So appparently that video didnt turn out so well; ill try again later. Im in Porto Novo right now; but i stupidly forgot the flash drive with a few blog posts on it already so this on is live people!
First of all, thank you all for the birthday wishes weither they be in email, failed or sucessful phonecall or facebook message, which i cant read due to technical difficulties, but i know are there!I had a pretty awesome birthday weekend, with a trip to Cotonou, cupcakes and a little party in my consession with my neighbors and even some packages that got through customs, thanks Mom and Mae!
Since then, I have been well, if a little busy! School is starting to pick up and this last week I gave my first quiz. The results were dishartening, especially considering that all we have done so far this year is review from last year, I should say that the results were only really dishartening to me; for Benin, and the French type school system in general they were very good, as more than half of my students passed. Being in a system that teaches to the top of the class while leaving the bottom of the class in the dust takes some getting used to... and Im still not entirely sure how to go about it!
Sadie the kitten, more awkward adolecent cat already, is doing well. Still eating lizards in the house and more recently in the consession at large as I have started letting her run around when i sit outside grading papers or reading or what have you. The Mama of the consession thinks that she will still run away, but because every time she comes in the house I give her little smoked fishes she always comes bounding up the steps when I call her. She treats my mosquito net like a kitty jungle gym and hammok and has recently started sleeping up there, so that when I wake up at 6 am, there she is looking at me with hungry eyes and saying *feed me mom, feed me*.
You know your a PCV when...One of the packages that I got on my birthday was from my mom, thanks again mom, and when I opened it I didnt really get to look at the contents too much before shoving everything in my bag and heading back to my post. When I got home I was so tired it was all I could do to simply pour myself into bed and sleep, therefore it wasnt until the next day that I pulled everything out and really looked at it. The first thing I did was put all of the choclate into my little dorm sized refrigerator; yeah, i know, i have a fridge. anyway I noticed as I was pulling things out that a ton of ants had gotten into my bag during the night! I thought this was really annoying and kinda weird since everything was sealed and I hadnt had an ant problem until then, but I dealt with it and whatever... So a couple of days ago I got an intese chocolate craving and headed for the bag of m and ms that were chillin in my fridge. Opened the bag, noticed theyd melted a bit, oh well and started munching away. Then I noticed, the entire bag was filled with dead ants! What did I do? The only thing to do... I went through the bag and picked out the ants. All the time, not grassed out but slightly annoyed that A.damn Beninese customs for having ant intfested wearhouses where they kept my package for weeks and B.damn Mars CO. for not having well sealed bags! After the sorting was through and I was eating some m and ms I mused that in a year I probably would eat the ants for the extra protean and that in two years i wouldnt have to rationalize eating ants, and that a year ago I would have thrown the whole bag out! Life is sure interesting...
Every once in awhile when Im planning classes or something where I have to think of the date I think of how weird it is that its OCTOBER, which ends today. and that it feels as if I have really only been here a few days, except that when I think back to when we first got here it seems like a million years ago! As I sit on my porch and drink tea while looking over the breathtaking Oweme Tiver Valley I think about the fact that at home its cold and rainy and it will soon be winter and Im sure that the next two years will feel like endless summer to me.
With that! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
love and miss you, Glenna
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sadie eating a Lizard
It was a little gross, but I hate those little bastards pooping all over my stuff and popping out of places unexpectedly.
Happy Birthday to me...!
October 16, 2009
Happy Birthday to me!
I’m in Cotonou today buying a few things at the Hyper-Marche Arivan (cake pan, litter box, anything else that catches my fancy), which according to reports of other volunteers is pretty much a Wal-Mart, but in Africa. And meeting up with my friend Laura for lunch and some catching up, including a chat about our chats (cats) like two little old ladies (no offense Gram! it’s a good thing!) speaking of which, hopefully I can figure out how to load some of the videos/pictures of her (and other stuff too).
