My host family and other things!!

Wow do I have an awesome family. Everyone takes extra care of me. They feed me all day, I sing and play hand games with my host sisters and neighbors which they absolutely LOVE, I dance all day, and pretty much just entertain people with my jokes in french. At least with the little french I know. My family greeted me with open arms and it is surely the best experience I have had thus far. They want me to get fat. I don't mind. The food is great!! I had crabs for lunch the other day. I have fish almost everyday which is one of my favorite foods so things are working out. People here use a lot of hot peppers which isn't bad either. The music is great!! Also, they have black eyed peas!! That's big in southern African American diet along with many other things here such as a similar green sorta like the collard green. They have okra too!! Things are coming together in terms of how African Americans and the people of the Caribbean connect through the slave trade. Even the instruments are the same like in the Caribbean!!

Earlier in my posts I was worried about how I would be viewed by the locals being black. Well...it has its good and bad. When I'm with the other volunteers I am not greeted. If I'm greeted, it's second. So in that sense, I don't feel included. Some people even look at me like "Why is she speaking when I was talking to the Yovo (white person, stranger)??"" Also people wonder why I don't know the culture and think I'm Beninese. On the other hand, when I wear the local clothes, I blend in with everyone!....until I ride my bike with my book bag and helmet and then I look like a complete idiot instead of an American. They stare at me like I'm a fish out of the water. It's cool though. I just greet everyone who stares and whomever I pass. I also can talk to them about the similarities that I share with them at home and they love to hear about it!!! In that sense it's nice to be able to show them that all Amerians are not white. My experience is definitely unique and I'm loving every minute of it. I feel at home. I'm so happy to be in the motherland!!!