It was a little gross, but I hate those little bastards pooping all over my stuff and popping out of places unexpectedly.
Friday, October 16, 2009
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!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Beatles, Bob Marley, and the Bathroom
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, 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.
Model school starts this week and I can hardly wait!
So recently my host family’s house in Porto-Novo got broken into, nothing of mine got stolen, but my family’s TV, DVD player, all the DVDs and the fan! The scariest thing is probably that this all happened while we were all home, and asleep. Anyway as you can imagine the day after this fiasco was a pretty depressing one around the house, so I decided to get out my iPod and speakers. (Also, two days before this I had bought a guitar- and played the few songs I know on it, mostly Beatles stuff.) The result of the whole iPod/guitar conundrum is that now my family LOVES the Beatles, and goes around the house singing ‘Hey Jude’ which is the biggest hit of all with them, and generally makes me smile. The other big hit is Bob Marley, who my host mama thinks is particularly good for Sunday as he sings about peace and tolerance and brotherly love.
I got locked in my bathroom. I actually have a whole bathroom/shower/sink to myself, which is pretty great, but also apparently dangerous. My bathroom is connected to my room, and only my room, and as nobody ever comes in without knocking or calling I usually just close the door, which doesn’t really shut all the way unless you lock it, but this is not usually a problem. However, last Sunday my friend Laura was over and we were hanging out in my room and I had to use the bathroom, and of course I locked the door so that it would shut properly. It shut a little two properly for my taste and I was utterly stuck. Luckily Laura was there so I had her throw my Leatherman to me through the open window-like ventilation and I took the handle off the door. This didn’t actually work as the door was still locked, but fortunately my host papa came to my rescue with a screwdriver and got the door unlocked. In the meantime, I am in laughing hysterics (my family thinks that I’m crying) on the floor of my bathroom, laughing my butt off at the total ridiculousness of the situation!
All for now!
Kisses and misses! -Glenna
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, 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.
Model school starts this week and I can hardly wait!
So recently my host family’s house in Porto-Novo got broken into, nothing of mine got stolen, but my family’s TV, DVD player, all the DVDs and the fan! The scariest thing is probably that this all happened while we were all home, and asleep. Anyway as you can imagine the day after this fiasco was a pretty depressing one around the house, so I decided to get out my iPod and speakers. (Also, two days before this I had bought a guitar- and played the few songs I know on it, mostly Beatles stuff.) The result of the whole iPod/guitar conundrum is that now my family LOVES the Beatles, and goes around the house singing ‘Hey Jude’ which is the biggest hit of all with them, and generally makes me smile. The other big hit is Bob Marley, who my host mama thinks is particularly good for Sunday as he sings about peace and tolerance and brotherly love.
I got locked in my bathroom. I actually have a whole bathroom/shower/sink to myself, which is pretty great, but also apparently dangerous. My bathroom is connected to my room, and only my room, and as nobody ever comes in without knocking or calling I usually just close the door, which doesn’t really shut all the way unless you lock it, but this is not usually a problem. However, last Sunday my friend Laura was over and we were hanging out in my room and I had to use the bathroom, and of course I locked the door so that it would shut properly. It shut a little two properly for my taste and I was utterly stuck. Luckily Laura was there so I had her throw my Leatherman to me through the open window-like ventilation and I took the handle off the door. This didn’t actually work as the door was still locked, but fortunately my host papa came to my rescue with a screwdriver and got the door unlocked. In the meantime, I am in laughing hysterics (my family thinks that I’m crying) on the floor of my bathroom, laughing my butt off at the total ridiculousness of the situation!
All for now!
Kisses and misses! -Glenna
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A good, long post... hopefully
I am in the lap of luxury at the moment... I just ate a cheeseburger, I am chatting AND blogging AND on iTunes AND watching DVDs, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Why this amazing feat of American leisure multi-tasking you ask? Because I am at the Peace Corps Office (known around here as "the Bureau"- which just reminds me of "the Burrow" in Harry Potter, and it does have a kind of unplanned, magical quality to it) to have my blood drawn tomorrow morning, and I tell you it seems like a small price to pay for all of this awesomeness.
