NO PREREQS

Friday night was spent at one of the last places I would imagine finding myself in Benin – a high school graduation party. When Jules mentioned going to a party, I had no idea what to expect. I was bombarded with questions by my host family on where it was, how long I would be out, and what I was going to be doing at the party. Although that made it feel a bit more like home, I came up short on answers. 

Jules, Prince, another friend Achele (ash-eel), Jenny, and two girls who I didn’t know showed up at my door to pick me up, and we headed off. The party was not like how you might expect a similar one to be in Canada. It was outdoors, in the large area outside of the high school. There were external food vendors who had set up shop inside the courtyard. There was alcohol everywhere (if there’s a legal drinking age in Benin, I don’t know anyone that respects it). And there were lots and lots of random adults. There must have been a 50/50 split between adults and students at the party. Finally, the party just ended up being a talent show and sort of ended afterwards.

After a pretty good rap duo performed, there was what I would presume to be a teacher in traditional clothing performing a dance to some local music. During this dance, I got to observe people from the audience walk up to the performer and touch some money to his face, allowing it to drop to his feet. I thought this was interesting because this is a regular occurrence at both Hindu and Sikh wedding receptions, whereas in the west the cultural meaning is completely different if someone throws money at you while you are dancing. It was just a random connection between distant cultures, so it was kinda cool.

Anyways, the next morning we headed off to Grand Popo, which is the westernmost point in the south of Benin, surrounded on two sides by Togo’s border. It’s only about an hour drive, but the crazy thing is that we took motos. My hair looked like I had touched one of those static balls at a science centre after the trip. Ultimately, we only spent a few minutes in Grand Popo because it started raining (which kinda sucked), but I’m sure there will be good opportunities to go in the future. We also spent some time in the junction city of Comé grabbing food and checking out the market.

By the time we got back around 3pm, it was time for me to head to Melissa’s dance performance with the rest of the family. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it yet, but Melissa is the 10 year old daughter in my host family. Melissa danced her heart out and the other performances were all quite good as well, especially considering they were done by kids around the ages of 8-12. The event happened to be set up by some American Peace Corps volunteers, and it was a grand opening of a cultural music and arts centre in Ouidah.  As such, it turned out to be a pretty big deal and the mayor of Ouidah and the US ambassador were both in attendance. I got the numbers of the people who helped organize the event and of the mayor, so I hope those might come in handy in the future. 

Not the greatest photo, but I hope it helps convey the message.

                The moral of the story is to go to your brothers’ and sisters’ talent shows. But seriously, family matters. I think that will be the subject of my next post from Benin. Until then, I want to hear some more ideas for potential posts that don’t have to do with my trip. I know I told every class during my presentations at Chinguacousy that I can write about whatever concerns you the most. Although you might take interest in my trip to Benin, there is probably something more pressing right now like selecting universities, scholarship applications, or uni applications that you might be having trouble with. Please let me know what you want me to write about!