit. The other passenger then leaves to find another taxi, and we are standing there some more, and the finally decide that this guy is not going anywhere, and we should try to find another taxi to the border. Some Girl then starts asking for our bags back, but I get her to stop, since I was worried that the taxi cab driver wouldn't open up the trunk for us if we asked, since he would be losing the money. So, he and his friend speak a bit of English, and I tell him that I need to get my water bottle because I am thirsty. So, I get it from my back, and then we grab our bags and walk away to the street, and start trying to hail another cab. The driver of another cab that is parked there is yelling at us to get in his cab, and since it actually has people in it, we figure it would be a good bet. We try squishing in the back (already two people) and decide it is not going to work. So, we get out and try to signal that we want to go into the front, but I think the taxi driver thought we were trying to ditch him, so he runs up screaming at us. Then, at the exact same moment, the taxi driver whom we liberated our bags from the back of his trunk comes up with his car and starts screaming about how it will be free if we go with him, and that we shouldn't go with the other guy. Yeah, I will get into this more later, but pride is a big issue in Benin, and he was really pissed that we left him. But, we get in the car with the two other people in back, and finally head out. Some Girl, with her very good Portuguese and Spanish can kinda understand the French that people are speaking, and over hears the other passengers laughing at us, since they say we will get stuck at the border, which closes at 6pm, and it was like 3pm or so. Finally, we get there, and Some Girl is a bit pissed since it isn't exactly where he said he would take us, though I wasn't as concerned, since I knew that he wouldn't drive us right to the border, we would still have to walk a few hundred meters or something. We are trying to get our stuff together and he keeps asking Some Girl for the money, and she is getting really annoyed. Finally he shut up after we paid him, and we walked to the border. Of course, we have no idea where to go or what to do, so we pick one of the buildings, where we have to get our exit visa from Benin first. So, we slide up and pass our passports to the cops. They take them, but then start muttering something about us, using the word for "foreigner" that I don't remember right now. Then I realized that we just cut in front of about the ten other people who had been waiting in line. But even though we cut, the cops still processed our stuff and we moved on. I felt a bit bad, but the cops could have told us to wait. So, with the exit visa, we then go to the Togo side of things and fill out the forms, pay and cross the border by foot. Then, we get a van to take us to Lome, I don't remember much about this part, so it must have been uneventful. But we make it there, find our hotel, and go out for Chinese food. I finally had some Chicken Chow Fun, which was great. Then we go back to the hotel bar, and I have a drink or three. So it was a good day that worked out in the end, but was pretty stressful at times. So much more to say, but hardly enough time to sayit. Let me just note, oddly enough, I have actually been thinking about Cape Verde a lot recently, and am excited to get back to Mosteiros (I never thought I would say that). Being in Africa has given me interesting perspective on my PC expierences, and I have alot to reflect on. Much more, much later.