Its Melissa NOT Yovo

Ok so I reread my last post and I am laughing about it now, just how absolutly rediculous it actually is. Yestarday I actually had someone ask me to marry them while I was in the post office, the conversation went as follows, hi what are doing in Benin, Im a Peace Corps Volunteer, Where do you work, I work over there at the agricultural organization, Oh whats your name, Madame Perry, My name is, i cant honestly remember his name, its nice to meet you. then he says, so do you have a boyfriend, no i do not, oh well then we should get married and then you can take me back to the states with you. This man was completely 100 percent serious. No im not interested in marrying you I came to benin to work not to find love, and my faveorite comment of the day, oh but love has nothing to do with marriage, and you like obama right and hes black and im black which means you should marry me. as if because the color of his skin matched that of the current presidents he was automatically irrisistable to american white women. I didnt tell him that presidents in our country were actually not viewed as sex symbols but i didnt really want to burst his bubble. no i am not marrying you i am a single woman and thats ok why do you care if im single or not, so what if you think its wrong im not attracted to you so theirfore it doesnt concern you, after this last point the postman who i was having other problems with before stands up points to the guy and says shes right she doesnt need a man in her life shes perfectly fine living on her own shes been here for 6 months now and shes been doing just fine. TAKE THAT CREEPY MAN!! i would just like to say thanks postman that was probably one of the more awesome things ive heard in benin.
Change of topic, children here think its really fun to call all white people yovo theres a song, yovo yovo bonsoir ca va bien merci, which i hate and i dont need to hear it again in my life to live happily. this song orginated way back when benin was a french colony and french people wanted children to speak french so they gave them money to speak french. so they taught them this annoying little song and everytime the children sang it theyd give them money or candy or something eles that was cool to encourage them. that was a bad idea. my crusade lately has been trying to get them all to at least change the song to melissa melissa bonsoir cava bein merci. i much prefer to hear my name than yovo. i tell children everyday, my name is not actually yovo my parents gave me the name of melissa not yovo can you greet me like this melissa bonsoir next time i would really like that. then i proceed to point to myself a few more times and say melissa. there are some children who get it and get a sheepish look on their faces and repeat my name but next time its the same deal oh they also cant say my name but i give them credit for trying, ive heard, melisse, elissa, felicia, alicia, mekissa, elise, all other forms that melissa could take. this has been a 3 month long process, some children have got it half way that i dont like to be called yovo so they just greet me without using yovo, which is an improvement some even go so far as to call me madame or sister which is cool too, but then there are the shining examples of children who remember my name and parents who tell their children to call me by my name, for example everytime i go to the market there are about 5 children who run up and start singing jumping up and down being kind of obnoxious, and i tell them everytime i have a name its not yovo i know this concept is mind blowing but one day youll get it. that day was yestarday. i was parking my bike and the kids run up and i brace myself because ive already heard the song 5 billion times already that day and it was only noon, and they say melissa melissa bonsoir. YAY!!!!!!! i thank them a lot and tell them how happy i am and that theyre good kids. but now i hope that they might be abme to tell the different between me and my post mate, its tough were both white girls with brown hair, but maybe theyll get it. one day....