I am currently obssessed with the song “Halo” by Beyonce.
A couple of weekends ago, Angelina, Catherine and I went to Possotomé to check out hotel rooms (Catherine’s parents are coming to visit) and to grab a drink at a restaurant at another hotel that literally sits on Lake Ahème (it’s gorgeous).
Possotomé is about a 25-30 minute zem ride away from Angelina’s post. And that was part of the gig. I had wanted to do the zem ride between Possotomé and Lobogo (Angelina’s post). And it was so beautiful and amazing! We left Possotomé and rode along it for about a third of the way. We passed a couple of villages and to the right we caught glimpses of the lake. Then we turned off, or we hit the end of the lake (I can’t remember) and hit a dirt path.
At this point the sun had begun to set and it started to get really hilly. The hills reveal how lush and green the area is. [Catherine got the short end of the stick and rode on the Mate moto (not a particularly stong moto) and struggled up the hills. My zem and I were in the back and stayed behind Catherine the entire way, which she thought was sweet.] It had rained earlier in the day, and we hit a huge puddle. I didn’t think it was possible to go through it, but we did and I didn’t even get wet!
Shortly thereafter, we passed a little village where little kids began running along side us. The sky was a beautiful reddish pink with blobs of a grayish purple from the earlier rain clouds. It was nice and cool out, almost a little too chilly.
Near an enormous Baobab tree, the song “Halo” came on my ipod (which I usually put on for long zem rides). And I saw a squirrel! I really didn’t think they existed in this country…but they do! Who knew! I could see birds fluttering around trees settling in for the night and bats twisting and diving as they hunted for their prey. I can never get over the beauty of the shadows of the trees, birds, and bats against the glowing sky, nor the smell of relief from the sun the evening brings. And to wrap it all up, every time I listen to “Halo,” it reminds me of that zem ride. I was so caught up in the moment, I almost starting crying.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
OH Bènin!
heeeeeeeellllllllllo people.
i think il y a trois jours that i haven't written a post. i guess not much has happened in the past few weeks.
school is still going good. In my 5eme class (aka 8th grade) we have wrapped up revision of verbs in simple present, present continuous, and simple past. and all 3 classes have taken their quizzes and i graded and passed them all back this week. And so far, so good. Compared to last year, the students are doing much, much, much better. perhaps it's cause i am doing a better job at teaching.
towards the end of the week this past week, i ran out of school/teaching appropriate clothing...so i wore my modelé. which is a top and a long, floor length skirt tailored out of tissue (fabric with outrageous prints). the modelés are generally form fitting and quite cool to wear in hot weather. it was the first time i wore such an outfit to school...and i was quite nervous to show up at school. hence i showed up like 25 minutes early. so there i was, sitting in the teacher's payote and my math teacher buddy, Madame AMOU salués me and compliments me and says that my outfit is pretty. and then it's time for class. and as i am walking to the classroom, i literally feel the gaze of 100 pairs of eyes, all on me. i step into class, and hear the slap on the desk followed by the "good aft-noon teacha."
"Good af-ter-noon class. How are you?"
"Fine, fanks, and yoooooooou?"
"I'm fine. Sit" and then i wait for them to settle. And it's at this point i am told "Madame, vous êtes belle," by one of my students (a girl). And then a second later, a pagailleur and smarty pants kid, Ezèchiel...I could tell he wanted to say i was pretty too. And it was funny to watch him watch me read him as he stumbled over his words. I think he couldn't decide if it would be appropriate or not to say that to me! it was quite entertaining.
yesterday, i came down to Cotonou cause we southern volunteers had a meeting for Camp GLOW and for the GAD dinner in Cotonou. I think that I have explained what Camp GLOW is, so I won't go into that. But GAD stands for Gender And Development. And every year there are these dinner/silent auction things to help raise awareness and funds for various projects all around the country. I am going to help plan the menu and find a good location (restaurant), as well as help assist in decorating--aka choosing a theme and color scheme.
ooooh, and after the meetings and after the supermarchés reopened, i made my way over to erevan. the new hypermarché...which id literally like a super-walmart/target...! it's frickin amazing. they. have. everything. it's literally like walking into America. They even have sliding glass electronic doors. it even SMELLS like America. crazy! the whole area is essentially a centre commercial, a shopping center. They are going to open up a salon! a café, think a nice little coffe shop!!! I CAN"T WAIT! esspresso!! and there's a Wrangler store. And this store something like the Magnolia Hi-Fi?? where they have HUGE, FLAT PANEL, TVS!! and a glasses store, something like a Lenscrafters...WFT?? and there's even a 24 hour bakery--with a window in the back of their store so that one can literally buy bread at any time!!
