lauren laughs

so… i took a bus back to benin saturday… but this wasn’t just any bus. their slogan: “it’s not a plane, it’s not a bus… it’s a coach.” i guess by “coach” they mean a 50-seater with air conditioning and a bathroom on board. and really, that is a pretty big deal. it’s a nigerian owned company, so everyone speaks english (or broken english, which they seem to call bitter english?)

anyway, the remarkable thing about this “coach” was not the amenities, but the preaching! yes, as soon as the bus left the parking lot in accra, a man stood up and started preaching and praying. “this bus company has never suffered a loss because we pray every morning before we travel. you need not fear for your life if you pray in the name of JEEEEESus. i tell you now, all things are possible in the name of JEEEEESus. if you want a car, if you want to travel, you should pray for it in the name of JEEEEESus.” this went on for about half an hour, and then the man took an offering. seriously. he took an offering on the bus. i noticed very few people paid him, though most were praying.

then, just to reinforce the message preached, we watched a 4 hour movie with the moral: Jesus trumps witches. i would tell you the whole plot, but it could take pages. just know it had all the necessary ingredients for nigerian film: a barren wife, a cheating husband, an untrustworthy house girl (accomplice in infidelity), a witch, a pastor, an unhappy mother-in-law. good times.

after the movie ended, they started playing tapes of “smack down”… like… the fake wresting. so bizarre! there ought to be a surcharge for entertainment. in the end, i did arrive safely to benin (of course i prayed for safe travels) and all is well. thanks be to God.

just watched “shakespeare in love” with the ghana girls… one last hoorah before i head back to benin tomorrow!

ghana girls, i will miss you… and your chocolate moles!

cheesiest title ever? i think so.

but it’s true! this past week in ghana has been just right and totally unexpected. i have fallen into an awesome group of girls, all missionaries. it’s like accra is a breeding ground for single female missionary types… only we were all born elsewhere, and there’s actually no breeding whatsoever. but you catch my drift. pictured are me, margaret, sherri and erin.

we dined at the most amazing restaurant ever (or at least ever in my history of living in africa). i ordered sushi, which was a dietary necessity for me back in the day. i ate sushi at least once a week in charm city b’more. our friend john said he had been sick twice after eating sushi at this particular restaurant, but i figured my stomach is pretty much made of steel after eating street food for so long. sushi smooshy. no sickness here!

also pictured is a bit o’ black star pride. see, it’s the africa cup of nations, which happens to be hosted here in accra. peeps have been going absolutely crazy all week for ghana football (soccer) paraphernalia. this guy worked a little magic on his car with flags and masking tape. sadly, the black stars lost to cameroon tonight. the city is in mourning. wonder if that means i can buy a jersey at half price tomorrow?

in any case, ghana is lovely. most especially because of the people.

so here i am in accra, ghana, staying at the SIM (missionary) guest house, and one of the peeps here mentioned that there are actually quite a few young adults here that get together pretty regularly… and would i be interested? hmmm… lau? social? why yes, of course!

just to be clear, i will italicize all surreal occurrences, as they would seem absolutely normal in any other context.

first, sherri (missionary) picked me up in her car and we drove on nice paved roads with street lights, traffic lanes and traffic lights. not one pot hole! not one motor bike! we arrived at stacey’s (navy) house, where we met up with 10 other peeps in their 20’s and 30’s, watching american television projected onto the wall. we watched 2 episodes of american idol while eating chinese take out. i even got to have a yuengling, as one of the military guys had just brought back 8 cases! next we watched live college basketball for a bit, the texas tech vs. oklahoma state game, to be precise. yes, that’s right! i, lau, in accra, ghana, got to see my home town of lubbock, tx, on live television! i called my granddad and left him a message, guessing he was at the game… and then… who should i see on tv, but my very own cousin blake! i squealed. i kid you not. then we watched pirates of the carribean 2 (a non-pirated version, for once), and then sherri drove me back to the guest house.

