Ouidah

The whole group took an excursion to Ouidah. Ouidah is one of the voodoo capitals in Benin. We went to the sacred forest, the python temple, the history museum and then we went to the “point of no return.” It was quite a moving day. The point of no return is where many of the slaves left West Africa for the Americas. The sacred forest included a lot of voodoo statues and sculptures that are meaningful in the Beninese culture. The python temple houses at least 50 pythons, these serpents are very sacred. They sacrifice animals there to the pythons among other rituals. I had one of the pythons around my neck. I will try to post the picture soon.

Tomorrow we leave for our technical visits until Saturday evening. I am going to Dassa which is in the Zou/Collines department. It is about 5 hours north of Cotonou. My first traveling experience in a bush-taxi, I can’t wait! Dassa is supposed to be extremely beautiful and we were told to bring some comfy clothes that are appropriate for hiking. I am going with two others to stay with one current volunteer. Friday…August 1^st is Benin’s Independence Day. Apparently the whole country has a party, it should be a good time.

We went to a village yesterday afternoon a little outside of Porto Novo. We had meetings with the majority of the village to do a community map, daily schedule and seasonal calendar. It was really fun and something different. It was nice to finally be in a village. We have been kind of spoiled thus far with what we have seen of Benin. The people of Porto Novo and Cotonou are significantly wealthier than the rest of the country. It was hard working with a translator, especially since his French accent wasn’t anything that I was used to. I survived and it was good practice for me and everyone else in my group.

Today was the first day I bargained for a moto! It went really well. I was scared at first, but I did everything by myself in French…the price, the directions, etc. It was wonderful. I did it twice today—on the way to school and the way back. Well I have to get packing for the rest of the week. Hope all is well!

Au revoir!

Au Village

Today was my second language interview. I think I have made huge strides since my last one where I said I don’t know and I don’t speak French over and over to my interviewer. It seemed like it went pretty well, I mean I think it could only go up from there. I’m sure you can all imagine me uncomfortably laughing and just repeating I don’t speak French, it was amusing.

Last Saturday we went to a village and did our first baby weighing. It was packed we weighted 85 babies from 1 month to 6 years. It was super fun, but completely unorganized. Plus we had translators because most of the women spoke Fon (spl?) which is a local language. This week has gone by fast so far, we find out our posts tomorrow—extremely excited! Apparently we are going to the recreation center where we have class once a week. We will be drawing a map of Benin, then after we each find out our post we go and stand on the map! We also have new PCVTs this week which are just as amazing and nice as the last ones were. One of them went to UNC so we chatted about some people we both knew and about good ole’ Carrboro. Unfortunately she is a second year so she leaves at the end of August. Her parents sent her dvd’s of the ACC and NCAA tournaments the past two years…hint hint:).

The party this past Sunday was extremely fun. I have some awesome pictures from it. There were so many people and a live band. My mom has like 30 siblings apparently my grandfather had a more than a few wives. I met my Papa for the first time, he seemed pretty nice, but it was sort of a hectic day. Two of my friends from PC came and we dressed in traditional outfits. I was pretty dehydrated by the end of the day from dancing, etc... I also took a picture with the King of Porto Novo!

I went running last night with my friend Mani’s brothers. I explained to them that I have run like 2 times in the past three months. We still ran for an hour and 15 minutes! We ran from our house all the way to the general assembly building by the grande marche. I know that none of you have any idea what that means, but trust me it’s far. It was a good workout though and I was happy that they accompanied me. They both ran on either side of me since it was already dark outside and the roads aren’t all paved and well sidewalks are sparse. I will say that I slept pretty well last night. I think we are going to make a more regular thing and throw in some soccer and basketball too. Well have to get back to school…2 more hours of French class then nutrition presentations.

Hope all is well with everyone at home! Au revoir.

***Okay so I wrote the earlier part yesterday, but I had some issues at the cyber café and I couldn’t post it. So I got my post!!! I will be living in Zinvie and working in Yevie a village right outside of the city. I am about an hour from Cotonou in the southern part of Benin. I am super excited. I have a post mate who is from PSL 20 the one before me and another person in my PSL is about an hour away in the same department. The people where I am living speak French and the people where I work speak Fon. My counterpart is an NGO + COGES. It is a health clinic with four midwives that offer continuous care. There main goals include maternal and child health and nutrition. There will also be many opportunities for me to do educational seminars. I am extremely happy with my post and I can’t wait to do a site visit.

