Voodoo War!

So Tavor has moved in around the corner, and she seems to have caused quite a stir...

A few months before she moved in, there was a week-long (maybe longer) Voodoo celebration on either her block or the next street over.  It is difficult to tell exactly where because I didn’t actually go and investigate.  The neighborhood folks over there rented a big tarp and set it up and put chairs and speakers under it and we heard singing and music blasting all throughout the night for at least a week.  I asked people one night what was going on and they said that there was some sort of vodoun fête going on.  My curiosity stopped at that, I went home, and the celebrations stopped after a few more days.

The path that takes Tavor home from our house essentially leads though a dump.  Maybe it’s more accurate to say that the path skirts the area of where people just throw trash, so there is a big trash pile on the side of the path and occasionally you have to walk through it a little bit to get through, which isn’t too unusual or uncomfortable for us at this point.  The path is narrow so that, unless someone wants to literally walk in the trash for a good 20-yard stretch, groups have to walk single-file.  Same thing if someone is walking the other way.  To pass, someone has to walk through trash.  When it rains, a thick, black, smelly mud seeps out from the pile and partially onto the path.  I think you get the idea; it’s pretty nasty stuff.

your everyday, free-range chicken

 There must be something special about this trash pile because some odd things have been going on lately.  First, someone dug a shallow hole and placed a small offering in it (a clay pot filled with something, but it was covered up by the time I noticed the spot—read on).  Next, a few clay pots filled with some sort of pungent oil was placed directly adjacent to and on the side of the trash pile.  Fair enough.  A few days later, the first hole was covered up, and and few days after that, a new, deeper but narrower hole was dug and filled with chicken eggs.  All very bizarre, especially since there are literally 3 small voodoo altars located literally 20 seconds from this “magical” trash pile. (“Magical” being my feeble description.  I have not discussed the qualities of this trash pile with anyone.).  The other day, Tavor left our house after telling us about all this silly nonsense and called us a few minutes after she left to tell us that now there is a dead chicken in the middle of the path with a knife sticking out of it!  I’ve included a picture if you, like me, have a morbid curiosity.  There are flies all over it, but you can tell that the bird was split open vertically around the middle and then placed in the path with the knife and entrails sticking out of it.  And with my keen detective skills I can tell that this chicken was either bought at the marché or it’s a local trash-eater (a.k.a. “free range”), because the chickens found at the Vodoun Fetish marchés are already dead and starting to decompose.  You could say that this was a fresh sacrifice.  It’s like there are competing cults that are trying to outdo each other!  We have a Voodoo War!  I’m curious to see what’s going to happen next.  Will there be a dance-off?  Machete fight?  Bigger and better sacrifices?  I can’t wait!

sending someone a message

Cheers.

UPDATE [14 June]:  As of this morning, there are two new piles of “gris-gris” (magic).  Both look like packages of something (probably ash) with strings tied around them.  These were left in a different place near another gris-gris spot that consisted of a plastic bag filled with other little plastic bags filled with what looks like sand. 

Rainy Season [read: Mosquito Season]

When we last left off, we had just finished with our Close of Service Conference and were looking forward to our post-Peace Corps vacation and purchasing plane tickets to southeast Asia.

Meteorologically, we have entered the rainy season, which means cooler, more humid weather with rainstorms every few days.  We have had a lot of lightning and thunder storms and utilities have become a little less reliable so we are keeping candles and reserve water stocked up.  The hot season is only bearable because there are few or no mosquitos; the rainy season, by contrast, means a population explosion of mosquitos that take advantage of the puddles, ponds, and lakes left from the (sometimes torrential) downpours.  Officially, only about 40% of Benin’s streets are paved, but I think that a more reasonable number would be about 20%, if one takes into account all of the little side roads that criss-cross villages and exurban areas, and these are where the mosquitos are more prevalent because water is just allowed to stand and none of it is siphoned off or filled in. 

One of the objectives of the Peace Corps lately has revolved around anti-malaria projects, which means conductine informational sessions about where malaria comes from and how to avoid getting it.  It does not, for example, occur because someone was in the sun too long or worked too hard or is not having enough sex, and you cannot avoid it by drinking a local artisinal lime-flavored tea (if that was true, we wouldn’t have to take daily or weekly anti-malarial pills).  Peace Corps volunteers also work with local organizations who offer mosquito nets at reduced prices (though my work partners don’t use them when they feel the night air is too hot, then they wonder why their family members get malaria).  That said, it’s not only the rainy season, but mosquito and malaria season, and Heather and I have had a mosquito problem in our house as of late.  However, we do have a mosquito net, screens on our windows, and ample bug spray (and anti-malarial medication) so we are highly unlikely to get malaria, but the mosquitos are still pretty annoying.  They keep finding a way into our house and pestering us.

In local news, our local bar (Buvette Le First) is undergoing some minor construction and was even closed for a few weeks.  The bar has an open, breezy second story that offers a pleasant reprieve during the hot season, but the management has decided to fully enclose the second story (and maybe add a third?).  The rainy season will last about until we leave, so the next volunteer in this neighborhood will have to let us know how this all ends up.

In other news, one of the other volunteers in our area, Tavor, has moved to a brisk 5-minute walk away, so we have been enjoying more of her company.  We are making communal meals multiple times a week and we have all been collaborating on projects: Tavor is helping Heather study for the GMAT, Heather is helping Tavor with a project with a work partner, and Tavor and I have begun collaborating on a “Circle of Friends” project to facilitate English learning among Beninese locals.  She and I both have made contacts who want to improve their English skills, so we are meeting every Saturday at Le First to speak English with our group of 5 for an hour or two.  Tavor and I provide the topic of discussion (we talked about politics in our first meeting) and encourage them to speak and give their opinions.  Our group is comprised of three adults—one is an English professor—and two students at a local secondary school.  This is a good opportunity for the students, as well, because it is not generally acceptable for Beninese students to challenge or argue with their elders, so we give them a forum to debate in a friendly, open setting (such as the debate over whether the current president is doing a good job or not). 

Big thanks to Mama Jamie and Papa Steve for the package that you sent in February that FINALLY arrived!  Thankfully everything was intact and nothing was stolen.  Please no more packages, because at this rate none will be received until after we leave and the contents will be donated to the other volunteers in the area.

The new crop of volunteers arrive at the end of the month and we will be down in Cotonou for a few days for pre-departure medical exams, internet, and air-conditioning.

Until then.

Cheers.