In other news...
We find out our Posts on Thursday!! Yay!! I will finally have an answer when people ask me where in Benin my post is, then next week we get to meet with our principles and actually go and see our schools. The week after that we start model school, where we get to teach English to real, live, Beninese kids who come to get free English lessons from real, live, American Yovos. (Yovo being the name that we all get called- my new favorite thing to yell back at them is "maywe" which is "black person" in Goun, the language most common in Porto-Novo)
Training is going really well, it can be a little tedious at times and sometimes I get confused when they switch from French to English and my brain doesn't switch with them. Model school starting should really switch things into high gear as it is a pretty good taste of what really teaching here will be like (at least with the kids, as kids are kids and teaching is teaching no matter where you are- even if it does have it's own challenges in different environments). One of the reasons that things are so tedious at the moment is that I feel like it's just a tease of what is to come, it's like showing us a huge ice cream cone in a glass freezer and saying, we're going to tell you all about the wonders and pitfalls of this ice cream cone, but you can't have it just yet...
My host family is amazing!! I love them! (even more so after hearing about some of the other stagiers families) There is Mama and Papa, Mama is a mid-wife who has her office in a detached "cabinet" that is in the house compound and Papa, who is on vacation right now, but who is a Physics professor at the private, Catholic high school that all of my siblings go to or will go to. Arselle, 17, just graduated from Lycee and got her BAC (which is the test they take to get out of high school with a degree- and because its called the baccalaureate, which is why I thought that she was graduating from college) and there was a huge party at my house, which was amazing and I wish I could have stayed up for, but it was on a Sunday and I had school the next morning so I just went to the "family" part of the party and didn't stay up for the discoteque part of the party (I slept through it- which was kind of amazing). Next is Anais, 15, called "Neso" at home, who is pretty cool and a little shy, but a good kid, he does a lot of work around the house and is very sweet. Then there is Harry, who is 12 and very precocious, his favorite activities include playing with my bicycle (which he has been told not to do several times, but I get it, it's a shiny new bike which he's been told not to play with) and bouncing the super ball I gave him all over the house (which is all cement so it's perfect!) and of course, in the tradition of brothers worldwide, fighting with Deo. Andeole, 7, or "Deo" as everyone calls him, is cute as a button and ADORES me (which is SO cute) he always wants to carry my bags, get stuff for me ext. (which I feel bad letting him do so I don't very much, but he loves it when I let him so...)he has also started to imitate my accent, which is cute and also makes it really easy for me to understand him. Last, but not least, there is Katherine, or "Kathy" who is a niece of Mama's but is also our domestique, which isn't actually as bad as it sounds; because most of the families that we live with in Porto-Novo are very wealthy by Beninese standards, many of them have domestiques, in the case of Kathy she works for the family (but she doesn't do very much more than Arselle and Mama, but she does do a little more)but they also send her to school during the year, so it's beneficial for both sides.
I learned how to do my laundry (by hand, of course) this weekend and man, does my back and my knee pits hurt! (from squatting and scrubbing and wringing) It is an intense operation, and I am so glad that my sister Arselle was helping me! First, you fill 4 buckets with water (from the well, pulling water is really fun, and I can feel my arms getting toned well from doing it everyday), in the first bucket you lather the garment well, paying extra attention to the areas that get dirtier and/or smellier than the others (armpits, collars, hems, knees, butts) then you gently lather everything against everything else, taking care not to stretch things out, rinse, wring and pass to next bucket. In the second bucket you soap and lather again, but less this time, and you beat the crap out of it more, rinse, wring and pass to the next bucket. This is the first rinse bucket. Almost all of the soap should be out at this point and there should be very little dirt, rinse, wring and pass to the last bucket. This is like the "tester" rinse bucket, the water should stay clear (which I have a problem with because I don't wring the soap out well enough- I'm learning!) As you progress, the first bucket needs to be replaced and when it does the second bucket moves up the line and the first bucket gets new water and goes to the end of the line to become the rinse bucket, and so on. It's really hard. I have a whole new respect for all of the women here, not to mention my great-grandmothers who also did their laundry by hand. And to think I used to complain about running up and down the stairs of my apartment building to change things from the washer to the dryer! Hand washing is really hard on things though... some of the shirts and jeans that I have had for years bleed out in the wash, and it was all cold water too!