Other things… school and my post is really great. I’m learning some local language, Gun (pronounced Goon, like in The Goonies, that amazing movie from the 80s), with a lot of practice to be had in my concession (the compound that my house is in, which is: a Grandma who sells African moonshine in the market, 3 of her daughters, and all of their kids, the Censour-VP- of my school, and some older boys who board here during the school year as they live to far away to commute and their villages are to small to have a high school) as only some of them speak French but they all speak Gun, except me, I spend a lot of time watching things, like the stars and the kids running around. I also like just to wander around the village randomly “saluaing” (saying hello, it’s very impolite on to do it) people, which is pretty fun and has lead to meeting some really helpful people, like my vet. His name is Dr. Josef and strangely, he is just like every other vet I have ever met in my life, including that everyone calls him Dr. First Name and he remembered my cat’s (Sadie, for Sexy Sadie the Beatles song) name more readily than he remembered mine- an admirable quality in a vet! I’ve also laid some groundwork to do some work with the nuns here, who are pretty cool and not only take in all the orphans who are left (literally- there’s a basket there) on their doorstep, who are disproportionately girls and there are also many disabled kids that live with them. The more I talk with them and get to know the orphans (a few of the girls are in my classes) the more I think that they actually have it pretty good, in comparison to what might have been. First, they all go to school- which is by no means obligatory here, and which you pay a fee for, even at public schools, not to mention uniforms and school supplies which are not terribly expensive, but are expensive enough. I’m hoping (and I think the nuns are too) to work with the disabled kids (I’m sure your very surprised, haha) because I feel like with them I could really make a difference, because I have some experience and some training ( I know I don’t have much, but since it’s unheard of here…) and I have been really upset by the plight of the disabled in the developing world; because here they don’t pay taxes, on anything, there is no money, for anything. There is no money for schools, hospitals, roads, and certainly not for the disabled; so they are beggars on the street and I can only assume that those are the lucky ones as they are not severely handicapped, but only mildly handicapped, so the others… anyway I hope I can help!
So school… is interesting. Learning names hard! Both of students and of teachers, all of whom have a very unfair advantage because I stick out like the only white person within ten kilometers! Because I am! Not that its that bad… it’s just weird. Although I have fairly successfully trained all the kids that I see on my way to the school every morning not to call me “yove” but instead call me “Madame”, now if only it would trickle up to the marche Mamas! Classes are really good. The kids are (usually) interested in what the crazy white lady is doing (miming, saying everything, including their names, with a funny accent) and although I’m a little worried about what will happen when the novelty wears off however, I’m certainly going to milk it while I can. What is really nice is that unlike all of the other TEFL volunteers I know I only have one grade- cinqieme- about 7th grade (kinda) in the American system. 5eme is the second year of English for all of my students, which means that they understand the VERY basics, but I am planning on reviewing for a few more weeks. Another thing about having only one promotion is that I only have to make 2 lesson plans a week, although I do have to do each of them 4 times, which is a little redundant and makes one class hard to separate from the next in my mind. The thing about it is that I am the only teacher for 5eme, which means that I get to set my own agenda for the classes and when it comes to making tests, I just get to write them and I don’t have to collaborate, on the downside it does also make me an island unto myself in the English department. Oh well, they are all really nice, just a little stand-offish and awkward, as one would probably expect, but I’ll get to them (muahaha).
A crazy cat lady ramble…. Have I mentioned my cat? She’s adorable! Although she is already a bigger kitten than when I bought her. She chases, plays with and eats the lizards that infest my house and they are already starting to leave, although I will miss them, if only for her amusement. Hopefully one of the videoes I loaded is of her playing with her food… it was a huge lizard that she caught and when she ate it she looked like she was pregnant! She’s a lover cat though- hence the name, and she LOVES me, pretty much I touch her and she starts purring like crazy, my theory is that she really just loves the fish that I feed her on a daily basis. She also thinks that my mosquito net is the best cat jungle gym/hammock/cat bed combo. At first I was worried that she would tear it, but then she figured out that she can move around easier without her claws, so I guess it’s alright.
Anyway, gotta go! Hopefully it won’t be another month until I can write!
September 18, 2009
MODEL SCHOOL IS OVER!!! Yay and sad day. Can you detect conflicting emotions? That’s because all at once I am sad that it’s over, because I learned a lot and it was fun in between being terribly hard, but I am also very happy because it was a lot of work and a lot of teaching and a lot of training and a lot of stress. It was just a lot. As we look toward swear-in on the 25th I feel the same way about it and moving to post. It’s exciting because I will finally be on my own and doing my own thing, but I am also sad to leave all my friends. On second thought, I’m not leaving them, it’s more like we’re all leaving each other. Not to mention that the prospect of being at post, the only Yovo in my village (although, luckily not the only one they’ve ever seen) and with a post-mate 10k away, but pretty much tout seul.