strange how such a normal, low-key night of socializing with people my own age and nationality could seem so foreign. and yet, i felt more “at home” in this room full of barely acquaintances than i’ve felt in months. and i didn’t even realize i hadn’t been feeling that way until i did feel that way, if that makes any sense at all. it was lovely.

i took my porto novo class to the marché last weekend, and my cotonou class the weekend before that. the two classes couldn’t be more different, though i had a blast with both.

my cotonou class consisted of only 4 guys, all dressed very well with their brief cases. you’d think they were going to a job interview. they took my “no french, only english” rule very seriously, so as hawkers approached them to sell their wares, anthelme would say, “me, i only speak english. i’m sorry i don’t know french.” totally bewildering the men selling socks and ties off their heads. the guys had a great time and bought me cashews to celebrate a fun afternoon. very sweet.

in porto novo i hit the road with about 11 girls. they also dressed to the nines, excited to get off the school grounds (most of them are boarding students). we did have one guy with us, jonas, who used my camera to take pictures of our excursion. i was hoping he would take pictures of the marché mamas selling their goods (piles of tomatoes, pyramids of cans, baskets of bananas), but those are all common sites to him. who would want a picture? so instead he took pictures of the yovo in the market (me) pointing at items and speaking english. actually, because fewer foreigners live in porto novo, my presence caused quite a commotion, and soon my class had expanded to include random children off the street.

in both cotonou and porto novo, the marché mamas were eager to learn along with the students, once they understood what was going on. at first they would be frustrated we were looking at products, but buying nothing. but that frustration turned to curiosity as they joined in, pointing at garlic, okra and onions, repeating the words in english and laughing at one another.

more pics here.

so i danced my feet off last friday. where would i be without salsa? some friends came with me to give it a first try. we actually closed the place down. really, i was the last person on the dance floor with my friend romuald hazoumé, who happens to be quite the famous artist. i knew this already, but he’s never said anything to me about it.

so when romuald offered to drive my friends and me back to my place around midnight (always good to have friends with cars once the sun goes down), i laughed when he responded to ashley’s question, “what do you do?” “i’m just a little well known,” he said. ha! i told him that if he’s going to continue to do shows in new york and dc, (and paris, madrid, the tate modern in london… etc), he needs to learn the phrase, “i’m kinda a big deal” à la will ferrell.

romuald has a studio in porto novo and said i could bring my students by after i get back from ghana. that will be cool.

froid: cold. “il fait froid.”

it’s cold in cotonou. yesterday’s high was 86 and today’s high is 85… brrrr! no, seriously! i have actually been wearing a long sleeve shirt the past two days, which is nothing compared to the people wearing wool sweaters and face masks!

fâché: angry. “je suis fâché.”

some of you may know that different cultures view time differently. americans are a “time sensitive” culture, meaning we attach significance to hours and minutes. this is evidenced by sayings such as, “time is money.” on the other hand, africa is an “event sensitive” culture. so if someone says “i’ll be there at 3pm,” that really means, “i’ll be there whenever i finish what i was doing before 3pm.” it’s a cultural difference, it’s not bad, it’s normal, and i know that.

what is NOT normal is to say on sunday, “lets meet monday. i’ll call before i come.” no show, no phone call. monday and tuesday pass, wednesday night phone call: “can i come tomorrow? i’ll be there between 11 and 2.” no show, no phone call. thursday and friday pass. “can we meet next monday?” no show, no phone call. this is ridiculous.

what is even MORE ridiculous is to find your class, that you manage and schedule and teach, has been canceled by someone else without asking permission or even calling to let you know. that is enough to send this girl through the roof, which i realize could seem dramatic from the outside… but when it’s the only predictable thing in my life?!?! ah, vraiment, je suis fâché!!

football: soccer. “j’aime le football!”

soccer is possibly the most international sport ever. when i was salsa dancing sunday night, the africa cup was on, and more than once my partner would strategically lead me in such a way that he could watch the match. churches schedule mass viewings of games with projectors (which, you have to remember, is quite a scene when projectors are so scarce!). at night i fall asleep the the sounds of neighbors cheering or shouting in anguish. it’s a very charged atmosphere.

fin: end.