Talking to my dad the other day and hearing him trip over the name of my village made me realize something: I speak a completely unique language. I speak English-French-Fulani-ese. And I totally take it for granted; I've been tripping over these weird guttural Beninese-French-hybrid words that I don't even notice that half the things I say aren't even words. Not only do I have some wicked Franglais, the cure/blessing of every francophone volunteer, but I don't even notice anymore when I drop in words like atcheke and atassi, words you have undoubtedly never heard. My franglais is slowly making me a Frankenstein's monster of languages that is inaccessible to anybody but the madcap group of continent-straddling weirdos here with me in Benin. When I talk to America, my speech becomes stunted as I search rapid-fire mental Rolodex style for how to say "discuter," "regler," and "reseau" in English. (To bargain, to fix, and telephone service for the record. It took me a hard minute to figure that out, because I never EVER say those words in English.) Also, my English sounds like a crazy person's, when it doesn't sound Nigerian that is. Oh boy, going back to America is gonna be rough.
So, for your benefit, I offer up a bit of the PCBenin lexicon, things that mean everything to us and probably nothing (yet!) to you.
Pamudo (pah-moo-doh) - my village name! It means "the one who thinks ahead clearly," but I've also heard "the one who sees the future." Pretty sweet huh?!
Angaradebou (Ang-GARR-eh-DAY-boo) - my village!! Also known as Diddy-boo to those in the know, or those unable to say Angaradebou. Don't worry if you're in that group, many volunteers here haven't gotten it yet. It means "the place off the beaten track where you go to get really good food."
Peonga (Pay-on-guh) - The village next day where I often go for market on Sundays. It also has my closest health center and high school. You might recall Bethany, she was the volunteer there before, but she just left and was replaced with Sierra, my new close mate. Yay! It means something like "the wellspring" because they have a water source that never dries up.
Kalale (Kah-la-lay) - A village about an hour away, where Sandy lives and where I often go to charge my electronic things, catch early taxis to Parakou, have meetings with the mayor and the local bigwigs, occasionally visit the large Fulani market, and drink cold beer on Sandy's porch and watch Battlestar Galactica. It means "the place where you stop to rest on your way somewhere else." It is my commune head, which is kind of like the county capital, and therefor houses the mayor and lots of other official types.
Fulani (Foo-lah-knee) - A race of nomadic people; also the language spoken in my village, even though my village is Gando, not Fulani.They are known for having awesome face tattoos and scarring, cows (milk and cheese!), and super pretty jewelry.
Gando (Gahn-doh) - Another race of people, with a very complicated and interesting history. They are the cast-offs of the Bariba people, who are the kings of the north. By castoffs I mean the very suspicious Bariba (Ba-ree-ba) people would throw away or kill any babies who they suspected to be sorcerers or have bad gris-gris. (Their methods of testing this are bizarre and not-quite-humane, but can be as simple as the baby doesn't cry/cries too much, grew bottom teeth before top teeth, is the "wrong" color, etc.) The Fulani took all these abandoned babies and raised them as little more than slaves, and now the Gando are their own subset of people. They are of Bariba heritage, speak Fulani, are outrageously poor and usually uneducated, and are at the bottom of the bottom on the social strata. And my village is one of them!
Parakou (Para-koo) - The big city in the Northeast, and also where my workstation is. It means "the place where everybody lives" because almost every single Beninese ethnic group is represented here.
Atassi (a-tahssy) - A delicious beans and rice mixture. Very very common, very good. It has about a million other local names, but atassi is pretty universal in Benin.
Atcheke (uh-check-ay) - A Cote D'Ivoirian food made up of a cassava-root couscous, beans, spicy peppers, fresh and cooked onions, and an oily-vinegar sauce. It's very very tasty.
Bissap (bee-sap) - A boiled hibiscus flower sugar drink, often frozen in small bags and sold at markets. Always good on a hot day.
Akassa (ah-kahssa) - a boiled corn flour fermented white blob thing, with a consistency of thick jello, that is used as a vehicle for all kinds of sauce. It is DISGUSTING.
Wagashi (wuh-GAH-shi) - The Fulani cheese, usually friend and always delicious. Nothing like any other cheese I know of.
Igname Pilee (yam pee-lay) - huge yams, boiled then pounded until it makes a sticky thick paste that you dip into sauce. It tastes waaaay better than it sounds.
