Tissu Addict

My life revolves around clothes. Specifically finding the loudest patterns I can and bringing them to my tailor. Last weekend, after I found out I had 10,000 more CFAs then I thought I did, I went to the grande marche on a tissu hunt with my friends Ron, Sarah and Rachel. I`ve got a tissu lady I usually like to go to, but this time I decided to switch it up. After finding the tissu street, I went to work. It took a few stops, but eventually I found a great pattern littered with Rubik`s cubes and bright colors.

So I took it to my tailor, and although we don`t totally understand eachother, I could tell by the look on his face that he felt the same way I do, that men in this day and age can only dream of such audacity. This instinct was confirmed when I picked it up and he gave me some broderie as a gift. That man is an artist, and this bomba was a blank canvas for him to get his Van Gogh on.

Me randomly getting gifts is also a reoccuring theme. There was the button up shirt my dad gave me, the broderie from my tailor, and then my dad gave me 2 metres of tissu last night that was apparently from an uncle (2 metres=a shirt; 4 metres=a full outfit).

The other big news is that on Sunday I went to a funeral, or at least to the reception of a funeral. I would describe the scene there as similar to the wedding reception I went to, but with more alcohol and food. People were dancing, singing and having a good time. Best part of Beninese funerals? They give out souvenirs, apparently a tradition picked up from the Nigerians. I got a hand fan, but there are a bunch of different things that are often given out. For instance, my keychain is from a funeral like 2 years ago.

Other random occurences:
On Saturday we went visit one of my dad`s friends and I watched TV for the first time since I`ve been here. It was Nigerian professional basketball, and they were terrible. I think the score was like 11 to 6 after the first quarter.

I`ve reached the point where I find myself wishing I have rice for dinner, but it`s always pate blanche.

French keyboards suck.

That’s all for now, I’ll try to upload some photos next time.