Home and away

Dear reader,

Sometimes it’s hard to appreciate what you have but it’s also good to get out of your country to experience life elsewhere.

I am not a globe trotter or anything of that sort, just a student who had an opportunity of staying in Benin for nine months to improve her French language.

This letter is not to compare, criticise or judge any government, person or institution. It’s just a letter which expresses my sentiments on a few things. I would like to thank the scholarship secretariat for the opportunity and my university as well.

I left Ghana with my course mates from KNUST on the 27th of September 2013, the general atmosphere in the bus was calm (surprisingly). I kept on replaying the advice from family and friends in my head. I don’t know why, but Benin is very famous for voodoo.

Some aunties were like, ‘when a stranger calls you, don’t go’, ‘and don’t eat outside’, ‘don’t talk to anybody’ ‘don’t make friends’.  I don’t blame them, they just want me home safe and sound. But how can I improve on my French speaking skills if I don’t talk to people.

The journey was long and tiresome, thanks to the officials we had to take care of at the various borders. I thought we were supposed to easily because of an organisation called ECOWAS. ; let me not bore you my dear reader with political talks and immigration policies. I think Anas will do a fine job concerning that.

Well, first thing I observed was the abundance of motors, which was the main means of transportation. The commercial ones had this yellow jacket on. A large number of them don’t wear helmets. Around 9pm, I had settled in my room in a hostel called Belo in Gbegamey, Cotonou. Prayed, make some cornflakes and slept.

Woke up in the morning, it had rained the previous night so was cool. I went out to look for bread, to my surprise, I didn’t find the soft bread I know. I found baguette, had to make do.

Time went on and go to know certain places. I won’t say I did it on my own, with the help of friends and the adventurous streak they had in them.

My first time sitting on a motor was at night, funny enough I wasn’t too scared. I actually found it exciting especially when the motor rider negotiates a roundabout (Jerry please correct this sentence for me, my English is dying slowly). With time, I got used to it.

Most of the riders of these motors were impatient and once you sit on it and you are scared, they can smell the fear and tease you a bit, they find out you are a stranger and take it easy and some even go to the extent of giving you safety tips, how ironic, taking safety tips from someone who rides a motor without a helmet.

Another observation I made was, these francophones are not too hospitable. Their customer service is bad and they are so impatient. I miss the warm nature of most Ghanaian traders. One time,  I went with a group of friends to get ice cream, it was early in our stay so our French wasn’t so fluent.

This waitress was just shouting at us to hurry up with our order, it wasn’t like the restaurant was packed with people or something. One of our friends with a little francophone background just told her to take her time and can’t she see we are not francophones. Can you believe she got angry and left. A sweet kind waiter then came to take care of us? You can imagine his tip by the time he finished attending to us.

In Benin, they have a problem for getting change when you buy stuff. Sometimes, the seller gets angry at you. You hand her the money, with a frown she says ‘pas de monnaie’ means ‘no change’.

She continues to serve other people. You don’t know whether to give back what you have or ask her to look for change. Most of the time, we just give it back. It really beats my mind, I thought it was the sellers’ responsibility to look for change.

Apart from the hostility of most sellers, these francophones don’t joke with their time, when a car is coming to pick you up at 9, it shall be there. When a store is opening at 8am, it shall be opened at that time. I hope that characteristic rubs off on Ghanaians.

Sanitation is problem in Cotonou too, I guess in most parts of Africa, the gutters are so choked so when it rains a little, there are lots of floods. Most of their gutters are closed which is what I like but difficult to clean when choked. In Ghana, you look down in a gutter and see funny looking organisms staring back at you.

I also love their music and how they party, they really know how to do that and a lot of the men smoke cigarettes a lot. Cotonou is a peaceful place, I will definitely miss taking strolls here and eating spaghetti with mayonnaise. They really have an interesting cuisine.

Dear reader, when you find yourself in Cotonou, be sure to visit places like Ganhi and Haie Vive. The latter has a lot of restaurants though. Their food is quite different but they should work on the appearance. Their food joints aren’t neat so you are scared to try plus the medical bills and drugs are costly. I guess that's why most of their hospitals aren’t so crowded or probably they just don’t fall sick too much. I honestly can’t tell. I Went to a hospital once, and the doctor was taking a nap. Not his fault though, there are just not enough patients to keep him busy.

I love their fashion sense, they really wear the African fabrics a lot and it’s so beautiful. The men in their ‘complet’ and the women with their wrappers.

Ghanaians have made quite a good impression on Beninois. When they find out you are Ghanaian they are so happy and if you are a lady, they want to marry you. They say Ghanaian women make good wives and are sympathetic. One thing I observed was when a man is harassing you and you tell him you are married, he stops. Because he wouldn’t want someone to do the same to his wife. Karma is what you want to call it.

They don’t like Nigerians that much, for what reason? I can’t tell. No one really wants to talk about it.

It is not easy moving to a new place, new food and all. If you are constantly complaining that Ghana is not developed, then you really need to visit more places. Trust me, you will appreciate the efforts the leaders of the country make.

Staying in Cotonou has been a blessing unto some and a curse to others. Allies have been formed, some broken relationships bloomed while others just went south. Some got new looks, others grew close to God, others drew back. For me, it has been a blessing, new allies and a different approach to life.

Now the saying ‘there is no place like home’ makes more sense to me. Home is definitely where the heart is….