James pauses during the snooker game.

Today was our last day in Togo. Brian and I played woaley before breakfast. Brian's "teacher" gave us more tips too, to the annoyance of his boss. Woaley is like chess in that you have to anticipate the consequences of your actions.
    After a delicious breakfast, we drove to town and strolled through the market. I love misspelled knock-offs at the market such as Niki and Adidos. One of James' prized possessions is his designer "Calivn Klain" watch. It always catches peoples eyes. "Oy, hold your wrist still. What does that say?"
    Back in Lomé, we dined under the mango tree before going to Michel's to pick up our clothes. The verdict: wonderful! If I lived in Lomé I'd have everything but my underclothes customed made by Michel.
    Our friends then took us to the King's Head, James' favorite pub in Lomé. It was easy to see why he loved it; it had a cozy, English feel to it AND it had a snooker table. The pub had scrawny cats milling about the place. The bartender stroked the mother cat and said she called them the "watch cats."
    After our snooker game (very fun), we returned to the house to finish packing and another snack.
    Around 8 pm, our dear and wonderful hosts took us to the airport where we said our good-byes. Sabena Airlines performed flawlessly and everything went smoothly.

Back in Chicago
Another 21 hours later, we were back in Chicago, much to the amazement of Gumbo and Baker, our two cats. "Hey! It's those two again. They're back! That lady who was feeding was nice but, man, is it great to see you!" The feeling was mutual.
    Before I did anything else, I jogged to the drugstore to drop off 11 rolls of film. Two blocks from the store, I passed by VeeVee's, the only West African restaurant in my neighborhood. I smiled at the sight of two men talking over a mound of fufu. VeeVee's is well-known in the West African expat community. If you're downtown in the Chicago Loop, it's easy to spot VeeVee's food mobile because it's always surrounded by a throng of African taxi drivers!
    It was good to be home. •