hello from Ouistreham, France!
I feel as though I am starting to finally settle into this town.
I live in a really awesome 2br "flat." I was supposed to have a Brittish flatmate, but she decided she wanted to get her own place...
The apartment is huge! The kitchen alone is almost the size of my entire house in Benin! I have a "sitting" aka living room. The shower and toilet are in ech of their own separate rooms.
The windows all over this place are huge and let in a lot of light. On the flip side they also let out a lot of heat!
My Scottish friend and colleague, Lynn has lent me her TV...it's the "old" kind and I have to get a decoder,--also to be lent by someone :)
My arrival into the Caen region was somewhat of a shakeup! I had only written down the phone numbers of the principal (in Ouistreham), my colleague/friend Sandrine, and the school. So as soon as I lugg all my bags up the stairs I park myself next to the curb and call up Sandrine to tell her I have arrived and to come pick me up. (I was to stay with her my first night.)
Well, naturally, my SIM must have some kind of problem and when I called her number, the phone would not even ring! All I got was some kind of error message telling me that the number I tried was invalid, not registered to anyone. It was Saturday afternoon; 3pm when I arrived, so calling the school wasn't an option. So that left me to call the principal!
Mr. Leblanc, the principal, ended up calling a few people and in the end someone came to pick me up and dropped me off at Sandrine's house.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
au revoir Benin
i am now officially an RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer).
omigoshicantbelieveididit! two years. and now it's done. this chapter of my life is over.
well, i left Lokossa on Saturday. That morning i woke up super early and made my way to the orphanage to say bye around 8 and stayed till 9. leaving there was tough. especially at the end. Marcellin, the oldest kid and my buddy rounded up all the kids that were around and they just stood around me in a half circle. it was incredibly awkward. and i was fighting back the tears. finally after several moments of silence, i made a mini speech and ended with crying. then Marcellin said a bunch of thank yous and then no one else said anything. and then one of the Tatas came up to me told me to not cry and then started rubbing my arms. it was pretty chilly that morning as it had rained all night long. after Tata rubbed my arms for several moments, the small kids follwed suit and then i had like 10 pairs of hands rubbing me. it was needless to say a memorable moment.
it was around 10 o'clock when i got home and the kids soon started coming over. by the time the taxi arrived i had about 15 kids in my tiny little living room. the kids were just sitting around entertaining themselves with my playing cards and chatting away.
the taxi showed up probably arrived around 12:45pm. to be honest that is a little on the early side! hahaha. anyways, it was clear to me when the taxi arrived though i was inside because there was cloud of gloom that took over everyone. then there was a quick dash to grab all my baggage and take it out to the taxi to load up. around that point, a former colleague called me up to see when i was leaving and i said through a shaky, teary voice "the taxi is here!" and he was there within minutes.
soon enough the taxi was loaded and i HAD to say my final goodbyes to all my people. that was really hard. i started up the crying chain reaction. one by one my kids started crying or were as close as they will ever be to crying. and i went around to each person and gave them a most awkward hug. not awkward for me but for them. the Beninese do not hug. it's not a hugging culture.
the last thing was getting Rosie into the car. and it was a lot more difficult than i thought it would be! because it had rained all night, the ground was all muddy and gross. it took several minutes to get her in the car, but around an hour into our voyage, she had calmed down just a bit. but by getting her into the taxi she ended getting her muddy paws all over me. naturally the Beninese were horrified and wanted to grab me some water and a rag to clean myself off. but whatever, on we went.
and then we got to Cotonou and i began the process of doing COS (close of service) stuff. and for the past four days i have stayed at a hotel where theoretically they don't allow dogs. but i think they know how much money they get from PC and the guards looked the other way. i'd also like to think that my charming personality coerced them to allow Rosie to stay in a room where she'd be locked up whenever i wasn't there.
and there you go. time is really running out. i think the driver is taking us to the airport in about 45 minutes. so i am gonna cut it short here. besides, the rest is all a bunch of boring bureau stuff. minus the fact that our Acting Country Director implemented an awesome little "gong" ceremoney where they clang this town crier bell and anyone and everyone in the office is invited out to the front area to say a few words to the volunteers finishing their service. and once the volunteer says their words they clang the bell and POOF you're an RPCV (returned peace corps volunteer)!
there you go. wish me luck. i will now enter the readjustment zone.
omigoshicantbelieveididit! two years. and now it's done. this chapter of my life is over.
well, i left Lokossa on Saturday. That morning i woke up super early and made my way to the orphanage to say bye around 8 and stayed till 9. leaving there was tough. especially at the end. Marcellin, the oldest kid and my buddy rounded up all the kids that were around and they just stood around me in a half circle. it was incredibly awkward. and i was fighting back the tears. finally after several moments of silence, i made a mini speech and ended with crying. then Marcellin said a bunch of thank yous and then no one else said anything. and then one of the Tatas came up to me told me to not cry and then started rubbing my arms. it was pretty chilly that morning as it had rained all night long. after Tata rubbed my arms for several moments, the small kids follwed suit and then i had like 10 pairs of hands rubbing me. it was needless to say a memorable moment.
it was around 10 o'clock when i got home and the kids soon started coming over. by the time the taxi arrived i had about 15 kids in my tiny little living room. the kids were just sitting around entertaining themselves with my playing cards and chatting away.
the taxi showed up probably arrived around 12:45pm. to be honest that is a little on the early side! hahaha. anyways, it was clear to me when the taxi arrived though i was inside because there was cloud of gloom that took over everyone. then there was a quick dash to grab all my baggage and take it out to the taxi to load up. around that point, a former colleague called me up to see when i was leaving and i said through a shaky, teary voice "the taxi is here!" and he was there within minutes.
soon enough the taxi was loaded and i HAD to say my final goodbyes to all my people. that was really hard. i started up the crying chain reaction. one by one my kids started crying or were as close as they will ever be to crying. and i went around to each person and gave them a most awkward hug. not awkward for me but for them. the Beninese do not hug. it's not a hugging culture.
the last thing was getting Rosie into the car. and it was a lot more difficult than i thought it would be! because it had rained all night, the ground was all muddy and gross. it took several minutes to get her in the car, but around an hour into our voyage, she had calmed down just a bit. but by getting her into the taxi she ended getting her muddy paws all over me. naturally the Beninese were horrified and wanted to grab me some water and a rag to clean myself off. but whatever, on we went.
and then we got to Cotonou and i began the process of doing COS (close of service) stuff. and for the past four days i have stayed at a hotel where theoretically they don't allow dogs. but i think they know how much money they get from PC and the guards looked the other way. i'd also like to think that my charming personality coerced them to allow Rosie to stay in a room where she'd be locked up whenever i wasn't there.
and there you go. time is really running out. i think the driver is taking us to the airport in about 45 minutes. so i am gonna cut it short here. besides, the rest is all a bunch of boring bureau stuff. minus the fact that our Acting Country Director implemented an awesome little "gong" ceremoney where they clang this town crier bell and anyone and everyone in the office is invited out to the front area to say a few words to the volunteers finishing their service. and once the volunteer says their words they clang the bell and POOF you're an RPCV (returned peace corps volunteer)!
there you go. wish me luck. i will now enter the readjustment zone.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
=(
saying bye is hard to do.
as i make my way to different friends' houses, i keep telling them and myself that i will see them once again in my last week before i leave for Cotonou. maybe it's some kind of defence mechanism so that i won't start bawling. but i am gonna have to face the truth very soon. i will have to start saying my final goodbyes. and that may be one of the top three hardest things i have had to do since leaving home once upon a time in 2008.
this afternoon, one of my very first friends in Lokossa stopped by to say thank you for all that i have done, for putting up with a different culture for two years, to say sorry and to excuse the actions of his fellow countrymen, etc, etc. it was all very sweet and very touching. i started crying. and i think i made him uncomfortable, hahaha, but i said excuse me and i think he got it. but i really couldn't help the tears. it got me thinking about how in this last week in Lokossa, i might be hearing a lot of these sweet words. and i am getting choked up just thinking about it.
it's amazing to me how much i have come to love benin. i knew that it was going to be tough leaving. but i don't think i knew just how difficult it was going to be until now.
my heart is slowly breaking into a million little pieces. but maybe that is a good thing because i am leaving them here with the people i have grown to love.
as i make my way to different friends' houses, i keep telling them and myself that i will see them once again in my last week before i leave for Cotonou. maybe it's some kind of defence mechanism so that i won't start bawling. but i am gonna have to face the truth very soon. i will have to start saying my final goodbyes. and that may be one of the top three hardest things i have had to do since leaving home once upon a time in 2008.
this afternoon, one of my very first friends in Lokossa stopped by to say thank you for all that i have done, for putting up with a different culture for two years, to say sorry and to excuse the actions of his fellow countrymen, etc, etc. it was all very sweet and very touching. i started crying. and i think i made him uncomfortable, hahaha, but i said excuse me and i think he got it. but i really couldn't help the tears. it got me thinking about how in this last week in Lokossa, i might be hearing a lot of these sweet words. and i am getting choked up just thinking about it.
it's amazing to me how much i have come to love benin. i knew that it was going to be tough leaving. but i don't think i knew just how difficult it was going to be until now.
my heart is slowly breaking into a million little pieces. but maybe that is a good thing because i am leaving them here with the people i have grown to love.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
where did june go?
Seriously. Where did June go? I didn't post a single post during June!
Anyhow, I guess it was a busy month. The beginning of June we were still at school; wrapping things up; devoirs and grading devoirs. I had a couple of photo shoots with my kids, which was super fun and i have some good memories of that and pics to go with it. Then it was time for Camp GLOW!
Camp was a lot like last year; only I brought with me 5 girls: Volonté, Erbine, Adèle, Rose and Odile. Volonté is like my smartest and most put together student I have had these past two years. She's our schools pride and joy. Erbine and Adèle are sisters. Erbine is the smart and shy one; Adèle is less smart but outgoing and loves to dance. Rose was the shy girl of our group and the one who i think enjoyed herself the most. everytime i checked in with her; she spoke to me a mile a minute with the biggest smile on her face. And Odile was the girl who let me down. She was attached at the hip to Volonté and was anti-social and hardly participated. Booo! When camp was over; our chaffeur who brought us to Porto-Novo picked us up; and he wasn't even that late! On the way home; we made a pit stop at Erevan; the grande supermarché. It was an awesome experience for them i am sure; but for me as well to see a supermarket through the eyes of a true villager. Amazing!
At the moment, I am at my cyber. I came here to continue computer lessons with my favorite student. and now we are caught in the rain! can't walk home in the rain! i've taught him how to use microsoft word; paint, and the internet/gmail. because he's a smartie he has picked up on this whole computer thing quite quickly.
it's amazing to think that i only have 4 weeks or so left in Benin!
the newbies arrive tomorrow night! and i will be going to the bureau to do some work. and somewhat unfortunately, ALL 61 of them plus the trainers will be there too! yuck! but at the same time, i look forward to answering their questions and feeling like a know it all, which i am not.
Rosie is doing well. i am super pumped about bringing her home with me. i think she'll like america. though she won't be as free to run like the wind like she does here, on my road. but by that same token, she won't have people hurling humongo rocks at her. m-effers.
lastly, i am sad because my camera has kicked the bucket. it turns on but refuses to take pictures! so unless my friend lends me her camera, there will be no more benin pics for me or you!
Anyhow, I guess it was a busy month. The beginning of June we were still at school; wrapping things up; devoirs and grading devoirs. I had a couple of photo shoots with my kids, which was super fun and i have some good memories of that and pics to go with it. Then it was time for Camp GLOW!
Camp was a lot like last year; only I brought with me 5 girls: Volonté, Erbine, Adèle, Rose and Odile. Volonté is like my smartest and most put together student I have had these past two years. She's our schools pride and joy. Erbine and Adèle are sisters. Erbine is the smart and shy one; Adèle is less smart but outgoing and loves to dance. Rose was the shy girl of our group and the one who i think enjoyed herself the most. everytime i checked in with her; she spoke to me a mile a minute with the biggest smile on her face. And Odile was the girl who let me down. She was attached at the hip to Volonté and was anti-social and hardly participated. Booo! When camp was over; our chaffeur who brought us to Porto-Novo picked us up; and he wasn't even that late! On the way home; we made a pit stop at Erevan; the grande supermarché. It was an awesome experience for them i am sure; but for me as well to see a supermarket through the eyes of a true villager. Amazing!
At the moment, I am at my cyber. I came here to continue computer lessons with my favorite student. and now we are caught in the rain! can't walk home in the rain! i've taught him how to use microsoft word; paint, and the internet/gmail. because he's a smartie he has picked up on this whole computer thing quite quickly.
it's amazing to think that i only have 4 weeks or so left in Benin!
the newbies arrive tomorrow night! and i will be going to the bureau to do some work. and somewhat unfortunately, ALL 61 of them plus the trainers will be there too! yuck! but at the same time, i look forward to answering their questions and feeling like a know it all, which i am not.
Rosie is doing well. i am super pumped about bringing her home with me. i think she'll like america. though she won't be as free to run like the wind like she does here, on my road. but by that same token, she won't have people hurling humongo rocks at her. m-effers.
lastly, i am sad because my camera has kicked the bucket. it turns on but refuses to take pictures! so unless my friend lends me her camera, there will be no more benin pics for me or you!
