Thursday, November 29, 2007

I have been meeting with officials from the Embassy lately. Today, I met with the Regional Security Officer who is in charge of all security for Embassy officials, etc. He discussed with us the security situation here and what we need to do to protect ourselves and how to avoid dangerous situations. The good news is that Benin is the model of democracy here and that the government and the people harbor no ill will against Americans. The bad news: the government, especially the police, can be really ineffective in a lot of ways so oftentimes ppl take justice into their own hands. If someone is caught trying to steal or commit a crime and the victim yells out ‘thief!’ People come from all around to attack the person and have been known to beat the person and set even the person on fire! They take justice here seriously b/c they know that the police won’t do anything. He also crushed any hopes I had of going to Nigeria. State department officials are only allowed to go under express permission of the Ambassador and then with armored vehicles the whole way. Even State department employees in Nigeria do not leave the compound without an armored vehicle and rarely leave the diplomatic area at that. I had no idea it was so bad there! A lot of the crime and problems that Benin has are from people coming over from Nigeria and conducting illegal activities.
We also went to the market today. Oh my goodness! I have never seen so many people in one spot. It was so overwhelming! It was absolutely enormous. I am so glad the Ella was with me. All the paths in the market were really narrow and there were a lot of people walking around with baskets heaped with their wares carrying them around on their head. The vendors grab your arm and they won’t let go! Really! They hold on hard. I had to be mean to make this woman pry her hands off my arm. They even trapped Ella who is practiced at all this. Then we went to the shoe market which could have been a mall in and of itself.
Aurel and Yannick, the two little boys, are too cute. As I am typing this, I am playing music from the computer and they are dancing. We salsa danced together! Earlier today I took pictures of them in their “Hip Hop” poses with my sunglasses on. Could these boys be any cuter? I have also adopted one of the little girls. Her name is Oror. I play with her all the time. Nelly, the other little girl, Ida’s daughter, can be really sweet, but she is terribly spoiled. My little Oror is not spoiled though and I love her. I just walk around with her all the time. Sometimes I look at her and she bursts out laughing. I love babies.