Hard Boiled Eggs are not my friends, and other lessons learned in Benin

Fofo Friends,

Grr sometimes I wish I could instantly transport all the thoughts I am having on ETERNALLY LONG, NEVER ENDING bus rides into coherent, concise blog entires, but that is not possible, so unfortunately my blog entries have to be rambling and sporadic, depending on the whims of internet availability and my present sanity level. Note: several folks have expressed interest in more detailed descriptions of my research, so I PROMISE that my next entry will be strictly about my work, b/c, you know, sometimes it looks like all I do is voyage (the French verb for travel, clearly a superior word), which is not entirely true!

I returned yesterday from a delightful little vacation in Benin with my dear college friend and fellow Seattleite Ashley. Hands down the best part about the trip was chilling with Ashley, because she rocks and is tons of fun and is gorgeous so it's fun to watch motorcycle drivers and everyone else flirt with her! We also studied abroad together in Cameroon, so we already knew we dug traveling together in Africa, but this trip definitely cemented the bond, especially after Ashley spent 3 DAYS TAKING CARE OF ME because I got salmonella/some gastro infection plus a fever and whatnot, it was not pleasant. However, we now have some great memories and stories to recount, like the time when my (ex) favorite nurse tried to extract a bribe from me while injecting me with something through my IV…it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry when something like that happens, and I am really not trying to bash Beninese health care, b/c besides that small incident (and the time when another nurse spilled my blood on the ground and wasn't wearing clothes and no one cleaned it up), things were peachy and it was an interesting cultural experience.
Incha'allah I will avoid the hospital for a good while to come!

Ashley planned a great trip for us, so I feel like I got a diverse glimpse of Benin in the short time I was there. First, we visited some nice Peace Corps volunteers in the NW part of the country. They took us to beautiful waterfalls and showed us where to find the most amazing meal of pounded yams with peanut sauce and fried cheese, omg, seriously tasty. It was also fun to hear a new (to me) local language and to see some different types of house and grainery structures and farming techniques.

Next we headed South to the Oceanside metropolis of Cotonou, home of cool art exhibits and Thai and Indian food and huge fabric markets, oh my! I am still mourning the fact that I couldn't afford to buy one of the top 5 coolest pagne/fabrics I have seen in Africa (that is saying a lot given my obsession with fabric): it was blue and green and had IPODS ON IT! But it cost roughly $50 and all the vendors wouldn't budge, b/c it was the high quality "Holland wax" and hot off the presses…guess I'll have to wait til it goes out of la mode, it will be hard to restrain myself if I see it again. We bounced about town on zemi-johns, which are motorcycle taxis/ amusing death traps. It is quite a rush flying along on the back of one of the "zems," and occasionally, if you yell "DOUCEMENT" in the driver's ear, he might slow down a bit. This was a fun change of pace from the taxi scene in Niamey, and definitely gives the city a fastpaced flavor.

After a bit of city life, we took an hr long taxi ride (sweet thing about Benin: it's small, doesn't take forever to get to places comme au Niger!) to Ouidah, a famous voodoo town and a major transport point during the slave trade. There is a 5km walk that leads to the Gate of No Return on the beach, where thousands of slaves were shipped mostly to Brazil and the Carribean. Some former slaves returned to Benin after slavery was abolished, so many in fact that there is apparently a Carnival festival in Ouidah every year. We stopped at some of the statues along the 5 km walk but unfortunately there weren't any signs and we didn't hire a guide so we couldn't get the full significance of these monuments, but I did have the feeling that something important and sad had transpired on that path. A completely different element of Ouidah is the huge voodoo scene: a sacred forest and a python temple are smack dab in the middle of the town, amidst a large Cathedral constructed for the Pope's visit a few years back, plus the old colonial Portuguese fort. I will post some fun pics of Ash and I holding a serpent, the guide also casually slung the python around my neck and took me by surprise, fun times! Ash and I also chilled at the beach near Ouidah and I dined on a salad with hard boiled eggs, which may have been the origin of the stomach problemos. But, humdillah, it's gone now so I have no regrets, the beach was gorgeous and there was a pool and seeing water was pretty rockin after months of deserty Niger!

I was so lucky to have Ashley as a wonderful host in Benin, and it was really a treat to visit her--I will definitely miss her and the tasty Fulani cheese and all the water! However, I had two funny and happy experiences on my way home yesterday that reminded me why I like to call Niger home right now.

The first occurred when the Air Transport (a Nigerien company named after the Air mountain range) bus rolled up to Parakou, the city in the middle of Benin where Ash and I parted ways. It had left that morning from Cotonou, but somehow most of the passengers who "descended" as we say here were Nigeriens, so as they popped out for a prayer/"pause peepee" break I heard the sweet sounds of Hausa and Zarma greetings, plus the obnoxious sounds of Hausa music blaring from the speakers, plus women with scarves and pretty fabric and men in traditional boubous, and Niger came rushing back, familiar and friendly as usual. Then I met these Tuareg dudes and used my Tamashek greetings and was forced to sit with them for the 11 hr journey and explain repeatedly why I didn't need a Tuareg husband, but that is another story.

The second happy moment came at the Benin-Niger border, after I got my passport stamped and opted to walk across the bridge over the Niger River. As I trotted across with some of the more sporty passengers and some little boys on bikes who were selling water and yogurt, I got really excited to see Niger ahead of me. I felt like I was going home, kind of like when I take the ferry home to Bainbridge after a while away. Sometimes I want to cry on that ferry ride, it is just so beautiful and there are so many happy memories on that island, but now it is the same with coming back to Niger; there are people I look forward to seeing and there are languages that I like to hear even if I can't understand much, and people yell yoowa and humdillah all the time and it just feels right for me to be in Niger right now.

Of course, as soon as we crossed into Niger, the road turned to crap and the customs folks took forever and there were no bananas or tasty juices to buy like in Benin, and we had to stop to pray a bunch, but nonetheless it was fun because hilarious things would happen so it was all worth it. One quick example: we forgot one of the passengers at the Benin border, so he had to snag a ride with another bus company until he met up with our bus at a prayer stop. He jumped on the bus, and although most of his tirade was in Hausa/Tamashek, he seemed to be saying, "dudes, I can't believe you forgot me!" Well at the next stop someone took the time to make him some tea (read: we took another half hour break), and after that everyone seemed to get along again. What a good way to resolve a dispute. I kind of wish some folks who won't be named would consider that approach instead of using landmines in Niger (go to BBC or Reuters and search Niger for a news update).

Thanks for reading and sorry if this is too long. I'm sending lots of love and Sahara rays and holiday spirit in all directions.

Xo Mags