Greetings are a very important part of the Beninese culture. It can take much longer to get to your desired destination because it is necessary to greet most everyone that you see. The greetings used here are a bit more in-depth than the standard "Hi, How are you?" that we use in the US. So, we thought we'd share some examples of the local sayings and greetings with you to give you a taste of Beninese culture.
A typical morning conversation between Charlie and any neighbor:
Charlie: Good morning. How did you wake up?
Beninese: I woke up well. And you?
Charlie: I woke up well too. How are your children?
Beninese: They are well.
Charlie: How is your wife/husband?
Beninese: He is well. How is your wife?
Charlie: She is well. And your health?
Beninese: It is good.
Charlie: And your work?
Beninese: It is good. And your work?
Charlie: It is also good See you soon.
Charlie: See you later. Have a good day!
A conversation later in the day between Miranna and a Maman at the marche before actually attempting to buy something:
Miranna: Good Afternoon. Are you there?
Maman: Yes, I'm here.
Miranna: Have you done a little?
Maman: Yes, I've done a little. And you? Have you done a little, or a lot?
Miranna: I've done a little. Have you sold a little?
Maman: Yes, I've sold a little.
Miranna: And your children?
Maman: They are fine.
Miranna: That's good. I would like to buy 2 onions and some tomatoes.
Other interesting expressions:
If you haven't seen someone for a while you would start the conversation with "It's been three days!" and their response will be "And plus one more." Why the magic number is 3 days, even if it has been a week or month since you've seen someone, we are not sure.
When you are visiting with a group of people for a while you will get told "Good sitting" many times. This expression is used to fill time between conversations because it is impolite to just sit without having anything to say to someone.
Everybody is familiar with "Bon Appetite," which is a very common saying before every meal, but every meal is also followed by "Good Digestion."
In the evening you will wish people "Good Night" followed by "May God wake us up well." They respond: "Amen."
Most of this, while it could be said in French, is done in our local language Fon. For example, "Good Morning," or "Bonjour" in French," is translated as "Mi fon gangi a?" This is actually a question of "Did you wake up well?" Charlie can also do a series of greetings in Adja, another local language used in the villages around Lalo.
Some of these sayings seem silly but they have grown on us! It is going to be very hard for us to drop some of them from our vocabulary once we return!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Giving for the Girls
A few weeks ago the Peace Corps volunteers hosted a charity dinner in Cotonou to raise money for the Gender and Development programs. This was a similar event to the one in March (see previous post), except instead of only being for Peace Corps volunteers, it was more formal and open to the Beninese and American communities in Cotonou. With the money that was raised from these two events, volunteers are able to implement activities in their communities to promote gender equality and education.
Many of the activities that volunteers choose to pursue focus on girls' educaton. Beninese girls are seriously disadvantaged in terms of education and face many obstacles to stayng in school. Therefore, in conjunction with this event, Peace Corps had an essay contest for 8th grade level girls to win a trip to Cotonou. This was a great opportunity for the girls that won, as most of them had never even left their villages before. From Thursday- Sunday each girl stayed with a prominent Beninese woman (called "Maman Modeles"), went to work with her ("Bring your Daughter to Work Day"), and participated in a seminar about setting goals for themselves and how to achieve their career goals.
There were two girls, named Reine and Chantal, that were choosen from Lalo, so Miranna was able to escort them down to Cotonou. Reine stayed with a Maman that is the owner of a fine dining restuarant (she caters for the President of Benin!) and Chantal was paired with a Maman that is the director of a private school. Other girls were paired with famous journalists, doctors, and businesswomen. The girls were also invited to the dinner and gave a short presentation on what they had learned from their Mamans over the weekend. Our hope is that the girls will take back what they learned to their villages and choose to stay in school to pursue their dreams- no matter how big or small.
All-in- all it was a great weekend for the girls, the volunteers, and auction-attendees alike. I look forward to participating next year and giving other girls from Lalo the chance to as well!
A few pics from the event...
Us posing in front of artwork for the auction. Charlie used the event as an occasion to sport his Beninese flag bumba again!
Three of the girls modeling wooden Beninese masks that were available in the silent auction.
