If a Beninoise were going to America...
Trip Start
Sep 22, 2003
1
27
62
Trip End
Dec 13, 2005
Materi,
Benin
Monday, June 21, 2004
1. you can be arrested for public exposure if you decide to urinate right outside of the (non bush) taxi and / or poo.
2. the throaty clicks you use to mean 'whatever' or 'that is soooo wrong' or 'can you believe this guy?' will mean nothing to americans. they certainly won't understand the difference between one click and two.
3. dont' throw your trash everywhere...especially if in vermont or california.
4. you don't have to save EVERYTHING. throwing away water bottles is normal there.
5. DON'T TRY TO BARTER WITH THE CASHIER IN THE SUPERMARKET. she is NOT just giving you the YOVO price. swear.
6. if you are Fuluni and you want to wear little girl plastic berettes and other plastic jewelry, people might laugh at you and/or mistake your sexual oriention.
7. Phil Collins and Michael Bolton and Kenny G are not our biggest american musical talent.
8. don't celebrate 10 years of your mom being dead. especially don't send her picture into the tv station to celebrate. seriously. you won't win any friends that way.
9. tom-toms aren't (generally) allowed in church.
10. if you wear the pants with the crotch ripped out and forget the underwear (like some zhemis), you may get slapped.
11. if the first words out of your mouth to a woman are, "are you married," and then, "how far away is he," it's *not* a good sign.
12. if you get 'sent' an illness, it will be super hard to find a good voodoo chief to cure you. they are definately not in the yellow pages.
13. no, no, no, don't worry. that WHOLE seat is just for you. No, no, don't try to put the family of 8 in the front seat...
14. sleeping on the concrete may be confortable for you, but we may think it is unconfortable. or even with the plastic sheet of paper mat. yes, we are weaklings.
15. watch the middle finger. don't pick your nose in public (seriously!) or touch yourself (even if its for scratching - i mean it!).
16. sitting together in silence doing nothing is weird, trust me.
17. you can be polite without asking how the chickens were over the weekend. just do the nod - that will count for asking about all of the following:
the family
the house
the dog
the children
the chickens
the spouse (s)
and you
18. men: you only get one wife. ONLY ONE!
19. don't eat the rats. DON'T DO IT!
20. you may be able to balance a large basin of pepsi products on your head, but people won't automatically know you are selling it as you walk down the street, but they will be amazed by your personal balance.
This was taken from Ginger's (another volunteer's) weblog.
