Aller au marche – Going to the market

Hi everyone!

It has been two eventful days since my last post! Full of Beninese fashion, and time with the host family and going to the market.

Yesterday, Friday, we left class at Songhai around 3 and went to a local art center where all of the Peace Corps Trainees convened. We knew we were meeting up for a Beninese fashion show, so a good number of volunteers hustled and had outfits made, which they wore to the event. We got to spend some time mingling and catching up, and admiring the flashy tissue (or fabric) of our peers. 7 Trainees volunteered to be in the fashion show and the fascilitators set them up with outfits for different occasions and of different levels of quality. It was cool to appreciate what an expensive outfit looked like and what was, or wasn’t, considered work appropriate.

Today we had a very brief language class at my house in the morning, and the rest of the day was spent with the family. Around noon I painted my nails and the nails of my two host sisters, Onelia (11) and Cena (9). They really liked it, and wanted ech hand and foot to be a different color. I didn’t think it was necessary to say they couldn’t! Still, I stuck to pink for fingernails myself, and blue for toes. J

After that my host mama and I went to the market. Oh man, that was one of the most intimidating experiences I have had so far. First off, I think my host mama feels more comfortable speaking the local language of Gune than French. I imagine it’s better for getting a deal anyway. We took Zemi taxis to the market and the trip started off with a very long haggling session about the price for the zems. Other people had to get involved. This isn’t a bad thing in Beninese culture, it just means it was a more involved bartering session than one where both parties clearly see eye to eye. I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Not only was my host mama paying for me, but people tend to assume that white people are wealthy, and insist on a higher price. After working things out with the Zemi taxis we plunged into the market. Visually, it reminded me a lot or the markets in Jeruslem; lots of vendors with stalls with awnings side by side. Even though the look was similar the feel was very different. Namely, in Jerusalem the vendors were usually targeting tourists, here they were targeting locals. One stall would have spices, the next vegetables, then fish then soap then hair supplies then tissue. And let me tell you, there was not a lot of French being spoken! I spent a lot of time mutely following my Mama, glad that she clearly knew who she wanted to chat with and buy from, and feeling just a little bit like I would never learn the secret code. However, I don’t want to paint a bad picture. The market does have that sense of wonder of all these cool things out before your eyes, all the prices negotiable, all the people interested in making a deal. There is something missed when we pick up a shrink rapped box off the pile, for sure.

That being said, shopping for meat was an experience that left me more than a little flabbergasted. After we had gotten everything else my mama left the bags with a vendor she had chatted with at length earlier and said to me, ‘Now we get the chicken’ but the word for chicken wasn’t dead chicken, it was more like ‘the flying ones’ so I braced myself. My mama plunged confidently into the crowd and I followed her. Somewhat suddenly she called out to a woman walking by with a large basket on her head. I was shocked to realize that the basket was full of live chickens, all sitting in the basket, gawking at us. I soon found out that the chickens all their feet tied together, and I guess once that is the case they basically just chill. A long bartering session insued where each woman  waved around bouquets of upside down chickens and I did my best to not look astounded. Once they came to an agreement (with the help of passers by) the woman left her basket of chickens with another vendor(!) and we went to the chicken execution stall.

I had asked my mama about this before and she said she would pick the chickens live, but there was someone who would do the first preparation steps that get you to chicken dinner. I’ve come to find out both of my host parents are very eager and happy to let someone else take on that job. I’m glad to be in good company. The booth, like many things I have experienced here was initially incredibly intimidating, then seemed very reasonable, then still was significantly different than I was used to. I will spare you the details (don’t worry) but even though I resolved to try to watch the deed, I actually didn’t even have the opportunity, because they do that part out of the direct sight of the buyers. Apparently there are more than a few locals who prefer not to be a part of that experience. I was relieved.

While we waited for the rest of the preparation to be finished I chatted with some kids who had kind of congregated around me. It was funny to catch myself staring in awe at the live chickens, and then notice kids staring in awe at me! One of the girls told me she speaks 5 languages (French and 4 local). 5 languages! Imagine a country where that is the norm.

I really want to talk more about people’s perception of white people, and also about Benin in general, but I think this post is pretty lengthy already. Feel free to bother me about those other topics and stay tuned for them.

To follow up on previous posts, my health seems to have jumped back to normal. I am getting to really believe in resting an upset stomach, and then going to the Banana, Rice, Applesauce, Toast diet. Mom’s recipe, as usual!

Thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren

Hello Everyone!

