Ou Bien...

I have been out of money for about a month now. It’s not really a problem when I’m in my village, but lately I’ve been traveling a lot for work and it really takes a toll. There are only so many days that I can survive off of bean sandwiches.

I’m in Cotonou again doing some research for my World Map Activity packet and attending a seminar on the Foreign Service. I had some money exchanged that I brought with me from America, and so I should be good until payday. It was nice to see and feel U.S. currency again, which was really weird. It was really funny to see the bank teller struggling with it. Here, bills of larger denominations are larger, smaller denominations are smaller, and they are all a designated color: red, green, blue. U.S. dollars aren’t like that, and he had no idea what I had given him. (Don’t worry, I didn’t cheat Ecobank out of money) In case you’re wondering, the current rate is one dollar to 457 CFA. And so he had to ask me, real quite like…”c’est combine?” It was pretty silly.

Afterwards I walked around Ganhi for a while, which is a bit of a ritzy area of Cotonou on the beach. There are large clothing outlets, fancy pants restaurants, and even an art museum. I went to a little buvette down on the beach, which was nice, aside from the large piles of trash. There was also a large gang of children who beg on the beach all day, who I’ve nicknamed the Warriors, and ask them if they can come out to play. It was refreshing to see and smell the ocean again, even though I can’t go in. The riptides are really powerful and dangerous, so NOBODY goes in, unless you’re fishing in a pirogue or something. It looked a lot like long beach, they both have a large number of oil tankers waiting offshore, but apparently pirates are a little more likely here. But only a little, don’t get too comfortable America!

At one point I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting across from me and discovered he was a refugee from Chad who had been displaced by the conflict in Darfur. He showed me his passport and explained how he wanted to go to America to save up money and help his family and friends in Chad. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything for this man. Even if I had the resources, I wouldn’t know where to start. I told him that I’ll be living in Benin for two years and wouldn’t be able to help him until after. At this point he scoffed, and said he couldn’t live in Benin for more than three months. So now I have a new friend from Chad.

After that I went to the market and noticed that there was a horse in the field across the road. I asked my zem if the horse is always there. Yes, always. Why is he always there? Well, the man who moves the horse is not there, so the horse won't be moved. The horse will stay there because the horse is already there and the man who moves the horse isn't there to move it.

Ohhhhh, Benin...ou bien