Farewell Snapshots II

[ Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire ]

As promised yesterday, made good use of my final Sunday in Yopougon. I took some family portraits of my hosts, visited The Congregation Upstairs once again, and went on a late afternoon jaunt to visit some more familiar faces I wanted to take with me (in their digital incarnations).

The family and congregation pics get their own posts, but here are a few MORE of the people who made my stay here in Abidjan wonderful.

A bientot,
—jim

This is Alice. Alice is the delightful woman whose family runs a small stand selling motor oil to all the passing cars and trucks (esp the passenger vans) that just need to add a bit of oil without making a detour to a service station. Alice and I have shared waves and smiles every day for months, but this is the first time we sat down together and spoke for a while. Bonjour Alice!
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Alice's stand, which is under a gigantic and ancient tree. Don't know which kind, but its shade is great on a hot day.
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Alice's oil. Like they do for EVERYTHING in Africa, locals buy [commodity X] in bulk, and then repurpose discarded litre bottles to sell it. Gasoline and Diesel are sold this way as well, particularly in small villages.
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This guy owns the corner bag shop--backpacks, purses, luggage. Since today was Sunday he closed early, so instead of a cool pic with him in front of all the bags, you get a cool pic of him in front of his closed store.
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The Bag-man's friends. As often happens, when I first pulled out the cameraa everyone said "no!" (Not the bag-man, he had agreed to it earlier this morning.) Then the first person gets all the attention while I take the photos, and suddenly everyone is demanding their turn. Works out great for me!
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What you can't see in the previous image is that I'm standing right in front of the main stopping area for the small passenger vans. Meaning lots of people waiting for vehicles. Some of them are young and beautiful and start posing. No complaints here. She was with two others who suddenly became camera shy after insisting I take the pics. They were standing offstage, trying to make their friend laugh.
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And...whenever beautiful young women congregate, the young men will soon follow. These two both work the passenger vans. I don't know their job title in French, but in India or Nepal they'd be Bus Wallas. Their job is to heckle and harass you until you get on their bus--and to make sure it's their bus instead of their friend/competitor's bus. They can be very aggressive amongst themselves. Public transportation in Africa is a sub-culture unto itself, with great variety and specific customs; it can be daunting and intimidating to the meek or uninitiated.
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Next stop., BBQ stand. You only get one guess what this young woman sells. She's here all day, every day, and I pass this corner multiple times every day. So she's a very common sight in my daily existence.
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B.B.Q. IN DA HOUSE!!!! (Love this place, but you already knew that.)
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My barber didn't get a clear shot in the last post since he was distorted in the mirror. Also, I went back today for a haircut and final shave, so here he is again...
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The facade of the barbershop. Totally common style for small businesses.
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Speaking of businesses, this is my favorite liquor store on the planet. I came here many many times for two of those blue boxes (500ml Red Wine) and sometimes also a small bottle of Calao Rum. "Rum" is more like it, but passable. The chicken wire is necessary because this shop is directly next to the busiest passenger van stand in the neighborhood. And like all bus stops, everywhere in the world, there are lots of people imbibing a lot of alcohol in the vicinity. Oh, and notice again: lollipops. As per Farewell Snaps Part 1. What's the deal with Liquor and Lollys?
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And...the reason this is my favorite liquor store. These two lovely ladies are always here with bright smiles. Expert Enablers, they are!
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And it's not just them, the two stands here are run by the whole lovely family. Beautiful, no? (Mom was a bit shy to be in the picture, but the girls wouldn't take no for an answer.)
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And last but not least, the Peanut Lady! Being a cyclist, I eat a LOT of peanuts, and here they are always fresh, and freshly roasted. She sits at her stand on the side of the main drag and roasts peanuts all day. I buy a huge bottle (repurposed, as I mentioned earlier) for 1000CFA, which is about $1.75
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The Transglobalist
Photographer, cyclist, paraglider pilot, backpacker, skydiver, writer, explorer, musician, hitchhiker, digital nomad, and American dissident.

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