Last night after dinner, we decided to watch Despicable Me, which was a total hit, until the power went out. We were going to try to finish it just on a computer, but we decided to watch the rest of it tonight when we have the projector. Since there wasn’t much to do here, Steve invited us to his place to get in his little wading pool and have a couple beers. It was a great time, however I was struck by how Steve treats the locals they employ and how the company he works for encourages them to live. Most people don’t have electricity, and the hospital is constantly struggling to make ends meet in terms of affording fuel for the generators, while Adex provides a huge home for it’s European employees, with cars and drivers as well as a huge stone wall and a guard, and a huge generator located in another building to keep the sound minimal. Almost every light in the house was on when we got there, even though no one was there. They were also running the AC with the front door open and had the TV on. It just seemed so wasteful and sad. Steve also surprised all of us but giving his smokes and lighter to the gatekeeper, and every time he wanted another cig he would whistle, the guard would come over and offer the pack to Steve. Steve would take one, and the guard would hold up the lighter so Steve could light them. Then he would say, “Thank you Johnny” and Johnny would say, “Yes, sir.” And walk away. It made me really uneasy that he was so okay with the arrangement.
So today I slept in and then we all spent most of the morning just reading and hangout out. It was nice day too, fairly cool and pleasant.
In the afternoon we decided to walk around town and take pictures and shop. No problems changing money this time. Last time they tried to tell that because my bill had a crease from folding it that it was counterfeit. I really wanted to explain how counterfeiting actually works, but I figured that would just worsen the situation. I found a couple cool finds in town, and then we walked to the tailor to pick up our stuff. My skirt is great, a little wide in the hips but it fits well, and my dress just needs to be taken in. When I first tried it on, I was like, “Whoa!!! Have I lost that much weight already!?!” because it needs to be taken in about six to eight inches in the waist area. I think they made it a little big because they tend to do so to make things modest, but it’s just huge. I also want it a little shorter, but that will be an easy fix. I think I’ll go back before I leave and get a couple more skirts made now that I know they are nice.
The most common footwear for the locals is nothing or flip-flops. It’s rare to see people with closed toed shoes because they’re so expensive, and because if they’re too small you can’t continue to wear them anyway like you can with flip-flops. Women most commonly wear t-shirts that are obvious misprints in some way, like miss spelled words or backwards, like American Egale. As bottoms, jeans are a rarity, and most women just have a lapa (a measurement of fabric that is two square yards) of fabric just wrapped around their waste and tucked in like you might wear a towel. Many women do have actual skirts made, but many pregnant women prefer the wrap-and-tuck because it fits no matter how big they are. Most men wear polo tops, many times with semi-obvious manufacturing defects, like one I saw had the logo printed on the front and back when it was supposed to be a front breast pocked design. Most of the men wear surprisingly nice jeans, although a common outfit for older Islamic men is baggy long pants and a long and flowing tunic-like top that reaches to floor. Most children wear clothes that are completely random and miss-matched, and either way too big or much too small.
After the market, I was quite tired and not feeling great, so I decided to shower while the others went into Magbenteh to shoot some clips for an informational video they’re making. Then I fell asleep, I don’t know why I’ve been so tired today! Today was also the first day I’ve gotten sunburned, but I hardly got any color.
Dinner was good as always, and now we’re going to finish watching Despicable Me before we head to the Club House.
This post is dedicated to a young man who died in a traffic accident working with our friends Steve today.
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