Taxi Rant

I didn't want you all to think that because I haven't posted a story about a taxi that traveling in them has gotten any easier. Guess what? It hasn't. Today on my way up to Natitingou I had a pretty bad taxi trip.
Lately whenever I have to take a taxi I walk on the main road, which is longer but there is a chance that I will find a taxi to Djougou on the way and leave right then instead of going to the taxi station, waiting for a taxi to fill and then leaving. I walk about half way there and no taxis what so ever have passed and a zem pulls up next to me. I decide to take a zem the rest of the way to the taxi. I get to the station and a taxi guy is like 'Hey we're leaving now, get in' and sure enough he does. This was too easy. I should have known. Another tactic I use while riding in bush taxis is to decide before I even enter the taxi that this will be a good trip, it will be without frusterations, it will go smoothly and I will arrive at my destination in a calm state. I get in and we stop at a village about 15 kilometers outside Bassila. Here we then proceed to load huge bag of grain on top of the taxi. I decided this would be a good time to take a nap. I wake up 45 minutes later they are still loading grain. Why this is taking so long I really don't know until I get out and take a look for curiousity sake. The grain bag pile is so high the pile is actually taller than the taxi. Excellent. By the time it's all loaded and everyone back into the taxi it's an hour and a half after I left. We then go about 3/4 of the way there and we pull into a market. All the grain now has to be off loaded. This time instead of taking a nap I chose to get something to eat for breakfast. About 20 minutes later I walk back just in time to watch the driver fight with the woman transporting the goods about the price. From what I gathered (they were speaking local language) the woman wanted only to pay for her seat and not extra for the exteme amount of baggage she wanted to carry to Bougou (the town) for the market day. After everyone gets off at this town the taxi is pretty much empty. We play the stop and go game to pick up more people and stuff. By the time we reach Djougou (remember this is only half way to Natitingou) it's 11:00. It has taken two hours to reach Djougou, a trip that is normally 45 minutes.
Of course, we always have to switch taxis in Djougou when going anywhere north. Now here is the first time this has happened to me. I'm waiting for change from my taxi driver and he hands it to me, 500CFA which is the correct price and then he slyly hands me another 200CFA and he says 'It's because the trip was so long and you were very patient and didn't yell at me.' We should stop everything right now and appreciate what just happened here. The man first of all said that his taxi ride sucked without prompting from me and then gave me a discount because of it.... while an extra 200CFA doesn't really make up for the two hour trip I accept it and move on. I go up to the first taxi guy who grabbed my attention and he goes to grab my bags and put them in his car. Once he's put your bags in his car you're stuck with that taxi. I hold on to my bags with slightly more force than necessary to keep him from taking them, but I wanted to make a point. I ask him 'So how many people are in your five seater taxi?' he doesn't look me in the eye but says 'we will leave very soon, just put your things in the car.' 'how many people are already in the taxi?' 'OK white girl, this is how it works I'm a driver and I drive that taxi over there and I will be going to Natitingou you should put your things in my taxi.' 'Taxi driver, you're not answering my question how many people are in your taxi?' 'There are some' 'No I want a number the answer to the question I'm looking for invovles a number, so one, two three' He looks a bit dejected and says 'you're the only one'. I then walk away, no way am I waiting hours upon hours for a taxi to fill up when I can find another one that's already full. Sure enough I find a mini bus (15 passenger van which typically holds 20-30 people) which is leaving right then. I get all packed in. Believe it or not everyone is going to Natitingou, a first. When I say packed in when we all did finally get out, at 1pm, I had bruises on my legs from where the girl sitting next to me knees were the entire ride. A few hours later while writing this I'm still sore from it. But hey c'est comme ca ici (its like that here).

Kitten update: They're ready to go get them out of my house!
Tooth update: Got impressions for a crown which will be put on earliest next week.