After the lessons it was laundry time! My first time hand washing clothes (hockey equipment doesn’t count) in at least 10 years... and it showed. My host mama soon took over and I was relegated to rinsing and hanging the clothes on the line.
The day really took off however, when Jules and Jennifer dropped by.
Along with Prince (who also just happens to be my French teacher), we took off for an afternoon of tourism.
Along with Prince (who also just happens to be my French teacher), we took off for an afternoon of tourism.
We visited the Python Temple, which I have included pictures of below, then the beach about 10 minutes from Ouidah at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, and the highlight of our trip: The Gate of No Return.
The Gate of No Return is not an ancient ruin. It was built in 1995 by the Beninois government, along with the help of UNESCO. So what’s so special about it? Well, a few centuries ago, Ouidah was one of the capitals of slave trading in Africa. The slaves were sold in a market, as tomatoes and mangos are sold in the same market today. They were then forced to walk – shackled – about 5km to the port from which they would board a ship set for the Americas. The Gate of No Return symbolizes the location of this long gone port.
However, visiting this place today, you would have no idea of its morbid history. The clear blue sea stretches as far as you can see, from end to end of your peripheral vision. Palm trees that scatter the beach calmly sway in the gentle breeze created by the waves crashing in on shore. It is serene. Since nature has eroded the physical evidence, it is only fitting that a monument was built here to symbolize one of the darkest moments in the history of human civilization.
Standing there, below the arches of this mighty gate lead me to contemplate how this sinister reminder might apply to my life back home in Canada, and I came to the following conclusion: things can always be worse. How many times had I experienced intense regret about something that I did, and uttered the phrase, “Well, now there’s no going back”? Was there really no going back, or was I just too ashamed to do it?
This gate is the penultimate symbol of a lack of freedom. It was impossible for the slaves to return to the land that was once their home, the home of their ancestors, and the home of their cultures and traditions once they had boarded those ships. They simply had no say, no choice. It is an important lesson: even when an action or choice is difficult for us, and may even seem impossible, we need to step back and see if it really is impossible or if our minds are just holding us back.
Yes, mending wounded ties with someone might be difficult, especially if you are not at fault, but it is always possible. No, it’s not easy to swallow that D on your midterm in calculus, but you still have an opportunity to raise it. Finally, it’s not easy to come into a foreign country where you don’t speak the language and do your best to contribute a little to its development, but I must do what I can.
We have the freedom to choose. If you find yourself in a difficult situation today, pick the right path even if it is the most tumultuous, knowing that you made the decision of your own will. It is not a privilege everyone been fortunate enough to own.
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| Entrance to the Temple of Pythons, a centre of Voodoo worship |
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| The religion of Vodun (Voodoo) has its origins in Ouidah. This hut inside the temple is an example of a place where rituals are performed by the Vodun priests. Voodoo has been portrayed by popular culture as a creative method to harm others, but this is rarely the case in reality, where Voodoo rituals are carried out for the betterment of the people and community. |
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| Me (literally) embracing the culture. They starve these pythons for 2 weeks at a time, and then let them out at 3 in the morning to feed before taking them in again. These were 2 of at least 20 pythons in the grand chamber of the temple. |
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| The empty beach just south of Ouidah stretches on for miles in both directions. |
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| Some fishermen from Ghana had arrived ashore with a stockpile of fish. They throw away the jellyfish because they are not eaten here, and I took the opportunity to touch a jellyfish for the first time in my life. Maybe the last time! |
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| The fish are ready for sale after they have been sorted into piles. |
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| Jenny, Jules, and I sitting on the steps approaching The Gate of No Return. |
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| The Gate of No Return |
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| A couple hundred years ago, this view would look out onto a busy sea port created for the sole purpose of exporting West African slaves. Now it shows nothing but the sky and Atlantic Ocean, both meeting where the horizon disappears in the distance. |
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