Last night I was at school (it’s a CEG, a kind of combo Middle-High School) waiting for my friend Laura to get done with tutoring so that we could bike home together, and as the sun snuck behind the cement buildings it started to cool off from the raging heat of the afternoon and was very peaceful. I hope I have enumerable moments like that at post. I felt the same peace that I often feel at home, watching the sun set over Admiralty Inlet or seeing the lights come on in the darkening city.
August 24, 2009
Back in the Med Unit again! And again, nothing too serious, but gross this time… I won’t go into the details.
This last week I went to my post on a visit and I am really in love with it!
The village is about 40 minutes north of Porto Novo, over “terre-rouge”, a dirt road through the jungle/banana plantations. The ride is absolutely beautiful, if a little bone-jarring. The first time I drove along it, I was amazed at how breathtaking the whole scene was. The Oueme River and its surrounding valley on one side of me and seemingly endless lush jungle on the other. Every once in a while we would pass through a small village (and a few big ones) that are made of the red mud with either palm-thatch or corrugated iron roofs. It was like driving through a National Geographic magazine on the back of a moto.
My house is very nice, and as it has been lived in by 3 other volunteers, it’s fully furnished (score!)- although I really need a new mattress for the bed, and a fan would be really nice, and a fridge, maybe... but that’s what a move-in allowance is for!
The village is on the small side, but because if it’s proximity to the river and the valley it also has an AMAZING (by all accounts) market that happens every other day, although the markets alternate between the pitite and the grande. I was also very excited to learn that because of the fertile river valley that there is always something along the lines of fresh fruit and veggies in the marche, although they will vary depending on the season.
All for now! Love you all!
Happy Birthday to me!
I’m in Cotonou today buying a few things at the Hyper-Marche Arivan (cake pan, litter box, anything else that catches my fancy), which according to reports of other volunteers is pretty much a Wal-Mart, but in Africa. And meeting up with my friend Laura for lunch and some catching up, including a chat about our chats (cats) like two little old ladies (no offense Gram! it’s a good thing!) speaking of which, hopefully I can figure out how to load some of the videos/pictures of her (and other stuff too).
Other things… school and my post is really great. I’m learning some local language, Gun (pronounced Goon, like in The Goonies, that amazing movie from the 80s), with a lot of practice to be had in my concession (the compound that my house is in, which is: a Grandma who sells African moonshine in the market, 3 of her daughters, and all of their kids, the Censour-VP- of my school, and some older boys who board here during the school year as they live to far away to commute and their villages are to small to have a high school) as only some of them speak French but they all speak Gun, except me, I spend a lot of time watching things, like the stars and the kids running around. I also like just to wander around the village randomly “saluaing” (saying hello, it’s very impolite on to do it) people, which is pretty fun and has lead to meeting some really helpful people, like my vet. His name is Dr. Josef and strangely, he is just like every other vet I have ever met in my life, including that everyone calls him Dr. First Name and he remembered my cat’s (Sadie, for Sexy Sadie the Beatles song) name more readily than he remembered mine- an admirable quality in a vet! I’ve also laid some groundwork to do some work with the nuns here, who are pretty cool and not only take in all the orphans who are left (literally- there’s a basket there) on their doorstep, who are disproportionately girls and there are also many disabled kids that live with them. The more I talk with them and get to know the orphans (a few of the girls are in my classes) the more I think that they actually have it pretty good, in comparison to what might have been. First, they all go to school- which is by no means obligatory here, and which you pay a fee for, even at public schools, not to mention uniforms and school supplies which are not terribly expensive, but are expensive enough. I’m hoping (and I think the nuns are too) to work with the disabled kids (I’m sure your very surprised, haha) because I feel like with them I could really make a difference, because I have some experience and some training ( I know I don’t have much, but since it’s unheard of here…) and I have been really upset by the plight of the disabled in the developing world; because here they don’t pay taxes, on anything, there is no money, for anything. There is no money for schools, hospitals, roads, and certainly not for the disabled; so they are beggars on the street and I can only assume that those are the lucky ones as they are not severely handicapped, but only mildly handicapped, so the others… anyway I hope I can help!
