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.