It’s another rainy day in Sotouboua, which is weird. This is supposed to be the dry season, but it has rained pretty much every day this week. I like it though. The rain washes all the dirt off the plants and trees. Sotouboua is starting to look green and alive again, instead of that brown dirty look it’s had since Harmattan.
Here’s a story from earlier this week. I got up and got ready Tuesday morning for the weekly baby monitoring and vaccination session that they have over at the hospital. So I leave my house and start walking (normally I take my bike, but the tire has a hole in it) down the dirt road. I’m not a morning person, so if it’s before 9am I am pretty much not aware of my surroundings. That is why it wasn’t until I was about 15 feet away from them that I noticed there were three camels standing in the middle of the road. This is not a normal occurrence in this part of Africa. In fact, Sotouboua doesn’t really have any exotic wild life other than the occasional pet monkeys.
After the 5 seconds it took me to register the camels, I looked around and was relieved to see I wasn’t the only one staring. Everyone else seemed to think this was just as odd and interesting as I did. I then noticed the guys with the camels. One man for each camel. They were definitely nomadic looking; totally decked out in colorful robes and with scarves wrapped their necks, heads and faces. I stood there and waited for them to start heading down the road towards me.
They finally got up my way and I started asking questions. I was able to get from them that they were coming from Burkina and were heading down to Lomé. When I asked why they simply said money. Then they asked me for some. I honestly only had 350cfa (around 70 cents) and a packet of skittles (sent over from America, thanks!).
I told them I didn’t have anything, but they called me out and said I was lying. I tried to keep up with the no money thing, but then that’s when he asked me if I wanted to ride one of the camels. I asked how much and he said 2 mille. I let him know I didn’t have that me. The next deal was for 1 mille. I still didn’t have it, but I wanted to ride that camel. I told him I only had 200 cfa, and that was just not enough for him, so he continued his trek down to Lomé. Seeing as this might be one of the few opportunities I’d get in life to ride a camel, I reached for the skittles.
I think this might count as a cultural exchange. After he got to experience how delicious candy from America was, I got to experience what riding on a Burkinabe’s camel was like.
What a great experience! Your bargining tool is comical. While there is a will there is a way. Way to go Martin!
Hello! I was directed to your blog by my professor, Keith Folse. I thought you might be Mike’s (my cousin) friend Martin, and it turns out you are! It’s been really interesting reading about all of the cultural differences, and your experiences in general. You’re doing a really great thing. Just stopping by and saying hi. Also, would you like another bag of skittles? Might come in handy again.
Bah! How’ed you get on here?
<3
Sounds like a deal to me! Modernized countries have lots much of the art of bartering; plastic bank cards and the capacity to track money for taxation have almost removed it from society. Bartering is still a valuable skill when traveling and in business. This piece will make for an interesting addition to your resume or cover letter.
P.S. How’s about some more pictures in your blog Marty.
Also, I like the bit about a camel. It sorta reminds me, in a round about way, about this short story I ready in Asian Humanities called “A Horse and Two Goats” by R. K. Narayan.