February 18, 2005

My Hell Broke ! Again ! (but it was worth it...)

This week I met with friends for lunch. Nothing special so far, except it involved HAVING A CLUB SANDWICH, which to all the North-Americans reading this means nothing, but if you know that there are no club sandwiches in Senegal, then it definitely is an event!

The only place that I know of where you can get a club sandwich in Dakar is the American Embassy. So you have to know the right person, and go through the motions of the high security. So I found myself still beeping the metal detector, though all I had on me were my clothes (and they had no pockets). Apparently, my bra set the detector off... anyways, I did finally make it to the Cafeteria... and the yummiest (and only) club sandwich I'd eaten in months !

On my way back to work, I broke my (shoe) heel (HUMF ! AGAIN !!!) so here I am, limping away as proudly and with as much dignity as I can, when this guy psssst's me. That's the senegalese regular way of saying "Excuse-me madam, may I have a moment of your attention?". Though it comes on as rude, it has its advantages : psssst psssst is much faster.

So I turn around to the guy (ready to bite, I abhorre being psssst'd), but turn out he's offering to dix my shoes. I agree, and right there, on the sidewalk, he proceeds to fixing the shoe, while I sit on a nearby starcase. As I'm waiting, another guy comes and offers to sell me... shoes ! (flip flops actually, but the nice ones, with leather straps and small heel). It's wonderful to just be walking around and have the service taken to you... when you need it ! So I now am the proud owner of a new pair of flip-flops and of newly repaires high-heel sandals (until they break again !)

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