I also received the results from my language exam. I moved from novice-low to intermediate-low, that is a huge jump. I guess I did really well, but I didn’t think I did that well. Hopefully I can keep up. I was happy with the results overall. I guess I know more than I think. Now we are off to build a garden and get super muddy.

Au revoir!

My First Scorpion!

So I guess I should start with discussing the title. The past few nights at my house have been eventful. I left school on my bike with my friend Mani and the tire was immediately flat. It was already 7:00 because I stayed late for French tutoring, which means it was already getting dark. Which is a problem since we aren't really supposed to be out after dark. So we had to walk the bike home to her house (we only live a street apart) so her brothers could try to fix it. They took it to the bike shop that was conveniently located around the corner. As I turn the corner my little sister is running towards me because my mama had sent her to look for me. Then she stayed and the other one came to look for both of us. It was pretty funny. I didn't get in the house until almost 9:00, needless to say I had to force dinner down because at that point I was so tired I wasn't hungry.

The next night tops that off though. So it rained all day until about 4PM. I got back to the house at about 7:30ish. I went into my room to drop off my backpack before dinner and the tailor was there to measure me for the outfit I am having made for Sunday. To my surprise my roof had leaked and water had gotten in under the door. Therefore all my clothes were soaked! There were probably 5 or 6 items that weren't soaked. So my three sisters, mama and the domestique came in to help me clean up the mess. We had to wash everything and hang it, sweep and mop. Then we brought in bricks to elevate everything. The whole ordeal took a little over 2 hours. I was exhausted and boiling my water before we sat down for dinner and looked up to a scorpion on my wall. Haha it was hilarious. I called Pamey in there and she called mama who promptly took care of it. I'm not sure what she did with it, all I know is that it wasn't in my room anymore! I can't believe I was so calm, but it's not like it was running at me or attacking or anything...whatever!

After that I still had to get measured and design my outfit for the tailor. He probably thought I was crazy. At that point I could barely stand let alone understand French. Then since it's rainy season my clothes got soaked again the next morning. Everything is dry now except for a few things which are hanging in my mama's room since she has a fan. Ha it makes me laugh typing this. I just kept saying thank you and sorry in French, haha!

Last night my mama had me trying on all her traditional outfits--aka Bombas. They were even wrapping the tissue around my head. My sisters were rolling around on the ground laughing. Yesterday my mama cooked lunch for three of my friends and I. Then we all walked down to the water with my sisters to the petit marche. We watched people bringing in fish and got some bons bons for the little ones. We also stopped at the house where people live who are living with AIDS. I met the doctor last week and he is extremely nice and knowledgeable about some of the health work I am interested in doing. There are some crocodiles there and other cool animals. My little sisters really like it and were excited to show my friends.

Sunday afternoon is the 22nd anniversary of my mama's mother's death. She has been preparing for weeks. Yesterday I asked her how many people she was expecting and she said over the whole day probably 1,000!? I think it will be a cross-cultural experience for sure. Yesterday the hair dresser was at the house doing her hair. She wanted me to get braids I said maybe two big ones, but that's as far as I am going at the moment. The weather is similar to NC so the humidity and sweating hasn't been that hard of an adjustment for me. Some of the other trainees have begun getting sick--only about 6 or 7 that I know of, but so far I'm healthy. As I type that I am knocking on wood.

The PCVs warned us about how much your host family will feed you because in Benin it is a good thing to be overweight. It means you are healthy, etc... I explained to my mama in the first few days that in the US that is not a good thing, so I get to serve myself. Hopefully I will not put on 25 lbs. like one of the PCVs did in her first 3 months. The diet here is pretty heavy on starch. I should be fine though. I have been riding my bike for almost an hour a day and I am going to start running in the morning this weekend. I just wanted to get comfortable with my neighborhood first.

Saturday we are going out to a village and giving a presentation about the importance of breastfeeding in French--needless to say I will not be talking much, haha! Then we are practicing baby weighing and growth chart stuff.