Life is a crazy thing isn’t it. I got sick here for the first time yesterday. Just some pretty minor food poisoning, but I did take it pretty seriously. It was a little tough to try to explain to my host mama that I wasn’t going to eat anything until dinner time. She already thinks that I eat way to little. Still, she was really supportive and flexible. I had to laugh though. We had a good conversation in the morning where I explained that my stomach needed to rest, and I would just have some plain white rice for dinner. Naturally I was served a heaping cup of white rice with chicken and fried plantains. Oh cultural differences. Fortunately, my appetite had really come back by then and I was happy to eat. She knows that fried plantains are a little bit of a comfort food for me, so it was a kind gesture. (Plus you are supposed to eat bananas when your stomach is recovering, and plantains are like bananas right?) Anyway, after giving my stomach a rest for most of the day I’m feeing much better.

We have a section of our French language class where we wander around the area and practice our French with people nearby. I am always hesitant to take the plunge, but it has been an invaluable experience. Yesterday we talked with a waitress who is a refugee from Cote D’Ivoire. It was interesting to hear her talk about how developed Cote D’Ivoire is compared to Benin, and we also talked a lot about culture around family and marriage. It was really interesting to talk (and speak French) with someone who was also an outsider to Benin, and had an additional perspective on the country.

Today I talked with a group of high school students in the area who just finished exams. That is always fun because they have interesting questions about culture. Today I had a hard time comprehending though; partly because I was feeling under the weather and partly because at least one person was speaking pretty quickly and quietly. Great practice I guess. One of the reasons we do this is so that we are speaking French with people who aren’t French teachers.

This afternoon we did a section on cultural adjustment. We got this great textbook from the Peace Corps that talks about perception of Cultural differences, adjustment, and general stresses and challenges in the Peace Corps. Strangely, I felt pretty good after that section. I know there are a lot of challenges ahead, and recognizing and managing cultural differences can be like walking on egg shells. However, I was encouraged that there weren’t really any surprises in that section, and that most volunteers have low moments getting along in a new culture. It’s a challenge that is worth getting through.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Hello Everyone,

Wow it is so good to finally be getting these posts up, and to be getting some emails about family news etc. Hooray for communication!

Today was a surprisingly big tough day for my French class. I think maybe we all hit that moment where the adrenaline is kind of fading out and things start adding up a bit. First Heidi called to tell me she wouldn’t be in class in the morning because she is sick. Then when Aurelian, our facilitator arrived he mentioned that /he/ has been under the weather with a fever. Bethany, our newest addition to the class was a half hour late. She had taken her bike and the commute which she thought would be 20 minutes was actually an hour. An hour on the bike! Needless to say when she did arrive she was feeling pretty stressed out. Aurelian was pretty good about changing the plan for the day so that we could walk and talk a bit. What a morning!

Heidi joined us in the afternoon but she thinks she will probably go to Cotonou Tomorrow to visit the doctor. She said she has had a sore throat, a low fever, and some achey tiredness. I hope she’s ok. It seems like she is definitely on the defense against whatever she has, so hopefully she will be back at full health soon.

In the evening I helped my host mama prepare chicken for dinner. That was quite an experience. Fortunately the chickens were already a little prepared (i.e. not alive) when they got home, but there was still some work to be done which required a strong stomach. Still, I was really glad that she let me help out. Petit a petit, as they say here, little by little. It was also encouraging to be present all three times that the birds were thoroughly washed.

Tomorrow more language class, this time at Songhai. We will see how it goes!

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Hey everyone!

Commencing week 3 in Benin! Today we had classes for all Trainees at Songhai. There was a lot of down time in which we were able to hang out. No one was complaining! Infact one trainee, Ryan, brought a travel chess set and was joking/not joking about starting a Peace Corps tournament.

I’ll keep the recap short for today because I did want to go into greater detail about a few key areas in life:

Motorbikes or Zemidans:

I have been riding the motor bike taxis pretty regularly for class. As far as I know (which really isn’t that far) they are the same as the motorcycles we have in the US. Fortunately the peace corps did give us some training with some real Zemi-taxi drivers. We observed the blue numbered shirts that all Zemi-taxi drivers wear, and practiced getting on the bikes successfully and even took a spin around the block. You aren’t really supposed to touch the driver of the Zemi. This seems unfortunate, but kind of does make sense, you could really interfere with their driving ability, and it would be a pretty rough job being hugged by the strangers you are driving around all day. Hanging on and balancing kind of seems like an art, but really it isn’t difficult at all, you just crave a security blanket/something to hang on to initially. We were all issued motorcycle helmets, and failure to wear it could get you separated from the Peace Corps. It might sound a little intimidating, but again, people don’t go that fast. Really it’s pretty fun.