My French has gotten a lot more fluent and I am even starting to have a Beninese-American French accent instead of a French-American French accent, which is good because now when I discouter (barter, you do it for everything) people can actually understand me, which is key to discoutering. Most of my French class is review for me, granted a much needed review, but still, I will be glad to start local language classes after we get our post assignments. Except that that will also mean that I have to give up Inez, my French teacher, who I love and is amazing and also has one of my favorite names in the whole universe.
Some of you have been asking me what a typical day in training is like, and you won't take my word for it that's it's pretty dull so I thought I would give a description.
5:30 AM- The Mosque starts doing it's thing. Roll over, go back to sleep.
6:00 AM- The butcher across the street starts slautering for the day, and the cries of the goats sound erily like those of children... Roll over, go back to sleep.
6:30 AM- My actual alarm goes off. Get out of bed, fish for glasses which have slid somewhere down the side of the mosquito net, get up, get bucket, pull water from well for bucket shower.
6:40 AM- The Bucket Shower: is really pretty simple, you have a bucket and a conveniently sized bowl and you shower with them, the water is so cold that I still can't get myself to stop gasping the first time I get wet, but it's getting easier. Get Dressed while trying to not get my cloths wet on the wet floor of the bathroom (always a challenge), do something (ANYTHING!) with my hair, which is currently at an awkward length, and it's really hot here' so I want it up!
7:00 AM- Wander into the dining room to see what's for breakfast usually some variation/combination of this: Tea, Hot Chocolate, Porridge, Beninese oatmeal (which is amazing), omelet, and of course French bread (which is always warm and amazing as it comes from the bakery that's right by our house)
7:30 AM- Laura calls. I hang up on her. This is the way that we have worked out for her to tell me that she will be at my house in about 5 minutes, so that she doesn't have to spend credit on her phone everyday.
7:35 AM- Laura and I bike to school, which is always entertaining... getting called "Yovo", getting the Yovo song sung at us, getting hit on by every man under 30 and some over, getting randomly touched, getting honked at my Zemi (moto-taxi) drivers, you know, the norm for a white person riding a bike.
7:50 AM- Get to CEG Davie, talk to our friends about what crazy antics our host families got up to last night, what they tried to feed us, etc.
8:00 AM-12:30 PM- Morning classes, in two blocks consisting of Language or Technical TEFL sessions. Language is amazing, because my teacher is excellent and there is only one other girl in my class, so it's really interactive. Tech is thus far just talking about teaching in Benin, the Beninese school system, teaching without resorting to French, etc.
12:30-1:30 PM- Lunch is always an adventure as we can either by from the Mama (any older woman is a Mama) who sets up at the school, or venture into the streets to try the that fare, which can go either way but is usually pretty good. My favorites thus far are fried breadfruit and toasted coconut.
1:30-4:15 PM- Two sessions of either Language, TEFL, or Cross-Culture classes, by the end of which stretching my legs on my bike feels amazing.
After school is a wild card, I either hang out with some of the tranees at a bouvette (bar) or head home and hang out with the fam, I try to keep it kind of equal so that I get feel socialized while still taking advantage of living with a French-speaking family (not to mention my family is cool). And also going to the market, or the tailor, or something like that.
8:00 PM- Dinner time! Always an adventure...
