The house was about 20 years old and was about 2,500 square feet. It was immaculately clean and even though it was very plain, painted in beige colors and all adobe, it was very well kept.
Once inside, Fred introduced me to the houseboy and the cook. He certainly had a great deal of help considering I didn’t even have a housekeeper. There were a total of five people working for Fred, but they all made $25 U.S. a month which Fred explained, was substantially more than they could make anywhere else.
The next evening we were invited to the U.S. Embassy for dinner. As it turned out, the Embassy was the only place that was able to get fresh lettuce. They had it flown in every few days. The conversation was light and nondescript. I could barely remember any of the details even the very next day.
Which was Friday and Fred had arranged a few days in Lome, Togo. We left early in the morning and drove across the border. By noon we had checked into a beautiful beach side two-story condominium on the beach. There were three pools and the whitest silkiest sand I had ever seen.