Ivorians are from Ivorycoast, or in French: Côte d'Ivoire, which is a West African Country. Ivorycoast kind of has a complicated past, but in simple terms, in 1893 they were a French colonized colony. They were in pretty heavy influence, for they could only continue following their customs as long as it didn't interfere with the France established customs. 1960 was when they became a fully independent country. Yay for us, lol.
1.) Anyways, we come in all shades of brown and not all of us have 4c hair, I have 3c hair. A lot of us have upturned eyes and high cheekbones as well. We usually have flat or down turned noses. We're not all thick. We can be really skinny to really chubby.
(Don't get me wrong though, 90% of the time the booty is poppin')
This isn't the most common thing, but SOME of us are white. Those people descended from Europe.
2.) Food. When I tell you we love to eat, you best believe we love to eat. A common meal is Peanut Butter soup, made with meat, normally beef or chicken, and it's eaten with rice or fufu. Fufu is made of cassava and green plantain flour. Okra soup is made with fish or chicken, and is eaten with rice or fufu as well. This isn't that common, but we eat crepes too.
3.) One sentence: Plantains are our Ramen Noodles. (we still eat ramen noodles tho)
4.) We respect our elders! This is a very important principle taught to us. When someone who isn't your blood relative visits, or is introduced to you, you call them Aunt(y) or Uncle for respect. Sometimes you're expected to add the name, sometimes not.
4.5.) This doesn't mean that I'm a 20 year old and you introduce me to your friend who's 25 and I call them Aunt(y)/Uncle. If my older sibling is 25 though, I still need to show respect to them, not by calling them that but by the same ways anyone should with their older sibling.
5.) We are generally very happy people. You'll rarely catch an introverted Ivorian. At first we may seem reserved but are quick to carry the conversation once started. A lot of Ivorians I know wear their heart on their sleeve and aren't afraid to speak up. We are also very funny.
6.) We're always supportive: "Ok, I see you!"
Unless what you're doing really just..... we're not gonna ever let you embarrass yourself.
7.) We get disciplined. Although, slaps on the face are looked down upon. Guaranteed, someone will speak out if they see this.
8.) We usually have a big vocabulary, but that doesn't mean we talk like dictionaries.
9.) "Princesse de Pata." I don't know how common this actually is, but all my family and far our cousins use the term. It's usually said in a playful manner. If you're acting boujee then I'd call you Princesse de Pata.
10.) "Americanized." Not only said in Ivorycoast. It's a kind of a derogatory term. It's used when someone starts acting like they forgot their roots and where they came from. It can be used in a joking manner.
11.) The main languages are French and English, excluding the languages spoken in specific ethnic tribes, which there are over 60 of.
12.) Most of us are Muslin, but Christianity is only a few percent behind.
13.) We're superstitious, but not crazy superstitious. "Don't put your purse on the floor, or you're wishing to lose money." That kind of stuff.
14.) We usually have an African name, which is the middle name. Sometimes we don't though. First names aren't always a bunch of syllables like Kintakentay. Names like Emanuel, Michelle, Samuel, Donald, Ann-Marie, or Josephine are fine.
15.) Skin Lighting Cream. That's not even OUR stereotype. *face palm* Be gone.
16.) We don't only listen to music from our culture. Jeez, I know who Chance the Rapper is, alright.
17.) We can dress like Americans. You're not gonna see me walking around on a daily basis in my dashkini. I might wear a headwrap with African print. Sometimes we wear African print to church but that depends what church you go to. We're trendy people.
18.) Dating is not to be done until 16, and when you're 16, you picked the wrong person. If you bring someone by the house to meet your parent(s), they become the most judgemental being on Earth. After 18, you don't have time for that. They want school to be your main priority. After college, they rush you to get married.
(How do you get married so soon if you never had time for boys? I don't know, man, I don't know.)
19.) LGBT. It's most definitely not encouraged. If your son wants to put on a dress, it's not happening. If you come out though, they'll accept and love you nevertheless.
20.) Etc: Some people think we sound Brtish or Australian when we speak English.
Long hair (a little passed shoulders) is common for females.
We don't only use cocoa butter. Bath and Body Works is the bomb.