9:30 PM- At this point I am falling asleep at the dinner table, so I go to bed, only to start all over again in the morning :)
And now, as I am doing the same trick at my computer keyboard I suppose I should post this blog and give up a few precious hours of potential free internet time to sleep.
Love you all and keep in touch!
In other news...
We find out our Posts on Thursday!! Yay!! I will finally have an answer when people ask me where in Benin my post is, then next week we get to meet with our principles and actually go and see our schools. The week after that we start model school, where we get to teach English to real, live, Beninese kids who come to get free English lessons from real, live, American Yovos. (Yovo being the name that we all get called- my new favorite thing to yell back at them is "maywe" which is "black person" in Goun, the language most common in Porto-Novo)
Training is going really well, it can be a little tedious at times and sometimes I get confused when they switch from French to English and my brain doesn't switch with them. Model school starting should really switch things into high gear as it is a pretty good taste of what really teaching here will be like (at least with the kids, as kids are kids and teaching is teaching no matter where you are- even if it does have it's own challenges in different environments). One of the reasons that things are so tedious at the moment is that I feel like it's just a tease of what is to come, it's like showing us a huge ice cream cone in a glass freezer and saying, we're going to tell you all about the wonders and pitfalls of this ice cream cone, but you can't have it just yet...
My host family is amazing!! I love them! (even more so after hearing about some of the other stagiers families) There is Mama and Papa, Mama is a mid-wife who has her office in a detached "cabinet" that is in the house compound and Papa, who is on vacation right now, but who is a Physics professor at the private, Catholic high school that all of my siblings go to or will go to. Arselle, 17, just graduated from Lycee and got her BAC (which is the test they take to get out of high school with a degree- and because its called the baccalaureate, which is why I thought that she was graduating from college) and there was a huge party at my house, which was amazing and I wish I could have stayed up for, but it was on a Sunday and I had school the next morning so I just went to the "family" part of the party and didn't stay up for the discoteque part of the party (I slept through it- which was kind of amazing). Next is Anais, 15, called "Neso" at home, who is pretty cool and a little shy, but a good kid, he does a lot of work around the house and is very sweet. Then there is Harry, who is 12 and very precocious, his favorite activities include playing with my bicycle (which he has been told not to do several times, but I get it, it's a shiny new bike which he's been told not to play with) and bouncing the super ball I gave him all over the house (which is all cement so it's perfect!) and of course, in the tradition of brothers worldwide, fighting with Deo. Andeole, 7, or "Deo" as everyone calls him, is cute as a button and ADORES me (which is SO cute) he always wants to carry my bags, get stuff for me ext. (which I feel bad letting him do so I don't very much, but he loves it when I let him so...)he has also started to imitate my accent, which is cute and also makes it really easy for me to understand him. Last, but not least, there is Katherine, or "Kathy" who is a niece of Mama's but is also our domestique, which isn't actually as bad as it sounds; because most of the families that we live with in Porto-Novo are very wealthy by Beninese standards, many of them have domestiques, in the case of Kathy she works for the family (but she doesn't do very much more than Arselle and Mama, but she does do a little more)but they also send her to school during the year, so it's beneficial for both sides.
I learned how to do my laundry (by hand, of course) this weekend and man, does my back and my knee pits hurt! (from squatting and scrubbing and wringing) It is an intense operation, and I am so glad that my sister Arselle was helping me! First, you fill 4 buckets with water (from the well, pulling water is really fun, and I can feel my arms getting toned well from doing it everyday), in the first bucket you lather the garment well, paying extra attention to the areas that get dirtier and/or smellier than the others (armpits, collars, hems, knees, butts) then you gently lather everything against everything else, taking care not to stretch things out, rinse, wring and pass to next bucket. In the second bucket you soap and lather again, but less this time, and you beat the crap out of it more, rinse, wring and pass to the next bucket. This is the first rinse bucket. Almost all of the soap should be out at this point and there should be very little dirt, rinse, wring and pass to the last bucket. This is like the "tester" rinse bucket, the water should stay clear (which I have a problem with because I don't wring the soap out well enough- I'm learning!) As you progress, the first bucket needs to be replaced and when it does the second bucket moves up the line and the first bucket gets new water and goes to the end of the line to become the rinse bucket, and so on. It's really hard. I have a whole new respect for all of the women here, not to mention my great-grandmothers who also did their laundry by hand. And to think I used to complain about running up and down the stairs of my apartment building to change things from the washer to the dryer! Hand washing is really hard on things though... some of the shirts and jeans that I have had for years bleed out in the wash, and it was all cold water too!
