Welcome!

Hello and Bonjour! I’m Debra Kouda, and I would like to welcome you to Amerinoise. This blog has been years in the making - and honestly, I just had to get this first post up for the world to see before I thought about it too much! Yep, I’m one of those people...someone who will believe something to death! Trying to work on that one. 

Anyhow - Amerinoise. To say the name correctly you need to try out your best French accent (or maybe just imagine you are eating a delicious croissant at a small outdoor cafe in Paris). The name was actually conceived by my husband, whom I met in Benin when I was in the Peace Corps and really is a reflection of who we are as a couple - two people brought together and living a bi-cultured life...American et Beninoise. You will get used to seeing a bit of French in this blog, as French is the official language of Benin.

I am a mama to two beautiful boys, Aden and Benjamin, and wife to a fantastic husband, D'Aquin. We are about to commence on a grand adventure where we are going to live in Benin for a more extended period than just the vacations that we have taken in the past. The Amerinoise blog will document that venture, including stories from our travels to/from/and around the country, our agricultural endeavors (did I mention that we were peanut and cashew farmers??), a bit of academics and the start of a girls running club, music, food and just in general what it is like living in rural Africa. We also have dreams to start a tourism business and restaurant. Other random topics (music and politics for example) will probably find their way in there. Honestly, this list could go on and on, but Grammarly is telling me that the sentences are getting a bit wordy!

So thank you so much for visiting, and I look forward to taking you to Benin with us via stories over the World Wide Web! 
Merci! 

A young cashew tree.

PS...Benin is located in West Africa and was known as Dahomey before 1962. 

PPS...Peanuts grow in the ground as potatoes and cashews grow on trees.