9.12.10
So I’m practically Beninese now. Not only can I eat pate with slimy gombo sauce (most of the time without gagging), I can also argue with zem drivers (who still give me bad prices) AND tie a pagne as a skirt (I wear full-coverage granny panties on those days in case the knot comes undone). Other advancements in my African-ness:
- I ate a whole fish today – it was cold, covered in slimy sauce, and full of bones. And I ate the whole damn thing.
- I can wash my clothes by hand by myself. It took my host family a full 3 times to not demote me to sitting and watching as they did my laundry, but I made it! Evidence: my raw, oozing knuckles.
- I have a tan line! It’s on my foot, and it’s definitely not pretty, but this might be the first time since I was eight that my skin hasn’t been glow-in-the-dark white.
- I write my numbers in the Beninese way some of the time. This means that my 9s look like lowercase Gs, my 7s have a moustache, and my 1s look like tents.
- I can now have a conversation in French at the grammatical level of a Beninese five year old. Having arrived as a newborn, I feel that this is progress.
Over the past 2ish months, I’ve made lots of mistakes, said a lot of accidentally offensive things in French, and eaten lots of weird foods. I’ve cried for hours by myself, and I’ve laughed for hours surrounded by new PC friends. I’m pretty sure the next three months will be full of similar surprises – culturally, personally, and language-wise – and I’m excited to see what new changes I’ll be able to report come December 20th.
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