Eat and Sit
A loves B, B loves C, and C doesn’t give a hoot about the whole fiasco. This is an unsolvable algebraic nightmare. Perhaps it’s because I sit here single at the age of 35 that I might be a bit jaded about love. However, intimate relationships require the will of two parties – perhaps one person being a bit more committed than the other, a bit more persuasive than the other, sometimes a bit more conniving than the other.
At some time or another, many of us have certainly wished to be that conniving person in the relationship. A magic love potion would certainly do the trick – just introduce a bit of powder into your loved ones drink and voila – instant love! Magic fairy dust and love potions – this is the stuff of fairy tales, you say? Oh yes, fairy tales and West Africa.
During the time when I was in Guinea from 1998 – 2005, I received many warnings about eating food from strange people. The fear wasn’t that the meal would be poorly prepared and give me stomach sickness that would have me ensuring that the next 2 days would find me no further than a 30-second run from the toilet. Nor was it that the host had some sort of vendetta against me or foreigners and wanted to poison me and every white person that ever lived. It was much simpler than that – it was about finding a “good catch” (a foreigner, thus with lots of money) and winning his love by adding a bit of magic dust to his food.
What exactly are the effects of such a concoction? One afternoon, my friend Kadi answered this for me as I was having a meal at her house. As I teased her, she denied lacing my food. How can I know this, I asked. She replied that had she indeed spiked my food with such a substance, I would be unable to live without her – that I would be forever following her around town and regretting every moment that I spent without her!
My friend Yaya Bah explained to me the history of the potion, which is known in Guinea as “nyami joro,” the Pulaar words for “Eat and Sit.” Pulaar (or Fulani) women have always been the most desired women of all the different ethnicities because of their beauty, he explained. This presented a constant problem to the Pulaar race because their women would be taken away from their tribe and her children would lose touch with the Pulaar culture. In order to counter this, the Pulaar people developed “Nyami Joro.” The substance is fed to the man and it causes the man to fall so in love with the woman that he also invests in her village to build a home for his family before even investing in his own village. In this way, the Pulaar people have been able to preserve their culture and their wealth.
I have a personal story about Nyami Joro related to a Guinean malinké girl that I was dating for a few months. One day, the sister from my host family told me not to eat anything that my girlfriend prepared for me. At first I was shocked, and then recognized the issue at hand. I heeded the advice, and I did not eat anything that she prepared. In the past, though, I had eaten many things that she prepared. And, had she tried to give me Nyami Joro, well I did “eat”, but it didn’t make me “sit”. Perhaps it just doesn’t work, or maybe you have to believe in it to work, or maybe she just went to a bad medicine man and got some poor quality stuff. Whatever the case, shortly after this incident, we stopped dating.
In the beginning, my ability to accept love potions was right along side the many other bizarre beliefs of Guinean society: the transformation of people into animals, magic amulets providing protection against evil spirits, and bush devils that build village infrastructure (bridges and houses). But little-by-little, I began asking questions about the relationships around me like: why is he dating that girl who treats him like dirt, or why would he date someone that is so ugly? In my mind, I came to only one response: Nyami Joro.
Maybe I am mistaken about the equation involving A, B, and C. If I apply the logic that I learned in Guinea, I think that it can be resolved after all. With a little algebraic manipulation, A loves B, A feeds B Nyami Joro, and consequently B loves A. Then, everyone lives happily ever after, including C. Maybe that was me, C, just sitting back and observing it all!
At some time or another, many of us have certainly wished to be that conniving person in the relationship. A magic love potion would certainly do the trick – just introduce a bit of powder into your loved ones drink and voila – instant love! Magic fairy dust and love potions – this is the stuff of fairy tales, you say? Oh yes, fairy tales and West Africa.
During the time when I was in Guinea from 1998 – 2005, I received many warnings about eating food from strange people. The fear wasn’t that the meal would be poorly prepared and give me stomach sickness that would have me ensuring that the next 2 days would find me no further than a 30-second run from the toilet. Nor was it that the host had some sort of vendetta against me or foreigners and wanted to poison me and every white person that ever lived. It was much simpler than that – it was about finding a “good catch” (a foreigner, thus with lots of money) and winning his love by adding a bit of magic dust to his food.
What exactly are the effects of such a concoction? One afternoon, my friend Kadi answered this for me as I was having a meal at her house. As I teased her, she denied lacing my food. How can I know this, I asked. She replied that had she indeed spiked my food with such a substance, I would be unable to live without her – that I would be forever following her around town and regretting every moment that I spent without her!
My friend Yaya Bah explained to me the history of the potion, which is known in Guinea as “nyami joro,” the Pulaar words for “Eat and Sit.” Pulaar (or Fulani) women have always been the most desired women of all the different ethnicities because of their beauty, he explained. This presented a constant problem to the Pulaar race because their women would be taken away from their tribe and her children would lose touch with the Pulaar culture. In order to counter this, the Pulaar people developed “Nyami Joro.” The substance is fed to the man and it causes the man to fall so in love with the woman that he also invests in her village to build a home for his family before even investing in his own village. In this way, the Pulaar people have been able to preserve their culture and their wealth.
I have a personal story about Nyami Joro related to a Guinean malinké girl that I was dating for a few months. One day, the sister from my host family told me not to eat anything that my girlfriend prepared for me. At first I was shocked, and then recognized the issue at hand. I heeded the advice, and I did not eat anything that she prepared. In the past, though, I had eaten many things that she prepared. And, had she tried to give me Nyami Joro, well I did “eat”, but it didn’t make me “sit”. Perhaps it just doesn’t work, or maybe you have to believe in it to work, or maybe she just went to a bad medicine man and got some poor quality stuff. Whatever the case, shortly after this incident, we stopped dating.
In the beginning, my ability to accept love potions was right along side the many other bizarre beliefs of Guinean society: the transformation of people into animals, magic amulets providing protection against evil spirits, and bush devils that build village infrastructure (bridges and houses). But little-by-little, I began asking questions about the relationships around me like: why is he dating that girl who treats him like dirt, or why would he date someone that is so ugly? In my mind, I came to only one response: Nyami Joro.
Maybe I am mistaken about the equation involving A, B, and C. If I apply the logic that I learned in Guinea, I think that it can be resolved after all. With a little algebraic manipulation, A loves B, A feeds B Nyami Joro, and consequently B loves A. Then, everyone lives happily ever after, including C. Maybe that was me, C, just sitting back and observing it all!
posted by Aaron at
12:02 PM
4 Comments:
damn man, u need to write a book!!! I'll be a contributing writter and add some senegal stories. Your a good story teller. How u been?
By
Anonymous, at 5:28 PM
This makes me nostalgic for Guinea! And Africa in general - very nice writing.
By
Anonymous, at 1:47 AM
; very good, aaron!! agree with kapono -- maybe you should write a book about all of your experiences in and on the african continent. hope that things are going well for you. have two more alimtas and then another scan. will see what happens after that. take care-- will write soon. john
By
Anonymous, at 4:42 PM
As a PCV in Guinea, I was seduced by this very potion by my male friend at site! I believe in it's powers wholeheartedly! In fact, I'm sure it was in the salade pomme de terre he made me once.
By
Anonymous, at 11:45 PM
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