Absurdities (a team blog)
We've decided to laugh and categorize as "absurd" the things that might otherwise drive us crazy (like Dick Cheney or China's foreign policy).
1) The West African Concept of Time. A 2 p.m. wedding means 4p.m., a 10 a.m. meeting won't start - of course - before 11 a.m. If government officials are involved, 3.30 p.m. is code for 7.30 p.m. It's ridiculous... even by our standards. On the other hand, taxi drivers are surprisingly punctual... which means we've got the hurry-up-and-wait routine nailed.
2) It is finished... There's some weird belief here that people want to hear and see certain things, even if they are not true. People are always "just on the way" to meet us, even after we've waited twice the time it would have taken them to arrive. Restaurant owners offer a plethora of selections, 2/3 of which are never available. Vendors will keep their shops open, even on days with no inventory. No one ever wants to admit that they've run out of something. Instead, the conversation goes something like..."May we order dinner?" "Yes, please sit down." "What do you have today?" "Oh...the food is finished." The same, by the way, holds true for public services. It's not that the government isn't providing electricity or water. It's just that the water and power are finished.
3) The Religious Free-For-All in Benin. That man says he is Catholic, but he locks himself into his room to do Muslim prayers and he sent his daughter away for 3 months to a traditional healer. That woman says she is Christian, but she makes a daily hike down to the river to clean and maintain the fetishist site. This family is Muslim but they do some nightly incense ritual and all wear voodoo scorpion and snake rings. Everyone has a "kosher" religion that they outwardly claim, but most people are hedging their bets with some voodoo/animist beliefs as well. They're very quiet about these, but the signs are everywhere and so are the stories.
In Kalale, we ate with a family headed by an incredibly warm woman simply known as "Maman." (No one we asked could tell us her name; not that it matters, as it's what she wants to be called.) Maman is known for helping those in need, and her home is part family residence, part guesthouse, and part safehouse. One resident, Lucie, was brought to Maman by a Catholic missionary priest who spent many years in Kalale. He had been out in the bush one day and had run into Baby Lucie and her father. It turns out that Lucie had the misfortune of having her upper front teeth come in before her lower front teeth--a sign, according to her father, that she was a sorceress. He was on his way out into the bush to slit her throat. The priest managed to take Lucie away but it was clear she could never go home again.
The workers in the health clinic are having a hard time combating the prevalent practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the region. The Boo people have long performed this ritual on women on the night of their marriage in the belief that it promotes fidelity. In a terrible confluence of religious beliefs, the Boo have recently taken up the flag of the very Christian HIV/AIDS message being spread all over Africa. Now they say that FGM is the best way to prevent HIV/AIDS.
(4) May you go in Peace and not in Pieces. The one bus company with a semblance of professionalism in West Africa (i.e. the bus leaves on time), also offers its very own complementary pre-trip blessing. On our way to Benin, our bus-preacher sent us off with a prayer, screaming "In the mighty name of CHEE-SSUSS" into the microphone and wishing that we arrive as victors, and not victims; that we go in peace and not in pieces.
(Absurdity Add.1: every speaker in West Africa is used at twice its capacity. It's unclear how people get the message through all the feedback.)
(5) The art of asking twice. The foreign exchange bureau NEVER has the currency you need, but stick around and ask two or three more times, and it will eventually come out of the drawer.
(6) My survey enumerator ran off with my money. Enough said.
Ok... none of these is as bad as Dick Cheney or China's foreign policy... but you get the point.
1) The West African Concept of Time. A 2 p.m. wedding means 4p.m., a 10 a.m. meeting won't start - of course - before 11 a.m. If government officials are involved, 3.30 p.m. is code for 7.30 p.m. It's ridiculous... even by our standards. On the other hand, taxi drivers are surprisingly punctual... which means we've got the hurry-up-and-wait routine nailed.
2) It is finished... There's some weird belief here that people want to hear and see certain things, even if they are not true. People are always "just on the way" to meet us, even after we've waited twice the time it would have taken them to arrive. Restaurant owners offer a plethora of selections, 2/3 of which are never available. Vendors will keep their shops open, even on days with no inventory. No one ever wants to admit that they've run out of something. Instead, the conversation goes something like..."May we order dinner?" "Yes, please sit down." "What do you have today?" "Oh...the food is finished." The same, by the way, holds true for public services. It's not that the government isn't providing electricity or water. It's just that the water and power are finished.
3) The Religious Free-For-All in Benin. That man says he is Catholic, but he locks himself into his room to do Muslim prayers and he sent his daughter away for 3 months to a traditional healer. That woman says she is Christian, but she makes a daily hike down to the river to clean and maintain the fetishist site. This family is Muslim but they do some nightly incense ritual and all wear voodoo scorpion and snake rings. Everyone has a "kosher" religion that they outwardly claim, but most people are hedging their bets with some voodoo/animist beliefs as well. They're very quiet about these, but the signs are everywhere and so are the stories.
In Kalale, we ate with a family headed by an incredibly warm woman simply known as "Maman." (No one we asked could tell us her name; not that it matters, as it's what she wants to be called.) Maman is known for helping those in need, and her home is part family residence, part guesthouse, and part safehouse. One resident, Lucie, was brought to Maman by a Catholic missionary priest who spent many years in Kalale. He had been out in the bush one day and had run into Baby Lucie and her father. It turns out that Lucie had the misfortune of having her upper front teeth come in before her lower front teeth--a sign, according to her father, that she was a sorceress. He was on his way out into the bush to slit her throat. The priest managed to take Lucie away but it was clear she could never go home again.
The workers in the health clinic are having a hard time combating the prevalent practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the region. The Boo people have long performed this ritual on women on the night of their marriage in the belief that it promotes fidelity. In a terrible confluence of religious beliefs, the Boo have recently taken up the flag of the very Christian HIV/AIDS message being spread all over Africa. Now they say that FGM is the best way to prevent HIV/AIDS.
(4) May you go in Peace and not in Pieces. The one bus company with a semblance of professionalism in West Africa (i.e. the bus leaves on time), also offers its very own complementary pre-trip blessing. On our way to Benin, our bus-preacher sent us off with a prayer, screaming "In the mighty name of CHEE-SSUSS" into the microphone and wishing that we arrive as victors, and not victims; that we go in peace and not in pieces.
(Absurdity Add.1: every speaker in West Africa is used at twice its capacity. It's unclear how people get the message through all the feedback.)
(5) The art of asking twice. The foreign exchange bureau NEVER has the currency you need, but stick around and ask two or three more times, and it will eventually come out of the drawer.
(6) My survey enumerator ran off with my money. Enough said.
Ok... none of these is as bad as Dick Cheney or China's foreign policy... but you get the point.
posted by cla at 6:57 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home