Monday, May 31, 2010
To Rain or Not to Rain; That is THE Question
We are on the cusp of rainy season!
This morning I awoke to a gray sky and it reminded me of home. Not too long after I woke up I watched as the clouds were moving swiftly across the sky. Moments later, the wind picked up and swirled leaves around on the ground that I just had cleaned yesterday. It was strong enough that it blew open my front gate, which I thought was firmly closed! And I could hear the quick patter and flop-flops of little feet running home, mixed in with the excited/nervous screaming of small people voices. And then slowly but surely came the rain. Single sounding fat drops that plopped against my tin roof. More and more drops fell and I retreated into the house and picked up a book, Angels and Demons and waited till the bulk of the storm had passed.
Then I decided I was hungry…and now I am in the process of making bagels. This will be my first ever batch of bagels. I will eat them with a packet of Lachs, (yes Lachs, not Lox; though I am fairly certain they are the same thing) that Catherine cadeau-ed me before she left. ***Thanks Catherine!*** I am currently waiting for the dough to double in size before making them into bagel shapes.
The rain this morning reminded me of a story. A couple weeks ago, Monday morning I was teaching my 6eme M3 class. It was just about 9 o’clock. I was quite irritated with some kids in class because they were causing me trouble and I was ready to cut out of class 20 minutes early. And as I was gathering my things together, I looked outside to see the blackest 9 o’clock sky I had ever seen! The humongous black cloud looked like it was ten feet off the ground and it was slowly making its way toward us. The air became quite chilly. The boys were pulling their arms into their sleeves and the girls were wrapping themselves up with the pieces of cloth they usually use to block the sun from their heads and faces. Everyone was rubbing their hands and arms to generate some heat. I felt nothing but bliss.
The big black cloud all heavy with rain made all the colors so bright and vivid! There is one particular type of bush that my school utilizes as a wall-perimeter around the school grounds. The flowers of this bush are a bright lemon yellow color. With the black monster as a background, I thought to myself that bush has never looked so green nor those flowers so yellow! How beautiful! And then moments later the wind was picking up. This was no little breeze. This was like hurricane wind, like The Wizard of Oz wind that picked up Dorothy and Toto and the Wicked Witch of the West. My students all at once ran to the other side of the room all the while screaming like four year old little girls. The rain was now pounding and the wind in full force. The roof in corner of the room where the teacher’s “desk” is, was lifting up! I for sure thought that the entire portion of the roof that covers our classroom was going to lift up. And it made such a terrible sound; quite the opposite lovely sound rain makes as it hits the tin roof. And then I found myself among my students huddled outside the classroom behind the safety of the wall. And I thought of myself as a mother hen huddled with her chicks caught in a rainstorm.
In other news, this past Thursday, I left the house perhaps a quarter to seven for my 7am class. I had let the dog out around 7:30am thinking that she would have come back before I left. But that dog is one clever little gal. She has a knack for knowing when I am in a hurry to leave. I figured she would be okay outside, running around, causing mischief while I was at school. I thought that I was out of her sight; and I hopped onto a zem. As we got to the highway, the zems waiting for customers all pointed behind us and said “eh, regarde…tchuku!” which translates to “hey, look…they dog!” Practically everyone in the neighborhood knows my dog and sometimes her name. I told the zem to stop. But most likely, he doesn’t know French and didn’t stop even though he saw that my dog was following us. JERK! I finally got him to stop after we were on the highway and Rosie was still following. She was a panting and looked a little disoriented (she’s never been to this part of the neighborhood) and a little excited and happy with herself. I managed to nab her and made the zem take us back to my house where I locked her in. Stupid dog! I ended up paying a little extra for my ride to school because of her.
And later in the morning, Basile, a kid from 6eme M3 who’s been absent from class recently came into my other class—6eme M2 to say hello. All of a sudden kids in M2 were all in an uproar of laughter as they told me to look at what Basile was wearing. Sure enough, I look down at his feet and he is wearing REAL wooden clogs! How in the world and where in the world did this kid get these shoes?!
Au Benin!
This morning I awoke to a gray sky and it reminded me of home. Not too long after I woke up I watched as the clouds were moving swiftly across the sky. Moments later, the wind picked up and swirled leaves around on the ground that I just had cleaned yesterday. It was strong enough that it blew open my front gate, which I thought was firmly closed! And I could hear the quick patter and flop-flops of little feet running home, mixed in with the excited/nervous screaming of small people voices. And then slowly but surely came the rain. Single sounding fat drops that plopped against my tin roof. More and more drops fell and I retreated into the house and picked up a book, Angels and Demons and waited till the bulk of the storm had passed.
Then I decided I was hungry…and now I am in the process of making bagels. This will be my first ever batch of bagels. I will eat them with a packet of Lachs, (yes Lachs, not Lox; though I am fairly certain they are the same thing) that Catherine cadeau-ed me before she left. ***Thanks Catherine!*** I am currently waiting for the dough to double in size before making them into bagel shapes.
The rain this morning reminded me of a story. A couple weeks ago, Monday morning I was teaching my 6eme M3 class. It was just about 9 o’clock. I was quite irritated with some kids in class because they were causing me trouble and I was ready to cut out of class 20 minutes early. And as I was gathering my things together, I looked outside to see the blackest 9 o’clock sky I had ever seen! The humongous black cloud looked like it was ten feet off the ground and it was slowly making its way toward us. The air became quite chilly. The boys were pulling their arms into their sleeves and the girls were wrapping themselves up with the pieces of cloth they usually use to block the sun from their heads and faces. Everyone was rubbing their hands and arms to generate some heat. I felt nothing but bliss.
The big black cloud all heavy with rain made all the colors so bright and vivid! There is one particular type of bush that my school utilizes as a wall-perimeter around the school grounds. The flowers of this bush are a bright lemon yellow color. With the black monster as a background, I thought to myself that bush has never looked so green nor those flowers so yellow! How beautiful! And then moments later the wind was picking up. This was no little breeze. This was like hurricane wind, like The Wizard of Oz wind that picked up Dorothy and Toto and the Wicked Witch of the West. My students all at once ran to the other side of the room all the while screaming like four year old little girls. The rain was now pounding and the wind in full force. The roof in corner of the room where the teacher’s “desk” is, was lifting up! I for sure thought that the entire portion of the roof that covers our classroom was going to lift up. And it made such a terrible sound; quite the opposite lovely sound rain makes as it hits the tin roof. And then I found myself among my students huddled outside the classroom behind the safety of the wall. And I thought of myself as a mother hen huddled with her chicks caught in a rainstorm.
In other news, this past Thursday, I left the house perhaps a quarter to seven for my 7am class. I had let the dog out around 7:30am thinking that she would have come back before I left. But that dog is one clever little gal. She has a knack for knowing when I am in a hurry to leave. I figured she would be okay outside, running around, causing mischief while I was at school. I thought that I was out of her sight; and I hopped onto a zem. As we got to the highway, the zems waiting for customers all pointed behind us and said “eh, regarde…tchuku!” which translates to “hey, look…they dog!” Practically everyone in the neighborhood knows my dog and sometimes her name. I told the zem to stop. But most likely, he doesn’t know French and didn’t stop even though he saw that my dog was following us. JERK! I finally got him to stop after we were on the highway and Rosie was still following. She was a panting and looked a little disoriented (she’s never been to this part of the neighborhood) and a little excited and happy with herself. I managed to nab her and made the zem take us back to my house where I locked her in. Stupid dog! I ended up paying a little extra for my ride to school because of her.
And later in the morning, Basile, a kid from 6eme M3 who’s been absent from class recently came into my other class—6eme M2 to say hello. All of a sudden kids in M2 were all in an uproar of laughter as they told me to look at what Basile was wearing. Sure enough, I look down at his feet and he is wearing REAL wooden clogs! How in the world and where in the world did this kid get these shoes?!
Au Benin!
Friday, May 7, 2010
old skool pics!
my favorite class.
class in a paillote. it's got a great breeze!
no powerpoints here. it looks like a chalkboard, but it's really some plywood painted black.
groupwork.
workin' on a wordsearch (that i made up myself)
not everyone likes to work together.
next to a cornfield. 
building to the right is what my predecessor built. the building in the back is where the other 5eme classes are.
football (aka soccer field) on the other side. and latrines is what that little building in next to board is.
my bad ass bike
Rosie hiding in my closet.
up close.
i made this. mmmm, it was real good! watch out pagliacci's!
burning out
Be careful for what you wish for…because usually, it comes true!
You may recall that at the beginning of the school year, I was struggling and lost the battle to take a class that I had last year. And then my colleague who was their teacher had her baby, back in January/February…and I was able to take over her class. And it was super exciting at first.
And then the 18 hour work week was really starting to get to me; especially the waking up super early for the 7 am classes three times a week! Eeew! I know you all know that I am NOT a morning person; so this had been kinda like torture. And mix that with the SUPER hot days were having and you get one grumpy girl, also known as Michelle.
So, at our weekly English staff meetings I had been trying to figure out if Madame was going to come back…and it turns out she did! And she came back when she said she was! My standards have been lowered :-/ And as a result, I told the 5eme class (the non-favorite class) that I was letting them go, that they’d be getting their old teacher back…ahhh, the tears I caused! No, not really, but the majority were outspokenly opposed. Oh the little cuties…So I think it’s gonna be a smidge awkward as I make my way out to their class. 5m4 is in the paillote (sp?) classroom. A paillote is a nice-ish stick shack, flimsy, sometimes a thatched roof—we have tin roofs instead; thatched ones are cooler, and breezy! I wish we had paillotes back home. But I don’t think that the weather is very conducive to them.
I have to admit that I am starting to burn out. Every day is something new. And whether I plan it out or not, every day is a busy day. And that sucks, especially when I don’t have a car, the sun is punching you in the face, you sweat more than a fat man in a sauna, and there’s no time to take a nap.
Today was a market day. I met up with my post mate Nathaniel and Sarah to pick out même tissue = same fabric for our Mono (department) hoodies! We’ll be showing some solidarity at our COS conference, which is coming up sooner than I wish it would. I feel like there is much to do before then, and it’s getting in the way of what I need to do…but I am also looking forward to it a lot.
Peace Corps is putting us up in a really nice hotel with air conditioning, a nice pool, and WI-FI and CNN (satellite TV) in our rooms!!!!!!!!!!
That’s all for now. I am super tired and going to sleep.
PS
I finished up two books this week:
The Red Tent—A really good book about Jacob’s one and only daughter, Dinah. I highly recommend this book.
and
The Sex Lives of Cannibals—An entertaining travelogue about this guy and his fiancé who move to the Equitorial Pacific island nation, of Kiribati (did you know it’s pronounced “Keer-E-bas?”). It’s one of those cross-cultural books. It’s good, not as good as I heard it built up to be, but entertaining.
You may recall that at the beginning of the school year, I was struggling and lost the battle to take a class that I had last year. And then my colleague who was their teacher had her baby, back in January/February…and I was able to take over her class. And it was super exciting at first.
And then the 18 hour work week was really starting to get to me; especially the waking up super early for the 7 am classes three times a week! Eeew! I know you all know that I am NOT a morning person; so this had been kinda like torture. And mix that with the SUPER hot days were having and you get one grumpy girl, also known as Michelle.
So, at our weekly English staff meetings I had been trying to figure out if Madame was going to come back…and it turns out she did! And she came back when she said she was! My standards have been lowered :-/ And as a result, I told the 5eme class (the non-favorite class) that I was letting them go, that they’d be getting their old teacher back…ahhh, the tears I caused! No, not really, but the majority were outspokenly opposed. Oh the little cuties…So I think it’s gonna be a smidge awkward as I make my way out to their class. 5m4 is in the paillote (sp?) classroom. A paillote is a nice-ish stick shack, flimsy, sometimes a thatched roof—we have tin roofs instead; thatched ones are cooler, and breezy! I wish we had paillotes back home. But I don’t think that the weather is very conducive to them.
I have to admit that I am starting to burn out. Every day is something new. And whether I plan it out or not, every day is a busy day. And that sucks, especially when I don’t have a car, the sun is punching you in the face, you sweat more than a fat man in a sauna, and there’s no time to take a nap.
Today was a market day. I met up with my post mate Nathaniel and Sarah to pick out même tissue = same fabric for our Mono (department) hoodies! We’ll be showing some solidarity at our COS conference, which is coming up sooner than I wish it would. I feel like there is much to do before then, and it’s getting in the way of what I need to do…but I am also looking forward to it a lot.
Peace Corps is putting us up in a really nice hotel with air conditioning, a nice pool, and WI-FI and CNN (satellite TV) in our rooms!!!!!!!!!!
That’s all for now. I am super tired and going to sleep.
PS
I finished up two books this week:
The Red Tent—A really good book about Jacob’s one and only daughter, Dinah. I highly recommend this book.
and
The Sex Lives of Cannibals—An entertaining travelogue about this guy and his fiancé who move to the Equitorial Pacific island nation, of Kiribati (did you know it’s pronounced “Keer-E-bas?”). It’s one of those cross-cultural books. It’s good, not as good as I heard it built up to be, but entertaining.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Agoué
Yesterday I had an awesome adventure. (sorry, no photos)
My friend and colleague at another school, Romain, took me to visit his village, Agoué. This village is on the highway on the road to Togo. In fact, it’s only 2k away from the official border crossing. But, in reality it’s a tweener village. The Mono River is what separates Togo from Benin. And Agoué is nestled on a narrowish strip of land, probably less than 1k wide. The Atlantic Ocean is on one side and the Mono River is on the other.