My French has gotten a lot more fluent and I am even starting to have a Beninese-American French accent instead of a French-American French accent, which is good because now when I discouter (barter, you do it for everything) people can actually understand me, which is key to discoutering. Most of my French class is review for me, granted a much needed review, but still, I will be glad to start local language classes after we get our post assignments. Except that that will also mean that I have to give up Inez, my French teacher, who I love and is amazing and also has one of my favorite names in the whole universe.
Some of you have been asking me what a typical day in training is like, and you won't take my word for it that's it's pretty dull so I thought I would give a description.
5:30 AM- The Mosque starts doing it's thing. Roll over, go back to sleep.
6:00 AM- The butcher across the street starts slautering for the day, and the cries of the goats sound erily like those of children... Roll over, go back to sleep.
6:30 AM- My actual alarm goes off. Get out of bed, fish for glasses which have slid somewhere down the side of the mosquito net, get up, get bucket, pull water from well for bucket shower.
6:40 AM- The Bucket Shower: is really pretty simple, you have a bucket and a conveniently sized bowl and you shower with them, the water is so cold that I still can't get myself to stop gasping the first time I get wet, but it's getting easier. Get Dressed while trying to not get my cloths wet on the wet floor of the bathroom (always a challenge), do something (ANYTHING!) with my hair, which is currently at an awkward length, and it's really hot here' so I want it up!
7:00 AM- Wander into the dining room to see what's for breakfast usually some variation/combination of this: Tea, Hot Chocolate, Porridge, Beninese oatmeal (which is amazing), omelet, and of course French bread (which is always warm and amazing as it comes from the bakery that's right by our house)
7:30 AM- Laura calls. I hang up on her. This is the way that we have worked out for her to tell me that she will be at my house in about 5 minutes, so that she doesn't have to spend credit on her phone everyday.
7:35 AM- Laura and I bike to school, which is always entertaining... getting called "Yovo", getting the Yovo song sung at us, getting hit on by every man under 30 and some over, getting randomly touched, getting honked at my Zemi (moto-taxi) drivers, you know, the norm for a white person riding a bike.
7:50 AM- Get to CEG Davie, talk to our friends about what crazy antics our host families got up to last night, what they tried to feed us, etc.
8:00 AM-12:30 PM- Morning classes, in two blocks consisting of Language or Technical TEFL sessions. Language is amazing, because my teacher is excellent and there is only one other girl in my class, so it's really interactive. Tech is thus far just talking about teaching in Benin, the Beninese school system, teaching without resorting to French, etc.
12:30-1:30 PM- Lunch is always an adventure as we can either by from the Mama (any older woman is a Mama) who sets up at the school, or venture into the streets to try the that fare, which can go either way but is usually pretty good. My favorites thus far are fried breadfruit and toasted coconut.
1:30-4:15 PM- Two sessions of either Language, TEFL, or Cross-Culture classes, by the end of which stretching my legs on my bike feels amazing.
After school is a wild card, I either hang out with some of the tranees at a bouvette (bar) or head home and hang out with the fam, I try to keep it kind of equal so that I get feel socialized while still taking advantage of living with a French-speaking family (not to mention my family is cool). And also going to the market, or the tailor, or something like that.
