[ Djougou, Benin ]
Greetings from a post-2019 world!
I trust you’ve all settled into your various 2020s and have already managed to abandon one or two New Year’s resolutions. I’ve found myself obsessed with writing code—something I haven’t done “for fun” since leaving the US nearly eight years ago. Eight! Wow. Anyway…it’s been meditative, a kind of obsessive vipassana to clear my head.
Which brings me, by way of total non-sequitur, to Part II of last post’s wedding images.
In that post, I shared the morning’s preparations. A few hours afterwards, we reconvened for that most universal of matrimonial happenings: a wedding reception. Though the details are different from what’re accustomed to, the form and celebrant archetypes (yeah, let’s call ‘em that) are intimately familiar. Everything expected is on display: drunk uncles, cheek-pinching grandmothers, cliquish coteries of snarky, can’t-be-bothered teens. And it’s all accessorized with those incredibly colorful African fabrics you’ve come to love.
There was a bit of a procession from the morning’s location to a large family compound across the street from my room. The foods and gifts were carried on motorcycles, three-wheeled trucks, and balanced upon many heads. All of these people then made a large circle around the biggest tree in sight, the band started playing, and you can imagine the rest. But you don’t have to imagine, just take a gander.
Bonne année, auld lang syne, etc, etc.,
—jim
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