I really wish that I had brought along my camera. But it’s hard to remember.
We left Lokossa around 8am and moto-ed all the way to Agoué. It didn’t take as nearly as long as I thought it would, probably an hour and fifteen minutes. However, my rear end couldn’t have been happier to get off the moto and walk around the rest of the day.
We visited Romain’s friend and parked his moto and my helmet at this house. Then we set off. We walked through a cemetery just meters away. And he showed me where his grandmother and uncle are buried. I later found out this cemetery was for the animists of the village. It is just out there, next to the beach, in the sand, not affiliated with any church.
We walked a little ways and found the beach. Houses are literally next to the shores of the water. The shoreline is probably less than 10 meters away! Romain remembers the water being a lot further away when he was a little boy 18 years ago. And we continued walking along the beach till we found someone who knew where his uncle and cousin lived. We sat and he chatted with his uncle; in Mina, a local language, of course and I didn’t understand a lick of words said. But I assumed they talked about what our plans for the day were.
After visiting his uncle, we went over to the Catholic mission. I think I was told that this is the oldest mission in Benin, it’s a little over 150 years old. And we walked in and looked around in the cemetery but couldn’t find Romain’s grandfather’s grave. I asked how deep the graves were and I think he said a couple meters deep. And to that I replied, that chez moi, people are buried 6 feet under (great show, btw) or about 3 meters. And here, they like to put a big, long cement or cement covered with tiles, block over the grave. Though, I am not sure if people are entombed in this cement chunk, or if it’s there as some kind of cover or marker. Also, the first president of Togo and his wife are buried in this cemetery. By the way, it was REALLY, really hot.
Lunch was next. And it was really hot and I was super hungry. So food and a cold drink were a great relief.
After lunch, we made our way towards the Mono River. As we were walking the sky was getting a bit darker and the wind was really picking up, blowing sand everywhere. I knew that it was going to rain. Houses here are built up off the ground; really high, actually. And this is to prevent the houses from getting flooded during the rainy season when the Mono rises. We stopped in at a couple of houses. The first was the house of his deceased grandmother, so I assumed the people still living there are his relatives. There was the cutest little girl there, who took to me like fly on honey. By the time we left (and we were there only 10 minutes or so) she was sitting in my lap, head on my shoulder. SO cute!!
And then we went over to Romain’s aunt’s house. Once we sat down, the rain started coming down. Not hard or anything, but more like Seattle rain, like when it rains continuously for an hour or so. So there we sat, for longer than I liked, but whatever. Only, it’s not fun to sit and listen to people speak a language you don’t understand. I felt like a child because here, people don’t really talk to children; they talk at them. So I just sat there, watching them talk. Every now and then they’d all glance at me, and I could tell they were talking something about me, but it never seemed negative, it usually doesn’t, so I didn’t and don’t mind too much.
When the rain finally let up, we walked to the river bank and stepped into a pirogue and a teenage boy ferried us across the river. On the other side, the boat stopped in the sand bank meters from the shore and the water looked gross and there were plants and I didn’t feel like walking in it. So Romain offered to carry me, piggy back to the shore. hahaha, thank god because I did not want to step in that part of the water. So now we were in Togo!
We meandered into the village. The purpose of going to Togo and the village of Agouégan was to go to Romain’s grandfather’s village and get/eat some coconuts. We walked through the empty market, where apparently nothing has changed in the past 18 years! The rain started up again and we sat and sat at an old lady’s house for a while till the rain stopped. She offered me/us something to drink, but I refused at first. And then she asked/told me that I was refusing her, so I broke down and accepted a drink. LionKiller. That’s what it’s called, it’s “sparkling lemonade” but tasted like a 7up. (My bladder was getting full.) Naturally conversation was in Mina, and again I just watched them talk.
As the rain slowed we continued to the more village-y part of town where, grandpére lived. And this was the most beautiful walk I’ve ever had. Walking out there, the scenery was gorgeous. It was everything I ever imagined a village in Africa to look like (minus some elephants :P). There were coconut palm trees every where, a red sand/dirt path, tall grass, wide open fields, etc. Since it had rained, it was easy to walk in the sand, and the air was filled with a clean Earthy, grassy smell. We finally arrived at the grandfather’s land. There were coconut palm trees 30+ feet high everywhere and plots of sprouting corn shoots underneath. In the back of this area was a little family compound with several little huts, all with thatched roofs, and one more modern building made of cement bricks and a tin roof. Children were all around, mostly inside because of the rain.
There was one coconut tree that wasn’t as tall as the rest, so Romain and his older cousin that was with us took down several young coconuts and we drank them (I really only had room for one), and there was hardly any meat in them, which was sad, cause I love eating the young, tender coconut meat from the green coconuts.
And then we were on our way back to the old lady’s house. And I immediately had to use her latrine. This time we didn’t stick around too long. Before we left, she insisted I take 10 coconuts back with me! 10! What am I gonna do with 10 coconuts?! I’ll have a few, but I think I am gonna have to gift people with the rest!
Crossing back into Benin was simple. We had to greet the gendarmes. Romain’s cousin told them we had made a visit to the champs (fields). And he made some funny comment about bringing Madame into the fields. I thought for a split second he was gonna give us trouble, but that was it. And there was a big pirogue ready to go back across the river. I rolled up my jeans, pulled off my flip-flops and had minor difficulty climbing into the boat. I really rocked it! Hahaha, but a helping hand let me in. And we were off.
And that’s it. That was my adventure. We got home just after dark. And once again my rear end was happy to be off the moto.
And I was super tired and chilled kinda to the bone because the air was crispy-ish because of the rain. So I boiled some water and took a hot bucket shower and went to sleep, without the fan I might add. Though it was turned on at 1 in the morning when it got too stuffy.
So all in all, it was an awesome day.
My friend and colleague at another school, Romain, took me to visit his village, Agoué. This village is on the highway on the road to Togo. In fact, it’s only 2k away from the official border crossing. But, in reality it’s a tweener village. The Mono River is what separates Togo from Benin. And Agoué is nestled on a narrowish strip of land, probably less than 1k wide. The Atlantic Ocean is on one side and the Mono River is on the other.
I really wish that I had brought along my camera. But it’s hard to remember.
We left Lokossa around 8am and moto-ed all the way to Agoué. It didn’t take as nearly as long as I thought it would, probably an hour and fifteen minutes. However, my rear end couldn’t have been happier to get off the moto and walk around the rest of the day.
We visited Romain’s friend and parked his moto and my helmet at this house. Then we set off. We walked through a cemetery just meters away. And he showed me where his grandmother and uncle are buried. I later found out this cemetery was for the animists of the village. It is just out there, next to the beach, in the sand, not affiliated with any church.
We walked a little ways and found the beach. Houses are literally next to the shores of the water. The shoreline is probably less than 10 meters away! Romain remembers the water being a lot further away when he was a little boy 18 years ago. And we continued walking along the beach till we found someone who knew where his uncle and cousin lived. We sat and he chatted with his uncle; in Mina, a local language, of course and I didn’t understand a lick of words said. But I assumed they talked about what our plans for the day were.
After visiting his uncle, we went over to the Catholic mission. I think I was told that this is the oldest mission in Benin, it’s a little over 150 years old. And we walked in and looked around in the cemetery but couldn’t find Romain’s grandfather’s grave. I asked how deep the graves were and I think he said a couple meters deep. And to that I replied, that chez moi, people are buried 6 feet under (great show, btw) or about 3 meters. And here, they like to put a big, long cement or cement covered with tiles, block over the grave. Though, I am not sure if people are entombed in this cement chunk, or if it’s there as some kind of cover or marker. Also, the first president of Togo and his wife are buried in this cemetery. By the way, it was REALLY, really hot.
Lunch was next. And it was really hot and I was super hungry. So food and a cold drink were a great relief.
After lunch, we made our way towards the Mono River. As we were walking the sky was getting a bit darker and the wind was really picking up, blowing sand everywhere. I knew that it was going to rain. Houses here are built up off the ground; really high, actually. And this is to prevent the houses from getting flooded during the rainy season when the Mono rises. We stopped in at a couple of houses. The first was the house of his deceased grandmother, so I assumed the people still living there are his relatives. There was the cutest little girl there, who took to me like fly on honey. By the time we left (and we were there only 10 minutes or so) she was sitting in my lap, head on my shoulder. SO cute!!
And then we went over to Romain’s aunt’s house. Once we sat down, the rain started coming down. Not hard or anything, but more like Seattle rain, like when it rains continuously for an hour or so. So there we sat, for longer than I liked, but whatever. Only, it’s not fun to sit and listen to people speak a language you don’t understand. I felt like a child because here, people don’t really talk to children; they talk at them. So I just sat there, watching them talk. Every now and then they’d all glance at me, and I could tell they were talking something about me, but it never seemed negative, it usually doesn’t, so I didn’t and don’t mind too much.
When the rain finally let up, we walked to the river bank and stepped into a pirogue and a teenage boy ferried us across the river. On the other side, the boat stopped in the sand bank meters from the shore and the water looked gross and there were plants and I didn’t feel like walking in it. So Romain offered to carry me, piggy back to the shore. hahaha, thank god because I did not want to step in that part of the water. So now we were in Togo!
We meandered into the village. The purpose of going to Togo and the village of Agouégan was to go to Romain’s grandfather’s village and get/eat some coconuts. We walked through the empty market, where apparently nothing has changed in the past 18 years! The rain started up again and we sat and sat at an old lady’s house for a while till the rain stopped. She offered me/us something to drink, but I refused at first. And then she asked/told me that I was refusing her, so I broke down and accepted a drink. LionKiller. That’s what it’s called, it’s “sparkling lemonade” but tasted like a 7up. (My bladder was getting full.) Naturally conversation was in Mina, and again I just watched them talk.
As the rain slowed we continued to the more village-y part of town where, grandpére lived. And this was the most beautiful walk I’ve ever had. Walking out there, the scenery was gorgeous. It was everything I ever imagined a village in Africa to look like (minus some elephants :P). There were coconut palm trees every where, a red sand/dirt path, tall grass, wide open fields, etc. Since it had rained, it was easy to walk in the sand, and the air was filled with a clean Earthy, grassy smell. We finally arrived at the grandfather’s land. There were coconut palm trees 30+ feet high everywhere and plots of sprouting corn shoots underneath. In the back of this area was a little family compound with several little huts, all with thatched roofs, and one more modern building made of cement bricks and a tin roof. Children were all around, mostly inside because of the rain.
There was one coconut tree that wasn’t as tall as the rest, so Romain and his older cousin that was with us took down several young coconuts and we drank them (I really only had room for one), and there was hardly any meat in them, which was sad, cause I love eating the young, tender coconut meat from the green coconuts.
And then we were on our way back to the old lady’s house. And I immediately had to use her latrine. This time we didn’t stick around too long. Before we left, she insisted I take 10 coconuts back with me! 10! What am I gonna do with 10 coconuts?! I’ll have a few, but I think I am gonna have to gift people with the rest!
Crossing back into Benin was simple. We had to greet the gendarmes. Romain’s cousin told them we had made a visit to the champs (fields). And he made some funny comment about bringing Madame into the fields. I thought for a split second he was gonna give us trouble, but that was it. And there was a big pirogue ready to go back across the river. I rolled up my jeans, pulled off my flip-flops and had minor difficulty climbing into the boat. I really rocked it! Hahaha, but a helping hand let me in. And we were off.
And that’s it. That was my adventure. We got home just after dark. And once again my rear end was happy to be off the moto.
And I was super tired and chilled kinda to the bone because the air was crispy-ish because of the rain. So I boiled some water and took a hot bucket shower and went to sleep, without the fan I might add. Though it was turned on at 1 in the morning when it got too stuffy.
So all in all, it was an awesome day.
rollercoaster
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Today was one of those classic Peace Corps “rollercoaster” days. And it was also one of the longest days of my life!
It all started with me waking up at 6:15 am (for the 3rd time this week) and laying in bed, thinking about how long the day would be. Needless to say I was hesitant to get out of bed. But I did, and put on my best Beninese outfit. A model. A form fitting top and a long skirt that hugs the butt and hips and flares out at the knees all the way down to the floor. It’s actually quite flattering, I think, for women’s bodies. But then again, I may have perma-Benin-goggles on. Kinda like beer-goggles, but Benin-goggles—because my sense of style is probably out of sync!
Then I was out the door and at school for my first of four classes. 7am to 8am. No biggie. Then came my 8am to 10am class. Right off the bat I gave them a quiz. That ate up nearly 45 minutes of our time. That meant nearly an hour left to teach. So I gave the kids a reading comprehension. There was a big text (16 sentences!), it’s called Earth and Pollution. I thought I would work on a little bit of pronunciation; so I wrote out the text on flashcards in pretty colored markers. They were very pleasing to the eye, and I thought that the kids would get a kick out of them, and the chance to read a text aloud to practice their reading skills. Well, I was wrong. They were complete little jerks and wouldn’t be quiet enough for me to hear the kids reading. So I angrily took back all the cards and made them answer questions on the text. This took up the rest of our time. Not to mention, at “10am” the Best English Students Awards awards ceremony was going to start. So I left and took a zem into town.
