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On a beautiful morning in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, I woke up with the question of what to expect on my work trip to Benin Republic. This was my first time outside of Nigeria and it was also a road trip to another African country. I was going to be in Benin for a couple of months, with colleagues that I was meeting for the first time. My flight was canceled the day before which was sad at first, but a blessing in disguise. I had to take the bus to Benin Republic. The trip lasted for about 5 hours. Taking off from Lagos was hectic, the traffic from the synagogue church was something we call "no be here" in Nigeria, meaning "it was moving too slow". We eventually got out of all that traffic. The bus was comfortable so it helped ease the frustration and I also had my phone with me to chat with my friends and listen to music. From time to time, I looked out the window and it was beautiful to see what was going on. You could literally buy anything you needed from the hawkers. It was like a supermarket on the road. We approached the border and had to stamp our passports and that was when I appreciated going by a recognized bus mass transit rather than the unbranded vehicles. Those who went through unbranded vehicles had to come down from the vehicles, stamp their passport and cross the border by foot, while we just sat in the bus and waited for our passports to be stamped. At the border, there was a large crowd of people selling anything from groceries to snacks to dollars or cedes (the Benin Republic currency). As soon as I arrived at the bus mass transit office in Cotonou (a place in Benin Republic), I experienced the kindness of the Beninese (citizens of Benin Republic), as the manager offered to drop me at my office since I was new to the city. He also ended up helping my colleagues and I find a really good hotel. Unlike Nigeria where we speak English, they speak French and the popular mode of transportation is motorcycle which we call Okada in Nigeria and Kekenu in Benin Republic. Cotonou surprised me, they had power almost all day. The beach was beautiful and it was developed beyond what I expected. I had italian food for the first time, saw different types of pastries, visited a game arcade and also the popular hypermarket called Erevan. I later moved from the hotel to a serviced apartment that was so beautiful and fully furnished. One of the things that shocked me was the food. I somehow expected that since we were all Africans, the food taste was going to be the same. The taste was so different and unfamiliar. I had to go to the market to buy groceries so I could make food the way I knew how to. Another shocker was how the motorcycle/bike/okada/kekenu was the major form of transport. Cars were seen as a symbol of status because fuel/petrol was not easy to come by and it was also expensive. I had fun using this mode of transport in the evening after our official vehicle had dropped us at our apartment. I also bonded well with my colleagues. We visited major attractions from the beach, to the flea market to restaurants to shopping malls, game centers etc. After spending a little over 4 months in Cotonou, I returned back to Lagos but Cotonou holds a special place in my heart. The peace and tranquility is nothing compared to the beautiful chaos that Lagos can be. I still love the fast paced nature of Lagos, how vibrant the city is but sometimes you need the peace of Benin Republic.