Laughing with my Fulani Friends!

Well, today has been a day with much laughter among my Fulani friends and acquaintances!  A day where I feel and know that I have adapted well to the culture and the language as my friends enjoy and compliment what I have to say!

The day started with meeting a few of the village ladies at the home of the village chief’s son.  The chief has been sick, but is doing much better since I took him to the clinic for medication, and everyone in the village is coming to greet him in his sickness. 

Yes – here, in the Nigerien culture, when one is sick, one is visited by friends and family!!  They show their love by coming to greet you.  I don’t know about you – but when I am sick, I’d usually not rather see anyone!  There are exceptions, but that is the general par for course in my life!

The chief’s son had it out with everyone yesterday saying that his father needed to rest to get better.  This term in Fulfulde always makes me laugh a bit – “"duki” …. which in my English/Fulfulde mind sounds more like “duk-ied” … or our expression “to duke it out”.  His words not quite that intense, but everyone today was sitting under the tree whilst the chief rested quietly in the hut. 

I was greeted as I walked in – and the first lady to greet me would not release my hand.  I had not seen her yet since my return – which, sheepishly, but honestly, is not too bad.  This lady is the one in the village who always asks me for EVERYTHING …. straw mats for her home, medicine, the clothes off my back (not sure how she thinks I can drive home without), more grain.  Every time I see her is met with a request.  However, today, I somehow stumbled unknowingly in the Fulani culture of laughing off a request and getting away with it! 

I’ve always known this to be the case, but I cannot usually pull it off well or quickly enough.  Today though, she fingered my bracelets, necklace and earrings.  And then boldly asked me for my necklace.  Now, I know in the Fulani culture, their saying is that “a bare wrist is a male hand”.  The same goes for bare ears and a necklace-less neck!  So I told her – well, you have one necklace and I have one necklace!  That didn’t work, she insisted I turn it over.  And then came my brilliant sentence:

I cannot give you this necklace …. if I do, no one will know that I am a lady (female)!!

She laughed, she cackled, she gave me the hand slap that means I have just said the funniest thing ever.  All the ladies laughed.  I laughed.  And then she said “You are right.  You cannot give me your necklace.  Who taught you your Fulfulde??!?  You are now truly Fulani!”

And then, the subject was dropped!  Well, I guess I am becoming more Fulani, because that came out without any fore-thought!

The chief’s son and I left shortly thereafter to head to a nearby village to visit his cousin and my friend Aissa.  After our quick visit, she jumped in the truck to head back to town for a meeting.  Aissa loves my truck. …. More specifically, Aissa LOVES the air conditioning in my truck!!!  Often she remarks that she will come home with me and sleep in my truck so she can pass the night in the cold!

The last time she was in my truck, she remarked that my truck was the “owner of cold”.  To which I informed her that my truck also owned “heat” – and promptly flipped all the switches over to blast the heater.  That was one of my most favourite funny moments in Niger … the heater was on for maybe 5-10 seconds and Aissa was sitting in the back seat.  Though the heat came on remarkably fast, I doubt she felt much of the heat where she was sitting.  Y et, immediately, she begins to shout:

Turn it off …. turn it off …. I am going to die …. I am going to die!!!

Yup, it was pretty funny!

Today, she remembered that – and so she told me that I (not the truck) was the “owner of cold”.  To which I responded:

Well, yes, of course – I was just in Canada for the year where it is cold, so I trapped all the cold in a bag and brought it with me to Niger!

We laughed in the car for a good five minutes – and then again: “Your Fulfulde is good … who taught you that Fulfulde??!?”  To which I smugly replied “my head”!  (I’m not entirely sure which part she thought was particularly “good” Fulfulde, but she seemed to really crack up over the idea of my putting cold in a bag!)

Yes, I love living in this country …. learning every day how to assimilate to the Fulani culture.  Laughing with my friends until we are brought to tears.  And feeling their acceptance of me into their lives, their language, and culture!