8:00 PM- Dinner time! Always an adventure...
9:30 PM- At this point I am falling asleep at the dinner table, so I go to bed, only to start all over again in the morning :)
And now, as I am doing the same trick at my computer keyboard I suppose I should post this blog and give up a few precious hours of potential free internet time to sleep.
Love you all and keep in touch!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Goings on...
August 3, 2009
Sorry it’s been awhile, but I have been busy!! And chances to get to the internet have been few and far between.
Training- things are going well, I am getting to know the people in my sector really well and the training is pretty basic right now so not all that interesting, but it will hopefully get better!
French- my French is improving a lot! But I feel really lucky that I started with a strong background in French before I got here because I don’t really struggle to communicate with my family at all, as long as they don’t speak too quickly.
Health- Doing well, a few minor things, but it will all come out in the end.
My Host Family- is really, really nice! I have my parents, a sister who just graduated from college, and 3 brothers ages 15, 11, and 7 and a plethora of extended family members who are always stopping by to say “Bonjour” (and to check out the Yovo).
Being a Yovo- it’s weird, being the minority. It seems like every time I am not at home or with all the Peace Corps kids (and even sometimes then), that I get pointed at and called “Yovo” on the streets, the little kids have this pretty annoying song that they sing “Yovo, Yovo, bon sois…”. It’s just difficult to give up any and all anonymity that I have at home, not to mention that you have to bargain at the market twice as much as anyone else because everyone thinks you are rich.
My first weekend- was very eventful. Saturday was Independence Day here and then on Sunday there was a big party at my house for my sister’s graduation. Saturday we stuck pretty close to home because my mama, sister, mama’s sister’s “woman” and another hired woman worked for two days to cook a whole goat, a turkey, two rabbits and countless potatoes, rice, bananas, tomatoes, and I don’t know what all. Independence Day here is pretty much the same as the 4th at home, but less commercialized and there are no fireworks. But there is a military parade and a bad-ass soccer game on hard packed red clay. Sunday my host sister had a graduation party and it was crazy!
Sorry it’s been awhile, but I have been busy!! And chances to get to the internet have been few and far between.
Training- things are going well, I am getting to know the people in my sector really well and the training is pretty basic right now so not all that interesting, but it will hopefully get better!
French- my French is improving a lot! But I feel really lucky that I started with a strong background in French before I got here because I don’t really struggle to communicate with my family at all, as long as they don’t speak too quickly.
Health- Doing well, a few minor things, but it will all come out in the end.
My Host Family- is really, really nice! I have my parents, a sister who just graduated from college, and 3 brothers ages 15, 11, and 7 and a plethora of extended family members who are always stopping by to say “Bonjour” (and to check out the Yovo).
Being a Yovo- it’s weird, being the minority. It seems like every time I am not at home or with all the Peace Corps kids (and even sometimes then), that I get pointed at and called “Yovo” on the streets, the little kids have this pretty annoying song that they sing “Yovo, Yovo, bon sois…”. It’s just difficult to give up any and all anonymity that I have at home, not to mention that you have to bargain at the market twice as much as anyone else because everyone thinks you are rich.
My first weekend- was very eventful. Saturday was Independence Day here and then on Sunday there was a big party at my house for my sister’s graduation. Saturday we stuck pretty close to home because my mama, sister, mama’s sister’s “woman” and another hired woman worked for two days to cook a whole goat, a turkey, two rabbits and countless potatoes, rice, bananas, tomatoes, and I don’t know what all. Independence Day here is pretty much the same as the 4th at home, but less commercialized and there are no fireworks. But there is a military parade and a bad-ass soccer game on hard packed red clay. Sunday my host sister had a graduation party and it was crazy!
Monday, July 27, 2009
First Post In Benin!!
