It doesn’t seem like war…

I arrived in Abidjan Sunday night, the 4th of March. It was dark, but I realized immediately that this city was unlike any other city I had already visited in Africa. First, the airport was new and very nice, the streets were all paved with lots of lighting and there was a lot of open space. Jocelyne, my host for this sejour, studied at the University of Ghana at the same time as me, and now works as an accounting assistant for a company here in Abidjan, picked me up at the airport.

As many of you know, Cote d’Ivoire was in a civil war from 2002 until … well I guess until April 2011, when the former president was deposed by the current president after denying he lost the elections in December 2010 and refusing to step down. But for the Ivoirians, there were 2 wars, the one that split the country in two in 2002, and the violence that erupted around the elections. Jocelyne was in Abidjan when the second set of violent struggles started, and locked herself away in her apartment. As we drove to the apartment from the airport, she pointed out where people had told her there were bodies strewn about on the road.

My first full day in Abidjan, it poured down rain in the morning and it was even “cool.” I went to work with Jocelyne, where a colleague of hers drove me to my appointment with the NGO, Convention for Ivoirian Civil Society. En route, he showed me around the city, which is truly enormous. There are several different neighborhoods, each with their own colored taxi to take you around. Buildings, which to me seem like skyscrapers, dot the skyline, the roads are well developed; there are a lot of factories, industries and businesses all around. It is very different from Accra and Dakar, both in size and feel of the level of development. Abidjan is known for its lagoons, and to arrive in the center of town, you have to cross a bridge. I will post pictures soon.

There are, of course, reminders that this country just recently got out of a conflict. The most notable one is the UN trucks that are driving around full of blue helmets and guns. The UN has maintained a military presence here since the early 2000s. Bernard, the colleague mentioned above, pointed out a building where the windows had been shot out by rebels. Shanty towns abound besides parks and industrial buildings. But I was surprised by the lack of military patrolling the street. A US Embassy official told me that Ouattara, the current president, has “cleaned up the city” making sure that this would not be the case. One wouldn’t know, in other words, that the country just recently emerged from a violent political struggle, unless you talk to the population.

Cote d’Ivoire is a former French colony, so people here speak French. However, when they are speaking amongst themselves, I don’t understand ANYTHING. It all becomes mumbles, onomatopoeia, and hand gestures and I catch probably less than 10%. It is frustrating. What I do catch, though, tends to revolve around politics. On the way to work with Jocelyne, her colleague ranted about the country still having a “rebellion” mentality, including the current president. He said it’s not a republic because the president makes all his decisions alone, not consulting the legislative branch. He was for the president who was ousted in 1999, Bédié, saying that he had done a lot for the country. Jocelyne’s other colleague, Bernard, showed me his phone background; there was a picture of Gbagbo, the former president mentioned above who chose to be ousted militarily than step down after losing the elections and who is currently serving time in the Hague with allegations of crimes against humanities in the International Criminal Court. He said that Gbagbo was the “real” president, though he did concede that Ouattara was a nice guy with business experience. He said that Ouattara needs to show the population that he has their interests, not his foreign friends’, in mind when he is developing the country. Foreign interests are another interesting topic here. People are very opinionated about the involved of the French military in the ousting of Gbagbo, and doubt whether the country is truly independent. When I say I am American, people are ok with that. But when I say I live in Paris, I often get a “we don’t like France” attitude or an “I prefer to hear more about America, the French are horrible/racist/etc.”

Everyone I have met, though, is very keen on making sure I am safe and secure. I have not traveled anywhere alone in the city; there is always someone, Jocelyne’s colleagues or her family members, which are around to make sure I get where I need to go. I feel very baby-sat, but I realize that a)I wouldn’t know how to get anywhere anyway (i.e. this whole different taxis for different neighborhoods thing, you want to go to a different neighborhood, you have to take one taxi to a taxi depot, then switch taxis; very confusing) b)better safe than sorry, as they say.

Food and Culture: the food, so far, is quite delicious. Most meals are served with attieke, which is ground manioc that looks a little like couscous. We’ve eaten fish twice, and it was phenomenal. They eat spicy here, but you are not obligated to do so (though when we went to dinner with Jocelyne’s uncles, they encouraged me to eat lots of peppers!). Fried plantains are also part of the repertoire. People, as I may have mentioned, are extremely friendly. They say “Ca va?” and “on dit quoi?” a lot, and say “bonne soir” after midday, which is odd. Otherwise, there is a lot of laughing and gestures. I went to the market yesterday to get some fabric to make clothes, and it was quite an experience; lots of haggling, as always, and very crowded. There were guys selling pictures of outfits, so that you knew what you could make with your fabric; this was not the case in Senegal or Ghana.

For my thesis, things are moving slowly. I have set up various meetings, but I am not exactly sure what it is I am looking for or how to do it. But, it will be fine. :)

So that’s all. I have only been here for three days, but it feels like a lot longer. I am enjoying my time and am kept quite busy.