It's pretty amazing to see how there has been so much development in the past...[whoa, i just had to ask someone how long we've been in country. and OMG...16 months!!!!!!!!)...16 months. they've paved half the terre rouge en route to Angelina's post. They've opened up the erevan. they've recently made it a law that people (aka drivers) have to wear seatbelts and that one must wear a helmet on a moto. Yesterday as i was riding into Cotonou, they had a good chunk of policemen at every major roundpoint into the city with megaphones reminding drivers to buckle-up and to wear a helmet. and it was enough to get my driver to grumble and fumble for his seatbelt! so all that among other things that probably don't even register in my head anymore.
OH Bènin!
i think il y a trois jours that i haven't written a post. i guess not much has happened in the past few weeks.
school is still going good. In my 5eme class (aka 8th grade) we have wrapped up revision of verbs in simple present, present continuous, and simple past. and all 3 classes have taken their quizzes and i graded and passed them all back this week. And so far, so good. Compared to last year, the students are doing much, much, much better. perhaps it's cause i am doing a better job at teaching.
towards the end of the week this past week, i ran out of school/teaching appropriate clothing...so i wore my modelé. which is a top and a long, floor length skirt tailored out of tissue (fabric with outrageous prints). the modelés are generally form fitting and quite cool to wear in hot weather. it was the first time i wore such an outfit to school...and i was quite nervous to show up at school. hence i showed up like 25 minutes early. so there i was, sitting in the teacher's payote and my math teacher buddy, Madame AMOU salués me and compliments me and says that my outfit is pretty. and then it's time for class. and as i am walking to the classroom, i literally feel the gaze of 100 pairs of eyes, all on me. i step into class, and hear the slap on the desk followed by the "good aft-noon teacha."
"Good af-ter-noon class. How are you?"
"Fine, fanks, and yoooooooou?"
"I'm fine. Sit" and then i wait for them to settle. And it's at this point i am told "Madame, vous êtes belle," by one of my students (a girl). And then a second later, a pagailleur and smarty pants kid, Ezèchiel...I could tell he wanted to say i was pretty too. And it was funny to watch him watch me read him as he stumbled over his words. I think he couldn't decide if it would be appropriate or not to say that to me! it was quite entertaining.
yesterday, i came down to Cotonou cause we southern volunteers had a meeting for Camp GLOW and for the GAD dinner in Cotonou. I think that I have explained what Camp GLOW is, so I won't go into that. But GAD stands for Gender And Development. And every year there are these dinner/silent auction things to help raise awareness and funds for various projects all around the country. I am going to help plan the menu and find a good location (restaurant), as well as help assist in decorating--aka choosing a theme and color scheme.
ooooh, and after the meetings and after the supermarchés reopened, i made my way over to erevan. the new hypermarché...which id literally like a super-walmart/target...! it's frickin amazing. they. have. everything. it's literally like walking into America. They even have sliding glass electronic doors. it even SMELLS like America. crazy! the whole area is essentially a centre commercial, a shopping center. They are going to open up a salon! a café, think a nice little coffe shop!!! I CAN"T WAIT! esspresso!! and there's a Wrangler store. And this store something like the Magnolia Hi-Fi?? where they have HUGE, FLAT PANEL, TVS!! and a glasses store, something like a Lenscrafters...WFT?? and there's even a 24 hour bakery--with a window in the back of their store so that one can literally buy bread at any time!!
It's pretty amazing to see how there has been so much development in the past...[whoa, i just had to ask someone how long we've been in country. and OMG...16 months!!!!!!!!)...16 months. they've paved half the terre rouge en route to Angelina's post. They've opened up the erevan. they've recently made it a law that people (aka drivers) have to wear seatbelts and that one must wear a helmet on a moto. Yesterday as i was riding into Cotonou, they had a good chunk of policemen at every major roundpoint into the city with megaphones reminding drivers to buckle-up and to wear a helmet. and it was enough to get my driver to grumble and fumble for his seatbelt! so all that among other things that probably don't even register in my head anymore.
