Hi Sean,
A very interesting site! I was married to a Beninese man for 9 years. Your stories are very interesting but you have no idea what it is like to come to Benin while already married into the family. Yes they are delightful people. As for the yovo song, the spelling of youo is yovo. Yovo, yovo bon coir, ca va bien, merci. I thought it was very cute and joyful the way it was sung but after a while I didn't want to feel so unique. I just wanted to be a fellow human being that didn't always attract such notice. I didn't have any feelings about it being racist I just wanted anonymity. I see all the dates on the messages above are 1999. I hope you are still responding to messages. I have been to Benin 3 times and have since divorced the Beninese. My son's name is Akangbe. I traveled to Parakou, Cotonou, Porto Novo, Ouidah, Savalou, Bohicon, Djoudou, and had a long stay in Bembereke where I was hospitalized after a bad car accident. I nearly died. The road was les escaliers as I'm sure you heard of before asphalt. My ex is a priest of Gu in the voudoun pantheon. All the Beninese were saying the accident was due to jealousy and black magic. Are you still there? How is Kerekou, the marxist doing as a democratic leader? Are you among Fon people? My ex is Fon. I hate to say it but they don't make good husbands for American women. I met him in NY while taking African dance classes. Upon arriving in Benin I quickly began to understand that I should have made a trip there before agreeing to marry him. I met him outside of his cultural context so of course I didn't understand what a husband was in Fon society. I had an American idea of what a husband was. I don't remember hearing about Ouacke while in Benin. Where is it? I, too walked the slave trail on Ouidah. It was a profound experience. I have not found that other West African countries have responded to the question of slavery the way Benin did. This letter is all over the place because there is so much to say from my own experiences. Please open a dialogue with me and I can write in more detail. I had quite the bizarre experiences there, good and bad. Susan suraza@hotmail.com