**Sunday**
Hi Everyone!
It’s been a good Sunday here. We went to church in the
morning and I got to wear my traditional Boumba. I was surprisingly nervous
about what kind of reaction I would get at church. When I tried on the boumba
on Friday all my little siblings started laughing and it was tough to tell if
they thought it was absurd or exciting. I for one have never felt whiter than
when I was sitting in the car waiting to go to church.
Fortunately, while I felt like I stuck out, I think I got
much less attention than I had when I wore my more western dress to church. I’m
still the only white person in the congregation, but I guess I didn’t seem as
different as before. It does make sense, but it feel strange to be wearing
something that seems so uncharacteristic of me and the people I meet don’t bat
an eye. I did get to catch a glimpse of the whole outfit, and it is actually
really nice. I’m excited that I chose a traditional outfit first, instead of a
more western style, and I do really love the pattern. Pictures someday!
After church I changed clothes and read up on my post a
little bit. It sounds like there are electric generators in the area even if my
house itself doesn’t have electricity. Also my town apparently has the biggest
market in the region. The volunteer who was there before did a lot of great
work. I hope that paves the way for more awesomeness in the days to come.
Around 2pm my host mama said to me ‘there are some fried
yams if you want a snack, and then we are going to a party’. The party actually
turned out to be a wedding and I got to done the boumba once more. The
wedding-reception-party was a total cultural guessing game for me. I can’t say
I was in top form, but I learned a lot. Based on what I observed, I think that
here, because lots of people want to wish the couple well, and because homes
are the most popular reception venue, people will come through in waves and
stay for an hour or two. When we arrived there were about 15 people eating at
tables outside, and when we left one person had just sat down and it looked
like fresh table cloths were being put down. Also, there was a lot of food. I
ate spicy rice with fries and fish. It was good but I was definitely kicking
myself for eating those yams before I got there. Then, to my horror, we were
presented with pate noir, and pork in a red sauce. Fortunately my host mama
explained that I was all set. That would have been a somewhat adventurous dish
on an empty stomach, never mind after (in my mind) just having finished one
meal! Amazingly, both my host parents happily dug in and successfully finished
both servings. I don’t know how people do it.
After leaving the party I took a long rest and then did more
reading up on my post. Dinner was more
rice and fish, which was fine enough because I just had a little. After dinner
I watched some traditional music videos with the family, and then wrote this
post! While I was watching the videos I thought a lot about how in Benin, I
haven’t really seen the stereotypical ‘big attitude’ that is often associated
with African American culture. No one has snapped their fingers in a Z
formation. Sure, people here laugh hard and play the music loud, but when I am
talking with people, if anything they can be rather soft spoken. Just another
interesting little cultural difference.
Thanks for reading!
With Love,
Lauren
****
**Monday**
Hello everyone,
Today I started learning Bariba, the local language that is
commonly spoken in the north. Initially I had been intimidated by needing to
learn another language, especially one that is not Latin based. However it has
actually been really exciting to learn a language that is a first language for
my neighbors and work partners. In part, it feels like a gift to them. Also,
learning Bariba has also made some French oddities make more sense. Here (when
speaking French) in addition to “Hi, how are you,” people will add on further
greetings like “Et chez toi?” ‘And you’re your house(hold)’ and my host mama
asks me every morning if I’ve have slept well “A tu bien dormer?” It turns out
that these phrases are both very common in Bariba, in fact the phrase for ‘Good
morning’ could also be translated “Sweet dreams?” I thought that was funny.
After language class we split up by work focus and got to do
some practice work immersion. In the case of my group that meant traveling to
the nearby town of Dabomey and meeting with the chief. It turns out that in the
case of Dabomey, the chief is actually a lot like a mayor. He was elected by
the people and serves a four year term before there is another election. We
talked with him a little bit. Everyone was pretty quiet, afraid to say
something impolite or undiscernable as we are still learning French. When we
talked with the assistant director of Environmental Action later, he said that
the chief was at least a little intimidated too, since it was his first time
talking with Americans! He was actually a pretty normal looking guy. He wore
the traditional brightly printed pants and shirt of a men’s boumba, but not big
robe or jewelry or staff like I might have guessed. After talking for a while
we went on a tour of the gardens in the area. Each trainee had a moment of
exclaiming, “Wait! I know that plant!” and I think we all left feeling encouraged.
In the evening I chatted a lot with my host mama, and got
her perspective on the Bariba I had learned. We alsotalked a little more about
the wedding party. She said that here, weddings are often held on Thursdays and
are just small private affairs for a few people. Then the wedding
reception/party is on the weekend. I think that method could have a lot of
merits. However, I did try to explain how in the United States, having everyone
at the ceremony is a symbol of how all friends and family are a little bit a
part of the wedding event, and all that. It was an interesting conversation.
The power was out for an hour or two while my host mama was
making dinner, so for a while she actually used a gas lantern to see. That made
me think of my grandparents and the beautiful gas lanterns they have.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!
Lauren
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