My many names

Coming to Benin, I've discovered that I now have a lot of different (but somewhat related) names.

In Beninese culture, it's not polite to call someone older than you by his or her name. So, our language helper calls Hilary ''Maman'' and myself ''Papa''.

I can also be called ''Papa Simon'' or ''Papa Benjamin''. And in Monkolé, the language we are learning, I can also be named ''baai Wòru'' or ''baai Sàbi''. 'baai' means 'father of', 'Wòru' means 'the first son' and 'Sàbi' means 'the second son'.

And a few days ago I went to a shop and as I came in the shop-keeper greeted me saying ''bonjour Papa Wòru''