Doucement (doos-mont) - French for "carefully" or "sweetly." Every single Beninese person says this approximately 8000 times a day and it can mean literally anything: sorry, be careful, watch out, don't be stupid, you dropped that, I dropped that, it was your fault, it was my fault, you're stupid. Every volunteer says it approximately 7000 times a day.
E.T. - Not the extra-terrestrial, this is Peace Corps Washington lingo for "early terminate." Anyone who leaves early from their service ET's. You ET Benin you ET from my life. Just joshing.
C.O.S. - Close of Service. At the end of your service, you COS.
I could probably go on forever. We're weird here, and no one understands us when we speak.
So, for your benefit, I offer up a bit of the PCBenin lexicon, things that mean everything to us and probably nothing (yet!) to you.
Pamudo (pah-moo-doh) - my village name! It means "the one who thinks ahead clearly," but I've also heard "the one who sees the future." Pretty sweet huh?!
Angaradebou (Ang-GARR-eh-DAY-boo) - my village!! Also known as Diddy-boo to those in the know, or those unable to say Angaradebou. Don't worry if you're in that group, many volunteers here haven't gotten it yet. It means "the place off the beaten track where you go to get really good food."
Peonga (Pay-on-guh) - The village next day where I often go for market on Sundays. It also has my closest health center and high school. You might recall Bethany, she was the volunteer there before, but she just left and was replaced with Sierra, my new close mate. Yay! It means something like "the wellspring" because they have a water source that never dries up.
Kalale (Kah-la-lay) - A village about an hour away, where Sandy lives and where I often go to charge my electronic things, catch early taxis to Parakou, have meetings with the mayor and the local bigwigs, occasionally visit the large Fulani market, and drink cold beer on Sandy's porch and watch Battlestar Galactica. It means "the place where you stop to rest on your way somewhere else." It is my commune head, which is kind of like the county capital, and therefor houses the mayor and lots of other official types.
Fulani (Foo-lah-knee) - A race of nomadic people; also the language spoken in my village, even though my village is Gando, not Fulani.They are known for having awesome face tattoos and scarring, cows (milk and cheese!), and super pretty jewelry.
Gando (Gahn-doh) - Another race of people, with a very complicated and interesting history. They are the cast-offs of the Bariba people, who are the kings of the north. By castoffs I mean the very suspicious Bariba (Ba-ree-ba) people would throw away or kill any babies who they suspected to be sorcerers or have bad gris-gris. (Their methods of testing this are bizarre and not-quite-humane, but can be as simple as the baby doesn't cry/cries too much, grew bottom teeth before top teeth, is the "wrong" color, etc.) The Fulani took all these abandoned babies and raised them as little more than slaves, and now the Gando are their own subset of people. They are of Bariba heritage, speak Fulani, are outrageously poor and usually uneducated, and are at the bottom of the bottom on the social strata. And my village is one of them!
Parakou (Para-koo) - The big city in the Northeast, and also where my workstation is. It means "the place where everybody lives" because almost every single Beninese ethnic group is represented here.
Atassi (a-tahssy) - A delicious beans and rice mixture. Very very common, very good. It has about a million other local names, but atassi is pretty universal in Benin.
Atcheke (uh-check-ay) - A Cote D'Ivoirian food made up of a cassava-root couscous, beans, spicy peppers, fresh and cooked onions, and an oily-vinegar sauce. It's very very tasty.
Bissap (bee-sap) - A boiled hibiscus flower sugar drink, often frozen in small bags and sold at markets. Always good on a hot day.
Akassa (ah-kahssa) - a boiled corn flour fermented white blob thing, with a consistency of thick jello, that is used as a vehicle for all kinds of sauce. It is DISGUSTING.
Wagashi (wuh-GAH-shi) - The Fulani cheese, usually friend and always delicious. Nothing like any other cheese I know of.
Igname Pilee (yam pee-lay) - huge yams, boiled then pounded until it makes a sticky thick paste that you dip into sauce. It tastes waaaay better than it sounds.
Doucement (doos-mont) - French for "carefully" or "sweetly." Every single Beninese person says this approximately 8000 times a day and it can mean literally anything: sorry, be careful, watch out, don't be stupid, you dropped that, I dropped that, it was your fault, it was my fault, you're stupid. Every volunteer says it approximately 7000 times a day.
E.T. - Not the extra-terrestrial, this is Peace Corps Washington lingo for "early terminate." Anyone who leaves early from their service ET's. You ET Benin you ET from my life. Just joshing.
C.O.S. - Close of Service. At the end of your service, you COS.
I could probably go on forever. We're weird here, and no one understands us when we speak.
