Vascilando

I've been feeling very socially awkward the past week. Maybe it's because I'm feeling better and am socializing more- awkwardness is my forte after all. But despite it, I've had fun the past few days. Trying to keep a low profile because I don't know if I could stand being sick again- I hear my dad's famous warning not to burn the candle at both ends (another forte of mine).

In the true spirit of vascilando (a wanderer for whom the experience of travel is more important than traveling for the purpose of reaching a destination), a few of us set out to find the elusive FanMilk factory, tempted by the rumors of free t-shirts and FanMilk of course. It's difficult when you don't speak the language (Fon) and directions are complicated when the streets don't appear to have names. I once heard the generalization that women prefer directions by landmarks whereas men prefer compass directions and street names. If that were the case, we women should be just fine here.

In short, we didn't find the factory, but we did stumble upon an area of town that was off the beaten path (probably for a reason). But for the record, we did find a dump. We also got to sit on somebody's front stoop and watch the locals go by- boys pushing styrofoam pieces with sticks down the dirt road, cobbled chickens who have escaped, and various gawkers at the Yovos just sitting there.





Apparently in this area they've given up with the "uriner ici est interdit" signs and resorted to just spray painted pictures:



Then we sat at a restaurant on the river drinking bottled water and musing about our plans and dreams for the next year.



Somewhat related to the social comment made above, my room is the coolest! We've been cracking each other up for days. Our toilet may routinely stop working, but I wouldn't trade this room for any other.