A Night On The Town

Sort of?  Last night, I decided to take a walk in downtown Djibouti.  I prefer going out at night here for a number of reasons.  It tends to be cooler at night and the shops are all open.  The sounds and smells seem more exotic as well.  But, the best part of walking at night is the camouflage effect it provides.  Walking in the dark decreases the reaction time of the touts on the street who can only shout out offers after I've passed.  For example, last night, I was long past the guy who shouted "What do you want?!  What do you want?!" followed by "Massage! Massage!"  I assume he didn't want to give me a massage himself but wanted to take me into one of the various 'bars' while collecting his commission.  In the meantime, I would have been competing with the likes of legionnaires and Somali pirates for the affections of some Ethiopian lady.  No thank you!  I continued down the street and heard another offer from behind.  This was from several old women shouting "Khat, Khat!"  They pronounced it as /jot/ which kind of threw me off.  It's the local legal drug that is flown in every day from Ethiopia.  I also declined this offer since I didn't want to risk passing out on these unfriendly streets.  Finally, I dove into the sole Vietnamese restaurant in Djibouti and had dinner.  Odd, that a Vietnamese restaurant alleviates homesickness and functions as a sort of oasis for the expats here.

I think I'll go out tonight as well:)