No doesn't always mean no...kind of

My brother’s girlfriend (Jenny – who moved to Shanghai, China with him just after I came to Africa) posted a blog (http://johnandjeninchina.blogspot.com) this week that made me think about the fact that no doesn’t always mean no (similar to “yes doesn’t always mean yes” – see prior post). My brother and Jenny are going through many of the same experiences I have been (frustrations with differences between cultures, amusing language mistakes, and a ton of things that just don’t make sense…to us), even though they are in China and I am in Africa. This post is dedicated to John and Jen in China – you are not alone mes amis.

This particular situation has actually happened more than once. I am at a restaurant with a few other volunteers. On the menu for breakfast they have plain bread, omelettes, and omelette sandwiches (which is just plain bread with an omelette on it). I order an omelette sandwich and the waiter tells me “c’est fini” which means “it’s finished,” or “there are none.” (This expression is one of the many Peace Corps jokes because we get this response to the strangest requests…for instance, at the gas station we pull up for gas and they tell us “c’est fini!” or we go to the market for eggs or bananas or just about anything and on any given day you get “c’est fini.” Oh, ok, so all the eggs in Burkina Faso are gone? Yes. Thank you. It’s unbelievable, because the next day they have them. But that’s just my reaction because I come from the land of plenty where there is always gas and there are always eggs.) Ok, back to the waiter…so I ask him if they have eggs and he says yes, so I get an omelette. Then he moves on to the next person at the table who asks if they have just plain bread and he says yes! Ok, hold up, so you have eggs and you have bread, but the omelette sandwich “c’est fini?” He responds, “yes.” Ok, then I would like to order just an omelette and just plain bread, separately – which, by the way, costs the same as an omelette sandwich. Ok, that is fine. Arrrrgh! It’s just one of the many things I come across daily in this country that does not make sense to me. It seems logical if they have bread and they have eggs that they would be able to provide an omelette sandwich. But it is not so. I used to get really confused and wonder if I was missing something, but have since given up and just accepted that this is the way it is sometimes. Oh Burkina.

Ok Jen – there ya go. I hope you get your cold sprite (at McDonalds - please keep in mind that you are lucky to have McDonalds and KFC) next time without the 15 minute debateJ