Port-Bouët

I recently stayed with an Ivorian family in their home. I lived in their home as a daughter and a sister taking in the sights, smells, tastes and culture.  As a daughter in the home I helped out with the cleaning and cooking. Neighbors pulled out phones to take pictures of me “the white lady” who was sweeping, washing dishes and pounding the palm nuts for the family’s dinner.  By the end of my stay the shock that I would actually work had worn off and I could do my chores without an audience….well except for my little two year old friends Prince and David.

 

I shared a room with my Sisters

Family Living Room

Prepping for Dinner

 

 Throughout my stay I went and did everything with one of my sisters. She is a seamstress and owns her own business. She has been an answer to prayer in finding a friend my age. We are the same age and hit it off right away.  It’s amazing how much we can understand each other even with my limited but growing ability to speak French.

 

Each night after dinner, we as a family sat in the living room talking, laughing and watching television.  One of the funniest nights in the home was the night I was told by my teenage sister we were going to watch a “Chic movie” from America.  My Ivoirian mom popped popcorn and we gathered as many people as we could in the living room to watch the movie.  Credits started to roll and this is when I realize we are about to watch “Coming to America”. It was funny watching it in French and watching their reactions to horrible representations of African American culture.  Questions followed the movie about “Soul Glo”, the African American church and McDonald’s.

Sisters on Movie Night

 This sweet family has now given me a new name, a tribal name “Béikté” that I now answer to in their home and in the neighborhood. I am still not exactly clear what my new name means but I did understand it was given to me by my Ivorian mom because I was the daughter that grew in her heart.

I enjoyed my time with my Ivorian family. I am grateful for their hospitality and willingness to help me learn the culture I now live in.  They exposed me to many new local foods like Attiéké , Aloko, FuFu, different sauce and eating whole fish which can be purchased from street vendors throughout the neighborhood.  They even took me to the beach here for the first time. I look forward to visiting with them in the future and know now I always have a home in the southern part of the city.