shiny shoe troubles...

Okay, so Ive returned to this so-called cyber "café" to finish my stories...

The last post about travel reminded me of a funny story that heppened during post visit:
So, before I left for post visit, I realized that I didnt really have any nice shoes other than my Chacos (which just dont go with everything, and when meeting important people here, the type of shoes you wear is very important) so I purchased a very beautiful pair of flip flops--gold with a unique sparkly leaf design--a big hit all around. But, during post visit, I walked a lot, putting much too much stress on ,y fabulous yet poorly-crafted sandals. Then one day, after a somewhat long and uncomfortable car ride (keep in mind the Togolese travelling habits: far too mant people crammed into a small car, forcing my body, thus my feet, thus my shiny new flip flops to be contorted into strange and unthinkable positions), I emerged with 1 broken flop. Oh no!! With a tear in my eye, I showed my homologue. In no time, she snatched up the shoe and handed it off to some man in some type of Emergency-Shoe-Repair-Assembly-Line Situation. Away he went, my shoe in hand; to fix it, I presumed. And fix it he did! Voilà! However, this process wes not as instant as it sounds...between the time that the shoe was whisked away and the time that it was returned--good as new--I had to individually greet a line of approx. 10 chiefs, wearing only one shiny shoe. How embarassing...

THEN, a few days after I returned rom post visit, I was walking home in style, sporting my shiny shoes once again, when the OTHER shoe broke!! CRAP! junky sandals! However, I barely made it into the compound when a host brother noticed my dilemma. He too snatched up my shoe and away he went, returning about 15 minutes later, fixed shoe in hand! MIRACULOUS! Luckily though, this time I could rest safely in the comfort of my compound as I awaited his return--no nobility involved!!