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Guédyo was the village where Rocheline was born. It's also known as Ottawa - the explanation being (as far as I could understand it) that the village was founded by two separate groups of families (one from Soubré district, the other from Gagnoa), hence marriages are allowed between theses two groups who then become brothers-in-law, which in Bété is 'Ottowi', and so they changed this to Ottawa so that it would have the same name as the Canadian town. The Canadian ambassador had supposedly visited the village, filmed it, etc.

Welcome To Ottawa - Population 300

Ajcairns
2005-11-04 20:53:21

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doorway to try and eat the cockroaches - aaaaaaarrrrgh!

The village lizards (margouillat) are quite big (up to two feet long) but are actually harmless, and people just basically ignore them. They're actually a good way of keeping down the insect population. When you're in bed you can hear them scrambling about on the roof. The females are greenish in colour and slightly smaller than the males which are black with orange tails. The males sometimes bob their heads up and down, as if they are doing press-ups (I assume some sexual ritual to attract the females). In Abidjan, and larger towns, you don't see these insectivores, maybe they are scared off by the noise, pollution, etc. and I suppose also because they prefer a more natural habitat of trees, dirt and mud which only the smaller towns and villages provide. It's a pity they don't exist in Abidjan, etc. because they might keep down the amount of insects. ("The flies, Oh God, the flies" - having a meal on the terrace of some restaurant or maqui could be a bit of a nightmare because it was often impossible to keep the flies off your food).
The village to me (and to Rocheline) was infinitely preferable to the towns, particularly Abidjan, due to the friendliness of the people. You also felt safe there - everyone knows everyone else - they all wanted to say hello to us, shake our hands, find out our news, and basically give us a warm welcome (including bringing us chickens and prepared dishes). The day after we arrived, a couple of Rocheline's uncles took me up into the fields to show (and let me taste) some of the local produce. They also showed me some guy cutting down a palm tree, using a pole with a blade on the end to cut through the roots. The palm tree grains, and coconuts are removed from their trees using longer poles with a curved blade on the end. One cousin of Rocheline's, Jaquelin, was very friendly, showing me round different things including the Sud de ...