Monday, March 2, 2009

Making Friends

In the last two weeks I have had quite a few encounters with creepy crawlers. Needless to say, these encounters were unwanted. I almost stepped on a scorpion with my barefoot. While I do not condone the killing of animals, I did not have a problem with this one. In fact, I took great pleasure in killing the scorpion with my sandal and then proceeding to watch about a million ants eat him until all that remained was his skeletal frame. One small victory for mankind. I also came across a snake in the road and I was also accosted by a spider 3/4 the size of my hand. Actual size, I kid you not. How did it accost me? It jumped in my lap(twice!) when I was eating dinner with my family in their courtyard. Come to find out, this is no ordinary spider....,Ohhh nooo..that would be far too easy. This is a scorpion carry spider. Apparently, these spiders are so big that scorpions like to hop on their backs to catch a ride. The thought of this spider still makes me shudder.

What is in a Name?

It is customary for a village to give a new name to a volunteer when they arrive. When I arrived to site my family said my new name would be _______ Bobalaine. ________ would be my last name and Bobalaine would be my first. When you introduce yourself to someone you address yourself by stating your last name first, and then your first name. Your last name is determined by the village you were born in. Hence, if I ever go to a neighboring village and introduce myself the locals will know immediately where I am from/living.(If you are wondering why I did not tell you my last name, it is because if there really was a very determined and equally creepy stalker, he/she could find out my location simply by knowing my name---Peace Corps rule--understandably, so). While I was not thrilled with the new name, I did not want to insult my family by asking for a new name. However, when I was first introduced to the chief of the village and I introduced myself as Bobalaine, he was taken back and said it was an insult to be called by that name. He tried to explain that it had a connotation of jealousy and that he had no idea why my family would give me that name. The chief tried to explain my name by telling an anecdote of two wives(of the same man) being jealous of each other. This left me thoroughly confused. He also informed me that my family had no right to give me a name and that it was the village's right(namely, him) to give me my name. He announces authoritatively that from here on out I will no longer be known as Bobalaine, but Todarra. This name I gladly accepted because the latter name is alot prettier than former. About a week later when I was having dinner with the Mayor(of the district capital) and a couple other volunteers in my region, I decided to ask him if he could explain the chief's disdain for my name(the mayor is an English-speaking, French educated, Burkinabe who I know who could explain in English precisely what my name meant. He laughs and says the chief does not know what he is talking about and that the literal translation for my name is, "if you want me to shut up, what would you like for me to do with my mouth?"---use your imagination.... Well isn't that lovely image? I think the other volunteers and I almost peed our pants laughing. He then explained that my new name meant "new to _____(insert my village name)." Flash forward to the night of my grandma's funeral (she had died 7 months prior to my arrival). Burkinabe usually wait to have parties/celebrations during the dry season because that is the time of the year they tend to have more money. That night I came to find out the name of my deceased grandma. What was that name you ask. None other than, Bobalaine.