Cutting the Grass at the CAFOP

Students at the college where I work cut the grass old-school style- with machetes!
Unlike in the States, students here in CI whether at college or at primary and secondary schools often do chores around their school grounds.

The Many "Faces" of My Job in Côte d'Ivoire

Giving a speech at a high school conference titled, "The Importance of English in the World".


Catching a wind near my skirt at the library of the college where my office is located.


Discussing reproductive issues and family planning with women of Debo II village.


Family planning session with the local representative of the Ivorian Agency for Family Well-Being, literacy tutors, and the women of Detroya village.


My office!

My Baby

Well, she isn't really mine but I keep telling her parents that I am going to take her away from them when I leave. They always smile and agree :) LOL I love this baby...isn't she just adorable?!

Is She Kissing Me?

Yeah....so I guess I wasn't the only one who found this pose a bit strange. Oh, and let me just say that that was my first day meeting the girl who is hugging on me ...at this point, I didn't even know her name! LOL

Ivorian Greetings

How do people greet each other in Côte d’Ivoire? The most common greeting amongst males and females alike is the standard handshake, like the one we have in the US. Also, Ivorians have incorporated the cheek-to-cheek kiss into their culture, with giving 3 kisses opposed to 2 kisses as the French do. This is normally done between good friends and also when you haven’t seen someone in quite sometime. There is another greeting that I have seen several times but only between men, who are often important figures. This particular greeting seems to express a great deal of respect between the two people greeting each other. It goes like this: two men embrace each other by the hands, neck, or shoulders and then they touch foreheads 3 times, alternating from side to side and turning the neck each time. Interesting, right?

It’s a Stare Down!

For Americans, it is culturally impolite to stare. I still remember one of my uncles telling me to “stop gazing” when we were at a McDonalds – what must to have been some 20 years ago. Well, in Côte d’Ivoire, the American faux pas of staring does not exist. People will stare you straight in the face until you’re out of eyes’ reach. Whereas Americans look away to prevent looking at strangers too long, Ivoirians seem to go more by the rule of, “God gave me eyes to use and I can’t let this sense go to waste.” It’s amusing to ride by in a car and watch passersby stare you down. I often think that one could easily get caught cheating in this city the way that these folks stare into cars – they miss nothing with their eyes! An Ivoirian person’s “business” begins and ends with what he or she can see. One might say that Ivoirians are nosey. I think that we (Americans) were more like them – that is before we became so industrialized and “developed”.

I think there are benefits to people’s perceptivity here. For example, one day, a gentleman on a motorcycle, noticed me walking from the market with tons of heavy bags. He stopped and gave me a lift home. On another occasion, I was chastising a young girl for making a rude remark at me and random woman at the market who saw the situation unfold came to add her two cents – chastising the child with me! There is a sense of community here that reminds you of what it must have been like to grow up in the “good old days” in the US.

Oh…the Flies!

I will never look at flies the same way ever again. You know those commercials that we too often see in the United States of poor Africans with flies swarming all around? Well, for the record, I have not seen anything like that. I have seen no starving, sick people in the streets or any babies with ribcages poking through their skin. Yet, I have seen a whole lot of flies. What I am trying to say is that these flies are not typically living on people like those commercials for “Feed the Children” convey but rather, they’re always there…forever present…around especially wherever there is food or drink. At my own house, I see too many flies in one day. Today, I tried to take a nap but couldn’t quite get to stage 2 of slumber due to the buzz, buzz, buzz of flies! I remember the first time I ate agouti – the rodent like animal which is a popular variety of bush meat for Ivoirians –in the little hut of a restaurant in a local village; the eatery was full of flies! So the fact that I was going to eat agouti which had been full of flies just minutes before it was set before my eyes on the table made me want to hurl even before I had put the rat meat to my lips.

Random Things I Miss from the USA

o Corn Dogs
o Maple Seasoned Breakfasts! (Maple syrup, maple bacon, etc)

Working Out : Ears & Body

Yep, feeling pretty good and revitalized right now! Around 5:48 pm, I started the walk from my house to my aerobics class at the Catholic Cultural Center. I arrived approximately 15 minutes later. I just got back; it’s around 7:20 pm. And since the electricity isn’t cut off tonight (as it was cut off all day) I was able to walk back and on my way, I paid for 4 bananas – 10 cents for all 4. But actually the woman gave me one as a cadeaux, which means “gift” in French. The aerobics class is composed of women-only (most of the time) and is not very rigorous but it is so much better than sitting at home working out finger muscles while jamming fatty foods into my mouth. Those who know me well should know that I live with very few regrets. In fact, it is rare for me regret anything because I see mistakes as life lessons and life lessons tend to make one better, stronger, and wiser. But, I can say that there are two things that I wish I would have done earlier in my sojourn here in Cote d’Ivoire 1) commence with aerobics and 2) buy a radio.