French Class:

I have class from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday (amazingly, they keep it really dynamic) and a half day 8 am to 12:30 pm on Saturday. We have Sundays off. I usually go to bed between 11 and 12. I am getting good sleep, which is more than many volunteers can say. Apparently in this culture it isn’t necessary to be quiet for people who are sleeping. I’m lucky I’m a sound sleeper. I also haven’t been as nervous of a sleeper as I was in Hawaii. I think a wooden door with a lock on it does a lot for a person’s REM cycles. There was one early morning when I was woken up by a dog barking and I though to myself, “It sounds like that dog is in my bathroom. Oh well, if it is, I’ll deal with it in the morning.” Of course the dog was not in my bathroom in the morning, and it was nice to be able to dismiss that concern.

Translating between French and English hasn’t gotten too exhausting, when I recognize words in french I don’t take the time to literally translate everything, I just kind of move forward. Still, I do usually rest in my room for about an hour after class, and I am getting good sleep so that helps. It works out great for me that the thing I need to be working hard at is chatting with my family and friends.

Child care:

The approach to child care is very different here. To preface, I have thought a lot about a video I watched in a Child Development class in College that showed a day in preschool in Japan, Hawaii, and (I think) Brazil. Approaches were very different but all three schools of thought seem to be producing fully functional adults.

I have heard it said that here there is no line of separation between a mother and her child. A good visual of this is how babies are usually piggy backed onto their mothers backs with a sheet of fabric. Even as older children mother’s don’t really have privacy from their kids. In that sense, child rearing is very intimate.

At the same time, as kids get a little older they are really expected to amuse themselves and parents don’t really attend to them closely or fuss over them. From a US perspective it could seem like it would make it easy to miss important life lessons for the kids, or to be caught by unawares if something happened to them. However, as I have observed it, kids don’t fuss and cry very much here, and they don’t act out for attention, or face being hurt or sad. They amuse each other. They are also expected to help out around the house with simple things like sweeping the floor and washing or carrying dishes. Again, when I first heard this I was sort of surprised and thought it was a little mean. However kids really are never asked to do tasks that are too strenuous or complicated for them, and it’s good that they are learning skills and taking ownership of things that need to be done at the house.

All that being said, the kids in my family do spend a good amount of time sittin’ on the couch, watching soap operas. The soap operas are not very inappropriate (I usually feel awkward for them if there is an onscreen kiss in the episode). I think the kids like the soaps because there is a lot of reaction time whenever anything dramatic happens and everything is a really big deal (not unlike in cartoons). There is at least one channel with kids cartoons, but the reception isn’t very good. I don’t mind because for some reason the cartoons are harder for me to follow, and the soap are pretty kosher.

They don’t have very many toys, but they do read a bit. It would be nice to think of some good games and crafts for them. I’ve been showing my oldest host sister, Onelia, how to knit, but it is tricky and of course only one person can work at it at a time. I might try to show her how to make friendship bracelets with extra yarn.

Internet Sunday

** I wrote this post on Sunday, July 8th**

Hey Everyone!

Look who is on the internet! Basically (and I know I say this often, but I am often thankful) my host family is so great. My host papa basically loaned me the internet key he has, and helped me get credit on it! Yay! I am so glad to share my posts with you, I hope they are at least a little edifying and entertaining.

Today was an eventful day! I didn’t have class at all, so in the morning I took the time to make some American coffee for myself and my host parents. Tragically I must inform you that they don’t care for it. We had a good laugh about that though. I think they are kind of afraid of coffee, thinking it’s this substance-heavy American addiction (are they wrong?) My papa said that coffee is toxic like alcohol! Well, I enjoyed my coffee anyway… we certainly had fun with the whole thing.

After that my mama and I decided to go to church. The service was a little hard to follow, even though it was a catholic mass, because the language kept switching between French and the local language Gune. It was an interesting experience since on one hand the service was long and hard to follow; on the other hand I was loving it. It made me really happy that the mass was happening in people’s local language, right on the personal application level. Plus it made me really happy to think that even though a lot of this was new and foreign for me, that God was just loving it. I tried to picture all the different worship services I am familiar with, and how each one is perfectly fitted for God. It’s the kind of thing that can see you through a whole homily in Gune.

After church and lunch I finally got the clothes waching lesson I have been hoping for. Washing clothes is pretty work intensive here. On the other hand, it’s very thorough and specific. My host mama was great at showing and explaining what to do, and also at letting me try it. I hope all of my clothes dry out ok!

