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!

Farewell cold Calgary, bonjour beau Paris!

Ok, so just got the blog up and running, I'll fast forward through the last few months with just a few notable points.

First, my financial needs were more than met through many incredibly generous donations, I had to raise a significant amount of money in order to leave by December, but God provided it all through various sources in just 6 short weeks; truly amazing and a great affirmation.

Second, all the details of closing out my life in Calgary came together quite nicely, thanks to the fantastic support of friends and relatives in and around Calgary (you know who you all are -THANK YOU!!), so that was a huge blessing.

Third, my passport was lost by Canada Post just a few short weeks prior to my departure date, but thankfully I was able to report it lost and procure a new passport and visa in just 5 business days, wow! Thanks for your prayers on that one, what a relief!

Finally, the last cloud hanging over me as I was madly rushing from one day to the next, each day filled with appointments and visiting friends, still commuting to work - I still hadn't sold my car!! My car, Sparky, did not have a new owner, and with just 24 hours before I was to leave Calgary, I still did not really had a plan B in place, tough market to sell a newer "slightly" used car.

Friday, Dec 19th, was my last day of work, so I had driven and parked in the company parkade like usual, and by 10am I had two callers inquiring about my car. The first couple came downtown, test drove my car in the underground parkade, said they wanted it, and returned an hour later with certified cheque and I handed them the keys!! Crazy! I hadn't had a single call on my car listing (in several classifieds) in two weeks, and then my car sells for a decent price in just 2 hours! So Sparky is now adjusting to his new owners, and given the city road conditions, I hope they invest in winter tires...!

December was very, very cold and icy in Calgary, and sad too as I had to say goodbye to so many of my friends and family across western Canada. Not only will I be missing my friends and family, but I'll miss playing ice hockey late on week nights; indoor soccer games in the stuffy soccer dome; rugby in the rain, sleet, and scorching sun on the Irish pitch; wandering aimlessly on bike trails in Kananaskis; snowboard tree-runs at Lake Louise; and Starbucks "runs" at lunch hour. Sniff...

I've been up for about 48 hours now, so lots of time to reminisce. Well, I slept a bit on the flight to Frankfurt, but not properly, and since it's only 7pm local time here in Paris, I'm trying to keep up with the time change. Ok, now we're up to real-time, Sunday, December 21st, and I'm in a low budget hotel room at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. Low budget, think university dorm room, it has a strange permeating smell that I can't quite identify... The hair blower plays music though, so I'll it an extra 1/4 of a star for that.

Paris shopping at Christmas time - I think it should qualify as an extreme sport. I only did it because I had an afternoon to kill and I felt obligated to the walk the shops, but yikes, there were moments in the Louis Vutton store that I feared I would be the victim of the stampeding women rushing the sale table (I caught a glimpse - the items on "sale" were NOT cheap). My luggage is already full to the limit, so I stuck with buying consumables, such as Starbucks coffee and some sort of deepfried donut sticks covered in sugar (taste like mini donuts, but look like French Fries on steroids).

Tomorrow I fly on Afriquay Airlines (don't ask) to Tripoli, Libya (3 hrs) and then to Cotonou, Benin (7 hrs), arriving at midnight Monday night. Tues morning I was planning to take the bus in country to Parakou, but good news via email today indicates that I might be able to hitch a ride with a church leader returning to Parakou. I'll find out more details when I arrive in Cotonou, but as long as my luggage arrives, I should make it to Parakou by Tues evening, Dec 23rd. Phew!

Alright, this is a very long blog, and I'm exhausted... Donc a tous, bonne nuit et a la prochaine! (too difficult to figure out the French accents on my laptop keyboard, sorry).

Peace,

Rebecca

Is this a rally of "British-Bulldog"? No, just Parisians crossing the street during downtown Christmas shopping chaos...