Aerobics, although I wasn’t working out regularly in the U.S., serve one well here in Côte d’Ivoire. I find that the cuisine here is quite rich in fats. I have all but lost weight here in Africa! I am easily 5-10 pounds larger than I was in New York! Now, chew on that! I do walk a lot here. In fact, I walk to work every day but the food I eat here in CI sticks! I would even say that I have consumed more oil (palm oil mainly) in these past 8 months than I have in all my years on earth! Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration because I have eaten a lot of fried chicken and fish in my day but still….it’s not a serious embellishment, believe you me. With that said, I am looking forward and not backwards and feel very satisfied that I have started working out this month.

The week of May 10th, I purchased a radio and I have never been happier! The only thing that I’d wished is that I would have thought of buying it sooner. Why? I do not have a TV (unlike most, if not all, of my neighbors) and a radio is the next best thing! Why? Because it allows you to stay in-the-know with current events and allows you to listen to music that you wouldn’t have otherwise heard. And for me, the biggest benefit of it all is that at the same time, I am training my ears in French! Each day I listen to the radio, I hear a new word or phrase or a reinforce something I already know. I think that having a radio is better than having a TV because I can’t use my eyes. I have to really listen!

Love, Romance, and Marriage in Côte d'Ivoire

Wow…where do I start?

Men here in Côte d’Ivoire are not sleeping when it comes to chasing women. I have been proposed to, summoned by a United Nations’ official, and followed to work by these tenacious men! Just yesterday, a young fellow approached me - well, let me go back - he had his friend to stop me and he only approached me minutes later. Well, when I told him I was married (something I’ve gotten quite used to saying since living here – or else I am asking to be bothered all the time!) do you know what he asked me? “Is it a legal marriage?” LOL! But in reality, his question has relevance here in Côte d’Ivoire. There are three different types of marriages here: 1) one in which a man asks for a woman’s hand in marriage by going to visit her parents (traditionally in the villages) and bringing them some gifts (often alcohol) 2) one in which it is a civil, legal marriage done at the mayor’s office or 3) one in which the couple decides to live together in a free union, meaning married but not legally.

I do not know much about the dating scene except to say that there is one! I often buy Ivoirian love newsletters. In these newsletters (the stories you find inside are often so juicy!) there are personal ads. Do you remember when personal ads were not on match.com or E-Harmony but good old pursuits of love happiness written in black and white in weekly or daily newspapers? Well, I do. As a kid, I enjoyed reading love ads (and obituaries- morbid, yes I know) in the paper. Well, fortunately (and I say fortunately because I am one of those who appreciates old-fashioned modernism) in CI, the printed love ad section of the paper still exists. Nothing has changed and I still love reading these personal ads – especially here in CI because it gives me an insight into the culture. Here are some excerpts from one of my love newsletters from this week (Translated from French to English):

Young man, 36 y/o, 1m85 (height), slim, dark-skinned, nice and discreet, desires to meet mature, saucy women (preferably nice, round, and plump) for love relations and maybe more! # 04 19 88 63 -Arthur
P.S. I accept text messages also and I will certainly respond. You can reach me for the most part after 8pm. Kisses to all.

Hi. Young, business man desires to correspond with all ladies between 25-35 y/o. Please do not send me text messages nor beep me and above all, [I would like] a stable woman who works please because I also work. Those who don’t have a job, it’s not even worth it to call. # 66 29 50 33

My name is Edmond, a young student age 23 who is looking to meet ladies who are between 30-50 y/o for a discreet relationship.

I am Henry, 25 y/o. I desire to meet ladies or young ladies from 25 to 50 y/o who desire to be satisfied.

I am Dario, informational engineer, 26 y/o, single, 1,60m and 57kg. I would like to meet a pretty, preferably Christian girl who is between 20 and 25 for a sincere relationship which could lead to marriage. Very serious please.

Hi My name is Fleur. I desire correspondence with a man 35-45, light skinned or brown-skinned. Please, no jokers. I am 27.# 02 14 45 35

Hi I am 24 y/o, 52 kilograms, medium height and brown-skinned. Desire to correspond with a man age 28-35 with a stable situation. Thanks. Bintou
Hi, my name is Jacques, single, 25 y/o, 1m90, light-skinned, clean, handsome man doing well for himself. I would like to share my intimacy with chocolate women who are in shape, pretty, and doing well for themselves.