OH Bènin!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
one more thing
about a week ago, Rosie's BFF, Brezil, aka Augustine's family's dog had it's throat slit in the middle of the night! poor little baby is still alive. but has a really ugly cut. i hope it doesn't get infected! poor thing.
i was starting to get comfortable letting Rosie out for a little while at a time, but i have gone back to being scared :( for the dogs in the neighborhood. mostly because there are several dozens of trucks that drive along my little (big-ish) dirt road to mine(?), quarry (?) little round, smooth rocks used for construction. and i am sure that dog dissappearances and throat slittings are because of these unfamiliar men. grrr.
it makes me appreciate that the fact that my neighbor essentially tortured Rosie by pouring some strong liquor/moonshine down her throat so that she growls and snaps at people who are of questionable character or try to nab her away.
i was starting to get comfortable letting Rosie out for a little while at a time, but i have gone back to being scared :( for the dogs in the neighborhood. mostly because there are several dozens of trucks that drive along my little (big-ish) dirt road to mine(?), quarry (?) little round, smooth rocks used for construction. and i am sure that dog dissappearances and throat slittings are because of these unfamiliar men. grrr.
it makes me appreciate that the fact that my neighbor essentially tortured Rosie by pouring some strong liquor/moonshine down her throat so that she growls and snaps at people who are of questionable character or try to nab her away.
how yoooooooou doin'?
Ça fait trois jours. that is a Beninese expression used in greetings when you haven't seen or heard from someone in a long time...not literally 3 days.
so how are my peeps back home? i think about y'all all the time. you even show up in my dreams, haha.
i hope everyone is well and looking forward to happy times with the holiday season approaching.
PS
just watched "Meet the Robinsons," which is funny cause one of my BFF is a robinson =)
anyways, one thing i got from that was: keep moving forward :)
so how are my peeps back home? i think about y'all all the time. you even show up in my dreams, haha.
i hope everyone is well and looking forward to happy times with the holiday season approaching.
PS
just watched "Meet the Robinsons," which is funny cause one of my BFF is a robinson =)
anyways, one thing i got from that was: keep moving forward :)
an extra day
i had to come to Cotonou Sunday for a mid-service exam yesterday. and i was done too late to head back to post yesterday afternoon. and then today, i was in no rush to get out.
Kyle got rid of the viruses on my computer! had i returned to post earlier than in an hour, they would not have been gotten rid of!
And i got a chance to talk to our new CD (country director). her name is Brownie Lee. and she's pretty awesome. she was in the first group to go to Togo once upon a time. it was just nice talking to her cause she totally understands eveything and the frustrations and concerns i had, as well as the happier moments i have here.
it's also nice to have a nice connection to the internet where i can also use my own computer. i take the opportunity to download songs =)
i can't believe it's already the middle of october! halloween is right around the corner. and then it's gonna be thanksgiving. then it's christmas and my Mali vacay. followed by new years, and the deadline for a job application i am looking into and then...jeeze...it's going by too fast!
Kyle got rid of the viruses on my computer! had i returned to post earlier than in an hour, they would not have been gotten rid of!
And i got a chance to talk to our new CD (country director). her name is Brownie Lee. and she's pretty awesome. she was in the first group to go to Togo once upon a time. it was just nice talking to her cause she totally understands eveything and the frustrations and concerns i had, as well as the happier moments i have here.
it's also nice to have a nice connection to the internet where i can also use my own computer. i take the opportunity to download songs =)
i can't believe it's already the middle of october! halloween is right around the corner. and then it's gonna be thanksgiving. then it's christmas and my Mali vacay. followed by new years, and the deadline for a job application i am looking into and then...jeeze...it's going by too fast!
Friday, October 9, 2009
the first week back =)
This year is off to a great start! Especially in 6eme…I started out real firm and it’s awesome how well they are responding. I’ve got all 40 or so pairs of eyes on me and their ears listening to me as well. I made all the kids take out a sheet of paper and I went around to each kid and handwrote each of their names. It would have been easier and faster if I had eux meme fait ça, but it’s a whole lot easier on my eyes if I can read my own handwriting. Plus, I think it ensured my kids that I want to get to know each of them. It’s amazing how a little individual attention and a lot of French can do in the first days of school. Last year is going to look terrible in retrospect. But I also think that I wouldn’t be the teacher I am and will be, had it not been for all the suffering I went through last year as a teacher. =)
My 5eme kids on the other hand…I think 5eme kids will be 5eme kids and use the whole year to make trouble. I think that for the most part they treat the year to mess around and not be too studious. It’s a weird age. But it’s nice to walk into their classroom and know 85 percent of their names. And I also feel comfortable joking around with them right off the bat. Currently, as of today, I only have one of the two 6emes I had last year. The smaller and perhaps the better behaved class: 6m2 now 5m2. And about twice a day I have kids from my 6m4 class from last year come up to me and ask me why I don’t have them this year. I’ve buckled. I went to talk to the censeur (vice principal) to see if he can switch things around so that I can teach them again. They’re like my babies, and I feel horrible leaving them to another teacher. I wonder if teachers back home get that kind of attachment to their students. It’s early enough in the year to say that I am 75 percent sure that the censeur will make it happen. I’m just that special; though I wish I could claim a higher percentage.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
End of the first week!
