“Is that a Cadillac?”

This past weekend we traveled to Cotonou which is Benin’s largest city and about a five hour bumpy and hot bus ride away. While there we went to Benin Marina Hotel for drinks one evening, which is apparently the best the country has to offer. When we walked out the door we were greeted by a beautiful large black vehicle and Anna (the president of the NGO) proclaimed, “Is that a Cadillac?” I couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably because she had just mistaken a Rolls Royce, which is a $250,000+ car for a Cadillac. When the rear door was opened by the hotel attendant, the single passenger (because these cars are made to be used with a chauffeur) slid out and waltzed his way into the hotel lobby.

While we can’t confirm, most of the group agreed that it was a minister of the government. We shook our heads while we walked by knowing that this money had likely been taken from foreign budget support or programming dollars and used on the disgusting luxury of driving a car like that in a country where teachers in the village near my city make 50,000 CFA per month which is the equivalent of 76.39 Euros.

C’est la vie!