July 27, 2009
The last few days have gone by all too quickly. I'm getting to know my fellow stagiers (trainees) and also some of the current volunteers. We are living in a hostel/monastery in a suburb of Cotonou; as it is an enclosed compound we don't get to go out much, so most of what I have seen of Africa is from the van going to and from our training area to the PC office for shots, various interviews, and to use the wifi! Today we have zemijohn (moto-taxi) training - don't worry Mom, we have helmets- and also interviews with our program directors (ikes!). So I don't have much time, but I will probably get a chance to call later this afternoon (morning to you). Love you all!
PS- I am going to add a sidebar with things that you should feel free to send me! Yay Packages!!
July 25, 2009 (I think)
I’M HERE!!!
Got here tonight (hopefully I’ll get to post this tomorrow, there has to be internet somewhere!!) at around 10 PM, got to our first place to stay. It’s called St. Jean Etudes and it’s a monastery/school that the PC rents for us the first few days, it’s a dorm-like situation. We meet our host families on Tuesday, so until then- it’s home!
Our flights were LONG!! With a two hour delay in Philadelphia and then another 40 minute delay in Paris. I slept off and on and as a result didn’t see one whole movie during the total plane time of 18 hours. I did however, receive a gift from the Airplane Gods- a pair of ridiculously swollen feet! I’ve never had that happen before and now my feet and even my lower legs are swollen so that my chicken ankles look like cankles!
On the ride in from the airport I got my first glimpse of Africa, and it looks good enough to eat. We were all crammed into a couple of vans and as we drove through the city every so often over the smell of burning gasoline would come a delectable snatch of something better, I can’t wait to have the chance to explore!
Time for bed now, under my mosquito net, which is both functional and aesthetically pleasing...
Love you, Miss you, Write more soon!
The last few days have gone by all too quickly. I'm getting to know my fellow stagiers (trainees) and also some of the current volunteers. We are living in a hostel/monastery in a suburb of Cotonou; as it is an enclosed compound we don't get to go out much, so most of what I have seen of Africa is from the van going to and from our training area to the PC office for shots, various interviews, and to use the wifi! Today we have zemijohn (moto-taxi) training - don't worry Mom, we have helmets- and also interviews with our program directors (ikes!). So I don't have much time, but I will probably get a chance to call later this afternoon (morning to you). Love you all!
PS- I am going to add a sidebar with things that you should feel free to send me! Yay Packages!!
July 25, 2009 (I think)
I’M HERE!!!
Got here tonight (hopefully I’ll get to post this tomorrow, there has to be internet somewhere!!) at around 10 PM, got to our first place to stay. It’s called St. Jean Etudes and it’s a monastery/school that the PC rents for us the first few days, it’s a dorm-like situation. We meet our host families on Tuesday, so until then- it’s home!
Our flights were LONG!! With a two hour delay in Philadelphia and then another 40 minute delay in Paris. I slept off and on and as a result didn’t see one whole movie during the total plane time of 18 hours. I did however, receive a gift from the Airplane Gods- a pair of ridiculously swollen feet! I’ve never had that happen before and now my feet and even my lower legs are swollen so that my chicken ankles look like cankles!
On the ride in from the airport I got my first glimpse of Africa, and it looks good enough to eat. We were all crammed into a couple of vans and as we drove through the city every so often over the smell of burning gasoline would come a delectable snatch of something better, I can’t wait to have the chance to explore!
Time for bed now, under my mosquito net, which is both functional and aesthetically pleasing...
Love you, Miss you, Write more soon!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Philadelphia!!
Hi All!
I got this far! I've met a few of my fellow PCVTs, we went out to dinner last night and had a great walk/chat along the way. Training starts at 1 PM so I'm getting some sight seeing in with the girls I met last night and I'll update you all after some things start to happen.
I love and miss you all!
I got this far! I've met a few of my fellow PCVTs, we went out to dinner last night and had a great walk/chat along the way. Training starts at 1 PM so I'm getting some sight seeing in with the girls I met last night and I'll update you all after some things start to happen.
I love and miss you all!
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