Move-In Day Part 1, and Subsequent Fiasco

9.25.10
Move-in day was all sorts of wrong. The taxi was 4 hours late, we waited 2 hours to finally find the key and get into the house, and when we walked in, it was uninhabitable. Even though PC makes the rules very, very clear to the communities, my house still had no screen on the windows, no screen door, an open-air sewage pit, no neighbors, and a thick layer of cement and sand on every flat surface. Also, no furniture.


I fought back tears for the better part of 5 hours while my director* called the carpenter, the plumber, several small children, and the mason to come fix my house. At about 8:30, they suddenly realized that I couldn’t really live there that night, so they invited (told) me to pack a bag for a week. Where was I going? Back to Porto Novo. To live with the host family that I know really well and adore? Nope, to live with my boss and his family. Awkward.


The family was really nice, they made me good food, and the Maman was so excited to have a girl in the house (she has five sons) that she gave me a really shiny pearl-and-gold-Chinese-characters necklace. Problem was, I was not in village being productive, and except for the two days I was errand-running with the parents, I was home doing nothing most of the time. Which is hell when you’re freaking out about getting things done on time.


To keep myself busy, I read two books and made 8,000 lists. I made lists about chores to get my house in shape, funny things I’ve seen zem drivers wearing, and my top 15 countries to visit. I made lists about American foods I miss, things I could buy here with $2, and places I didn’t know I could sweat so much. I made lists about the lists I’d made, and I made a list about lists I refuse to make (#1: future baby names).


Anyway, so it was a boring week. I think because I put so much time into it, I’m going to post a list every time I update… get excited. The first of many:


Top 5 Favorite/Most Entertaining Beninese Misunderstandings:

1. Obama is America’s first African president. They don’t mean African-American.
2. North America + South America = the continent America. Obama is president of this continent.
3. If you wash a cat, it will die. I’m not sure why this is so funny to me, but it is.
4. Everyone knows everyone in America. I have told people that Obama is my next door neighbor, and they believe me. My other best friends include Rihanna, Akon, and Beyonce.
5. I am Chinese. (I’ve had people walk up to me and karate chop in my direction, and I’ve also had them speak fake Chinese to me – “tong tok bok tong.” My blonde-and-blue-eyed friends get this too.

*I’m not sure if I explained this earlier, but “my director” means “the director (like the principal) of my school”… in other words, my boss.