I was really hungry since I hadn’t had anything to eat. So when I got off the zem, I walked on over to CEG1 (College d’Enseigment General)= middle/highschool and grabbed a sandwich. 10am is when all schools have a 25 minute break so that kids can eat, and whatever before going back to class at 10:15 (the break starts at 9:50). So needless to say, I was battling kids to get something to eat. Usually, at my school, I send a kid to get me whatever it is that they have that I want to eat. Easy! But at CEG1 I had to wait in line and since I got there around 10, or a little after, all the good stuff was done!
Then I walked back over to the “Maison de Peuple” (The People’s House). It’s a big venue that is rented out to whoever wants it for various gatherings, ceremonies, etc. The Mayor of Lokossa, Mr Dakpe SOSSOU rented out the venue as a donation to the BESA competition. And I saw my other PCV buddies had arrived in Peace Corps’ newest vehicle with Brownie, our country director. I looked up and saw my bicycle! Yay! I was really happy, it has been waiting for me for nearly a month in Cotonou after being repaired. I asked Brownie right then if we could take the bike back to my place, and we did! Ahhh, I love riding around in PC vehicles (air conditioning!). And it’s such a novelty to be able to ride around in a nice vehicle, a SUV nonetheless, at post, where my transportation usually consists of riding a moto(rcycle), walking, or riding my bike. Or if I am going out of town—I am in a beat up 1970’s Peugot with no seatbelts. These cars have seriously gone to hell and back, I think. 95% or more of the time the speedometer is broken, the gas gauge, the radio is broke or flat out missing, the window spinner thingys are missing, etc, I could go on forever about these cars! It’s really amazing how they still run!!!!
So, yeah, I got my bike back and then we went back to the ceremony, which still hadn’t begun.
I dunno what time it actually started, but it did and it was awesome. Very entertaining, compared to last year. Everyone, well, the important people gave speeches. And when it was Brownie’s turn, she invited up all the kids and spoke directly to them. Oh, how they loved it! And so did I! All the big wigs talked and talked and most of it was good, but I loved how Brownie got the kids up to the podium with her to literally share the spotlight (on TV—two news stations showed up!) with the kids and interacted with them and really made it about them, the kids, the participants, the winners of the Best English Students Awards. Awesome. And before the general prize giving went under way, there was a special prize and RECOGNITION to a blind girl, who made it to the second round of BESA, but was beat out. But the organizers wanted to give recognition to this girl, who despite her handicap, is somehow the top English student of her commune, and at her school. I almost started crying it was so moving!
At the end of the ceremony, there are refreshments, but Brownie says that we are going to a restaurant. As I am literally climbing into the SUV, I see my girl from last year who was a finalist and winner this year. She’s there with her momma and papa and littlist brother. Perquiste is her name, and she wanted to introduce me to her mom! And I tell her mom congratualtions. And that her daughter is very bright. And told Perquiste to continue the great work. And then her mom tells Perquiste that her Madame was very pretty! And then I said hello to papa. And I congratulated him too. And he said “Non, c’est a cause de toi!” (No, it’s because of you!) Well, in reality this girl was very bright, I dunno how much I helped last year, but nonetheless, it made me feel 1000% awesome.
FINALLY around 1ish things wrapped up and Brownie and Maria, my APCD invited us all out to lunch at a nice restaurant, where I ate akassa (fermented, jello-y, sour-ish, molded, boiled corn mush—most, like 90% of volunteers do not like it, especially at first!) and rabbit! Yum rabbit!
And after lunch I was dropped off by Maria and the PC car! Yay!!
I finished prepping a lesson, in the 25 or so minutes I had before I had to leave for work. And then I get to school and walk into class. I pulled out a text I had written out on a big khaki piece of paper (the same paper I use to write quizzes on) and told the kids: QUIZ! And right then there were like 30 “eh?? Madame!”s. Ohhh, how I love joking with my children. It makes it all worth it! So I put up the text and tell them to all read it quietly. And then I begin circulating the room. And this is where the lowest point of my day comes in. I am standing in the back between the awesome group of girls and the awesome group of boys, when I look up and see an entire class running into the class next door. Moments later, Judith, a girl I had last year get to the door, looks me right in the eye and says in a loud and clear voice “BON SOIR YOVO!” UUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHH! I immediately storm out of my class and pull her out of hers and ask her what she said. And she said “Non, je juste vous saluez” (no, I was just saying hello.) And I send her off to the vice-principals office.
Omigod, that made me furious. I walked back to my class and almost started to cry. How could she say that to me? Her former teacher. And then I got to looking around at the my favorite class of students and thought about if that girl, Judith, could call me YOVO, what about these guys? And that really broke my heart. Words can’t fully express the pain of those words that cut my heart so deep. I must admit that I sulked in class for a good hour after that. But my favorite kids, 5M2, somehow found a way to make me smile again. I really, truly love that class.
After class, I had my little guy, Sylvain buy me water. When he came back I told him to tell his parents that we’re making plans to talk on Wednesday. I am going to tell them that I am paying for his education. I then turned to my favorite colleague and told her about the YOVO incident and she just shrugged her shoulders. And that was just as painful. It’s painful because they don’t understand how this YOVO word can be malicious and be used to mock me, and make me feel like crap.
The bell rang for the next class to start. But instead of walking straight to class, I stopped by the vice-principal’s. I wanted to make sure that Judith had paid him a visit, which she did. And she was punished and seriously talked to. But I still was upset and I let my v-p know. And he kinda, made me feel better after a little talk. He said that the Beninese love white people, (le peau bland) and that people essentially use it because they love us so much, that it’s a term of endearment. True, but I find that it’s endearing when it’s used by a toddler whose parents don’t speak French, nor know any better. But I guess, in essence, people really do get excited and happy to see me when I am near. Conversation drifted to other matters and I had to excuse myself to get to class.
Last class of the day! A sizeable chunk of kids were missing because they haven’t finished paying for school fees and were as a result, sent home and told not to come back till it’s paid. We did a reading comprehension here too, in 6eme. And it was awesome. There were pictures I redrew and colored to go along with the text. It was amazing how interested and interactive the kids were today. I have been working on calling the shyer kids to participate and it’s paying off. I have girls (and boys) who never said a single PEEP raising their hands, wanting to participate! It’s such an amazing feeling to have these kids turn around like this. It warms my heart.
So there you go. A rollercoaster ride. And I am glad that today is done. I am thankful for today. It will surely be one that sticks in my mind forever, but I am happy for tomorrow and look forward to what it will bring.
Today was one of those classic Peace Corps “rollercoaster” days. And it was also one of the longest days of my life!
It all started with me waking up at 6:15 am (for the 3rd time this week) and laying in bed, thinking about how long the day would be. Needless to say I was hesitant to get out of bed. But I did, and put on my best Beninese outfit. A model. A form fitting top and a long skirt that hugs the butt and hips and flares out at the knees all the way down to the floor. It’s actually quite flattering, I think, for women’s bodies. But then again, I may have perma-Benin-goggles on. Kinda like beer-goggles, but Benin-goggles—because my sense of style is probably out of sync!
Then I was out the door and at school for my first of four classes. 7am to 8am. No biggie. Then came my 8am to 10am class. Right off the bat I gave them a quiz. That ate up nearly 45 minutes of our time. That meant nearly an hour left to teach. So I gave the kids a reading comprehension. There was a big text (16 sentences!), it’s called Earth and Pollution. I thought I would work on a little bit of pronunciation; so I wrote out the text on flashcards in pretty colored markers. They were very pleasing to the eye, and I thought that the kids would get a kick out of them, and the chance to read a text aloud to practice their reading skills. Well, I was wrong. They were complete little jerks and wouldn’t be quiet enough for me to hear the kids reading. So I angrily took back all the cards and made them answer questions on the text. This took up the rest of our time. Not to mention, at “10am” the Best English Students Awards awards ceremony was going to start. So I left and took a zem into town.
I was really hungry since I hadn’t had anything to eat. So when I got off the zem, I walked on over to CEG1 (College d’Enseigment General)= middle/highschool and grabbed a sandwich. 10am is when all schools have a 25 minute break so that kids can eat, and whatever before going back to class at 10:15 (the break starts at 9:50). So needless to say, I was battling kids to get something to eat. Usually, at my school, I send a kid to get me whatever it is that they have that I want to eat. Easy! But at CEG1 I had to wait in line and since I got there around 10, or a little after, all the good stuff was done!
Then I walked back over to the “Maison de Peuple” (The People’s House). It’s a big venue that is rented out to whoever wants it for various gatherings, ceremonies, etc. The Mayor of Lokossa, Mr Dakpe SOSSOU rented out the venue as a donation to the BESA competition. And I saw my other PCV buddies had arrived in Peace Corps’ newest vehicle with Brownie, our country director. I looked up and saw my bicycle! Yay! I was really happy, it has been waiting for me for nearly a month in Cotonou after being repaired. I asked Brownie right then if we could take the bike back to my place, and we did! Ahhh, I love riding around in PC vehicles (air conditioning!). And it’s such a novelty to be able to ride around in a nice vehicle, a SUV nonetheless, at post, where my transportation usually consists of riding a moto(rcycle), walking, or riding my bike. Or if I am going out of town—I am in a beat up 1970’s Peugot with no seatbelts. These cars have seriously gone to hell and back, I think. 95% or more of the time the speedometer is broken, the gas gauge, the radio is broke or flat out missing, the window spinner thingys are missing, etc, I could go on forever about these cars! It’s really amazing how they still run!!!!
So, yeah, I got my bike back and then we went back to the ceremony, which still hadn’t begun.
I dunno what time it actually started, but it did and it was awesome. Very entertaining, compared to last year. Everyone, well, the important people gave speeches. And when it was Brownie’s turn, she invited up all the kids and spoke directly to them. Oh, how they loved it! And so did I! All the big wigs talked and talked and most of it was good, but I loved how Brownie got the kids up to the podium with her to literally share the spotlight (on TV—two news stations showed up!) with the kids and interacted with them and really made it about them, the kids, the participants, the winners of the Best English Students Awards. Awesome. And before the general prize giving went under way, there was a special prize and RECOGNITION to a blind girl, who made it to the second round of BESA, but was beat out. But the organizers wanted to give recognition to this girl, who despite her handicap, is somehow the top English student of her commune, and at her school. I almost started crying it was so moving!
At the end of the ceremony, there are refreshments, but Brownie says that we are going to a restaurant. As I am literally climbing into the SUV, I see my girl from last year who was a finalist and winner this year. She’s there with her momma and papa and littlist brother. Perquiste is her name, and she wanted to introduce me to her mom! And I tell her mom congratualtions. And that her daughter is very bright. And told Perquiste to continue the great work. And then her mom tells Perquiste that her Madame was very pretty! And then I said hello to papa. And I congratulated him too. And he said “Non, c’est a cause de toi!” (No, it’s because of you!) Well, in reality this girl was very bright, I dunno how much I helped last year, but nonetheless, it made me feel 1000% awesome.
FINALLY around 1ish things wrapped up and Brownie and Maria, my APCD invited us all out to lunch at a nice restaurant, where I ate akassa (fermented, jello-y, sour-ish, molded, boiled corn mush—most, like 90% of volunteers do not like it, especially at first!) and rabbit! Yum rabbit!
And after lunch I was dropped off by Maria and the PC car! Yay!!
I finished prepping a lesson, in the 25 or so minutes I had before I had to leave for work. And then I get to school and walk into class. I pulled out a text I had written out on a big khaki piece of paper (the same paper I use to write quizzes on) and told the kids: QUIZ! And right then there were like 30 “eh?? Madame!”s. Ohhh, how I love joking with my children. It makes it all worth it! So I put up the text and tell them to all read it quietly. And then I begin circulating the room. And this is where the lowest point of my day comes in. I am standing in the back between the awesome group of girls and the awesome group of boys, when I look up and see an entire class running into the class next door. Moments later, Judith, a girl I had last year get to the door, looks me right in the eye and says in a loud and clear voice “BON SOIR YOVO!” UUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHH! I immediately storm out of my class and pull her out of hers and ask her what she said. And she said “Non, je juste vous saluez” (no, I was just saying hello.) And I send her off to the vice-principals office.
Omigod, that made me furious. I walked back to my class and almost started to cry. How could she say that to me? Her former teacher. And then I got to looking around at the my favorite class of students and thought about if that girl, Judith, could call me YOVO, what about these guys? And that really broke my heart. Words can’t fully express the pain of those words that cut my heart so deep. I must admit that I sulked in class for a good hour after that. But my favorite kids, 5M2, somehow found a way to make me smile again. I really, truly love that class.
After class, I had my little guy, Sylvain buy me water. When he came back I told him to tell his parents that we’re making plans to talk on Wednesday. I am going to tell them that I am paying for his education. I then turned to my favorite colleague and told her about the YOVO incident and she just shrugged her shoulders. And that was just as painful. It’s painful because they don’t understand how this YOVO word can be malicious and be used to mock me, and make me feel like crap.