When laundry was done I ventured forth for the local cyber café. Naturally, it was closed on Sundays. I did at least get a little phone credit while I was out. It was when I returned from that failied venture that my host papa and I started with the idea of the intenet key.

However, before I got to try to use the internet, I was invited out for a ‘promenade’ or walk, to the host family’s uncle’s house with the kids. The walked turned out to be much longer than I thought, and I got nervous about how we would get home, but tried to trust that someone else must have thought of a plan. Sure enough, the uncle drove us home after a visit. On the walk there a bunch of people called out ‘Yovo!’ or ‘Bonsoir Yovo’ meaning good evening white person. Generally that doesn’t bother me too much because I understand that there isn’t a negative cultural history with the phrase, and people are just calling out to someone new. I’ve heard that in Benin people are often addressed by their titles, like Mama for one, but also carpenter or hair stylist. So being called out to didn’t bother me too much, but it did surprise my host siblings that I was walking with. It was nice to share that awkward experience with someone else.  I joked with Cella, the 9 year ols, that so many people were starng at her, and I couldn’t think of why.

After that is was a delicious dinner of couscous with meat and mixed vegetables.

There is always more to say, but I am falling asleep on my keyboard.

Thanks for reading,

Lauren

Weekend!

** I wrote this post on Saturday, July 7th**

Hello everyone,

Happy weekend. Today I got to say a tiny hello in somewhat real time on facebook. I hope that you enjoy these posts when you /do/ get them!

Today Heidi and I decided to walk to our half day of classes at Songhai. We gave ourselves a lot of time, and we really needed all of it. It took us an hour to walk there! It certainly was an interesting hour, seeing people set up their stands for the day, traversing the road side, and giving a friendly wave to people calling out at the novelty of seeing a white person.

We had a short French class, and then a bike care and repair class. I was amazed to realize how extensively I didn’t understand bikes. That is a little better now. Afterwards I fought my way onto the internet, and while I was not able to update my blog or check my email, I was able to check facebook. It’s the little things I guess.

This afternoon I had the first meal here that was really exciting to me. Fried fish (a staple) with grilled plantains and French fries. So healthy I know, but there comes a point where you need to take appetizing-ness into account.

In the afternoon I reviewed my notes and watched TV with the kids. There is an Indian soap opera on that we all really like. That reminds me, I have been wondering if Youtube has some clips of Beninese TV. If you are so inclined, I recommend looking up the general promotions for Canal 3 Benin, and the commercial for the K.O. energy drink with the broken down car at the beginning.

In general French speaking is going pretty well. I know my grammar isn’t perfect, but it is pretty rare for people to completely miss what I am saying.  I have noticed that sometimes when I remember a conversation that happened in French I remember it in English. Hopefully that means that sometimes French really is that intuitive. Immersion really is an awesome way to learn.

Hope you guys are well, thanks for reading.

With love,

Lauren

Weekend!

** I wrote this post on Saturday, July 11th**

Hello everyone,

Happy weekend. Today I got to say a tiny hello in somewhat real time on facebook. I hope that you enjoy these posts when you /do/ get them!

Today Heidi and I decided to walk to our half day of classes at Songhai. We gave ourselves a lot of time, and we really needed all of it. It took us an hour to walk there! It certainly was an interesting hour, seeing people set up their stands for the day, traversing the road side, and giving a friendly wave to people calling out at the novelty of seeing a white person.

We had a short French class, and then a bike care and repair class. I was amazed to realize how extensively I didn’t understand bikes. That is a little better now. Afterwards I fought my way onto the internet, and while I was not able to update my blog or check my email, I was able to check facebook. It’s the little things I guess.

This afternoon I had the first meal here that was really exciting to me. Fried fish (a staple) with grilled plantains and French fries. So healthy I know, but there comes a point where you need to take appetizing-ness into account.

In the afternoon I reviewed my notes and watched TV with the kids. There is an Indian soap opera on that we all really like. That reminds me, I have been wondering if Youtube has some clips of Beninese TV. If you are so inclined, I recommend looking up the general promotions for Canal 3 Benin, and the commercial for the K.O. energy drink with the broken down car at the beginning.

In general French speaking is going pretty well. I know my grammar isn’t perfect, but it is pretty rare for people to completely miss what I am saying.  I have noticed that sometimes when I remember a conversation that happened in French I remember it in English. Hopefully that means that sometimes French really is that intuitive. Immersion really is an awesome way to learn.

Hope you guys are well, thanks for reading.

With love,

Lauren