Joyeux Noel de Parakou

Merry Christmas to everyone around the world, whether it’s a white, brown, or green Christmas! It’s definitely a brown (with green patches) Christmas here in Benin, and instead of Christmas carols, I can hear the melodic Muslim calls to prayer several times a day. J

Yes, I made it safely to Parakou after a long delay in Tripoli; I arrived in Cotonou shortly after midnight Dec 22 (night) and was met by one of the mission staff at the airport. My only comment on Tripoli, would be to strongly discourage anyone from using Afriquay Airlines, akwai wahala sosai! Anyway, I made some friends along the way and so it made the delay in Tripoli feel much shorter, so that was nice.

Cotonou is the major coastal city of Benin and very humid, even at 7am I was sweating as I drank my morning cup of Nescafe (hm...). I was so grateful to have a ride with several church leaders in their air conditioned Toyota 4-Runner; especially after seeing many transit buses broke down or flipped over along the side of the road between Cotonou and Parakou.

This morning I enjoyed Christmas with my parents and good friend (ahem, also boss) Clara, we had Starbucks and Tim Hortons coffee (very special delicacies brought from Canada) along with our traditional cinnamon t-ring (like a cinnamon bun, in a ring), and the perfect Christmas weather at a balmy 26’C when I woke this morning. J The missionary team here in town is now preparing for our big Christmas dinner this afternoon, I think there will be about 26 of us altogether, so a great Christmas gathering.

Ok, I’ve included a few pictures below that tell a bit of a story about my first meal in Benin. Normally I try to ease myself into the local food, no need to risk my health too early on before I’ve adjusted, but this time as I was travelling with Beninese colleagues and I would felt it would be rude if I didn’t sit down and eat with them.

So, we stopped at a popular truck-stop about half way to Parakou, we had several little restaurant cafes to choose from, all complete with prime patio seating (hard to find in Calgary during the summer!). At first the pastors were quite concerned because they didn’t think that I could eat local food, but no I insisted I would be fine, I grew up in Niger and love African food!

We had a fantastic meal of “yam pili” (pounded yam) and peanut sauce with chicken (so they said – it had very thick skin). I diligently washed my hands with the soapy water provided, although now that I think about it, I have no idea where the water came from… The food was very tasty, just enough spice to make my eyes tear up, yum! I wisely chose to use the ladies’ room after eating, and it was there that I discovered the source of my “chicken”… hm (bonus points if you can identify the chicken in the picture below...).

The picture of the brick wall enclosure is only 3 foot high and was the ladies’ toilette. Oh well, the meal was very tasty, and I thankfully had no ill side-effects from the water used.

Well we’re getting the Christmas celebrations under way here and most of you will just be waking up this Christmas morning over in Canada, so merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, God bless!

P.S. My internet connection is dial-up and infrequent, so if I don’t respond immediately to your emails, sorry!