The bell rang for the next class to start. But instead of walking straight to class, I stopped by the vice-principal’s. I wanted to make sure that Judith had paid him a visit, which she did. And she was punished and seriously talked to. But I still was upset and I let my v-p know. And he kinda, made me feel better after a little talk. He said that the Beninese love white people, (le peau bland) and that people essentially use it because they love us so much, that it’s a term of endearment. True, but I find that it’s endearing when it’s used by a toddler whose parents don’t speak French, nor know any better. But I guess, in essence, people really do get excited and happy to see me when I am near. Conversation drifted to other matters and I had to excuse myself to get to class.
Last class of the day! A sizeable chunk of kids were missing because they haven’t finished paying for school fees and were as a result, sent home and told not to come back till it’s paid. We did a reading comprehension here too, in 6eme. And it was awesome. There were pictures I redrew and colored to go along with the text. It was amazing how interested and interactive the kids were today. I have been working on calling the shyer kids to participate and it’s paying off. I have girls (and boys) who never said a single PEEP raising their hands, wanting to participate! It’s such an amazing feeling to have these kids turn around like this. It warms my heart.
So there you go. A rollercoaster ride. And I am glad that today is done. I am thankful for today. It will surely be one that sticks in my mind forever, but I am happy for tomorrow and look forward to what it will bring.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
i'm going to france!
i got it! i got it! i got the job/position in France! I will be living and working as a English teacher's assistant in the region of Caen!
School starts October 5th. So that means I will need to leave Seattle, most likely, by mid/late September.
Yay! I am so happy!
School starts October 5th. So that means I will need to leave Seattle, most likely, by mid/late September.
Yay! I am so happy!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
no more gas =(
As of last week my tank of gas that I use to cook ran out. And luck would have it that there are no gas tanks at the moment in Lokossa!
For an entire week I happily ate yummy Beninese food. But it got old. It was also annoying to go out for every single meal.
So yesterday I decided to buy a clay cooker thing and some charcoal and gas/lighter fluid. If I thought that I cooked like I was camping before…I was wrong. Cooking over an open flame is even camp-ier. It took a good 20 minutes or so for me to get the coals all lit yesterday, and a lot more “petrol” than I thought was necessary.
A student stopped by yesterday evening and I watched carefully as he re-lit the coals so that I could have a cup of Milo, hot chocolate.
And then this afternoon, it probably only took 10 minutes to get a really good flame going. Today I prepared a full meal: Curried Rice with Lentils and Fried Onions. This took about 1.5 times longer than usual because I only have the one flame/clay cooker, whereas with the stove I have two flames. So it was annoying that it took so long to prepare, but I am glad once again to be able to cook. The meal was delicious. And I am satisfied.
Yesterday morning I woke up around 7:30ish just before it started to rain. I quickly ran outside to grab my clothes that had not fully finished drying from the day before. And I just set them into a big pile on one of my chairs. Then in the evening after dinner, I decided to clean up a little, and started by folding my clothes. Well, about half way through I get to my orange tank top and this little black thing comes flying at me! It was a little lizard. Eeewww. I of course squealed like I a little girl and threw both on the ground. And then had quite a good laugh. I don’t know how many times I must say that you’d think that I would be used to these kind of happenings, but I don’t!
Along those same lines, as I was getting ready this morning to go to a make-up class (on Monday, we had a 5 HOUR meeting at school!!!!!! And I missed one class.) So as I am getting ready, I look to the foot of my bed, where my phones were sitting and see a dead roach lying on its back! EEEEWWWWWW! Once again, I squeal like a little girl. And this time I noticed that Rosie, who was still asleep/laying on the couch, jumped up immediately and went to see where the little creepy crawly was. She likes to chase lizards, mice, roaches, insects, spiders, etc (although she usually can’t catch the lizards or mice). And it was funny to me that Rosie has associated my squealing with a little gross creature. She’s a perfect Pavlov’s dog.
I have been so tired lately! I’m not entirely sure why. But everyday I wake up around the same time, between 6 and 7:30. Take a nap around noon for about an hour-ish. And am in bed no later than 10pm. I am such an old lady! And really it hasn’t been all that hot lately—so I can’t blame the heat. It’s the opposite, it’s been quite rainy lately, actually. Weird, since last year, I feel like the rains didn’t come until April or even May.
Speaking of being tired, it’s past my nap time.
For an entire week I happily ate yummy Beninese food. But it got old. It was also annoying to go out for every single meal.
So yesterday I decided to buy a clay cooker thing and some charcoal and gas/lighter fluid. If I thought that I cooked like I was camping before…I was wrong. Cooking over an open flame is even camp-ier. It took a good 20 minutes or so for me to get the coals all lit yesterday, and a lot more “petrol” than I thought was necessary.
A student stopped by yesterday evening and I watched carefully as he re-lit the coals so that I could have a cup of Milo, hot chocolate.
And then this afternoon, it probably only took 10 minutes to get a really good flame going. Today I prepared a full meal: Curried Rice with Lentils and Fried Onions. This took about 1.5 times longer than usual because I only have the one flame/clay cooker, whereas with the stove I have two flames. So it was annoying that it took so long to prepare, but I am glad once again to be able to cook. The meal was delicious. And I am satisfied.
Yesterday morning I woke up around 7:30ish just before it started to rain. I quickly ran outside to grab my clothes that had not fully finished drying from the day before. And I just set them into a big pile on one of my chairs. Then in the evening after dinner, I decided to clean up a little, and started by folding my clothes. Well, about half way through I get to my orange tank top and this little black thing comes flying at me! It was a little lizard. Eeewww. I of course squealed like I a little girl and threw both on the ground. And then had quite a good laugh. I don’t know how many times I must say that you’d think that I would be used to these kind of happenings, but I don’t!
Along those same lines, as I was getting ready this morning to go to a make-up class (on Monday, we had a 5 HOUR meeting at school!!!!!! And I missed one class.) So as I am getting ready, I look to the foot of my bed, where my phones were sitting and see a dead roach lying on its back! EEEEWWWWWW! Once again, I squeal like a little girl. And this time I noticed that Rosie, who was still asleep/laying on the couch, jumped up immediately and went to see where the little creepy crawly was. She likes to chase lizards, mice, roaches, insects, spiders, etc (although she usually can’t catch the lizards or mice). And it was funny to me that Rosie has associated my squealing with a little gross creature. She’s a perfect Pavlov’s dog.
I have been so tired lately! I’m not entirely sure why. But everyday I wake up around the same time, between 6 and 7:30. Take a nap around noon for about an hour-ish. And am in bed no later than 10pm. I am such an old lady! And really it hasn’t been all that hot lately—so I can’t blame the heat. It’s the opposite, it’s been quite rainy lately, actually. Weird, since last year, I feel like the rains didn’t come until April or even May.
Speaking of being tired, it’s past my nap time.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
on the tata samba. the kid in blue is Boris.
dennis and melissa (climbing up to the grainery)
the sun is rising.
"BNS: quand voyager devient un plaisir"
ah bon?
this is the huge crack in the window you will read about...
this is the bus stop in Bohicon. it is madness. and this is dennis in front of our double decker bus!
Sylvain, a girl i dunno, Volonté, Léopold, and Rafatou. when i put the camera up to my face, Sylvain, normally a very happy-smiley kid, locked up into this position, i like to call "the Beninese" photo face. the others who are smiling, are not the norm. and Léopold, the little guy is in 6éme...he's on the small side, but in general they are all so little and cute!
goats/sheep are so fun to chase! she couldn't help herself =)
goats/sheep smell funny.
goats/sheep are so fun to chase! she couldn't help herself =)
goats/sheep smell funny.
the world map is finished! these are the kids who helped out; from drawing lines, to taping up the outline, sketching the countries, painting the countries and erasing the pencil lines...they were a BIG help! especially Janvier, the boy in the red shirt and yellow shorts.
retreat!
me, Michel, Kantos, and Maman!
this is a lizard that Rosie somehow managed to trap in my house and kill. eewww, to think that i could have stepped on it!
this is a preying mantis that decided to die in my kitchen sink. the pen is to show how big they are.
this is when the power went out and i lit up all my candles. the mirror was a nice touch because it reflected the light around the room. the olny down side to candles, is that it adds a touch more of heat!
an interesting afternoon
I thought I had a couple more blog entries, but somehow they disappeared.
This afternoon was interesting for small reasons:
1—My zem down to the cyber, I noticed while discussing the price, had bright red finger and toe nails! There might have even been a fancy design on there too. And let me remind you that this was a young guy in his 20s probably.
2— I went to the cyber to copy down a recipe for lemon cake. Tomorrow (Wednesday March 3rd) is Mayo’s 4th birthday! And Angelina was on gchat, and I was telling her how we haven’t had a power outage for a while. And luck would have it that like 2 minutes later the power cut out!
3—So, since the power went out, I called up Dennis to find out what I needed for the cake. And I made my way down to the parc, aka little market. And in my search for lemons, I see this enormous mountain pile of fuzzy slippers! WTF? I literally stopped and stared for a minute.
Oh, the little things in life that make life interesting.
Last night I had a weird/stressful dream where I was back home and there was some kind of catastrophe and everyone was coming together, everyone was going home. Everyone was safe, but for some reason, Rosie was left in my dorm room, left all alone to fend for herself and there was no way I could go and fetch her. I think I am starting to feel guilty about leaving her here. I feel like she is going to spend the rest of her life waiting for me to come back. This makes me very sad. She has been an awesome companion for the last 11 months. Wow, I just realized that she is probably just about a year old! Happy birthday Rosie!
Speaking of birthdays, I already mentioned how it’s Mayo’s b-day tomorrow. He’s turning four! This past summer, when we became buddies, I kept asking him how old he was. And his response was “CI!” CI is the equivalent of kindergarten here. And the kids are supposed to start when they are five years old, but obviously some start earlier and some start later. It’s kinda the norm for everyone to lie about their age or simply not know it at all. So, I am finally glad to find out that my favorite little guy is four. As I said, I am making him a lemon cake. I hope that it turns out all right, and I hope that he likes it!
This afternoon was interesting for small reasons:
1—My zem down to the cyber, I noticed while discussing the price, had bright red finger and toe nails! There might have even been a fancy design on there too. And let me remind you that this was a young guy in his 20s probably.
2— I went to the cyber to copy down a recipe for lemon cake. Tomorrow (Wednesday March 3rd) is Mayo’s 4th birthday! And Angelina was on gchat, and I was telling her how we haven’t had a power outage for a while. And luck would have it that like 2 minutes later the power cut out!
3—So, since the power went out, I called up Dennis to find out what I needed for the cake. And I made my way down to the parc, aka little market. And in my search for lemons, I see this enormous mountain pile of fuzzy slippers! WTF? I literally stopped and stared for a minute.
Oh, the little things in life that make life interesting.
Last night I had a weird/stressful dream where I was back home and there was some kind of catastrophe and everyone was coming together, everyone was going home. Everyone was safe, but for some reason, Rosie was left in my dorm room, left all alone to fend for herself and there was no way I could go and fetch her. I think I am starting to feel guilty about leaving her here. I feel like she is going to spend the rest of her life waiting for me to come back. This makes me very sad. She has been an awesome companion for the last 11 months. Wow, I just realized that she is probably just about a year old! Happy birthday Rosie!
Speaking of birthdays, I already mentioned how it’s Mayo’s b-day tomorrow. He’s turning four! This past summer, when we became buddies, I kept asking him how old he was. And his response was “CI!” CI is the equivalent of kindergarten here. And the kids are supposed to start when they are five years old, but obviously some start earlier and some start later. It’s kinda the norm for everyone to lie about their age or simply not know it at all. So, I am finally glad to find out that my favorite little guy is four. As I said, I am making him a lemon cake. I hope that it turns out all right, and I hope that he likes it!
adventure: boukoumbe
I am currently sitting at home trying to watch a movie. However, it started to rain about 5-10 minutes ago and that poses a problem. I have a tin roof. Also, when it rains here, it pours. The two do not make for good movie watching.
On the flip side, it is almost therapeutic for me to hear the rain fall. The smell of the rain also reminds me of home.
It’s funny that it’s been raining on and off the past couple of weeks. I thought there was some kind of pattern to the weather here. I thought that we were in the long, hot, dry season. But I am thinking that the weather is some kind of messed up from what I have read. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been dreadfully hot, but the rain is a nice touch and cools the earth down a few degrees.
I spent the last half of my February break from school up north in the city of Natitingou and a village called Boukoumbe. Boukoumbe is a beautiful place filled with trees, steep hills, etc. It sits right next to Togo. Boukoumbe is famous in Benin for its Tata Sambas. Tata Sambas are these traditional mud hut homes that people still build and live in to this day. It’s almost more than a mud hut. It’s like a two story mud house.
The Tata Samba and family we visited was not in the village of Boukoumbe, but a 2 hour hike out. I think our guide said it was 11 kilometers. On our way to the mud hut, it was about 3:30 in the afternoon and the sun was relentless. It was the hottest I have felt in a really long time. I had a water bottle in my backpack and every time we stopped to take a break from the heat, I pulled out my water and it was HOT! Like hot tap water. But I drank it anyways. And I was so hot and thirsty that the hot water was somewhat refreshing…it quenched my thirst.
