A few Saturdays ago, I had a free Saturday and decided to take the aunts up on their offer! I planned to go around 10:30am - but it took until 12:30 for me to psych up the courage to follow-up on my intentions.
I drove over to their house and entered the courtyard. The Grandmother was in the house and she greeted me and welcomed me in, but soon went back to watching her tv show (a French soap opera . . . she does not speak French, so at every commercial, her grandchildren give her a synopsis of the unfolding story in Fulfulde). Some of the older cousins and younger cousins crowded into the living room, but none seemed too eager to speak with me in Fulfulde. One of the cousins, upon hearing of my search for the Aunts, left the house presumably to search for them at the marketplace.
Some time passed and this young man returned alone. By this time, I had determined that I would need to contact my friend Abdoulaye to find his aunts. I called him and he indicated that he would be right over. When he arrived, I asked him if his Aunts lived in this house. His answer?
NO!
He then set about trying to determine which of his Aunts had invited me to practice Fulfulde with them (a difficult task, as none of them have ever been introduced officially to me, and I have only met them at large family events of +100 people!).
Side Question: As I had only met the aunts in this house (multiple times) and I had never been to their houses before . . . Where exactly were they thinking that I would return to in order to practice Fulfulde with them??!?After a few minutes on the phone, my friend Abdoulaye indicated that we would go to his Aunt's house. Being that I am at one family house already, this trip now becomes a family affair as the Grandmother and another cousin also climb into the truck (as I had already spent 1 hour in the first house, this guarantees that I will be spending more than an hour - and thus my estimated 2 hours total for the visit - at the second house). We drive out almost to the airport. (sigh - I am thinking this is no longer a suitable option for weekly language practice - the airport is a 30km roundtrip from my home!) I drive down the hill (they say 'mountain'), park the truck and we all enter the Aunt's house - and I discover that this is not the Aunt who invited me to practice language with her. She had been involved in said discussion, however, so she had informed Abdoulaye that it was the other Aunt - who also happened to be working that day - and thus why we were visiting her instead. Even after finally arriving, my language practice did not roll-out as I had thought. Because I had brought the family entourage of 3 people, thus commenced a mini-family-reunion! So I sat in the room and listened to 8+ people chatter back and forth - feeling like I was watching a tennis match as I tried to keep track of everyone speaking! After the first hour though, most of the family drifted outside and I had a chance to practice my language with the Aunt and 1 cousin. At one point in the afternoon, I noticed one of the older cousins leaning on the fridge in the house - going so far as to open the freezer door for a leaning post - moving away after about 5 minutes. Memories of childhood chastisements received floating through my brain, ranging from direct to idiomatic expressions: "Close the door!" to "Don't let all the cold out into the house!" to "You're letting all the penguins out!!" Admittedly though, I envied her and empathized - I am not beyond opening my freezer chest lid in hot season to stick my head inside for a few cherished seconds!! I thought nothing further of the incident until one of the young boys wandered into the house. His mom asked him to fetch a pair of shoes for her. He promptly walked to the fridge, opened the door and retrieved the shoes from inside!! Yes, this family is using their fridge as a closet!! After a racked total of 3 hours language practice, I asked for the road, drove the family home and returned to mine. Oh - and I also got much food that day as well!! I had eaten before leaving my house, unsure of the Saturday schedule and whether or not the family may eat during my stay. When I arrived at the Grandmother's house, she eventually sent a child outside to grab some food for me. I was served rice and grilled onions, and given a plate and spoon to eat with. I took some, but not enough to satisfy the grandmother until I explained that I had just eaten. I was thankful for this excuse as the food was luke warm and likely left-overs from their earlier lunch. At the second house, I was again given a plate and spoon to eat more left-over lunch. Being later in the day from lunch, this rice and beans was now cold. I took some. Again, not enough to satisfy the Aunt until I told her that her mother had fed me food at her house! And as I had eaten before leaving my house, it was now the third time I had eaten that day. This, thankfully, satisfied her hospitality.
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