Stare...Point...Laugh...Repeat

***Just a quick note: posting has been impossible lately, so sorry for the inconsistency. The three posts that I am putting up today, I will date to give you some frame of reference as to when the events actually happened***

6/29/12

Maybe you have picked up on this already, but I am not Beninoise. I am not even African. This might be of little consequence to you as you read, but here, it is sort of a big deal. Adults stare. Kids yell, “Yovo!” When I go to the Marche Kpasse, the biggest open air market in Ouidah, I am sort of like the visiting zoo attraction. 

So, given all of this information, yesterday, I learned that nothing will make people point and stare at a Yovo more, than if that Yovo takes off her shoes and walks barefoot through the mud streets because the puddles are just too big. When you do that, people don’t just point and stare, they laugh. Hysterically. And so was I, so it was pretty much an entertaining experience for everyone. 

Yesterday, it actually rained from 4:30 in the morning until about 2:30 in the afternoon; if you think back to one of my first blogs, you might remember that rain was one of my biggest concerns before coming here. As an Arizona desert girl, I have always been a fan of short bits of rain in moderation because that’s just how it comes in the desert, but clouds for more than a few days start to drive me batty. But! Surprisingly, I did alright with the 10 straight hours of driving rain, unless you count trying to keep my shoes dry and walking barefoot through the mud as going batty. Hey, I figured it was either have muddy, wet feet for 10 minutes, or muddy wet shoes for a week (85% humidity 24-7 doesn’t really lend to anything ever drying here). I also had lots of great examples of how to deal with the inclement weather from the locals, who unlike Arizonans in rain, really just continue life as usual. No one blows up their Facebook news feeds with “OMG. Rain!!!!” posts or tries to light a fire in the fire place because there are clouds in the sky. 

Nope, they do all the usual things, for example, have a wedding...and sometimes they even invite the Yovos. That’s right, Christian (the French professor) got married yesterday and invited me and my roommates Alice and Robert to join in the mass and celebration. It was really a neat opportunity to see all of the traditional facets of a Catholic wedding intermixed with Beninoise traditions, a perfect example being that after Communion, a bit of a dance party broke out. Maybe I will make it a goal to a wedding everywhere I travel from now on. 

Pictures are a serious pain to upload, so I will post a million when I return and have real internet.

For everyone who made fun of my strappy jacket that I made, please enjoy this picture of my clothesline, made from straps and hooks from the strappy jacket

You know you are in Africa when....your makeshift capo is made from 100% DEET...

For the honor and glory.