The dilemma: Is it better to buy a bed made of twigs in a desert country, or a plastic and metal bed that will be around long after this earth is inhabitable?
I actually have been debating this for some time, and it is a lose-lose situation. The twig beds are made south of here where there are trees and then brought in on gas guzzling trucks to be sold here in Niamey. Supposedly the twigs are harvested by licensed individuals from living trees and the entire process is closely regulated. Now, I am experienced enough to know that that is basically a pipe dream, but at least it is not a frame made form some large pieces of wood.
The other option is to buy a metal frame with woven plastic rope. Neither of these materials are going anywhere fast, and the vendors have assured me that no matter how much weight I gain, these sturdy beds and chairs will never break.
I chose the twig bed. At the very least I comforted myself in knowing that the twig furniture was made by a society of handicapped individuals. Thirty dollars later, Mohammed and I were faced with wondering how we were going to get the frame back to my house. I bought a double bed, and it must weigh as much as one tree. We sent someone off to find a cart to put it on while we dove into the market for a few more items. The last time I tried to do this myself, I was quoted prices 2 to 3 times more than the going price. For $4 the vendor was going to pull the bed on the cart and walk all the way to my house which is at least 2 miles from the market. As he walked off with my bed, I bought some plants for the house- aloe, mint, basil, and Moroccan strawberry, moringa, and papaya trees. We took off in a taxi to wait for my bed.
Over an hour later it arrived. I ran to buy Cokes to thank them both as they struggled to get the bed in the door.
When the vendor left, I slipped an extra $2 in his hand. He was so grateful that he grasped both my hands and promised that he was going to make me a table for my bed as a gift. And then he turned to pull the cart over 2 miles through traffic under the hot sun back to his road side store.
After the hard days work- and one omelette sandwich later- Mohammed passed out for a nap on the floor in front of my radio.
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Ahh...furniture deals in West Africa. I think they're such a integral part of your orientation to the trends and attitudes of a place.
I recall being in a situation not unlike yours for my first couple months in Senegal. I had no furniture to speak of, mostly because I was trying to decide whether to have someone build a cement block bed with a fancy foam mattress, or to purchase a locally made frame of rafia, topped with stuffed rice sacks.
For those of you who may not know, synthetic polyurothane foam was in fact the matress material of choice in Senegalese villages. It was relatively expensive, though, and it was priced according to thickness of the mattress. The stuff would inevitably become flattened, but the thicker the slab of foam, the more months would pass before this would happen. People in my village never mentioned the flattening factor; they simply maintained that "you should buy a foam mattress for yourself. They're better."
Foam was special partly because it had to be purchased in the big town market and you then had to pay someone to strap it onto some sort of vehicle and transport it to your village. It had become a real status symbol to possess a foam mattress in your village hut. If you had foam, you were cool.
On the other hand, the rafia beds were run-of-the-mill fare in that part of Senegal since many artisans could craft them inexpensively (in actuality they were beautifully done). The rice sack mattresses were stuffed with hay and often had holes or mice in them. They were provincial and considered of lower quality than the new foam mattress.
I was on the fence: there was the pressure to go modern, but I knew from having tried them that they could feel pretty gross sticking to your face when it was 120 degrees and you were trying to sleep....
One day after about 6 weeks of no furniture in my hut, the village chief pulled me aside and said "You need furniture in your hut. It is not good to not have furniture. Most people here like to sleep on a bed." (pause) " I actually have a bed you could have for your hut." " You do?" I asked excitedly. "Oh, yes. It is right here - " he waved his arm toward a rickity old rafia bed in his hut.
Only it was HIS bed.
"But where would you sleep?" I asked, initially confused. "Well... if you would buy me a foam mattress, I could surely find another bed..."
So the chief really wanted some of that foam. I remember considering his hilarious offer for about 10 seconds before accepting it. I figured, hey, if that's what he wants, I'll help him get it. Plus, it'll make my decision easier: I'll just stick to the locally made bed and be done with it.
Some villagers helped me move the old bed and the heavy, straw-filled mattress into my hut, all the while saying, "Why do you want this old bed? You should get a foam mattress, you know. They're better."
Meanwhile, the chief went to town and picked out a nice, thick foam mattress. He was beaming when they dumped it off a bush taxi rooftop by the roadside at our compound.
Once set up in his hut, that mattress was on continual display with a bright white and red plaid polyester coverlet topping it. He would invite everyone in to admire his new hut furnishings and proudly announce that I'd helped him get his foam mattress. Other chiefs would get to sit on it while they escaped the morning sun to sip tea and discuss important village matters (cows, marriages and more cows). Everyone commented on how nice the mattress was.
For the entire 2 years I stayed there, I used his old bed. I think there were some mice living in it at one point. Sometimes I'd awake to feel something scratching my face or arm and I'd have to shove a stray piece of straw back into the rice sac. But to this day I say it was the best bed I've ever slept on.
Epilogue: I returned to visit everyone in the village 3 and 1/2 years later to find the chief sleeping on my bed - the old, rickity rafia bed and the same straw mattress he'd given to me years back. I asked him about it. He said "You know, I had some problems in life after I began sleeping on that new bed, so I decided to switch back. I guess I just liked this one better for me". No sign of his foam one, though I definitely spotted some new foam mattresses on display in some other of the villagers' huts....
I haven't thought about that in a long time. Amazing what Steph's stories can remind you of. And amazing how much I can ramble when I'm delirious after a shift .
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