Miranna with Reine and Chantal, the girls from Lalo.
Many of the activities that volunteers choose to pursue focus on girls' educaton. Beninese girls are seriously disadvantaged in terms of education and face many obstacles to stayng in school. Therefore, in conjunction with this event, Peace Corps had an essay contest for 8th grade level girls to win a trip to Cotonou. This was a great opportunity for the girls that won, as most of them had never even left their villages before. From Thursday- Sunday each girl stayed with a prominent Beninese woman (called "Maman Modeles"), went to work with her ("Bring your Daughter to Work Day"), and participated in a seminar about setting goals for themselves and how to achieve their career goals.
There were two girls, named Reine and Chantal, that were choosen from Lalo, so Miranna was able to escort them down to Cotonou. Reine stayed with a Maman that is the owner of a fine dining restuarant (she caters for the President of Benin!) and Chantal was paired with a Maman that is the director of a private school. Other girls were paired with famous journalists, doctors, and businesswomen. The girls were also invited to the dinner and gave a short presentation on what they had learned from their Mamans over the weekend. Our hope is that the girls will take back what they learned to their villages and choose to stay in school to pursue their dreams- no matter how big or small.
All-in- all it was a great weekend for the girls, the volunteers, and auction-attendees alike. I look forward to participating next year and giving other girls from Lalo the chance to as well!
A few pics from the event...
Us posing in front of artwork for the auction. Charlie used the event as an occasion to sport his Beninese flag bumba again!
Three of the girls modeling wooden Beninese masks that were available in the silent auction.
Miranna with Reine and Chantal, the girls from Lalo.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A Beninese Family Photo
We thought everyone would enjoy a recent family photo. The matching tissue (or cloth) that we are wearing is called the the official "Family Tissue"- which is represented by the chickens and their baby chicks! So it was only a matter of time before we bought some, and we had to give KoKo some to wear as well since she is our official Beninese baby!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Chillin' in Sunny Benin
After about 8 months in country, we finally had time to take our first real vacation in Benin during Miranna's Easter break! We went to a beach resort area near the border of Benin/Togo called Grand Popo. It is really beautiful, and despite the fact that you can't swim in the ocean we had a really great and relaxing time! Now that we know it is only about 3 hours from Lalo, we know we will be returning!
A few pics from our trip (maybe these will tempt some of you to come visit us!):
One of the buildings at the hotel we stayed at- an old colonial plantation.
Every morning, the fishermen pull in the MASSIVE fisihing nets from the night before. It takes lots of men, women, and children for this job- Charlie and I helped too!
Taking a break to pose for a pic on the beach- note the net in the background- it is an all morning process to bring in the net.
A group of boys carrying the fisihing net back down the beach.
Charlie on our tour of the Mono River.
Enjoying a fresh cut coconut after a boat tour on the river!
Relaxing on the beach just before sunset!
A few pics from our trip (maybe these will tempt some of you to come visit us!):
One of the buildings at the hotel we stayed at- an old colonial plantation.
Every morning, the fishermen pull in the MASSIVE fisihing nets from the night before. It takes lots of men, women, and children for this job- Charlie and I helped too!
Taking a break to pose for a pic on the beach- note the net in the background- it is an all morning process to bring in the net.
A group of boys carrying the fisihing net back down the beach.
Charlie on our tour of the Mono River.
Enjoying a fresh cut coconut after a boat tour on the river!
Relaxing on the beach just before sunset!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wearing the flag for charity
Last weekend we went to Parakou for a Peace Corps Benin fundraising event. All the volunteers come together for a dinner and auction to raise money for the 'Gender and Development' (GAD) program funds. These are funds that are available for volunteers to use in their communities to carry out activities that address issues of gender and development. There are multiple examples of events that qualify for these funds, but typically they help raise the awareness of girls and women's roles in Benin.
For example, on International Women's Day we held an event in Lalo for all of the girls at Miranna's school. We applied for the Gender and Development funds to pay for this event, which allowed us to carry it out without paying out of our own pockets. We invited prominent women from the community to come speak on three topics: staying in school, women's rights, and sexual health. We had about 250 girls turn (about half of the girls in school) out for the event! It was a huge success and the girls still contiunue to talk about it! We plan on doing this again next year as well.
