Not Your Typical Sunday Morning...

About two weeks ago my postmate and I were invited to a Voodun Sunday mass by a young girl we know. It turns out it was in her concession and her father is one of the leaders of the group (like a priest basically). We arrived around 10:30 to find about 50 other people there. All of the women and many, many children were seated on rows of benches watching two fairly young men giving the sermon and leading the ceremony. Not more than 30 years old, the two men were wearing white and blue robes and standing/sitting at a long table. Behind them sat all of the men very calmly and rather uninvolved in the ceremony. By the end of the mass at 12:30 there were well over 100 women crammed onto the benches and probably about 30 men in total.

Upon our arrival they were in the middle of telling a story, which they then translated into French just because Katherine and I were there. The tale was as follows...There once was a king and a small group of his followers wanted to kill him. So they went to his cook and offered him money to kill the king, which he accepted. But, when he went to kill the king he couldn't do it, and instead he apologized to the king and told him everything. The first moral of the story was presented here-- if you are good and true in life (like the king) all evils will be made known to you by Voodun spirits and no harm will come to pass. Well, then the king had a big party, and again the evildoers approached the cook to kill the king and again he accepted. But once again, the cook couldn't do it and apologized to the king, telling the king to kill him and the evildoers. But the king didn't harm any of them or even seek out the people trying to kill him, because Voodoo will sort everything out in this world. All those with bad "gri gri" will get what they deserve in the end.

Next, they passed out a cola nut to everyone, which we had to hold only in our left hand. After a few minutes of standing while they praised the spirit to which we were about to pray (Tron), we all knelt down in the sand and spoke our prayers or fears or hopes or worries to our cola nut. It was so awesome to hear the loud murmur of everyone whispering into their left hands. After about a minute we returned to our seats and they collected the cola nuts so that they could be offered at the altar of the spirit to hear our prayers.

A few minutes later someone invited Katherine and me inside to see the altar and learn more about the religion. So... the spirit they worship is Tron, coming from the word "strong". Supposedly a white man came many many years ago and whispered his hope to a cola nut, which then came true. He deemed the nut "strong!" and I guess somehow it stuck? Not sure...anyway, Tron lives in the sea, so the colors of the "church" are blue and white. They offer him cola nuts because humans are too dirty to talk to hm directly. Because he lives in the sea, they also offer him water and a big hole in the ceiling above the altar allows rain water (from the sea) to reach it. The symbols of the church are also the star and crescent of Islam. This is because stars are bright, and where there is light, Voodun spirits are there and evil spirits cannot go.

As we returned to the service we found all of the women basically taking communion. They lined up down the middle aisle and moved forward to eat a small piece of cola nut and have a brown dot of crushed cola nut placed on their foreheads. This was no quiet procession, however. Loud drums and a choir led everyone in vibrant songs and all were dancing in sync as they moved forward down the aisle. Soon after taking their seats the procession began again (twice) with more songs and dance so that people could give donations to the church in a box at the front.

Somewhere in the break of all this one woman began sort of violently flailing with her eyes closed. She was escorted out by two women. We were told it was "the femme of Voodun", which could mean either wife or woman. Eitherway, she apparently "makes a scene" at every service, and this week chose that woman to temporarily possess. Not sure what happened to her after she was escorted into the building though.

After that lots of random people would go up to the front a few at a time to dance a little as everyone cheered them on. A few men joined in this dancing, but it was the only time I ever saw any of them participate in the festivities. Then an older man spoke for about 15 minutes and it was finished.

Overall, it was remarkable how the mass had so much in common with a Christian service yet so many differences at the same time. There was even something very similar to crossing oneself. The truth is of course that many of them also believe in God and likely accept some, if not all, Biblical practices. I'm not even sure if the spirit Tron is worshipped outside of Dogbo, which all just goes to show the fluidity and flexibility of religion here in Benin.

"The New President of the World"

That's what my fellow Beninese professors were calling Barack Obama. "You will have peace now, you'll see," they assured me, "the terrorists, everyone, everyone will have peace. He is everyone's President and the world is happy!" While I doubt everyone in the world is suddenly pro-America, it's still amazing to think how in one day the international perspectives of so many can be transformed to optimism and activism. Not that the Beninese people are confrontational (they constantly remind me that they do not like fighting), but based on huge celebrations in countries across Africa and I'm sure the world, it's clear that many have found such hope in Obama's election. It's a little scary because it's a tall order for him and the U.S. to live up to, but it also shows the power of ideas. I've always liked the quote, "We can change things by simply believing them to be different". I think this is a perfect example. Obama hasn't done anything as president yet, but just the idea of him has inspired people to imagine and expect a better world. Even if he never did a thing, I think that inspiration could potentially lead to great things both at home and abroad.

While we'll have to wait and see what's in store for the world in the next 4 (and hopefully 8) years, for now it's amazing enough that the election is finally over and he won! Crazy that I met him over a year ago while volunteering at an early primary rally. That was so long ago! And although I was so sad not be with all my James Madison political junkies at MSU, I was lucky enough to watch 8 straight hours of CNN on satellite television. By chance I was in Cotonou (the capitol) on Tuesday for a PC conference and one volunteer arranged for about 12 of us in town to spend the night watching at the house of one of PC's administrators. Not only was it awesome for the TV, but also because her house was gorgeous, she had AC, and we had tons of delicious food to pig out on. I even used her oven to make Duncan Hines brownies...mmm!

It was also really great because she had some of her own friends over, including some fellow ex-pats but also Beninese people from the PC Bureau. One of our two PC doctors is from Ghana and lives right next door, so she showed up around 12:30 am to watch with us in her PJs. I spent a lot of time talking to her actually as I explained what all the different numbers meant and why NY, IL, and CA could be projected blue before a single vote was counted. She decided to go home in the middle of the night, but then came back 15 minutes later because she couldn't bear to miss it.

When it was finally announced at 5:30 am the Beninese were all cheering/crying as much as we were and during his speech I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. All day before on Tuesday strangers in Cotonou kept asking me if I had voted and I'd say, "yes, of course, who do you think I chose?" They all said Obama, but one volunteer told me she always got McCain because she is white. Well anyway, they were all just as eager as I was to stay up all Tuesday night to find out. I'm told that all of the major stations were giving very frequent updates in French and there were even some with continuous coverage. Since the elections people all over Dogbo have been giving me congratulations, and my host sister even called from Porto Novo to say "felicitations!" Of course it's all so exciting, but I'm also so relieved that I don't have to explain why he lost, because that's a conversation that would have come up a LOT!

Besides all the election festivities, my first trip down to Cotonou was fantastic. Everything is sooo expensive, but for a trip every month and a half or so, it's definitely worth it. The supermarchés are like Christmas. Too expensive to buy much, but nice to know it's there if I crack and absolutely need it! From Snickers to tortilla chips to mozzarella cheese (I bought a big piece!), they've even got packaged cake mixes, fajita sauces, and Bacardi rum :-). Like I said, super expensive, but I did buy a dark chocolate kit-kat, raisins, pringles, and thai sweet chili sauce. The restaurants in Cotonou are obviously fantastic as well. One day I had delicious chicken schwarma and hummus, then Tuesday night we got amazing pizza with real mozzarella cheese. Honestly I need to keep myself away becuase I'll spend all my money, but now that I've been there once I want to go back and try all the other PCV-frequented restaurants!