1. Although locals might find it cute when you say hello in Fon, make sure you also know the term “I don’t speak much Fon” as well, because they usually revert to their more comfortable language otherwise.
2. Made my first trip to the police station, and it wasn’t a visit. A senior officer stopped me while I was walking to the orphanage around 8 in the morning, and demanded that I show my passport to prove my Canadian citizenship. After quizzing me on visa specifications he figured it was ok to let me go. Odd.
3. Staying on the subject of police, I saw my first up close and personal bribe when a policeman stopped us and saw that my host dad wasn’t wearing a seatbelt (no one here does). He refused to issue a ticket, instead insisting that we help him pay for a couple of beers tonight.
4. My leg hair is by far the most interesting thing about me to the Beninois. I wore shorts frequently last week and was fielding questions from the kids at the orphanage about it at work, and then at home when I returned.
5. As a result of personal observation: kids become sneaky around 2 and a half. Aristotle tries to convince Alberique to go eat with the rest of us so he can play with the Nintendo DS: “Rico, va manger no?”
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| Delicious slice of birthday cake for Mama's birthday. Iced cake is significantly more expensive here compared to other food, but they personalize the icing and it was scrumptious! |
6. The Beninois generally don’t resent their socialist history as much as many other countries in the world. Many previously government owned farms that produced vegetables and livestock are now just overgrown patches of useless land.
7. A large portion of the Nigerians living in Benin are refugees of the Ogoni ethnic minority in the Niger Delta area. Read more about the conflict here.
8. The reason why using two hands to eat in Benin is frowned upon is because traditionally, one hand was used to eat, and the other used to wipe your butt.
9. The school system here, based on the French system, requires that the Beninois learn two languages in addition to French in school. That’s aiming for proficiency in 4 languages, including their local one!
10. The Beninois opinion of France is generally very low, but the country relies very strongly on France (as the most powerful Francophone country in the world), for everything from international news to financial aid, so it is an interesting love hate relationship.
And that’s all for this week! Hope you enjoyed and lease leave a comment or two of feedback, as always! Are these starting to get stale??
Raj Still very interesting...not even close to stale.