Ahhh, I had such a blast this week. I have been reminded how cute and little the 6eme kids are at the beginning of the year! Oh how I wish they would stay that size! (It makes keeping them in line and the punishments that much easier!!)
And I’ve been lucky too. It sounds like most volunteers have barely picked up their employ du temps (aka schedules for the year). Not only did I pick up my schedule last week…but I have essentially been able to dive into my lessons. A lot of teachers at my school claim to not have started, déjà, because the kids don’t come to school. And then I talk to the students, and they say that their teachers don’t come to school…problematic, non? Well, I did not have that problem. I showed up to school this week, Monday morning at 7am and as a result, I had full classes by the end of the week. Word spreads fast.
In my 5eme class, there is a kid by the name of Sylvain. He is one of my top 5 favorites. He is however of the reasons why I sometimes hate teaching. Sure he’s hilarious and makes awesome jokes that make even me laugh. At times, I can hardly keep a strait face. For example, today I was teaching “adverbs of frequency” (ie always, sometimes never…) and then he said “ah, madame, ce n’est past huit heure…c’est “never?” (aka neuf heure). Haha, get it?
Anyways, he was strolling past my second class of the afternoon, and I walked out and called him by name. And he just took off running. It was quite hilarious and kinda cute. But I made him some back because I wanted to talk to him before class today, but he showed up a little late, on account of the rain. And then the kids were all busy copying down the hw assignment that I couldn’t talk to him after class. So anyways, I told him we need to talk before the next time we have class. (it’s delightful how—when hot-shot students, like Sylvain, get called out by teachers; they turn into humbled, cute, squishy little teddy bears.) I am going to tell Sylvain that I appreciate his sense of humor. It’s lively and he’s got some good jokes and it makes my job more fun. But he needs to know that there’s a time and place for his comedy routines. Sylvain is a really smart, bright, hard working kid, and I want to channel his actions/humor in a more positive direction…to see if I can work with him instead of just being another member of his audience.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
I think I am going to be really sad when I leave. Chances are that I won’t ever see my kids again. Not that I don’t want to, but with the way things work here…I just don’t think that it’s feasible. And that breaks my heart. Despite all the BS that I have to put up with sometimes, this place has captured my heart. And it’s going to suck to have to leave.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Maybe I should do little biographies for y’all of my kids. A little blurb and a picture too. I’ll see what I can do…
My 5eme kids on the other hand…I think 5eme kids will be 5eme kids and use the whole year to make trouble. I think that for the most part they treat the year to mess around and not be too studious. It’s a weird age. But it’s nice to walk into their classroom and know 85 percent of their names. And I also feel comfortable joking around with them right off the bat. Currently, as of today, I only have one of the two 6emes I had last year. The smaller and perhaps the better behaved class: 6m2 now 5m2. And about twice a day I have kids from my 6m4 class from last year come up to me and ask me why I don’t have them this year. I’ve buckled. I went to talk to the censeur (vice principal) to see if he can switch things around so that I can teach them again. They’re like my babies, and I feel horrible leaving them to another teacher. I wonder if teachers back home get that kind of attachment to their students. It’s early enough in the year to say that I am 75 percent sure that the censeur will make it happen. I’m just that special; though I wish I could claim a higher percentage.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
End of the first week!
Ahhh, I had such a blast this week. I have been reminded how cute and little the 6eme kids are at the beginning of the year! Oh how I wish they would stay that size! (It makes keeping them in line and the punishments that much easier!!)
And I’ve been lucky too. It sounds like most volunteers have barely picked up their employ du temps (aka schedules for the year). Not only did I pick up my schedule last week…but I have essentially been able to dive into my lessons. A lot of teachers at my school claim to not have started, déjà, because the kids don’t come to school. And then I talk to the students, and they say that their teachers don’t come to school…problematic, non? Well, I did not have that problem. I showed up to school this week, Monday morning at 7am and as a result, I had full classes by the end of the week. Word spreads fast.
In my 5eme class, there is a kid by the name of Sylvain. He is one of my top 5 favorites. He is however of the reasons why I sometimes hate teaching. Sure he’s hilarious and makes awesome jokes that make even me laugh. At times, I can hardly keep a strait face. For example, today I was teaching “adverbs of frequency” (ie always, sometimes never…) and then he said “ah, madame, ce n’est past huit heure…c’est “never?” (aka neuf heure). Haha, get it?