Hi, my name is Emilie. I am 39 years old. I work in the domain of HIV. I am HIV positive. I desire to meet a man who is the same and is 45-50 who works and who is feeling lonely and seeks a loving, sincere, lasting relationship. Players/jokers do not respond.

Hi, I’m Stephanie. I am 19 and I would like to get friendly with young footballers who are between 20-25 who are clean, nice, handsome and very polite for a serious relationship.

HI. I am JM. I am a young optician, 26 y/o desiring to have a sincere relationship (leading towards marriage) with a lady btw 20-30, preferably with a guitar-shaped body, loyal, no kids, and with a financially stable situation. P.S. Jokers refrain from responding.

Random Things I Miss from the USA

o Vanilla Milkshake

Going to the Market for Chicken and Beef

When I first got here, I went into grocery stores looking for packaged meat. I remember having a desire to cook “lardon”, which is a special cut of bacon found in France. I thought, since I am in a French speaking country which has many French imports, it shouldn’t be hard to find lardons. I also remember seeing a package of them in the grocery store in the largest Ivorian city, Abidjan. So, my second week here in Daloa, I went into every single supermarket looking for this bacon only to find that none of them carried it. In fact, I didn’t really see any meat in these grocery stores at all, except for the occasional small cold cut selection. Why? Because people sell and buy meat here the traditional (and I’d argue, normal) way. What does that mean? In the case of beef, someone kills a cow and brings the fresh meat to the market to sell the same day. When I first witnessed the “beef stand", I was in disbelief. The meat was just there like that, on a slab with millions and gazillions of flies swarming around. I remembered what my mom always says, “Where there are flies, there are maggots.” Yuck! I thought, “Looks like I won’t be eating any meat except for fish in Côte d’Ivoire.” And all of a sudden, I could sympathize with those who choose the vegetarian lifestyle. Anyway, what I also noticed is that I was the only one around who was fazed by the fresh meat-selling process. With time, I have gotten over the disbelief and have now become one of the butcher’s best-selling clients; he gave me a call last week just to say hello!

When buying chicken, the process is a little different. Quite simply, you go to where the guys sell chicken at the market; there are tons and tons of chickens in many different cages. Depending on what type of chicken you want –African, “poulet du cher” (which is the type of chicken we have in the States), etc – you pick one out and the seller lets you hold the live chicken by its legs so that you can feel its weight. Normally, you want to try out 2-3 to make sure you’re getting the heaviest chicken – after all, for Ivoirians, that’s what counts – which one has the most meat. After that you decide which one is the one that gets to go home with you, you have it killed – that is, if you don’t want to take it home live and wait a few days and then kill it yourself. How much to have the experts at the market kill the chicken? 100 CFA which is about 25 cents. They cut the poor thing’s throat, put it in hot water, the feathers then literally rub right off, and then they remove the undesirables and leave you with the meat, cut how you like. It’s necessary to mention that they give you the feet, the head, and the gizzard – all of which people here eat. I have never seen anyone eat the head so I don’t really know how that works. As for the feet, I’ve tried to eat them but the claws (i.e. chicken toenails) get in the way and besides, there’s really no meat on them.

Prices:
For a kilo of beef (a kilo is 2.20 lbs) = about $4
For a whole chicken = around $5 (depends on size and type/breed)

I am White

I certainly feel a link between myself and Africans that I do not feel in my connection to my fellow White Americans. Why do I feel this connection? Could it be my skin, my hair, or the remnants of African influence which sprinkle – okay douse -the African-American culture? I must say that it is liberating to know that if you have a problem with someone that it is not because you are black! 99% of everyone you see here is black. That’s not to say that I do not run in to problems here or that I am not treated differently sometimes due to my “status” as an American, due to the fact that I am female, due to my age, etc.

I feel like “them”- many have said I look like them - although I know that the feeling is not always mutual. They, as in Ivoirians, when it boils down to it, clearly see me as une blanche (in French the meaning literally means white lady but what Ivoirians really are trying to express with this term is that I am a Westerner). One day a guy told me that it was obvious I wasn’t Ivoirian, when he looked at me he said he knew. I asked, “And my skin?” He said even that looks different. This type of comment, however, is quite rare. Based on my physical appearance, people cannot tell that I am not African. On another day, on my way to work, I crossed a field where many young girls were playing. I heard one of them say, “There goes the “White lady”.”I couldn’t help it. I turned around and asked, “Excuse me but do you see anything white here?” while pointing at my skin. They all giggled because they understood what I was posing with my question.

