Last weekend, I actually had a pretty normal weekend considering I live in Africa currently. However, as similar as things were to home, everything had a bit of an African twist!
I began my weekend with a good breakfast and reading a book while drinking my tea by the nice windows in midship. Midmorning, Sarah (Jessica's bunkmate) and I went to the grocery store. It was a pretty normal grocery store, however, most of the products were in French, so we had to do some guessing as to what we were buying.
After the grocery store, we walked to the Artizen market where I bought a really great leather purse and looked at the rest of the goods. We also went to the fruit market and bought a ton of fresh tropical fruits and vegetables. I apologize for this blurry picture, but I took it from the Landrover as we were driving away. I feel strongly about not taking pictures while doing business or shopping with locals, so I rarely have my camera out while I am actually in the market. This is for two reasons: 1) I don't like my picture taken when I am out shopping, so why would I treat the locals like they are some sort of zoo animals?; and 2) It is dangerous here to obviously display signs of wealth, so cameras and things like that stay tucked away most of the time.
After shopping, we came back to the ship and made our lunch of couscous salad and fruit salad, which was delicious. I played on the internet while I did laundry. For dinner, a group of people went out for pizza a little outside restaurant in Lome'.
On Sunday, Jessica and I rode taxi-motos (zemi-johns) to the beach to spend the day soaking up the sun. I hadn't ridden one in awhile, and I had forgotten how harrowing that experience can be. The drivers know exactly what they are doing, weaving through the traffic, however, I would probably be more comfortable if they never got over 10 mph. I am happy to report we both made it there and back in one piece. :)
We spent the day resting and catching up on each other's lives. It was a very nice beach with a little restaurant where we ate lunch. It was a hot day, so we sat in the shade most of the time enjoying our Coca-Colas. There is NOTHING in this world like an African Coca-Cola in a glass bottle. So good!!!
Such a beautiful view and an enjoyable laid-back weekend in Africa!
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