I can't wait for Sunday I will have to take a picture of me in the outfit I designed, hopefully it will be what I intended, I was a little tired that night. This tissue aka material I picked out is pretty cool. My mama took me to the grande marche to pick it out the other day. She is the best price haggler ever. She is just a boss...I can't wait until I actually need to get stuff for post, she will be such an asset.

French is coming slowly. I understand a lot already it's just hard for me to respond. I want to say everything perfect the first time and I get confused with Spanish sometimes. I have to just remind myself that it is okay to mess up and have confidence about speaking. It's only been a little over a week of French instruction anyway.

Until next time...Au revoir!

At My Host Family's in Porto Novo

Bonjour!

I am now at my host family's house in Porto Novo. I live with my Mom and 3 sisters in a nice house near the center of town. One sister-Mireille is 18 and then Natacha and Pamela are 7 and 8. My mom is retired and used to work in finance and my dad lives in Togo and works in customs. The house is very nice and I have my own room separate from the rest of the house. This style is popular in Benin, it is called a concession. There is a courtyard where we sit and cook then we eat dinner together at night.

My older sister works during the day as a secretary and my other two sisters are on vacation from school until september so we go on walks everyday during lunch and they help me with my French. My family is being very patient with me because I have to talk to them with my dictionary in hand. But it is coming faster than I expected. I would hope so since I have language class 2 times a day for 4 hours total. I ride my bike to school with another trainee who lives one street over.

Today we went on a walk and met a man on the street probably in his mid-twenties then we went and met his family and had a coke on the porch. He was from Senegal and spoke very good English. My friend Mani and I are going to visit him next weekend so he can speak English to us and we can speak French to him. Great practice!

All of us went to the market with other volunteers and our language facilitators yesterday. What an experience. I will have to write more later. I am doing great and eating extremely well. The local foods are delicious and spicy--just the way I like it! My mom figured out how much I love salad and avocados as well as pineapple so I get to eat that at almost every meal. I have to run for dinner.

Au revoir!

Finally Here!

Bonjour everyone!

I made it safely along with 63 other volunteers. It was a little over a 30 hour journey through Paris. There was a security strike so we were on the tarmac for over 2 hours in Paris, hence I went to sleep:) Anyone surprised? We arrived in Cotonou, Benin at about 10:00PM to about a dozen cheering PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers). I am 5 hours ahead of the East Coast. It was quite an experience for everyone between passports and visas and WHO medical cards, woah. I was glad when I finally made it to the fresh air.

We are staying in a hostel in a suburb of Cotonou that is supported by a Catholic ministry. My roommate is great she is an RPCV (returned PCV)--Ukraine. She is very knowledgeable and fun to be around. I have also made many other friends, there are only 18 boys out of 64 people--that's probably good for me though! haha. I had my first day of language training yesterday, thank goodness the facilitator is patient because it's going to be a long nine weeks for her, my French...not so great! I kept answering her in Spanish, she was a little amused.

The other trainees--we can't call ourselves volunteers until we are sworn in on September 4th which is also going to be the 40th anniversary for PC-Benin. We are supposedly having dinner with the president! My APCD (Associate Peace Corps Director) interview is in about an hour to speak about where I want to be posted, I'm pretty excited she has an MPH from Johns Hopkins and seems very qualified and approachable.

Today we all came into town and rode the Zemi's or motos, Benin's motorcycle's! I had to haggle the price for a ride to practice, I guess I will have to work on not being such a pushover. It was so fun! I have always wanted to ride a motorcycle in the states and now I will be able to ride them for my means of transportation. Those and my sweet new Trek bike. Benin is one of the only PC countries that PCVs are allowed to ride motos.

Tomorrow we are going to the market to get some things...like I need some shower flip flops. My mom told me to grab some, but I forgot of course. They are only about $.50 though so I think I will be able to afford them.

I am safe and sound and enjoying every part of this experience so far. Wednesday we are going to meet and live with our host families I can't wait. I am not sure about stamps and letters and packages yet. I will have a new address at my post and will send out an email to everyone that is on my email list with any and all contact information.

I hope you all are doing well and I will write more soon-there will always be great things to tell you about, this country is amazing!