So school… is interesting. Learning names hard! Both of students and of teachers, all of whom have a very unfair advantage because I stick out like the only white person within ten kilometers! Because I am! Not that its that bad… it’s just weird. Although I have fairly successfully trained all the kids that I see on my way to the school every morning not to call me “yove” but instead call me “Madame”, now if only it would trickle up to the marche Mamas! Classes are really good. The kids are (usually) interested in what the crazy white lady is doing (miming, saying everything, including their names, with a funny accent) and although I’m a little worried about what will happen when the novelty wears off however, I’m certainly going to milk it while I can. What is really nice is that unlike all of the other TEFL volunteers I know I only have one grade- cinqieme- about 7th grade (kinda) in the American system. 5eme is the second year of English for all of my students, which means that they understand the VERY basics, but I am planning on reviewing for a few more weeks. Another thing about having only one promotion is that I only have to make 2 lesson plans a week, although I do have to do each of them 4 times, which is a little redundant and makes one class hard to separate from the next in my mind. The thing about it is that I am the only teacher for 5eme, which means that I get to set my own agenda for the classes and when it comes to making tests, I just get to write them and I don’t have to collaborate, on the downside it does also make me an island unto myself in the English department. Oh well, they are all really nice, just a little stand-offish and awkward, as one would probably expect, but I’ll get to them (muahaha).
A crazy cat lady ramble…. Have I mentioned my cat? She’s adorable! Although she is already a bigger kitten than when I bought her. She chases, plays with and eats the lizards that infest my house and they are already starting to leave, although I will miss them, if only for her amusement. Hopefully one of the videoes I loaded is of her playing with her food… it was a huge lizard that she caught and when she ate it she looked like she was pregnant! She’s a lover cat though- hence the name, and she LOVES me, pretty much I touch her and she starts purring like crazy, my theory is that she really just loves the fish that I feed her on a daily basis. She also thinks that my mosquito net is the best cat jungle gym/hammock/cat bed combo. At first I was worried that she would tear it, but then she figured out that she can move around easier without her claws, so I guess it’s alright.
Anyway, gotta go! Hopefully it won’t be another month until I can write!
September 18, 2009
MODEL SCHOOL IS OVER!!! Yay and sad day. Can you detect conflicting emotions? That’s because all at once I am sad that it’s over, because I learned a lot and it was fun in between being terribly hard, but I am also very happy because it was a lot of work and a lot of teaching and a lot of training and a lot of stress. It was just a lot. As we look toward swear-in on the 25th I feel the same way about it and moving to post. It’s exciting because I will finally be on my own and doing my own thing, but I am also sad to leave all my friends. On second thought, I’m not leaving them, it’s more like we’re all leaving each other. Not to mention that the prospect of being at post, the only Yovo in my village (although, luckily not the only one they’ve ever seen) and with a post-mate 10k away, but pretty much tout seul.
Last night I was at school (it’s a CEG, a kind of combo Middle-High School) waiting for my friend Laura to get done with tutoring so that we could bike home together, and as the sun snuck behind the cement buildings it started to cool off from the raging heat of the afternoon and was very peaceful. I hope I have enumerable moments like that at post. I felt the same peace that I often feel at home, watching the sun set over Admiralty Inlet or seeing the lights come on in the darkening city.
August 24, 2009
Back in the Med Unit again! And again, nothing too serious, but gross this time… I won’t go into the details.
This last week I went to my post on a visit and I am really in love with it!
The village is about 40 minutes north of Porto Novo, over “terre-rouge”, a dirt road through the jungle/banana plantations. The ride is absolutely beautiful, if a little bone-jarring. The first time I drove along it, I was amazed at how breathtaking the whole scene was. The Oueme River and its surrounding valley on one side of me and seemingly endless lush jungle on the other. Every once in a while we would pass through a small village (and a few big ones) that are made of the red mud with either palm-thatch or corrugated iron roofs. It was like driving through a National Geographic magazine on the back of a moto.
My house is very nice, and as it has been lived in by 3 other volunteers, it’s fully furnished (score!)- although I really need a new mattress for the bed, and a fan would be really nice, and a fridge, maybe... but that’s what a move-in allowance is for!
The village is on the small side, but because if it’s proximity to the river and the valley it also has an AMAZING (by all accounts) market that happens every other day, although the markets alternate between the pitite and the grande. I was also very excited to learn that because of the fertile river valley that there is always something along the lines of fresh fruit and veggies in the marche, although they will vary depending on the season.
All for now! Love you all!
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