International Women's Day event in Lalo- a great turnout!
Miranna and Charlie dressed as the Benin flag for the GAD dinner. Our outfits were a hit!
For example, on International Women's Day we held an event in Lalo for all of the girls at Miranna's school. We applied for the Gender and Development funds to pay for this event, which allowed us to carry it out without paying out of our own pockets. We invited prominent women from the community to come speak on three topics: staying in school, women's rights, and sexual health. We had about 250 girls turn (about half of the girls in school) out for the event! It was a huge success and the girls still contiunue to talk about it! We plan on doing this again next year as well.
International Women's Day event in Lalo- a great turnout!
Miranna and Charlie dressed as the Benin flag for the GAD dinner. Our outfits were a hit!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Ins and Outs of Daily Life
Just a few glimpses into our daily life here...
Miranna and her neighbor, Inez, carrying water from the nearby pump to the house. Note the girl half M's size, yet with a water basin twice as big. The girls (and women) here are so strong- and can carry anything(!) on their heads! M is still a novice water porter and does so on rare occasions- but it is a lot of entertainment for our neighbors when it happens! Typically all the neighborhood girls or boys get water for us about every other day.
We pay about 25cents for 3 of the large basins of water- and that lasts us for about 2 days. this includes showering, cooking, and drinking. Laundry requires a bit more....see below:
Miranna doing laundry in back of our house. The 3 bucket system is way more work than just putting the clothes in the washer and pusing a button! However, it is typically so hot clothes do dry in about an hour. We have yet to make the water as suddsy as they do here and the girls all laugh at our feeble scrubbing attempts, but we make it work!
Miranna and her neighbor, Inez, carrying water from the nearby pump to the house. Note the girl half M's size, yet with a water basin twice as big. The girls (and women) here are so strong- and can carry anything(!) on their heads! M is still a novice water porter and does so on rare occasions- but it is a lot of entertainment for our neighbors when it happens! Typically all the neighborhood girls or boys get water for us about every other day.
We pay about 25cents for 3 of the large basins of water- and that lasts us for about 2 days. this includes showering, cooking, and drinking. Laundry requires a bit more....see below:
Miranna doing laundry in back of our house. The 3 bucket system is way more work than just putting the clothes in the washer and pusing a button! However, it is typically so hot clothes do dry in about an hour. We have yet to make the water as suddsy as they do here and the girls all laugh at our feeble scrubbing attempts, but we make it work!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Some Recent Pictures & Events
A Beninese funeral procession in Lalo. Funerals in Benin are a BIG deal- they are like a big party. Unlike in the US, people do not dress and black and you never see anyone crying. A huge procession of people and a band walk around town with a large picture of the deceased. They go from neighborhood to neighborhood, dancing, singing, drinking and visiting.
Miranna with some local women at the funeral reception. After the procession, everyone gathers at one location for the reception- more food, singing, and dancing. Note the hat: this is a typical hat women wear for special events here.
Lunch at our neighbor's house last weekend.
This family is super nice and we have enjoyed getting to know them. The dad is a primary school director at a neighboring village and the mom makes and sells food. They have one boy and two girls at home with them and then two older girls who live in Cotonou. Believe it or not, five children is actually a reasonable size family for Benin! The two girls that live there- Andrea and Inez- are always at our house playing with Koko, coloring, or just watching us do whatever we are up to at the moment. The girl in the front of the picture, Andrea, is in the same grade as I teach (but not in my class) so I often help her with English as well.
Charlie, KoKo and a student name Prosper. Look at the size of the papaya that he brought us! It was bigger than the cat!
Not a great picture, but Miranna teaching "Parts of the Body." It was a really fun lesson followed by a revised version of the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."
KoKo waiting in Miranna's bag- ready to go to school with her.
Miranna with her school director's youngest children at New Years. In Benin, families often wear matching fabric for important events, such as funerals, holidays, or weddings. The two girls are twins. They were so cute in their matching outfits, we couldn't resist taking a picture!
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