Fish
Whenever we go to a restaurant, we can predict the menu. Rice, sauce, and fish. Rice, sauce, and fish. We smile knowingly at each other as the waitress lists the menu items that we could easily list for her. Sometimes a restaurant will surprise us by serving fries or pâte instead of rice. And the type of sauce varies. But there will always be fish. I've actually become addicted to it, and if I go a day or two without these tasty treasures of the sea, I start craving them. And that's after only a month. When I return to the not-coastal-not-fish-infested region of Northern Arizona after eating fish almost every day for two months, there's a chance I might go through withdrawals and start having emotional breakdowns in public. If you're around when this happens, please just feed me some fish, and I'll be fine.
Pineapples
Pineapples have taken on a monetary quality. Example- When I leave the cybercafe and it's hot outside, I ask myself, do I want to take a zem (a moto taxi) and avoid the 15 minute walk home in the heat? “Absolutely not! The cost of that is equivalent to an entire pineapple!”
Or when we're at the one and only supermarket in town contemplating the savory-looking imported boxes of cookies whose names we can't pronounce because they're in Finnish or Dutch and we probably won't enjoy anyway because they're probably dry and flavorless, and we're about to grab a carton, we withdraw our hands thinking, “No, I can't do it! That's 18 pineapples!”
Pineapples hold a very high place in our hearts, in case you couldn't tell.
Marriage Proposals
The questions we get asked when we meet people used to startle us a little, but now we just take them in stride and try to hold back our laughter until afterward.
A typical encounter might go something like this:
Scene: A foreign female, who stands out mainly because of the color of her skin, is minding her own business at a cybercafe, a restaurant, or a variety of other local establishments. A Béninois man, who may be anywhere from 17-40 years of age approaches said foreign female, and begins speaking to her in French.
Béninois man: Hello, how are you?
Foreign female: Hello. I'm fine, thank you.
Béninois man: What is your name?
Foreign female tells him her name.
Béninois man: Are you married?
Foreign female: No.
Béninois man: Would you like to marry a Béninois man?
Foreign female: No, not right now.
Béninois man: Why not?
Foreign female: I have to go back to my country and finish my studies.
The Béninois man seems satisfied that this is a valid reason to not get married at this present time, and eventually leave the foreign female alone.
Occasionally they get more creative, such as the guy who tried to get my phone number a couple weeks ago by telling me he was Barack Obama's brother. When I asked him what he was doing in Bénin if he was Obama's brother, he replied casually that he was just here for the experience of it.
So that's a small taste of life as a Humanity Exchange volunteer in Bénin.
On a side note, I got called a yovo africaine yesterday, which, roughly translated, means a white person who is African. This compliment came while I was eating lunch on the side of the street with my neighbors while wearing my Béninois dress. Being told that made me feel very cool and accepted, which is always a pleasant experience.
Between happy feelings like that and an unending supply of fish and marriage proposals, there is a chance I might stay in Bénin permanently.
you're very funny! miss you!
ReplyDeleteaww shucks!
ReplyDelete