Marc wrote a blog post about his many names, and I thought that it was such a good idea that I would write my own about mine!
Back in 2005, when I was finishing my PhD, a friend from Cameroon told me that when I got to Africa I would find that if I had a doctorate, people would always call me “Docteur”. At the time, this didn't sound too bad to me – I felt like it would be nice to have my perseverance and hard work acknowledged! As my doctorate faded into the past though, I realised that “Docteur” had a rather formal sound to it, and I was quite relieved when I arrived here and discovered that what most of the Beninese call me is “Maman” (French for “mum”) or “Maman Simon/Benjamin”. I'd rather be “Maman” than “Madame”, and it just isn't the done thing here for someone younger than me to call me by my first name, so “Maman” suits me fine!
Of course, Benjy isn't talking yet, and Simon actually calls me “Mummy”, unless he's talking about me to someone in French, in which case he says “Maman” with a Beninese accent, making it sound more like “Mamain”.
Being “Maman” also gives me the status of being a respectable, married woman with children … and so I'm not plagued with marriage proposals as I was when I was here short-term as a single girl!
In Monkolé “Maman Simon” is “Iyayie Simon” (if I write it as it sounds) so I'm getting used to that being me too!
Marc and I rarely call each other by our first names, we usually use “chéri(e)” and were very amused when Simon started to call Marc “chéri”. I told him he could say “Papa chéri” (kind of equivalent to “Dearest Daddy”), and it has stuck, which is sweet.
The other thing we are called quite a lot is “baturé”, which means “white person”, and it is usually shouted at us by kids on the street. It doesn't bother me really, and almost as often we will be greeted by polite children who say “bonne arrivée” (“welcome”) which always earns them a big smile from me!
In Beninese families the children have their own first names but there are also names which mean “first son”, “second son”, “first daughter” and so on. So Simon can also be called “Woru” and Benjy is “Shabbi” (or in Monkolé “Sabi” as they don't have the sound “sh”). As a first daughter, I am “Nyo”. Simon knows who “Woru” and “Shabbi” are, and Benjy responds when addressed as “Shabbi” (Esther often calls him that).
How many different names do you have?
Back in 2005, when I was finishing my PhD, a friend from Cameroon told me that when I got to Africa I would find that if I had a doctorate, people would always call me “Docteur”. At the time, this didn't sound too bad to me – I felt like it would be nice to have my perseverance and hard work acknowledged! As my doctorate faded into the past though, I realised that “Docteur” had a rather formal sound to it, and I was quite relieved when I arrived here and discovered that what most of the Beninese call me is “Maman” (French for “mum”) or “Maman Simon/Benjamin”. I'd rather be “Maman” than “Madame”, and it just isn't the done thing here for someone younger than me to call me by my first name, so “Maman” suits me fine!
Of course, Benjy isn't talking yet, and Simon actually calls me “Mummy”, unless he's talking about me to someone in French, in which case he says “Maman” with a Beninese accent, making it sound more like “Mamain”.
Being “Maman” also gives me the status of being a respectable, married woman with children … and so I'm not plagued with marriage proposals as I was when I was here short-term as a single girl!
In Monkolé “Maman Simon” is “Iyayie Simon” (if I write it as it sounds) so I'm getting used to that being me too!
Marc and I rarely call each other by our first names, we usually use “chéri(e)” and were very amused when Simon started to call Marc “chéri”. I told him he could say “Papa chéri” (kind of equivalent to “Dearest Daddy”), and it has stuck, which is sweet.
The other thing we are called quite a lot is “baturé”, which means “white person”, and it is usually shouted at us by kids on the street. It doesn't bother me really, and almost as often we will be greeted by polite children who say “bonne arrivée” (“welcome”) which always earns them a big smile from me!
In Beninese families the children have their own first names but there are also names which mean “first son”, “second son”, “first daughter” and so on. So Simon can also be called “Woru” and Benjy is “Shabbi” (or in Monkolé “Sabi” as they don't have the sound “sh”). As a first daughter, I am “Nyo”. Simon knows who “Woru” and “Shabbi” are, and Benjy responds when addressed as “Shabbi” (Esther often calls him that).
How many different names do you have?
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