What I find really interesting is that Ivoirians do not make a distinction between me, as an African American, and a White American. Yes, they realize that I am a by-product of Africa and that I am black, unlike European descended Americans. But for them, generally speaking, we, all Americans, are all the same – precisely our way of thinking. Our occidental mentalities are the same. We are all from the Western world; we are all “white”. This is another reason why, in general*, they do not perceive interracial relationships in the same racist manner that some of us, Americans, do. While I’ve been asked many times, “Is your boyfriend a white American or a black American?” – the curiosity is certainly there - I still think that their perception is different, as if interracial friendships/relationships aren’t as a “loaded” topic as it is or can be in the US. I find that quite fascinating. This says to me that race in America has a different spin than it does in Africa. This is no secret but it just reinforces how racialized the United States is. We judge everything by race. As humans, we categorize. We make boxes; it’s natural. But isn’t it a bit weird that many of us -before considering one’s level of education, age, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, religion -we start with the color of one’s skin? But then again, my experience in Africa has taught me that if race was not the weapon used to assume power and self-legitimacy, it would, most definitely, be something else. For example, here in Côte d’Ivoire, there are at least 60 ethnicities. Yes, all of these people are black but they belong to different ethnic groups with different languages, cultures, and customs. And nowadays, people intermarry between ethnic groups but still I cannot tell you how many times I have heard comments like, “You know, those {fill in any ethnic group} can’t be trusted.” Or “Those folks from the north/south are all lazy.” Even in terms of immigration, I have heard people use all sorts of derogatory comments against the blacks that come from other neighboring (often poorer) African countries to live in Côte d’Ivoire. So, yes, while we have seemingly huge race issues in the United States, the roots of our race problems are less about skin color and more about the natural tendency in man to divide and categorize so that one group can benefit over another. In the States, given our history of slavery and our heterogeneity, racism has been and continues to be one of the easiest tactics to apply in exploiting privilege.

*I use the phase in general often to express my observations because I do not strive to characterize an entire country based on my mere limited experiences. Keep in mind that generalities often ignore someone or something. What I am essentially saying is that there are always exceptions to the rule and my opinions are based on my personal perception. Point: digest everything that is preceded by “in general”, with a grain of salt. And if the “in general” disclaimer is missing, proceed cautiously ;)

The Cutest Tomatoes

Lots of things that we have in the United States, as we know, are exaggerated in size! The United States is known abroad (CI is not an exception) as the creator of big things! With that said, there are versions of things here in Cote d’Ivoire that are the fraction of size of its counterpart in the United States: baby bell peppers, baby bananas, baby cabbages, etc. Let’s take the beefsteak tomato for example. Here in CI, there is a version of this tomato that looks just like our huge beefsteak tomato only a lot smaller! Take a look!

Random Things I Miss from the USA

o Fruit Loops
o Ranch Dressing
o Bacon

A Calm Day after the May Rain

Last night and early this morning, it rained quite a bit. As a result, the air became a bit crispy and cool – around 75 degrees. When I woke up around 7am, the sky was not bright like it normally is, the air was cool, and everything was quite still. I loved the weather, loved the moment. There were no sounds of babies crying, people shuffling around, children going to school, mothers cooking, sheep baaing, sellers selling, roosters cock-a-dooddly-dooing, Ivoirian zouglou music blasting from next door….

And then I decided that there were no sounds of life outside of my apartment because 75 degrees for Ivoirians is like winter! The coolness of the morning seemed to have left people calm – days like these are welcome in the future! As a matter of fact, we should be nearing the rainy season here in Côte d’Ivoire where {surprise!} it rains practically all the time. But since global warming has its footprints all over the world, including Africa, the seasons have changed a bit and there is no telling when the rainy season will actually begin. Soon, I hope!

Snails Anyone?

Have you ever arrived at the gas station only to realize that you have no Kleenex in the car? Or that you need to buy a new pair of sandals for that birthday party you're headed to? Or that you might want to cook a delectable dish of snails (see tray carried by little boy to the left) for dinner?

Well, if you've ever been in any one of these predicaments, you'd be happy in Côte d'Ivoire! Private industries are still developing so that means that there are entrepreneurs wherever you go. Ivorians sell the most unlikely things in the most unlikely places. But talk about convenient!