On the corner playing ghetto games

My room is ridiculously spartan: the only furniture it contains are three single beds and one nightstand. The bathroom is down the hall. This is an expensive town, and there is very little in the way of budget-level accommodation available.

He said there was one just a few blocks south of the hotel, which was very convenient. On the way back to the hotel, I attracted the unwelcome company of a street hustler, the first of many. I just got off the bus from Dire Dawa two hours ago. Who knows what the hell he wanted. I went in my room, took off my clothes, and immediately fell asleep for four hours. I just ran out of gas. In the evening, after a much-needed shower, I went out to have a look at the town.

The city is really hot and dirty — lots of trash in the streets, chat stems littering the sidewalks, stray dogs panting in the shade next to parked cars. It is impossible to keep enough spare change in your pocket — there are far more of these kids then there are franc coins in all the banks.

There are two types of street harassers: hustlers and plonkers. Downtown is a densely-packed grid of two-story buildings, which look to my uneducated eye like they date back anywhere from WWI to the early 20th century.

Lots of Moorish arches — colonial-era stuff. Lots of foot traffic, lots of cars. Most people here speak Somali or Afar as their first language, and learned Arabic and French the two official languages of the Republic in school. The food here is very good, but expensive. Cigarettes here are cheap; a pack of Marlboro made in Switzerland for the third-world export market costs DJF , or about exactly one dollar, but basically everything else is expensive.

They love to chew chat here and in Yemen as well, but it has to be imported from Ethiopia, and they pay a premium for it. A bundle of chat that would cost the equivalent of a dollar in Dire Dawa or Harar costs the equivalent of fifteen dollars here. Overall, I like this place.

But I really like the atmosphere, I like the architecture, I like the picturesque squalor, I like the fact that everybody speaks pretty good French here. If Djibouti were as cheap as Ethiopia, I could spend some time here. Posted in Djibouti. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account.

And as always…. If at any point during the rotation process, one principal bumps into another, turn on the lights and wait. You may try again after a few moments. Do not speak. It is recommended that the principals develop a pre-determined signal that does not involve speaking to indicate whether one principal has vanished. One suggested method assigns each principal a number before the start of the game; then, after each rotation, each principal knocks on the wall their corresponding number of times in succession.

After all principals have been determined to be present, the Speaker then commences the next rotation. If a sequence of knocks is missing, however, the Speaker should clap once loudly to signal to the principals to begin the emergency procedure. Should anyone but the Speaker speak, you will find yourselves in terrible danger. All four principals are required to perform the completion procedure.

If the fourth principal disappears, but does not reappear after the lights have been turned back on…. And as always… …Well, you know how it goes. Players: Four principals. Requirements: An empty room. The room must have four corners — no more, no less. Instructions: The Prelude: Clear the building in which your game room lies.

There should be no additional people inside the building; nor should there be any pets. The only living bodies present should be those of the four principals. Extinguish the lights in every room of the building except the game room. Enter the game room. Upon entering, speak your own name aloud three times. Designate one principal as the Speaker. From this point forward, no one but the Speaker may speak. Close the door of the room. The four principals should now be inside the game room with the door shut tight.

Turn out the lights. The Main Event: Each principal, including the Speaker, must chose a corner of the room. More than one principal may not occupy a single corner. Each principal must position themselves in the corner, standing upright and facing the wall. Once all principals are in position, the Speaker must count to three. No other principals may speak. After the third count, all principals must rotate clockwise to the next corner. Once all principals have completed the rotation, repeat Main Event step 4.

Continue to repeat Main Event step 4 until it is time to enact the completion procedure. If, at any point, a principal disappears: The Speaker should indicate to the remaining principals to enact the emergency procedure.

The emergency procedure is as follows: Each principal must speak their own name backwards three times, then turn around and press their backs to the wall. The principal closest to the light switch should then turn on the lights.

The previously vanished principal should reappear when the lights are turned on. If, after enacting the emergency procedure, an additional figure may be observed in the room: The Speaker should indicate to the principals to enact the completion procedure.

The Completion Procedure: All four principals must gather at the light switch, ideally behind the additional figure. Each principal must speak their own name backwards three times. Turn on the lights. Hope for the best.