Thursday, February 14, 2013

Lome blues

There are a lot of things I dont like about Lome.  The humidity.  The sand.  The humidity.  Vendors who think you want to buy their crap. The humidity.  Necessary AC.  The humidity.  Uncooperative taxi drivers.  The humidity. Etc.  But there are a lot of things I like about it too.

I enjoy sitting at the beach bar (one of several) in the evening.  Vendors come buy selling cigarettes/breath mints/chinese condoms, watches, stuffed animals, tourist knickknacks, etc.  usually this is annoying, but sometimes they have Swisher Sweet cigars.  Nothing better than a cigar on the beach with a cold one.  Looking at the ships off the coast and making sure some kid doesnt run off with D's purse.  Seriously, I really enjoy beach bar. 

We eat Really well in Lome.  After taking the GRE, D and a bunch of people went to this Lebanese downtown.  I met up with them there.  The owner said he'd make us food for 4 mille a person.  He must have brought out 10 different dishes.  We were stuffed. With leftovers. 

D and I go to this other Lebanese spot near the Bureau a lot.  Its like a bakery I guess with a wood fired oven outside.  We get pita bread baked with cheese or spices or meat.  Its really good.  And they have "turkish" coffee. which is always amazing.

Lome also has a large chinese expat community, so there are a bunch of chinese restaurants near here.  We tried out one a couple days ago.  I had sweet/sour chicken for the first time in like 2 years.

We also had fried calimari another night. 

We obtained a copy of the new Les Miserables the other night.  I woke up the next morning with the songs stuck in my head.

I usually hate AC, but i need to stop sweating at some point.  All the PCVs from up north always moan about how humid Lome is.  Up north its hotter, but much dryer.  I seriously dont know how people could stand it here before electricity. 

Another nice thing about Lome is that there is ice cream here.  Mint milkshake.  That's all I'm saying. 

Actually, another problem with Lome is that its easy to blow a lot of money on eating here.  Who wants to drop 100 cfa for rice off the street when you can get a legit cheeseburger for 1800?  or pizza for 4000?

The pump project is officially done.  We have accounted for all of our funds.  For every one of the 20,000 that we spent.  And over 10,000 people in west Kara are drinking clean water now.

so, there are some pictures.  I dont think I have posted them before.  My apologies if I have.  The AC is scrambling my head.

D is trying out a new pump

Another new pump

Me supervising

Water!

I'm taking apart a new pump head

our installation team working

pump site

this is definitely "before" pic

D, Saye, and Kadar doing a health talk
 

1 comment:

  1. Daniel, I'm taking a break from studying to catch up with your crazy life. I start nursing school at IvyTech in the fall. Studying microbiology right now, so I will probably hear about some of your " creepy friends" soon.
    I'm glad you are getting water to people who really need it. What a really great way to spend your life.
    Bailey is doing some work at Tuttle Middle Sch. for a class at Wabash, and keeps seeing Benji, while he's there to talk to teachers.
    I can't read about your lack/no lack of AC without laughing as the wind howls, and the snow blows here in mid Feb.
    Interesting where people come from that you meet, I wouldn't think of Chinese OR Lebanese in W. Africa.
    Robbie works at Culver's Ice Cream and Butter Burgers, near WM, I have to force him to bring me the flavor of the day, usually something with big chunks of chocolate or cookies in it. ummmm....
    I have read past posts of yours, and the sadness of having children die must be overwhelming when there seems to be nothing they can do about it. I just saw something this week about the Mercy Ship, that had just been to a port in Togo, doing maxillofacial surgeries, removing huge tumors from faces, and restoring sight to hundreds of people.
    I remember taking the GRE, ick. I just struggled through college algebra, came out with a B and worn out brain.
    I'm starting to think about gardening again, daffodils are already raising their little heads.
    I think you should name your worms, and then maybe they will seem like friends, instead of life-draining parasites... just a thought.
    Stay well,,God Bless You, Daniel
    Dianne Combs

    ReplyDelete