Many misconceptions exist amongst Nigerians about how life is in the US that I blogged about when I was here before, but the one that comes up the most often is contract marriage. Ezekiel defined it to me at some point during the last two years as when two people enter into a marriage with an agreed upon ending point. While I have made the common observation that divorce is prevalent in the US, I was confident that contract marriage didn’t take place, and I confirmed that in Iowa, it’s illegal!
Nonetheless, it comes up often. Most notably, I was in church on Sunday and the pastor talked about it in his sermon and Ezekiel had to practically hold me back from jumping out of my seat shaking my head and finger emphatically that it wasn’t true! The pastor was intelligent, articulate and seemingly exposed, so I decided it was my responsibility to go talk to him after service to tell him how much I’d learned and clarify the misunderstanding. He was a good sport and verified that he watches many international films and news broadcasts and therefore continued to argue that contract marriage was a reality. Finally, he acquiesced and promised to correct his mistake next Sunday. I told him that many impressionable and educated minds were being misinformed. I’m continuing to do my small part in helping to create a more accurate perception of the US.
weird-I never heard of that while I was in Nigeria, thanks for clearing that up, yikes!
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