lauren laughs

some of the less boring things i did this weekend (making vocab flash cards for gre not included).

1. welcomed abdu back to benin as a US citizen… yay abdu!! congrats on the citizenship!

2. made REALLY yummy BOX cake with store bought icing! the icing came from the US and i bought the box cake mix in ghana for $6. it was worth it. box cake in benin?!?! ooooh, delicious.

3. libations atop shannon’s roof terrace. the harmattan breezes (or however you spell it… the suuuper dusty winds off the sahara) have made a fierce come back. we’re not sure why, since we’ve entered the hot/humid season (like it’s not always hot here, ha!). anyway, it makes for a cool night on the roof.

4. pot luck. if there’s one thing missionaries do well, it’s pot luck. we do more than one thing well, though.

5. salsa dancing. two interesting conversations: first, i was asked to “star” in yet another music video… in which i’d be playing the french lover of a beninioise starving artist, haha; second, one of the guys (romeo) offered to tie me to his back (like you do to babies) using a pagne (african all-purpose fabric) in order to get me home safely on a moto. i turned down both offers. nice that my dance partners were concerned about my safety while traveling at night! romeo did give the zemi driver a stern talking-to before sending me on my way.

addendum

pictured is an example of how one ties a baby to ones back using a pagne… just because the visual associated with the above paragraph doesn’t work so well outside the cultural context of benin!

yesterday was one of those days i wouldn’t trade for the world. the students are off this week, after taking end-of-term exams, so we had a party to celebrate. it was scheduled from 10am to 4pm, but we were still going strong past 6pm, and i didn’t mind one bit. i think it was the most i’ve ever “played” with the students here. back home, youth leaders play all the time… but here the emphasis is on prayer and teaching—it’s good, but it’s all so serious. so while we did talk about how knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (1 corinthians 8), we also did a whole lot of messing around.

we played lots of games. my contribution was musical chairs (easy enough for me to explain in french!) which was hilarious when you’ve got over 40 “kids” falling over each other in their party clothes.

we also had a bit of a talent show with lots of singing, dancing and even some play-acting. i got some great video, which i’ll upload the next time i have the opportunity to be online for several hours. dancing is a form of worship here, and i had fun boogie-ing for Jesus with the best of them—even if i can’t make my shoulders move like water.

pelagie and i left the party to swing by augustine’s house. augustine makes my clothes and i teach her sisters. it’s been ages since i’ve visited her compound, as it’s now far from my home. she had a new outfit ready for me (pelagie picked out the fabric and design, complete with ruffles!) augustine handed me the skirt. i took one look at it and said, “this won’t fit. i’ve gained too much weight.” she argued until she saw i couldn’t pull the skirt up over my hips… “it’s true!” her exclamation was somewhat victorious, as it’s always a good thing to put on weight in africa. but i explained, “i cannot find a husband like this. i will have to diet soon.” while that may sound dramatic to you, you have to understand that the only thing more important than being well fed is being married in this culture. so if i’m going to turn down food, marriage is the only excuse i’ve got (skye taught me that trick in tanzania!) i also snapped some good pics of the kids in the compound. you can see it all here.

days like these i say “i live in africa” with glowing eyes and a singing heart.

i was greeted by a lovely couple of emails this morning… first from lara:

so this morning i heard my roommate laughing across the apartment. i asked her “what’s so funny”…she said that she was reading a blog about a girl in benin who was speaking politics with someone there.

and i was like “what’s the name of that website”…and she was like “lauren laughs” and i was like “i know lauren…we email…she is good friends with eric! how do you know her?”

and she was like “i don’t know…”

and then eric’s response:

i get more referrals from laurenlaughs than any other site. i think she’s a cultural icon.

thanks guys. still laughing out loud (much to the chagrin of my neighbor!)

that’s what my zemi driver said today…

see, i was trying to get to the peace corps office (which was closed for president’s day… like i’m going to remember federal government holidays while in benin? sheesh!) anyway, the conversation went something like this (but in french).

(following boring exchange of price haggling)…

me: you know, not all ‘yovos’ are rich.

zem: what about your president? he was here saturday. i love george bush.

me: you do?

zem: oh, yes. i love george bush. he is a good president.

me: well, he has done good things in africa (it’s true!), but that’s not the case for every country.

zem: what… terrorism? if a man comes into your house and hits you, you ought to hit him back!

(making hitting motions rather than keeping both hands on the handle bars, yikes!)

me: you know, this time next year we will have a new president. we have elections in november.

zem: yes. i know clinton is the democrat, obama is the senator and john is the republican.

(well, he’s almost right… i’m pretty impressed!)

me: if you could vote for the american president, who would you vote for?

zem: i would vote for you.

me: me? you would vote for me? i am not running.

zem: okay then i would vote for john. he is a republican. i want john to win because i love george bush.

who knew? zemi drivers are republicans! i wonder how many african taxi drivers in america would side with mr. zemi. people here really do love bush, but they also just love america. one beninoise friend of mine said, “i love bush because i love democracy. but i liked clinton too… he was jovial.”

lau’s presidential pole (of one) all the way from cotonou: john wins… but only because i’m not running!

yes, a very important plane will be touching down in cotonou tomorrow. peeps in benin have known about this trip long before we were supposed to. can’t keep a secret here! i’m hoping to make it out to the runway, as i think air force one and i ought to be acquainted… especially since propane one and i are such good buddies. and it has been about a year since i was in the same room as bush… but somehow i think i won’t make the security cut this time around. “what, missionary lau isn’t on your list?” (insert pouty face).

do you remember that commercial from probably 15 years back where they’d show an egg and say, “this is your brain…” then they’d crack it into a frying pan, where the egg would begin to pop and sizzle… “this is your brain on drugs. any questions?” that was the commercial. short and, uh, sweet.

well, i’m not on drugs (except anti-malarials)… but this i-just-took-my-braids-out picture would suggest otherwise. pop and sizzle.

there is a “secret” handshake in benin that gives me the creeps. if you shake a guy’s hand, and he moves his finger to your palm, it’s a proposition. to agree, you return the finger-to-palm gesture. to disagree, in my case, i play dumb. but really, it’s a slap-worthy offense.

i mention this only because i received the dirty handshake moments ago from a man i greet every week. and i’ll see him again on my way back home. brrrrr…. gives me the heeby jeebies. if you come to benin, beware the dirty handshake!

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!