Back in Benin
I took a quick trip my first weekend back to the northern city of Parakou The flight back to Benin was delayed one day. I did not know when the airline instigated the change, but it evaded my attention up until I checked my bags in at Minneapolis-Saint Paul Int'l Airport to their new “final destination” of Paris. Then, out of artful negotiation, corporate responsibility, or sheer dumb luck, the airline put me up in a hotel for the 30-hour layover. The result? My first visit to Europe and the sites of Paris. This auspicious woopsie-daisy capped off a restful and joyous three weeks’ leave home in Minnesota. There, many of my preoccupations from my last blog post where dampened or managed with the help of loving family and friends. Now, I’m back in Benin and have been for the last three weeks. I’m back to eating boiled dough with fish, rice and beans, and cassava porridge. It didn’t take long to dream again of takeout, but these dreams keep themselves working the nig