When I returned from Senegal last week, I discovered a new addition to my concession (concession = group of houses around a common courtyard). My neighbor had just given birth to a baby girl. I asked her name, but the name will not be announced until the baptism next week. If only my name (Bake) didn't mean "third daughter", I could try to convince them to name the new baby after me! If it had been a boy, I would have suggested Bakenduro ("Bake's husband").
Here she is:
Here she is:
As a newborn this baby looks so alert. Such big eyes! It's almost as though she knows you don't look like her mother.
ReplyDeleteJean Ralley
If you look closely, you can see that she is wearing make-up around her eyes.
ReplyDeleteMake-up? What is that all about?
ReplyDeleteJean Ralley
I've never asked. Also, you may notice that she has her ears pierced. All baby girls have their ears pierced seemingly immediately after birth. There are two primary markers to determine gender in Benin: pierced ears and a skirt. All women in Sonsoro have both. Hair is not always a valid indicator because some girls have shaved heads (notably, it's required for girls in middle school).
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing about gender determination done by a skirt and pierced ears. Why are girls required to shave their heads in middle school? Does that make them less attractive to boys?
ReplyDeleteJean Ralley
Girls must shave their heads for school in case their hairstyle could be a distraction. All children wear tan uniforms to school. That makes it easy to spot kids who can speak French: look for the tan clothes or girls with shaved heads.
ReplyDelete