Twins! Monday, Nov 12 2007

A fun AP story from Nigeria about twins. We have the same phenomenon here in Benin.

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Musings Monday, Nov 12 2007

“What is it like?” is a question many people seem to want to pose to us.  Here’s a brief attempt:

People:

Run the gamut, of course.  Most people are generally friendly.  Kids are kids.  Adults can be anything from insulting to obsequious, based solely on the color of our skin.  Africa challenges any preconceived notions one might have about post-colonialist societies, racism, or anything else, to be sure.   In short, we cannot walk down the street without being noticed and alternately greeted or harassed.

Religion seems to play a much bigger, public role here than in the US.  Religious slogans — “Si l’homme est Dieu” (whatever that means), “Dieu seul,” etc. — abound, on motos, rear-view mirrors, and in homes, yet aggressive evangelization doesn’t really exist.  That’s not to say there aren’t evangelicals: there are, en pagaille (in droves).  Rather, you may be approached, and if you say you’re not interested, they leave you alone.  The most aggresiveness I’ve seen is the earnest encouragement to attend services — any services.

Food:

The fruit is awesome.  You’ve never had a pineapple so sweet & luscious.  The rest of the food — mainly a paste made of ground-up corn, manioc, or yam, called pate (pronounced “pot”) — is not exactly, as one web-guide put it, “succulent.”  But, it’s generally edible, and igname pile (mushy yams) can be darn good.  There’s also a sizeable Lebanese population in Cotonou, which is good for the shwarma or hamburger cravings.

Landscape:

It’s African.  Cotonou is a huge, sprawling, mostly 1-2 story city full of motos, pollution, and noise.  Houegbo wouldn’t exist if not for the train and the goudron (which just means “asphalt,” but since it’s the only asphalt road in Benin, means “highway”): it’s a very linear town surrounded by pineapple fields and palm plantations, mostly.  They grow a lot of staples here, directly consumed (instead of processed and/or exported); so, a lot of the landscape is farms.  Wherever people, live, though, it’s a constant battle against the encroaching bush, fought daily with hand-hewn hoes and brooms made out of palm fronds or reeds.

More to come next time.  Let us know if there’s anything you want to know!

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Updated Wishlist Friday, Nov 9 2007

Hi, all.

Please note the slight change to our Care Packages page.  In addition to the “anytime” stuff, here are some further ideas:

• Post-it booktab thingies
• 10-12 $1-calculators
• 2 Nalgene mouthguards
• Combat roach traps
• Sox tees
• 2 “Pretty” calendars (AZ, Mass., etc.)
• 1 pckg. tanktop undershirts for Jeff
• Beef Bouillon (we don’t get much meat down south)

Thanks, as always, for thinking of us — and don’t forget to leave a comment if you send something!

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El Norte Tuesday, Nov 6 2007

I’ve been up north this week at my early service checkin.  It’s pretty great up here: there’s beef, for one thing, and nuns who make pastries.  It’s also very laid back: little to no “yovo” song.  Reminds me a little of the Middle East, probably mostly because there are many more mosques here than churches.    All in all, it looks kind of like what most Americans probably think of when they think “Africa” — savannah fit for lions and gnus, Fulani men herding cattle, a landscape that kind of defies the ability of a camera lens to capture it.

The conference has been a good time: seeing people I haven’t seen for a while, hanging out, and actually having some fairly interesting and useful discussions.  Today, my colleagues and I present our Grand Popo plan to the group for their input, which will be great.  Next stop: Ministry of Tourism!

I head back south tomorrow, where it looks to be time to get a rabies shot for the dog and where it’ll be back to trying to get the house fixed up, buying furniture, and getting artisans to come to formations.  Also perhaps will buy a fridge (can you say “Thanksgiving leftovers”?) if our electricity situation is all worked out.

Can’t complain of lacking a list of things to do, and it’ll be good to be “home.”

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What to say? Sunday, Nov 4 2007

I know I haven’t been too good about keeping updates, but I figure it’s about time I started getting better (says Jeff).  So, here it is.

Finally moved in, as Phoebe says, but not without a great degree of ongoing drama.  Coupled with the fact that it’s so hard to get anything going around here (my artisans failed to advertize my formation, so no-one showed; same with my anticipated computer club at the CEG), it’s been a long month of October.  Can’t say that the Sox World Series win didn’t ease the pain slightly; though, it was a bitter pill not catching the games.  Frickin’ “changement.”

(“Changement” is the motto of the current president, YAYI Boni, who is, in fact, probably going to do much good for this country.  It is also, however, the excuse given by taxi & zemi drivers for higher prices, as well as the reason the cell phone companies were shut down for two months and possibly why Internet is so hard to come by where, just a year ago, it was everywhere.  “C’est la vie” is another favorite Beninese saying, equally fatalistic and equally aggravating, if one’s not in the right mood.)

Benin’s an odd country, to be sure.  It has all the resources to be a very successful place — e.g., cheap, intelligent labor; lots of arable land and reasonable climate — but for some reason, they just don’t seem to be able to get their act quite together.  One could probably blame this on a number of things (postcolonialism, socialism, Chinese capitalism, Development NGOs).  I don’t know whose fault it is, or even if there need be blame placed.  I do know that there’s alot of work for me in Huegbo and environs, if I can find the right partners and if we both can stay sane.

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Been in Benin for more than 100 days Friday, Nov 2 2007

Someone mentioned to me that we’ve been here for more than 100 days… wow! And we finally moved into our house last Friday after an administrator came to Houegbo and oversaw the artisans do the work. It is sad to say that it took them over a month to do a day’s work. What’s even worse though is that the carpenter who showed up to fix our window this past Sunday actually made it worse and has yet to return to fix it. We told Jeff’s responsible and I told my director and no one cares! Or at least it feels that way. For a group of people obsessed with thiefs, they don’t seem to care that my window doesn’t shut.

I am going to attempt pumpkin pie this week. Jeff found the tallest skinniest pumpkin I’ve ever seen in my life and I am going to try to stew it or whatever it is one needs to do to prepare it for that delectable autumn treat. I really miss the fall. While I walk around sweating in the chaleur I day dream of cool fall evenings and chilly breezes.

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