Finally when we arrived at the place we were sat down on a mat and rested. Soon after twin baby boys were plopped into mine and Melissa’s arms: our husbands, lol. They were tiny! And so cute! And they were in matching outfits.
For dinner we were fed some spaghetti noodles with a very bland tomato sauce and an egg each. It took a while to get the food to us, so long we were wondering if we were still gonna be fed. But it arrived and we scarfed it down.
Dennis, Melissa and I slept on the roof of a Tata Samba. Though, it was difficult to fall asleep because the moon was nearly full and laying down, looking up was like staring straight into a 60 watt light bulb (but doesn’t burn your cornea like a light bulb).
Overall, the trip was fun and I had a good time. It’s interesting though, because I found a lot of similarities between Boukoumbe, mud hut and Dogon country. For multiple reasons I will not list out because I am lazy. Just know that they were comparable.
The travel to and from Natitingou is always an adventure in itself. And I will admit that I pray every time that I have to travel in this country; it’s dangerous. But I got home all in one piece! (Thanks God!)
I think I have like nine or 10 weeks of actual teaching left. Phew, time went by quick, eh?
On the flip side, it is almost therapeutic for me to hear the rain fall. The smell of the rain also reminds me of home.
It’s funny that it’s been raining on and off the past couple of weeks. I thought there was some kind of pattern to the weather here. I thought that we were in the long, hot, dry season. But I am thinking that the weather is some kind of messed up from what I have read. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been dreadfully hot, but the rain is a nice touch and cools the earth down a few degrees.
I spent the last half of my February break from school up north in the city of Natitingou and a village called Boukoumbe. Boukoumbe is a beautiful place filled with trees, steep hills, etc. It sits right next to Togo. Boukoumbe is famous in Benin for its Tata Sambas. Tata Sambas are these traditional mud hut homes that people still build and live in to this day. It’s almost more than a mud hut. It’s like a two story mud house.
The Tata Samba and family we visited was not in the village of Boukoumbe, but a 2 hour hike out. I think our guide said it was 11 kilometers. On our way to the mud hut, it was about 3:30 in the afternoon and the sun was relentless. It was the hottest I have felt in a really long time. I had a water bottle in my backpack and every time we stopped to take a break from the heat, I pulled out my water and it was HOT! Like hot tap water. But I drank it anyways. And I was so hot and thirsty that the hot water was somewhat refreshing…it quenched my thirst.
Finally when we arrived at the place we were sat down on a mat and rested. Soon after twin baby boys were plopped into mine and Melissa’s arms: our husbands, lol. They were tiny! And so cute! And they were in matching outfits.
For dinner we were fed some spaghetti noodles with a very bland tomato sauce and an egg each. It took a while to get the food to us, so long we were wondering if we were still gonna be fed. But it arrived and we scarfed it down.
Dennis, Melissa and I slept on the roof of a Tata Samba. Though, it was difficult to fall asleep because the moon was nearly full and laying down, looking up was like staring straight into a 60 watt light bulb (but doesn’t burn your cornea like a light bulb).
Overall, the trip was fun and I had a good time. It’s interesting though, because I found a lot of similarities between Boukoumbe, mud hut and Dogon country. For multiple reasons I will not list out because I am lazy. Just know that they were comparable.
The travel to and from Natitingou is always an adventure in itself. And I will admit that I pray every time that I have to travel in this country; it’s dangerous. But I got home all in one piece! (Thanks God!)
I think I have like nine or 10 weeks of actual teaching left. Phew, time went by quick, eh?
2/1/10...it's really H-O-T!!
Once again, it is the hot season. I think that I mention that it is hot here in Benin. But now, it’s seriously really, really hot. It’s the kind of hot there is no good relief from
It’s somewhat cool(er) in the mornings and in the evenings. I dread stepping out into the world anytime between the hours of 10am and 4ish pm. It’s just too much sun to handle. It is energy sucking heat. For example, yesterday I woke up at 7ish to go to make up some classes after sleeping for over eight hours. I held class from 8am to 10am. And then I walked home just like always, except that it’s now like 10x hotter. I ate a mango and then took a two hour nap. Upon waking up, I made some lunch and read for 20 minutes or so before falling asleep for another three hour nap. The power was out, so therefore my fan was not on. But doesn’t really make much of a difference because, who likes hot air being blown on an already overheated body?
I swear the temperature has got to be in the 90s, if not in the 100s.
Considering the circumstances, I have taken to sleeping outside in my little patio area. I have jimmy rigged a mosquito net up and brought out my other mattress. The difference in temperature between inside and outside the house is like day and night…haha. All day long the sun beats down on my little tin roof, pouring its nasty rays into my house where the heat gets trapped in the brick walls. It’s like living inside a pizza oven.
There were several moments yesterday, probably when the power was out (and so was the water), when I questioned myself about putting myself through the rest of the hot season (May-June). But if I survived last year, I am sure I can make it again.
Speaking of power outages, as of lately, they are happening quite frequently. I am fortunate enough to be in a large town where the power cuts are not as frequent as villages with electricity. Apparently, large towns and cities have privilege over small towns and villages. It turns out a certain country didn’t pay some electricity bills….or something like that.
It’s somewhat cool(er) in the mornings and in the evenings. I dread stepping out into the world anytime between the hours of 10am and 4ish pm. It’s just too much sun to handle. It is energy sucking heat. For example, yesterday I woke up at 7ish to go to make up some classes after sleeping for over eight hours. I held class from 8am to 10am. And then I walked home just like always, except that it’s now like 10x hotter. I ate a mango and then took a two hour nap. Upon waking up, I made some lunch and read for 20 minutes or so before falling asleep for another three hour nap. The power was out, so therefore my fan was not on. But doesn’t really make much of a difference because, who likes hot air being blown on an already overheated body?
I swear the temperature has got to be in the 90s, if not in the 100s.
Considering the circumstances, I have taken to sleeping outside in my little patio area. I have jimmy rigged a mosquito net up and brought out my other mattress. The difference in temperature between inside and outside the house is like day and night…haha. All day long the sun beats down on my little tin roof, pouring its nasty rays into my house where the heat gets trapped in the brick walls. It’s like living inside a pizza oven.
There were several moments yesterday, probably when the power was out (and so was the water), when I questioned myself about putting myself through the rest of the hot season (May-June). But if I survived last year, I am sure I can make it again.
Speaking of power outages, as of lately, they are happening quite frequently. I am fortunate enough to be in a large town where the power cuts are not as frequent as villages with electricity. Apparently, large towns and cities have privilege over small towns and villages. It turns out a certain country didn’t pay some electricity bills….or something like that.
Ooops!
i forgot that i had saved these next three posts onto my flash drive. but i just found them, so.....happy reading!
this is from 1/12/10
I can’t get enough of the kids at the Orpheneliat Providence. Our world map project took about months to do from start to finish. In that time I really got to know a good chunk of the older kids. I probably have mentioned Janvier before, but he was a HUGE help with the project. I can see him being some kind of great artist or something with the way he really just clung to the map and was there helping every step of the way. A lot of the kids just wanted to help out with the fun stuff, read, the painting.
I was going to miss working with the kids every weekend, so I decided to take on another project with them. I have decided to teach a portion of the kids how to use a computer. Last summer there was a volunteer girl who did some lessons with them. I am not sure how much they covered nor how many hours the kids logged. But I feel like I can use their previous experience to dive right in.
These computer lessons will be quite an interesting experience. Last year at Camp GLOW 99.9 percent of the girls had never touched a mouse before. And Kaili, another PCV, held a mini informatique (aka computer class) during one of our sessions. I think the girls had an hour or so overall. But it was real fun watching them struggle working with the mouse ie holding it up in the air, and pecking at the keyboards like chickens.
I went ahead and purchased 55 hours at the cyber. They art having a New Year’s sale and by purchasing 50 hours at 9000cfa, five hours are added free of charge. This comes out to be a total of 163.63cfa per hour. Previously the cheapest I had found was something like 20 hours for 3500…meaning it was 175cfa per hour. So I guess I got lucky! I talked to the lady who works there and told her how I am going to teach kids how to use the computer and that I wanted to split my 55 hours among two accounts. She looked at me real hesitantly for a moment and I realized that normally one can’t do that, but I guess I am charming or persuasive or just a plain old good client cause she allowed me to divide the hours up afterall. And just now I was thinking about how in teaching the kids how to use computers/the Internet I am making that many more clients. On top of all that, the cyber people are unlocking my account so that I can teach the kids in the “VIP” room where there are less computers, less noise, and a ceiling fan directly above!
I’m not sure exactly when we’ll start. I currently have a lot on my plate. But soon enough…
Today at the English department weekly meeting, I was informed that my homologue, Mme TOKOU will not be coming back to teach at CEG3 Lokossa. I feel for the kids who will be affected. I guess they won’t be taking the devoirs that are coming up at the end of the month. Her kids have essentially already fallen behind my students and it wouldn’t be fair. So I am composing the test for my 6eme kids. In addition, by some miracle, the other 5eme teachers are slightly ahead of me and to avoid complications I proposed that I could write the devoir for the 5eme kids as well. Writing the tests is really not that much work, but it is somewhat obnoxious. However, I would rather write AND type the tests myself in order to steer clear of and weirdly phrased items and typos. Today is Tuesday and we supposedly need to turn in the tests tomorrow. However, I told my colleagues that they would see the tests on Thursday morning. And then I will take them to the bureau this weekend to type them up and print them off.
I will be going to Cotonou this weekend to send off my good friend, Catherine. I am sad that Cat is leaving, but in the end I think she made the decision that is best for her. And it has made me contemplate about my time in Benin. I absolutely love this country and its people. Every time I have to leave Lokossa, I miss it a lot and grow that much more attached to my community, house, dog, students, neighbors, etc. I was thinking about how if I had to leave next weekend I would be a complete mess. I hardly think I will be ready to leave in August or September. My time here has passed by very quick. Sometimes when I am in the classroom, when I am wondering around, looking over students’ shoulders to check their work, I think about how I’ve grown as a teacher. About how fortunate I was to be chosen for this job, for my town, and for my students. Don’t get me wrong, there are many times when I want to rip out my hair, walk out the door, insult students, or send them off to be punished. But overall, this has been so much fun and so rewarding.
I constantly think about where my students will end up. How will having had me as a teacher affect them? Will it have made any difference at all? Do they even care about English? Do they notice anything different about me besides the obvious, ie how I respect them as adults, how I am always on time, I am fair in grading, I am fair to both sexes, we can joke, I am not a harsh punisher, I smile, I grade quizzes and tests in a timely fashion….? It always makes me and my heart smile when I hear adults talk of a former PCV that was somehow in their life. I wonder will I be that to my kids…
I remember back to my first few nights in Benin when I could hardly believe I was breathing in African air. I as terrified at the prospect of living on my own. Of teaching English to 70 children in a classroom with little to no resources/materials. Of having to take moto-taxis around as my main transportation. Of taking taxis where there are six passengers + driver—in what is normally a 5 person car! Of eating pounded corn mush with goopy, slimy, fishy sauce. Of being away from my family and friends for over two whole years. I was essentially jealous of the volunteers who had been here a year. And even more jealous of the volunteers on their way out. For they already knew everything. They had experience, and I had none.
Now I don’t know if I can go back to living with roommates. To driving around in my own car! With a seatbelt and one seat per person at that. To eating whatever I want, whenever I want. To not being able to buy yummy fried food snacks on every corner. To speaking English. To have everyone understand what I say…that is going to be very weird (I’ll have to start watching what I say). To being cold!
I find that my time left here is almost too little. I have accomplished a lot. It breaks my heart to think about leaving my community where I have worked so hard to integrate. I have so much to do in so little time.
But all things must change. Nothing stays the same. I will appreciate the time I have left here. I will continue to teach and to learn. And I will look forward to coming home and to new adventures.
PS…I just thought of this idea this weekend, but I want to take Janvier and maybe a couple of other kids with me to Cotonou so that they can visit the art museum. I don’t know that they know an art museum in Benin, exists! I think that Janvier and Marcellin would especially enjoy it.
I was going to miss working with the kids every weekend, so I decided to take on another project with them. I have decided to teach a portion of the kids how to use a computer. Last summer there was a volunteer girl who did some lessons with them. I am not sure how much they covered nor how many hours the kids logged. But I feel like I can use their previous experience to dive right in.
These computer lessons will be quite an interesting experience. Last year at Camp GLOW 99.9 percent of the girls had never touched a mouse before. And Kaili, another PCV, held a mini informatique (aka computer class) during one of our sessions. I think the girls had an hour or so overall. But it was real fun watching them struggle working with the mouse ie holding it up in the air, and pecking at the keyboards like chickens.
I went ahead and purchased 55 hours at the cyber. They art having a New Year’s sale and by purchasing 50 hours at 9000cfa, five hours are added free of charge. This comes out to be a total of 163.63cfa per hour. Previously the cheapest I had found was something like 20 hours for 3500…meaning it was 175cfa per hour. So I guess I got lucky! I talked to the lady who works there and told her how I am going to teach kids how to use the computer and that I wanted to split my 55 hours among two accounts. She looked at me real hesitantly for a moment and I realized that normally one can’t do that, but I guess I am charming or persuasive or just a plain old good client cause she allowed me to divide the hours up afterall. And just now I was thinking about how in teaching the kids how to use computers/the Internet I am making that many more clients. On top of all that, the cyber people are unlocking my account so that I can teach the kids in the “VIP” room where there are less computers, less noise, and a ceiling fan directly above!
