For starters, here's the answer to the most recent guessing game challenge: it's a chicken feather that has been stripped of its plumes except at the top and is used as a Q-tip to clean out earwax.
Below are some photos of animals that can be found around Sonsoro. To the animals pictured below, you can also add mangy dogs, sheep, and the occasional pig.
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| Two baby goats that have been adopted by my neighbors. They had sheep before, but they were eaten for Tabaski. |
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| Guinea fowl and a rooster. Sometimes I'm convinced that guinea fowl are the modern-day dodo birds. |
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| Guinea fowl at night |
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| The local cows. They are big with long horns and humped backs. It's not uncommon to see a Peuhl driving a long line of cows across the road. |
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| A lizard |
Who would have guessed--earwax remover!! Smaller than your little finger?
ReplyDeleteGoats for pets, then become meat for an occasion. I wonder if the children have a hard time seeing this happen. Those lizards would not be welcome in my house either. Is there no way to try to keep them out?
You haven't seen elephants yet. I hope you do sometime, if they don't stampede through the village.
Jean ralley
You can see part of my thumb in the bottom corner of the earwax remover picture to give a sense of size. Since the plumes are flexible, it is just the perfect size for your ear. My shopkeeper friend twiddled it around in my ear for me to test it, and it is somewhat unnerving because the noise is so amplified.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is much of a concept of pets in Benin. It is well-accepted from the start that animals are bred to be eaten, especially around Tabaski time. When I walk through the market, there are animal carcasses lying on tables and hanging. The Beninese don't have the same disconnect that most Americans have between the meat on their plate and where it comes from.
I am not sure how the lizards get in my house. The windows are covered with insect screening and the door is pretty tight, but the lizards still manage to sneak in. There is one that has been living in my window for weeks. He likes to hang out in the bottom corner or go up to the very top so that I can only see his tail. He's not nearly as big as the one I took the picture of, though.
My shopkeeper friend tells me to expect plenty of scorpions soon. Yikes.