Favorite things about Benin 1

I’ve always been a night person. I grew up in a neighborhood without streetlights, so when I was little, I used to sit on the balcony off our office to look at the stars. When I was older, I used to sit there when I need to think and didn’t want people to be able to find me.

There are no streetlights or porch lights or lights bright enough to illuminate the dark corners of a room here. This means when I walk down the road to buy cellphone credit after dark, I have to bring a flashlight. It also means when I’m out on my back patio, I see more stars than I ever did in Missouri.

I’m not sure if there are more stars than mosquitoes out there at night. But I am sure that it seems like a waste to work so hard to outshine them.