Benin and us; then and now

As I've probably said already, our first time in Benin commenced early November 2004 and lasted only four months, and was our first experience of West Africa as a family. Noah was 5, Anna was 3, and Libby hadn't even been born yet. The heat and humidity was very challenging to us, and our first walk into town off the air-conditioned Anastasis lasted only half an hour, before we returned exhausted and hot. Four years ago there were only 30,000 zemidjahns (little motorbikes) in Cotonou and thousands of taxis; now there are 80,000 zemis and hardly any taxis. Four years ago we were overwhelmed by the number of beggars and aggressive street vendors; now we hardly notice their presence, but the good news is their numbers don't seem to have increased. Four years ago security in the port was much tighter; now it seems to be non-existent (I walked through the gate today past a sleeping policeman). Four years ago the roads were busy and the traffic heavy; now it is insanely busy. I guess Benin has changed a bit; I guess WE have changed a lot. We can walk through the hot and humid weather, through droves of beggars and street vendors, and feel confident enough to banter with them instead of feel threatened by them. It's good to feel this close to the people we feel called to serve. In the meantime, the ship's vehicles have still not been registered by the Ministry of Transport, so we can't use them yet, 5 whole days after our arrival. We've still not had the opportunity to explore Cotonou properly, and have no idea what the weekend has in store for us if we can't drive anywhere. Olly