Anyways, he was strolling past my second class of the afternoon, and I walked out and called him by name. And he just took off running. It was quite hilarious and kinda cute. But I made him some back because I wanted to talk to him before class today, but he showed up a little late, on account of the rain. And then the kids were all busy copying down the hw assignment that I couldn’t talk to him after class. So anyways, I told him we need to talk before the next time we have class. (it’s delightful how—when hot-shot students, like Sylvain, get called out by teachers; they turn into humbled, cute, squishy little teddy bears.) I am going to tell Sylvain that I appreciate his sense of humor. It’s lively and he’s got some good jokes and it makes my job more fun. But he needs to know that there’s a time and place for his comedy routines. Sylvain is a really smart, bright, hard working kid, and I want to channel his actions/humor in a more positive direction…to see if I can work with him instead of just being another member of his audience.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
I think I am going to be really sad when I leave. Chances are that I won’t ever see my kids again. Not that I don’t want to, but with the way things work here…I just don’t think that it’s feasible. And that breaks my heart. Despite all the BS that I have to put up with sometimes, this place has captured my heart. And it’s going to suck to have to leave.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Maybe I should do little biographies for y’all of my kids. A little blurb and a picture too. I’ll see what I can do…
Saturday, October 3, 2009
sans titre
This past Thursday I went to my school to pick up my schedule for the year. For now it looks like I am going to teach only 3 classes, again. I was hoping to teach 4, but we had to remove one because it would be like me teaching 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, I just want to stick to grades 7 and 8. so hopefully, the vice principle will add one more class to my schedule and I will keep busy. I feel like nothing is new any more for me and I have fallen into a routine and this year I need to keep busy with classes and other projects.
I believe I have mentioned that there is an orphanage a stone’s throw away from my house. I brought one of their girl’s (my student) to Camp GLOW…. Well, they have a big wall where my friend, Catherine and I are going to paint a big, huge world map. And then we have to paint all the names of all the countries on it too. We are going to have the older kids from the orphanage help paint. I don’t know how long it is going to take, but I am thinking we are going to start sometime in November because we have to do certain paperwork to get a little grant. And then we have to draw a big huge grid…there’s an actual manual on how to do this, and I don’t think that it’ll be too difficult. It’s been a secondary project for volunteers all over the world and I am totally falling into the cliché of that volunteer who painted a world map. Once we get started I will post up pics.
Speaking of pictures, I apologize for not posting many recently. Last year I broke the screen on my camera and I feel all awkward taking pictures like they used to do. People here are either big on having their pictures taken or seriously don’t want them taken. It’s disappointing to them when they rush to see how their portrait turned out and there’s a big crack and darkness with a few lines of reddish, blueish, whiteish color. And I have to explain how it broke and they can’t see the picture. And then it’s hard to be discreet about taking pictures when I have to hold the flashy camera up to my left eyeball and squint the right one…take a few seconds to adjust the focus and another second to take the pic. And then I never know if it’s gonna be any good. I feel like regular old 35mm cameras were good at doing their job. But now that we have those neat digital screens to view them right after being taken…I feel like without seeing them, they just don’t turn out as good as they used to—once upon a time.
I believe I have mentioned that there is an orphanage a stone’s throw away from my house. I brought one of their girl’s (my student) to Camp GLOW…. Well, they have a big wall where my friend, Catherine and I are going to paint a big, huge world map. And then we have to paint all the names of all the countries on it too. We are going to have the older kids from the orphanage help paint. I don’t know how long it is going to take, but I am thinking we are going to start sometime in November because we have to do certain paperwork to get a little grant. And then we have to draw a big huge grid…there’s an actual manual on how to do this, and I don’t think that it’ll be too difficult. It’s been a secondary project for volunteers all over the world and I am totally falling into the cliché of that volunteer who painted a world map. Once we get started I will post up pics.
Speaking of pictures, I apologize for not posting many recently. Last year I broke the screen on my camera and I feel all awkward taking pictures like they used to do. People here are either big on having their pictures taken or seriously don’t want them taken. It’s disappointing to them when they rush to see how their portrait turned out and there’s a big crack and darkness with a few lines of reddish, blueish, whiteish color. And I have to explain how it broke and they can’t see the picture. And then it’s hard to be discreet about taking pictures when I have to hold the flashy camera up to my left eyeball and squint the right one…take a few seconds to adjust the focus and another second to take the pic. And then I never know if it’s gonna be any good. I feel like regular old 35mm cameras were good at doing their job. But now that we have those neat digital screens to view them right after being taken…I feel like without seeing them, they just don’t turn out as good as they used to—once upon a time.
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