Hiraeth Writing Process Reflection Hiraeth! Hiraeth! What is the meaning of this word ? That was the question I asked myself the first time I heard this word. After the explanation of the word by my professor and some researches on my own, I found that the word Hiraeth doesn't have a specific meaning but it can be associate to be homesickness, a place or a moment in your past that you would like to go back to make changes but can’t. It can also be or a new environment that one is not used to or never was. When I think about this word “Hiraeth” the scene that come in my mind is as a young child in my native country of Benin Republic in west africa, I was the most happiness little boy then anyone would image. I’m not only happy because of my friends but because of the happiness I witness among my community. In my country, there are a lot of villages and everybody have it’s village. Even if you are born in a city, your parents are from somewhere which is their village and as long as it is their village, it’s yours too. When I was kid, I didn’t have the chance to stay long in my parents village which is my village. It was by the time I grow up and was 15 years old I started to go in my village for vacation. I usually go when we take school break or vacation. Whenever time I go in my village, I usually like to spend more time with my grandparents especially my grandmother because she likes to talk to me and spend time with me. My grandmother likes to go in her field every morning and after her field in the afternoon she likes to make her “Tchakpalo” which is a drink made with corn, wheat, and water. Tchakpalo is a traditional drink in Benin and a lot of people like it. The first day the tchakpalo is made, everybody can drink it. Even a kid but after three and more days a kid can’t drink it anymore because it becomes like alcohol. I remember if I go in my village, the thing I like to do with my grandmother is to help her if she want to go in her field or do her Tchakpalo. Every morning we wake up early by 7:30 AM get ready to go in the field. We usually pack the things we will need when we will get there like: Clothes, bowl to put food, water, ingredients and others necessary things that we will need. After packing up everything, we all walk in group but my grandmother usually call a “Zemidjan”. In my country Zemidjan is the people who drives you around with their motorcycle. When she get in the field she usually wait for us under a big tree where there are all the tools we are going to use that day. The field was about 20 minutes of walking from the house . So when we get there, we put everything under the tree. Under the tree was like a house where we have pot, fire to cook, water, all the need of kitchen and also some chair and tables . After getting in the field we (my brother Armel, my cousin Nina and Saturnin, my aunt and I) usually take the tools we are going to use in the field. In the field, we usually plant corns, beans, yams,peanuts,pepper,tomatoes,cassava,some fruits and other food. We all plough while my grandmother stay behind planting the plant of the day. It might be corn, beans or another thing. We usually work together and while working we do some competition to see who will be the first who will finish to plough 10 to 20 lines. When my grandmother get tired, she goes under the tree to rest while we still working and in the afternoon like 12:30 pm or 1 pm we all stay together and cook the meal we will eat. While one person is going to get pepper, the other will get tomatoes or yams or the ingredient we want to use. After getting everything my aunt, my cousin Nina and my grandmother help each other to cook the soup while we the man cook the yam and make fufu. After everything is done the woman stay together and eat. Same thing with the man. After eating and digesting, we all rest for about 20 minutes ,talk and laugh and later go back to work. By 3 pm my grandmother go home while we still working and after two hours to three, we all finish and take the way to home. The last time I went in my village was to bury my grandmother who died in December 2014 and this the moment I realise that I can not see her again I realise that everything is done between us on this ground. My grandmother with whom I didn’t spend enough time with and I was thinking when I will come back in my village she will tell me some stories and we will have fun together.
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