My shoe broke today.
Serendipitously it broke as I tripped into my neighborhood boutique (the Senegalese equivalent of a general store). Since I didn’t want to walk back to my house with one bare foot, I decided to buy a pair of cheap Chinese manufactured (read–low quality) flip flops. Since just one of my shoes broke, I only replaced the one broken shoe with a new shoe, instead of putting on both new shoes. And I walked home with one new flip flop and one old flip flop.
I never realized that my neighbors and family were so observant. During my short 5 minute walk home each person I passed commented on my mismatched shoes.
“Hey Rokia, why are you wearing two different shoes?”
“Rokia, where is your other shoe?”
“Rokia put on your other shoe, you look silly.”
When I got home, my sisters persuaded me to put on my other new shoe so that they matched. Apparently I was embarrassing them. Pish. But at least I have been getting compliments all day on my new shoes.
Disclaimer: The contents of this blog are mine alone and do not represent the positions or views of the U.S. Government or the U.S. Peace Corps.
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