Benin V

PFTE Part VIII Episode V
I’ll have to mention it again: the pineapples melt in your mouth here! I think I was still partially delirious with the last email I sent out, and I realize it probably didn’t make a heck of a lot of sense, so I thought I’d clarify; I was, I think, talking about the Chinese restaurant that I had just eaten at, mainly cause it was also the first food that I had eaten in three days! I was actually rather ill for a while there, so I think with the first taste of food and stuff, I think my poor brain got a bit over-stimulated.
Also, a couple of other notes of apparently being “Chinese” over here (cause clearly, I either really am, or else a very ignorant one, or else make a pretty good imitation ;) )
1. People find it very hard to believe that I can be Canadian. I guess it also doesn’t help that the rest of my team is white. I’m kind of like the pet monkey, that they bring around to show off. People here have actually been astonished that I speak French. Actually, English, even…
2. One guy was so surprised that I was actually from Canada, and not from China, he pulled aside one of the other team members and asked whether China was within walking distance of Canada… because clearly, I must’ve walked over and joined them for the flight…
3. Another guy we’ve met here is actually a ping-pong champion in Benin, like, on the national team. We had lunch with him, and, turning to me, wondered if I would like to “sponsor” him to come to Canada since I’d obviously be very good at ping-pong (right, Swong?)… right… I think he thought that that would be appropriate, hooking up with a “Chinese” ping-pong girl who happens to live in Canada… What a sweet deal for a ping-pong player in the developing world… ;) (biiiiiig rolling of the eyes…)
Otherwise, some notes on food (obviously I have a lot of time banked today…): They eat a lot of fish here. Well, it is on the coast… we’ve been eating a lot of it, though sometimes, I look into the waters and wonder what the heck I think I’m doing… maybe that can also explain a bit of the brain fog… They also eat a surprisingly large amount of rice here… the black market has connections to Thailand or something, and that’s how they get their rice supply….
Voodoo is huge here… it’s the inherent religion here, though a good proportion of the population are Muslim or Christian, though apparently most folks practice a bit of voodoo somewhere along the line… yeah, slavery and voodoo… those are the two big thematics of Benin culture… I think to try and describe it in a witty manner isn’t really doing it justice, particularly as slavery isn’t a funny subject at all, and well, neither is voodoo….
Anyways, that’s about it for now…
julia

Benin IV

PFTE Part VIII Episode IV

Thx to all who’ve written; I’m sorry that I haven’t had the time to respond to you (thx ems, big A, Mic, Joy, Nance… yes I agree that’s a good reason to return…) individually… but your emails are all very much appreciated… Did you know (I think it’s Steve Wonder-boy who told me this one…) there are no Chinese restos in Iran, but there are everywhere else in the world? I just went to one this evening… owned by a Chinese guy… I tell ya, the Chinese are everywhere…. ☺
Why? Cause it’s funny, for one thing. Secondly; there is only so much pili-pili a girl can eat before she starts thinking of even considering chicken feet… no; wait; that would be chicken head, wouldn’t it? ;)
Anyways, my time is quickly running out, and I may get logged off soon, so I’m gonna go. I promise to have something wittier next time, promise… love you!
julia

Benin III

PFTE Part VIII Episode III

Did I mention how the pineapple melts in your mouth here?
Anyways, I haven’t learned that much Fon since I’ve been here, which is the dominant language in this part of Benin (the south end of the country). But the one sentence I have learned (fun with Fon!!!) has been: Un no nyi Yovo ahhh, which basically means, “My name is not ‘Whitey’”. That’s been about it so far. So nothing else particularly useful in terms of language.
I was at the most amazing place on the weekend, a town called Ganvie. It’s a village entirely built on a lake, established in 1717 by people who were trying to escape from the slave traders ( A LOT of Benin’s history is tied up in the slave trade, as they were some of the biggest traders of their own peoples, as well as their captives, to the Europeans and Americans). Anyways, but the slave trade is another story as well as other places, and pictures.
It’s pretty amazing.
At any rate, Ganvie is this town built on stilts in the middle of this lake. I dunno how it occurred to them three hundred years ago to just paddle into the middle of a lake and start building houses. I guess if it’s that or be transported to the Americans to be a slave, I think I’d opt for drowning in my home country… and I took lots of photos there, which, as some of you know, I’m not that terribly trigger happy with the camera usually… It was a totally –other- type experience, if that makes sense.
julia

Benin II

PFTE Part VIII Episode II

Oh my goodness!!!! I have soooo many stories to tell already but I can’t cause I don’t have the time or space for it yet, but there’s bunches already. One observation: Cotonou lies very close to the Nigerian border (about 30 km) and a lot of its economy is based on the black market. At any rate, this has to do with the air quality, which will all make sense once I come home and explain it to you, if you care to hear.
The air here is blue. Like, grey-blue. Like, during rush hour, if I breathe too much, my lungs start to hurt. Most of the zemijhans (or zem-zems) use illegally imported petrol from Nigeria to run. However, this means totally unrefined and nasty fuel into the vehicles, hence leading to ++++ dirty exhaust and air. It actually gets hard to see here because of it. That’s kinda gross, I must say… so for those of you envying my skin take note: it really has taken quite a beating here, and is becoming quite frightful…
However, it is rather interesting as there are ‘petrol stops’ every few blocks that are just jars of illegal petrol that you can buy for half the price of the gas station’s stuff… weird…
julia

Benin I

Postcards from the edge Part VIII Episode I

So here I am, back in the wilds of West Africa (oh no some groan, julia’s off on some other silly trip again), so yet another installment of the ever-thrilling PFTE…
This time I’m in Cotonou, Benin (that’s Benin, Andrew, not Ghana): it’s kind of like the Toronto equivalent of Canada… I’ve eaten so much fried plantain since I’ve been here, it’s silly… and some of the yummiest pineapple ever… For those of you who remember my moaning and groaning about how hot it was in Niger… it’s hot here… although admittedly not even remotely possibly close to how hot it was in Niger… for those of you freezing in Canada, it’s about 32C out here and humid, since the rainy season is coming to a close… which means I missed mango season, big time… out here, in mango season, you can get mangoes almost the size of my head (ok, maybe not my head, maybe Tim’s ;) )
Otherwise, not much to say so far… I’ll write about my first impressions later… it’s always kind of strange, the feelings one gets when one walks off an airplane… also: I have a limited amt of time on this machine and it’s ticking away so I will speak to you all later!!!
Love you all!
julia