[ Djougou, Benin ]

Salutations et joyeux jeudi, chers Transglobalistas! Oh, and I guess Happy Halloween, too…

Before I set out again tomorrow morning, it seemed wise to share a few more images from Tuesday’s Kamouhou festival and to add two more brief stories.

The first story involves the rear wheel of my bike, and the broken [SPOILER] with which I rode into Djougou night before last. I’m guessing you don’t need me to tell you what word should replace “[SPOILER],” eh? Image included.

The second has been an ongoing thread since I awakened last Sunday morning to find a set of insect bites framing the crook of my left elbow. It would seem that in my sleep I trapped a wee spider of some sort in the aforementioned crook, and she bit me a quintillion times trying to set herself free. I noticed nothing until the next morning, at which time it was just two matching red welts–each encircling a few white dots. No problem.

By the time I rolled out of town Monday morning, the red welts had become round splotches, pinkish red. When I arrived at the Benin border, they were double the size, and the white dots were now small ovals, so I visited the hospital in Ouake (the border town). Doc gave me a shot of steroids and some antibiotic cream. It helped, but it was still getting bigger, and now it was angry red with ugly gray splotches where the white dots used to be. Pas bien!

Now, four days later, it seems to be getting smaller. Purplish, with a ring of dark red, but getting smaller (and less “angry”). It still hurts, but less and less. So…either it’s going away or a Xenomorph is going to burst forth from my lifeless chest in the next day or so.

Stay tuned to find out which?

And with that, I bid you a fond adieu. If the xenomorph wins, it’s been my great pleasure. Otherwise? Well, it’s still been my great pleasure, there’s just more of it to come.

Ciao,
—jim