I’m not sure exactly when we’ll start. I currently have a lot on my plate. But soon enough…
Today at the English department weekly meeting, I was informed that my homologue, Mme TOKOU will not be coming back to teach at CEG3 Lokossa. I feel for the kids who will be affected. I guess they won’t be taking the devoirs that are coming up at the end of the month. Her kids have essentially already fallen behind my students and it wouldn’t be fair. So I am composing the test for my 6eme kids. In addition, by some miracle, the other 5eme teachers are slightly ahead of me and to avoid complications I proposed that I could write the devoir for the 5eme kids as well. Writing the tests is really not that much work, but it is somewhat obnoxious. However, I would rather write AND type the tests myself in order to steer clear of and weirdly phrased items and typos. Today is Tuesday and we supposedly need to turn in the tests tomorrow. However, I told my colleagues that they would see the tests on Thursday morning. And then I will take them to the bureau this weekend to type them up and print them off.
I will be going to Cotonou this weekend to send off my good friend, Catherine. I am sad that Cat is leaving, but in the end I think she made the decision that is best for her. And it has made me contemplate about my time in Benin. I absolutely love this country and its people. Every time I have to leave Lokossa, I miss it a lot and grow that much more attached to my community, house, dog, students, neighbors, etc. I was thinking about how if I had to leave next weekend I would be a complete mess. I hardly think I will be ready to leave in August or September. My time here has passed by very quick. Sometimes when I am in the classroom, when I am wondering around, looking over students’ shoulders to check their work, I think about how I’ve grown as a teacher. About how fortunate I was to be chosen for this job, for my town, and for my students. Don’t get me wrong, there are many times when I want to rip out my hair, walk out the door, insult students, or send them off to be punished. But overall, this has been so much fun and so rewarding.
I constantly think about where my students will end up. How will having had me as a teacher affect them? Will it have made any difference at all? Do they even care about English? Do they notice anything different about me besides the obvious, ie how I respect them as adults, how I am always on time, I am fair in grading, I am fair to both sexes, we can joke, I am not a harsh punisher, I smile, I grade quizzes and tests in a timely fashion….? It always makes me and my heart smile when I hear adults talk of a former PCV that was somehow in their life. I wonder will I be that to my kids…
I remember back to my first few nights in Benin when I could hardly believe I was breathing in African air. I as terrified at the prospect of living on my own. Of teaching English to 70 children in a classroom with little to no resources/materials. Of having to take moto-taxis around as my main transportation. Of taking taxis where there are six passengers + driver—in what is normally a 5 person car! Of eating pounded corn mush with goopy, slimy, fishy sauce. Of being away from my family and friends for over two whole years. I was essentially jealous of the volunteers who had been here a year. And even more jealous of the volunteers on their way out. For they already knew everything. They had experience, and I had none.
Now I don’t know if I can go back to living with roommates. To driving around in my own car! With a seatbelt and one seat per person at that. To eating whatever I want, whenever I want. To not being able to buy yummy fried food snacks on every corner. To speaking English. To have everyone understand what I say…that is going to be very weird (I’ll have to start watching what I say). To being cold!
I find that my time left here is almost too little. I have accomplished a lot. It breaks my heart to think about leaving my community where I have worked so hard to integrate. I have so much to do in so little time.
But all things must change. Nothing stays the same. I will appreciate the time I have left here. I will continue to teach and to learn. And I will look forward to coming home and to new adventures.
PS…I just thought of this idea this weekend, but I want to take Janvier and maybe a couple of other kids with me to Cotonou so that they can visit the art museum. I don’t know that they know an art museum in Benin, exists! I think that Janvier and Marcellin would especially enjoy it.
this is from 1/22/10
Another week gone by.
This year I once again am only teaching 3 classes. Each class meets twice a week for “two hours” each time. I put two hours in quotes because it never adds up to two hours for multiple reasons: kids are late, the kids are disrupting class and I have to pause, someone comes in to give an announcement, the flag ceremony, it gets dark and we can’t see anymore, at the moment my in my 7am class we can’t really start till 7:15 cause it’s still somewhat dark out at 7am…etc.
I don’t know if I ever explained how the College General d’Enseigment (CEG) system works…well here goes, kinda. There are seven grade levels. They go by the French system here:
Beninese grade level=American equivalent
Sixieme (6eme)=7th grade
Cinquieme (5eme)=8th grade
Quatrieme (4eme) =9th grade
Troisieme (3eme)=10th grade
Seconde (2nde)=11th grade
Premier (1ere)=12th grade
Terminale (tle)=1st year of college
Last year I had two 6emes, M2 + M4 and one 5eme, M1. The M stands for nothing that I know of, but is put there after the grade level to distinguish which class it is. For example, last year there was five 6eme and I had M2 and M4. Of the three classes, I decided that M2 was my favorite class; so I followed them into their second year and have them again as 5emeM2.
I hate to admit that as a teacher I definitely have a favorite class and favorite students. And it makes me wonder if I was ever a favorite student of any of my teachers. And I wonder if I would like me as a student?
This year I strongly dislike this year’s 6emeM2. (Side note: I have taken to calling 6emeM2à 6eme-“impoli”. Haha, they are horrified every time I say it because calling someone “impolite” in this society is one of the worst insults there is. Perhaps it is because everyone is so chill and essentially polite, lighthearted, etc.) Anyways, these 6emeM2 kids are little shits. There are nearly 60 of them and about half the class is a mixture of bad behavior. I always leave their class and am in a miserable mood. So this past Thursday we were in the middle of revision because next week the students have devoirs, aka exams. And at the beginning of class I had somewhat of a little heart-to-heart with the trouble makers. I thought we had an understanding that they would begin to behave. I was wrong.
So I stopped what I was doing and quickly packed my bag, said “GOOODBYE!” and grabbed my bag and helmet. However, I didn’t even get halfway to the door when half the class surrounded me, begged and pleaded me not to go and grabbed at me and my things. <> So I let go of the stuff and they proceeded to go back to their seats. But then I once again grabbed my things and once again I was surrounded. I also looked at the doorway where there was a wall of the bigger/taller kids who were blocking my way. There was not a snowflake’s chance in hell that I was getting out of there, unless I threw some punches and elbowed kids! (Which I did not.) All the while, the other half of the class erupted in screams and laughter. It was quite a sight. And I couldn’t help but laugh. It probably didn’t help my cause. On top of it all, I was mortified at the fact that I had lost control of them. I don’t know how we got back to business, but we did and they were a little bit better behaved…but I may lose my mind with this class by the end of the year!!
I cannot believe that January is nearly complete. I feel that time is moving faster than ever. Does it ever slow down again? Here are some things that I am looking forward to in the coming months:
February
camp GLOW meeting, important breakfast at the ambassador's
March
Gender And Development weekend up north
April
find out if I got the job in France
May
COS (close of service) conference, Gender And Development dinner in Cotonou
June
end of the school year, Camp GLOW! (PLEASE donate =)
July
hmmm…the new group arrives on the 9th
August
hopefully coming home mid- to late in the month
September
home! (hopefully) leave for France, my birthday
Look at that…something for every month! That seems to make things go by quicker.
This year I once again am only teaching 3 classes. Each class meets twice a week for “two hours” each time. I put two hours in quotes because it never adds up to two hours for multiple reasons: kids are late, the kids are disrupting class and I have to pause, someone comes in to give an announcement, the flag ceremony, it gets dark and we can’t see anymore, at the moment my in my 7am class we can’t really start till 7:15 cause it’s still somewhat dark out at 7am…etc.
I don’t know if I ever explained how the College General d’Enseigment (CEG) system works…well here goes, kinda. There are seven grade levels. They go by the French system here:
Beninese grade level=American equivalent
Sixieme (6eme)=7th grade
Cinquieme (5eme)=8th grade
Quatrieme (4eme) =9th grade
Troisieme (3eme)=10th grade
Seconde (2nde)=11th grade
Premier (1ere)=12th grade
Terminale (tle)=1st year of college
Last year I had two 6emes, M2 + M4 and one 5eme, M1. The M stands for nothing that I know of, but is put there after the grade level to distinguish which class it is. For example, last year there was five 6eme and I had M2 and M4. Of the three classes, I decided that M2 was my favorite class; so I followed them into their second year and have them again as 5emeM2.
I hate to admit that as a teacher I definitely have a favorite class and favorite students. And it makes me wonder if I was ever a favorite student of any of my teachers. And I wonder if I would like me as a student?
This year I strongly dislike this year’s 6emeM2. (Side note: I have taken to calling 6emeM2à 6eme-“impoli”. Haha, they are horrified every time I say it because calling someone “impolite” in this society is one of the worst insults there is. Perhaps it is because everyone is so chill and essentially polite, lighthearted, etc.) Anyways, these 6emeM2 kids are little shits. There are nearly 60 of them and about half the class is a mixture of bad behavior. I always leave their class and am in a miserable mood. So this past Thursday we were in the middle of revision because next week the students have devoirs, aka exams. And at the beginning of class I had somewhat of a little heart-to-heart with the trouble makers. I thought we had an understanding that they would begin to behave. I was wrong.
So I stopped what I was doing and quickly packed my bag, said “GOOODBYE!” and grabbed my bag and helmet. However, I didn’t even get halfway to the door when half the class surrounded me, begged and pleaded me not to go and grabbed at me and my things. <
I cannot believe that January is nearly complete. I feel that time is moving faster than ever. Does it ever slow down again? Here are some things that I am looking forward to in the coming months:
February
camp GLOW meeting, important breakfast at the ambassador's
March
Gender And Development weekend up north
April
find out if I got the job in France
May
COS (close of service) conference, Gender And Development dinner in Cotonou
June
end of the school year, Camp GLOW! (PLEASE donate =)
July
hmmm…the new group arrives on the 9th
August
hopefully coming home mid- to late in the month
September
home! (hopefully) leave for France, my birthday
Look at that…something for every month! That seems to make things go by quicker.
this is from 1/24/10
Once upon a time I remember feeling cold. Now, I don’t. Harmattan, once again lasted 3 days. And it was really only “chilly” on day two. And now, we enter the “chaleur.” This means I will be sweating gallons of sweat until…May. Cute, huh. On the flip side, my face has never been clearer, perhaps due to the Doxycycline (anti-malarial medication) or perhaps it’s due to the fact that my sweat glands are constantly excerised and don’t have the opportunity to be clogged.
I heard about the Haitian earthquake a couple weekends ago. I really don’t know any details whatsoever. I can only imagine that it is chaos over there. I hear that Haiti is poorer than Benin. Did you know that the people of Haiti descend from the Beninese? The Haitians are the children of slaves brought over from the kingdom of Dahomey…aka Benin.
This April I am going to the ancient capital of the Dahomey Kingdom, Abomey. The Dahomey kings were horrible, tyrants. They would have like 50 wives. And when they died they had their wives killed or buried alive…with them. Or maybe it was their slaves that that happened to. I forget what I heard. I guess I will find out in April. Also, the castle or whatever, is a mud-type structure that was mixed with blood and body parts. And the king’s throne is made of human skulls. I feel like I am going to be creeped out when I see this.
Apparently 8, 9 o’clock PM on a Sunday is a great time to have a birthday party. Nevermind that I (or they) have to wake up early tomorrow to start the work day.
This week is devoirs, once again. This means that the first semester is essentially over. That means I have almost less than half my school year left. This is exciting yet sad at the same time.
Today, I my little buddy, Janvier came over with his machete to chop away at the overgrown foliage in my terrace. I was hoping to have it trimmed so that a little light and a slight breeze could waft in, however, my neighbor chatted with Janvier too, and told him to chop away everything. I was a little hesitant, but I let him at it; only because I know that the flowers will grow back. It’s probably a good thing that this old flower tree/bush thing was thinned out. it might give it a little life back.
Initially I asked Janvier to come to do some trimming because yesterday we were sitting around and all of a sudden we catch a whiff of a horrible scent: a rotting little mouse corpse. I check all around my terrace for a possible hiding place for a little mouse carcass, but to no avail. I thought that maybe the little guy kicked the bucket up in the flowers. Janvier hacked away to find the smelly body. But again, no luck. The little stinker is still out there somewhere.
On that note, I don’t know how to put this, but I love that children in this society actually WORK for adults. I only briefly mentioned to Janvier to come chop the flowers away and the next day he shows up and does A LOT of work. Not only did he chop, he hauled away the brush and swept up afterward. And I didn’t even have to pay him. I did however, give him a couple of pens and a pencil for his devoirs. I didn’t want him getting the idea I would pay him.
It’s just amazing that kids almost enjoy working for adults, more so probably ones they respect.
