On the plane from Paris to Rome on the continuation of our exodus from rural Africa to the industrialized world....well Italy for now....I noticed that I was the only black person and I sighed, "back to being a minority." While…
Risking my life daily by riding on the back of motorcycles, sans helmet. Bugs. Bugs that bite. Bugs that just crawl. And bugs that interrupt my meals. Boredom. 90F (32C)+ days without air conditioning. Laying in the bed, 6 hours…
...rode on the back of a motorcycle at 60km/h (37mph) down an unpaved road with no helmet? It feels like death coming at you at 100mph (160km/h).
A few of the things that I have been missing since I have been in Benin. Manicures and pedicures. In London, I painted my nails fun colors every week and once spring and summer (read: eternal fall in London) I…
So this weekend, the Italian is in town to visit me and say goodbye to our co-workers. Friday night we headed to Amadou's house just before dusk and played with his super cute four year old daughter Fatima who speaks…
Everyday I take Zems, which are motorcycle taxis, to the same locations. These include the office where I work, the restaurant where I eat lunch, the pharmacy, the "supermarket" (it is super small and I don't think really qualifies as…
What's the difference between a dictator that does no harm and a democratically elected leader that does no good? I am very happy for countries to be moving towards democracy if that is the will of the people, but I…
As I was packing the last of my things Sunday, in preparation for our move to Cotonou on Monday, I received a call from Italy from the president of the NGO I'm working for. She asked me to stay in…
