7/10/08

I bought a oh-what-the-hell-is-it-called-I’m-having-a-brain-fart…SURGE protector today for 2000CFA, which is roughly $4. However, I also bought a little plug adaptor thingy in Cotonou for the same price and it wasn’t what I needed. OH well, I have it now a surge protector now, and that’s what is important.

My host papa and maman came to pick me up from the buses yesterday and my two host brothers—Marcel (older) and Nemese (20) showed up before we left. I am so glad they helped me carry my bags. We arrived at the house and I was shown my room and bathroom. The bathroom has two doors. One for the shower and sink, another for just the toilet. I have been lucky enough to not have to take a bucket shower yet, as the water tends to shut off occasionally.

So this is a drawing of the bathroom:


This is a drawing of my room:



Unfortunately my camera’s battery died a couple days ago and I had no way of charging it, which is a bummer cause I have seen a lot of cool things these past few days. Especially today.
PC gave us a grand tour of the town we’ll be in for the next 9 weeks of intense training. I’m not sure if I can post the name of the city….safety/security reasons. Well, we met the local police officers at two different stations and we went to another place—not sure what it was but a guy talked to us about the city. We saw where the local health clinic is, the hospital, congress, the new and old supreme court buildings, etc. We also were able to visit a couple “marches”—there’s an accent mark on the “e” which would make it and we all got “YOVO-ed.” Yovo is a word for white person/foreigner in the local language of Fon. A lot of kids will see us and start singing “Yo vo Yo Vo Ca Va, Ca Va bien, merci” which translates into “white person white person how are you? I am well, thank you.” It’s kinda cute for now, but I can see how it could get annoying, but it nonetheless is interesting having all eyes on me wherever I go.

My water filter was waiting for me when I arrived back from my walk/visit to Nemese’s friends’ house. It was waaaay down the road. I was getting paranoid that it was getting late, but everyone seemed like nice people, and it made me realize that the family I am staying with have nicer amenities than those of the famille je viste(accent mark)—that I visited. My new friends all asked if I would be returning, and I am sure I will. I just ended up having a mini panic/anxiety attack because I didn’t want to walk home in the dark. Those crack heads who mugged us really scarred me  But I made it back safe and sound and maman wanted me to help her with dinner, so I shredded some carrots. I ate some patte blanche—which is plain white porridge stuff with some fish and sauce—definitely NOT my favorite. I don’t mind the fish, it’s just the fish bones in there that make me gag now. And not to mention they cook the WHOLE fish. Tonight mine was complete with eyeballs and fins. The other day it had eyeballs and teeth. BBLLEECCHH. Definitely no big juicy fish fillets here…the other meat is another story. I may become a vegetarian, or perhaps a hard care meat eater…we’ll see which comes first and if I transform somewhere along the way.

Needless to say I am still having a great time and look forward to see what the future holds for me, especially in the next few months.