Last Sunday, this kid rings the doorbell and when I answer the door I don’t recognize him. He’s obviously a student. But I have a moment of panic where I think, “oh gawd…who is this kid? Is he a student of mine from last year? This year? …and I don’t even recognize his face? I’m such a horrible teacher!” But it turns out he is not nor ever has been a student of mine. He tells me with a heavy heart about how he lost 3500cfa, aka a little less than ten dollars, to pay for his school contribution (school fee). He worked all summer to pay for his school fee and his “big brother” (probably a family friend) paid for the small remainder (3500cfa). But the week before, during the 10am break where the kids go get breakfast, he lost or was robbed of the 3500fca. And his “big brother” had him searching all day since 8am to replace the money. He got to my house around 7, 7:30. I was on the phone with my sister. To make a long story short, I gave him some money and told him he had to work it off by coming to do laundry for me four times. So far he has been really honest; he is tardy, but he arrives. Which leads me to believe that he was telling the truth. And it makes me feel good that I trusted my gut and decided to help him out. Normally, I would NEVER just hand out some money to any kid that knocked on my door. Tha’
I heard about the Haitian earthquake a couple weekends ago. I really don’t know any details whatsoever. I can only imagine that it is chaos over there. I hear that Haiti is poorer than Benin. Did you know that the people of Haiti descend from the Beninese? The Haitians are the children of slaves brought over from the kingdom of Dahomey…aka Benin.
This April I am going to the ancient capital of the Dahomey Kingdom, Abomey. The Dahomey kings were horrible, tyrants. They would have like 50 wives. And when they died they had their wives killed or buried alive…with them. Or maybe it was their slaves that that happened to. I forget what I heard. I guess I will find out in April. Also, the castle or whatever, is a mud-type structure that was mixed with blood and body parts. And the king’s throne is made of human skulls. I feel like I am going to be creeped out when I see this.
Apparently 8, 9 o’clock PM on a Sunday is a great time to have a birthday party. Nevermind that I (or they) have to wake up early tomorrow to start the work day.
This week is devoirs, once again. This means that the first semester is essentially over. That means I have almost less than half my school year left. This is exciting yet sad at the same time.
Today, I my little buddy, Janvier came over with his machete to chop away at the overgrown foliage in my terrace. I was hoping to have it trimmed so that a little light and a slight breeze could waft in, however, my neighbor chatted with Janvier too, and told him to chop away everything. I was a little hesitant, but I let him at it; only because I know that the flowers will grow back. It’s probably a good thing that this old flower tree/bush thing was thinned out. it might give it a little life back.
Initially I asked Janvier to come to do some trimming because yesterday we were sitting around and all of a sudden we catch a whiff of a horrible scent: a rotting little mouse corpse. I check all around my terrace for a possible hiding place for a little mouse carcass, but to no avail. I thought that maybe the little guy kicked the bucket up in the flowers. Janvier hacked away to find the smelly body. But again, no luck. The little stinker is still out there somewhere.
On that note, I don’t know how to put this, but I love that children in this society actually WORK for adults. I only briefly mentioned to Janvier to come chop the flowers away and the next day he shows up and does A LOT of work. Not only did he chop, he hauled away the brush and swept up afterward. And I didn’t even have to pay him. I did however, give him a couple of pens and a pencil for his devoirs. I didn’t want him getting the idea I would pay him.
It’s just amazing that kids almost enjoy working for adults, more so probably ones they respect.
Last Sunday, this kid rings the doorbell and when I answer the door I don’t recognize him. He’s obviously a student. But I have a moment of panic where I think, “oh gawd…who is this kid? Is he a student of mine from last year? This year? …and I don’t even recognize his face? I’m such a horrible teacher!” But it turns out he is not nor ever has been a student of mine. He tells me with a heavy heart about how he lost 3500cfa, aka a little less than ten dollars, to pay for his school contribution (school fee). He worked all summer to pay for his school fee and his “big brother” (probably a family friend) paid for the small remainder (3500cfa). But the week before, during the 10am break where the kids go get breakfast, he lost or was robbed of the 3500fca. And his “big brother” had him searching all day since 8am to replace the money. He got to my house around 7, 7:30. I was on the phone with my sister. To make a long story short, I gave him some money and told him he had to work it off by coming to do laundry for me four times. So far he has been really honest; he is tardy, but he arrives. Which leads me to believe that he was telling the truth. And it makes me feel good that I trusted my gut and decided to help him out. Normally, I would NEVER just hand out some money to any kid that knocked on my door. Tha’
Saturday, February 13, 2010
BESA, round 1
BESA stands for Best English Students' Awards. It is an English competition for all grade levels in the Colleges (aka high schools). there are 3 rounds.
Round 1 takes the top three students from each grade level and eliminates students so that the top 3 from each commune are left. i think a commune is essentially like a district...or county...i'm not quite sure which, lol.
Round 2 is to eleminate students so that the top 3 students of each department are left. deparment is possibly the equivalent of a state.
Round 3 takes round 2's students and places them in ranking order. it is the oral competition round, where students answer a series of questions, read a text outloud, and then answer some more questions. pronunciation is heavily counted.
So today was round 1. there was an announcement posted at school giving the names for the qualifiying students and the date, time and place where students were to meet. it read something along the lines of names: blah; blah; blah. date/time: Saturday February 13th at 8am. place: CEG1.
so i get up early, get dressed, get pretty, make coffee and go to CEG3 (my school). i am a few minutes early and am annoyed to find out the guardian and the sign tell me to go to CEG 1, :/. so i get to CEG1 and see my favorite kid, Sylvain. he asks me where they are to take the test. i tell him i will ask. i then find out that everyone is to take their tests at their proper schools. BACK >:/ to CEG3 i go!! Fortunately, i see 3 students of our schools' at CEG3 (including Sylvain and my other girl and another student) and bring them back to CEG3 with me. i sorta felt like a momma chicken gathering all her little chickies, bringing them to another place.
we are minutes late, but all is well. yet, i see that one student of mine is missing and find myself upset at him because if he wasn't going to show up, then someone else could have taken his place! brat!
so the hour passes and the first cycle students are all done, time is up and out they go. i make them stand for a picture for me. -------i will post this later------------
then, like 5-10 minutes later the missing student arrives. the other proctor tells him it is too late! =( go home. since he is one of my boys; i go out to see him to find out why he was missing. it turns out he made the same mistake me and my other kids made, but didn't make it back to our school on time. i felt very, very sad for him and was extremely upset at the whole situation!!
so then everyone finishes and we go BACK, again to CEG1 to grade all 18 schools' papers. there are 3 students for every one of the 7 grade levels that composed! so there were a lot of tests to grade. it was very, very hectic at first. everyone had questions on how to hash out the points. there were a lot of questions and clarifications. but everyone soon fell into a groove and the grading got done. then the top three from each commune was chosen!
i stuck around till nearly 2 o'clock to find out the results. i was and still am on cloud 9 when i found out that 2 of my 3 babies made it to round 2 of BESA!
Volonté and Sylvain (placing 1st and 3rd, respectively) are my top 2 students in 5eme this year. and they were in my class last year too. i am sooooo, so, SO proud of them!
yay for my babies!
i have realised that that i regard my 5eme students are very much kids. i have 50-something kids and they are all 100 percent special to me.
Round 1 takes the top three students from each grade level and eliminates students so that the top 3 from each commune are left. i think a commune is essentially like a district...or county...i'm not quite sure which, lol.
Round 2 is to eleminate students so that the top 3 students of each department are left. deparment is possibly the equivalent of a state.
Round 3 takes round 2's students and places them in ranking order. it is the oral competition round, where students answer a series of questions, read a text outloud, and then answer some more questions. pronunciation is heavily counted.
So today was round 1. there was an announcement posted at school giving the names for the qualifiying students and the date, time and place where students were to meet. it read something along the lines of names: blah; blah; blah. date/time: Saturday February 13th at 8am. place: CEG1.
so i get up early, get dressed, get pretty, make coffee and go to CEG3 (my school). i am a few minutes early and am annoyed to find out the guardian and the sign tell me to go to CEG 1, :/. so i get to CEG1 and see my favorite kid, Sylvain. he asks me where they are to take the test. i tell him i will ask. i then find out that everyone is to take their tests at their proper schools. BACK >:/ to CEG3 i go!! Fortunately, i see 3 students of our schools' at CEG3 (including Sylvain and my other girl and another student) and bring them back to CEG3 with me. i sorta felt like a momma chicken gathering all her little chickies, bringing them to another place.
we are minutes late, but all is well. yet, i see that one student of mine is missing and find myself upset at him because if he wasn't going to show up, then someone else could have taken his place! brat!
so the hour passes and the first cycle students are all done, time is up and out they go. i make them stand for a picture for me. -------i will post this later------------
then, like 5-10 minutes later the missing student arrives. the other proctor tells him it is too late! =( go home. since he is one of my boys; i go out to see him to find out why he was missing. it turns out he made the same mistake me and my other kids made, but didn't make it back to our school on time. i felt very, very sad for him and was extremely upset at the whole situation!!
so then everyone finishes and we go BACK, again to CEG1 to grade all 18 schools' papers. there are 3 students for every one of the 7 grade levels that composed! so there were a lot of tests to grade. it was very, very hectic at first. everyone had questions on how to hash out the points. there were a lot of questions and clarifications. but everyone soon fell into a groove and the grading got done. then the top three from each commune was chosen!
i stuck around till nearly 2 o'clock to find out the results. i was and still am on cloud 9 when i found out that 2 of my 3 babies made it to round 2 of BESA!
Volonté and Sylvain (placing 1st and 3rd, respectively) are my top 2 students in 5eme this year. and they were in my class last year too. i am sooooo, so, SO proud of them!
yay for my babies!
i have realised that that i regard my 5eme students are very much kids. i have 50-something kids and they are all 100 percent special to me.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
breakfast at the ambassador's
this morning i had breakfast with our new ambassador, Mr. Ambassador Knight and the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Africa Affairs. he was on tour of some countries and was passing through Benin, where he had an extra few hours. His Excellency, Mr. Johnnie Carson is friends with our Ambassador and had us over for breakfast so that Ambassador Carson could have the opportunity to chat with Benin PCVs.
It was awesome. there was bacon, eggs, waffles, maple syrup, (good) honey, (good) yogurt, fruit salad, coffee and tea. it was buffet style and we then ate out in the garden. it was all very lovely. and i am glad that i was chosen to go. two people from each sector were chosen to attend.
then in the afternoon, i went back to the ambassador's to go for a swim!
what a delightful day!
in other news, students took their devoirs the week before last. the teachers at my school conveniently went on strike and i was called upon to proctor tests for the other classes. and every time that i must proctor for other classes i realize that much more how much i love my own students. and last week i told my students in 5eme how much i like being their teacher and how they are my favorite students. they then applauded at this =)
next weekend is the first round of BESA. BESA stands for Best English Students Awards. this is a three round competition in which students take 2 written and an oral test. i am not sure how many students are involved overall, but i had to choose the top three kids in each of my classes. they will then take the test. then as a commune, we will grade the tests together and the top three go onto compete at the department level. i have 3 very, very bright kids in my 5eme class and really, really hope that they will make it to the next round. i will update on this later.
hmmm, what else...we are now in the chaleur. this means that it gets really frickin' hot every day. it feels like the "sun is punching [you] in the back of the neck" according to Anglina.
ok. that's really it for now.
It was awesome. there was bacon, eggs, waffles, maple syrup, (good) honey, (good) yogurt, fruit salad, coffee and tea. it was buffet style and we then ate out in the garden. it was all very lovely. and i am glad that i was chosen to go. two people from each sector were chosen to attend.
then in the afternoon, i went back to the ambassador's to go for a swim!
what a delightful day!
in other news, students took their devoirs the week before last. the teachers at my school conveniently went on strike and i was called upon to proctor tests for the other classes. and every time that i must proctor for other classes i realize that much more how much i love my own students. and last week i told my students in 5eme how much i like being their teacher and how they are my favorite students. they then applauded at this =)
next weekend is the first round of BESA. BESA stands for Best English Students Awards. this is a three round competition in which students take 2 written and an oral test. i am not sure how many students are involved overall, but i had to choose the top three kids in each of my classes. they will then take the test. then as a commune, we will grade the tests together and the top three go onto compete at the department level. i have 3 very, very bright kids in my 5eme class and really, really hope that they will make it to the next round. i will update on this later.
hmmm, what else...we are now in the chaleur. this means that it gets really frickin' hot every day. it feels like the "sun is punching [you] in the back of the neck" according to Anglina.
ok. that's really it for now.
Friday, January 15, 2010
christmas season pictures
when it rains it pours! it rains cats and dogs. seriously...how do you think i got Rosie?
fluffballs! i love watching mama chickens with the babies. too cute.
this is the route i take home. pretty.
my favorite pumpkin :) i am jealous of kids cause they can run around naked and i can't.
Rosie and Nathaniel's dog, Nancy
Rosie taking a nap with her lion
can you find the toad?
Mayo being silly
encore. he's just too cute!
Mayo and my helmet
Mayo took a pic of me with my helmet. i think he has a future as a photographer...what do you think?
can you find the mouse? i like to think of him as my "Goodnight Moon" mouse :)
all i got for Christmas was a cankle! haha, after nearly 20 hours of travel.
dirty bird. this is me on the cleaner side of that trip. PS this is at the Burkina Faso-Mali border.
this was the van that took us to Mali. we climbed in and out of the damn thing at least 10 times. what a pain!
fyi. there ARE mosquitoes in the middle of the desert, aka in Ouagadougou. and i was their new year's eve meal.
world map, essentially done...the tape hasn't been pulled off yet.
clothes drying on the lawn
a view from the orphanage looking out over Lokossa
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