gettting tickets, and swimming

I had an unusual day when I went downtown to pay for our tickets to Chad. (it was a month ago, but I haven't had a lot of time to sit still and write since then, so I'm finally doing it now)

To get tickets to go to Chad, I had done a lot of searching online.  The best deal was with a small African company, but I couldn't book the tickets online. I say the best deal and it sounds like there were a lot of options, but really there were only 2 possibilities  There isn't a ton of competition for flying between African countries, and that contributes to the high prices I'm sure. 
The distance between us here in Mali and where we are going in Chad is about the same distance between where I'm from in Minnesota and where I used to live in California (1500-1600 miles.)  But the tickets to fly in the USA run around $400 and the tickets to fly in Africa are at $1350 (each.)

So I could find the schedule and price online, but it wasn't possible to actually buy the tickets online, so I contacted a travel agency downtown.  Then, after trips to the ATM several days in a row, I had enough money to pay for the tickets and I needed to take it to the travel agency downtown to pay and get the tickets.  It would be easier to use a credit card and not go across town with a big wad of cash in my bag, but they didn't give me a credit card option, and I imagine that even if they had it wouldn't be a good idea because of foreign transaction fees.

So I left my house with the big wad of cash in my purse and walked 5 minutes to the place I can get a taxi.  I gave the taximan the name of the hotel where the travel agency is located, and he brought me across the river and downtown (where I almost never go.)  In the travel agency office I sat down across a desk from an agent.  She looked up my information on her computer and said that there was a little problem because in the 4-5 days since they gave me a quote the prices had gone up a bit.  Oh.  Not good, I thought.  The travel agent took a piece of paper and started to write on it.  Really not good, I thought.  If she can't tell me the new price but needs to write it down, it must be really bad.  She passed me the paper and I almost started to laugh when I saw that the new price per ticket was about $1.60 higher than the old price. Relief!  I can handle an extra $1.60 per ticket.  I wonder if the travel agent gets bored and she just likes to see if she can make people sweat or something.
I paid and got the printed out tickets.  Then it was time for a special treat:  SWIMMING!

When the weather is sweltering hot, as it is all too often here, I tend to think a lot about swimming.  But I don't get to go swimming very often.  On the day of going downtown to get plane tickets, I had decided that I would also spend a few hours to have a needed break and relax and go to one of the nice pools at a downtown hotel.  After finishing at the travel agency I went into the main hotel door (which included a metal detector and my purse going through a scanner) to find out about their pool.  I was sent out back to the pool, where to my surprise I encountered something like 25 speedo-clad French military men stretched out on pool loungers.  I guess this might be some kind of fantasy situation for certain women, but definitely not my cup of tea.  I decided to go elsewhere.

I went out on to the busy street in front of the hotel to try to get a taxi to take me to a different hotel.  I started walking as I waited for an unoccupied to taxi to come by, and out of nowhere some annoying man on a motorcycle pulled over to start harassing me.  After some normal greetings, he complimented my looks and then offered to give me a ride where ever I wanted to go.  I politely said "no thanks" but he wasn't one to be easily defeated.  After again saying that I didn't want a ride, I decided to pull out the "I'm married" card.  "I don't think my husband would like it if I went with you."  And do you know what Mr. Annoying Harasser Man said?  "Your husband doesn't need to know."  Wow.  So I said "um, ok, bye..." and walked away. (which is what JP said I should have done from the beginning when I told him this story)

I managed to get to another hotel with a nice pool.  This is the hotel where we had our Ladies' Retreat last October.  It costs $6 to go swimming here on a weekday, on the weekend they charge $10. I was there on a weekday, and I had the place all to myself for a few hours!