When the CA tells you to eat all your pounded yams, you eat all your pounded yams.

There are certain people here who it is important to have on your side. One is the king of your commune, if you have one. One is the chef of the village, a traditional position passed through lineage. The other is the Chef d’arrondisement (CA), an elected position sort of like the mayor of a large city.

The way to get these people on your side is to visit them, talk with them for a few minutes and then sit in silence, a major part of the culture here.

Today, I went to visit the CA. After what I thought was an appropriate amount of time, I told him I was going to leave.

“Why?” was his response. “What will you do?”

I thought to my plans for the rest of the morning. They included reading Esquire, grading exams and making lunch. Nothing that was more important than whatever the CA wanted to show me. (Although my students may think differently. They really want their tests back.)

So, I hopped on the back of his moto and went wherever this morning was going to take me.