I have begun to meet the other yovos in town. I am soooooooooo glad that I decided to go to the beach for Valentine’s Day. It has really opened up relationships with other non-Beninese people.
Today, I was en train de walking home, and I get a phone call from Carla, the Canadian girl from Victoria. She asked if I was busy, and the answer was no, so I met up with her in town because she wanted to introduce me to an English speaking friend. I met Ellen, aka maman Kazuki…I forget her last name. But she’s this Filipino lady who opened up a school. And they just opened it up to 6eme last year, so now they are at the 5eme level as their highest level.
Carla is upon her last few days in Lokossa. And there is gonna be a little get together on Saturday for her, as a sort of going away party. I am crossing my fingers that their might be some Filipino food their, aka adobo, lumpias, or that rice noodley stuff!!
And it just sounds like there are all kinds of foreigners in Lokossa. And I can’t believe it’s taken me nearly 6 months to find them! Where have they been hiding? Or was it me that was hiding? Or do we just all have different schedules and never see each other? But at the same time…it’s kinda awkward to see another white person. I mean, what do you say? And how would you go about saying it? I can’t really describe the feeling…other than it’s slightly awkward for both parties.
Friday, February 20, 2009
I was gonna complain…
About walking to school and back this morning, and then walking home from school this afternoon. and I was going to complain to my students who were walking home with me…but then I realized that the little people walk to and from school once or twice a day five days a week! And then it’s not like they go home and a snack is waiting for them. nope. Before school the kids usually will have to fetch water, do laundry, sweep the compound or house or both, and then they are off to school (by foot) and study for 4 hours. Then they walk home for lunch. And maybe they’ll do some more stuff around the house. And then they walk back to school. And study till 5 or 7 o’clock. And when they get home maybe they have to prepare dinner, or other chores or something…and then they study for a little before going to bed, and then they wake up at the crack of dawn to start the whole process over again the next day. And then on the weekends I will see my students walking around the neighborhood, not just hanging out or playing football, but with big things balanced on their heads because they are selling things…most likely food. oh, man.
I feel like such a lazy turd compared to the Beninese sometimes. Life back home may be a lot more fast paced, but somehow I think that we are (collectively) a lot more lazy. No, that’s not it…I am going to my fallback thing and just say that life is DIFFERENT.
I feel like such a lazy turd compared to the Beninese sometimes. Life back home may be a lot more fast paced, but somehow I think that we are (collectively) a lot more lazy. No, that’s not it…I am going to my fallback thing and just say that life is DIFFERENT.
Monday, February 16, 2009
another day, another 7 dollars
i think that is about how much money i am making a day...the money i'll get when i get back.
oh my....this weekend was fantastic! i spent it at the beach...Grand Popo. is't that a great name, Grand Popo?! catherine and i got a room at this place called the Lion Bar. which is this rasta themed place. the guy who owns it is a total rasta man. the place is right on the beach and there is a little mini dance floor and he's got some big speakers and played some great music! there was a storm coming. keep in mind, it's the dry season...and there were some German hippies staying there too. and the rasta owner was playing raggae music and the sky was dark cause it was night, but darker than usual becuase of the storm clouds. and the clouds were creeeping along the skyline and the lightening would light up the sky every few seconds. and it was a beautiful moment. as i was dancing i thought to myself, and then out loud, that i have never felt more like a hippie than at this moment. here i am dancing to raggae music with some german hippies at the beach under a dark sky, lit up by the lightening! it was awesome! and maybe even more so because i could appreciate it at the moment!!
earlier in the day, catherine and i were sitting at the beach when this lady walked up to us while we were reading some tabloids. she told us she had been a volunteer in Cameroon 10 years ago and now she was on vacation. she's living in olympia. her name is tracy. and she told us that she had met a couple who are living in Lokossa...(like me). and that there was a Canadian girl with them. turns out the candaian is from Victoria, BC! It's a small world afterall! but canada girl is leaving in a couple of weeks. she is done with her volunteer thing.
i am excited to get to know, bill, his wife (forgot her name) and baby Paul who is 14 months old and has the blondest hair and bluest eyes i have seen in MONths! they live on the other side of town, but that's okay, they are in MY town! they are missionaries from Pennslyvania and were in Togo before coming here. And baby Paul is Togolese! and wanna know something, weird, i dunno, they arrived into Lokossa, September 26th! how strange, fate-like is it that they arrived on my birthday?! it's like it's fate or something. like i said, i dunno.
well, the beach was dandy, and i got my new ipod (big thanks to you mom!!) and to the lovely lady Sandy who brought it over here. you guys are my insanity saviours (prbably spelled that wrong, oops!).
(itunes is now 97 percent done downloading onto flashdrive....YYYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!)
and by the time this is posted, i am certain it will be all done! yay!! the new ipod nano is amazing! i can't believe how much this little piece of technology has changed in the few months that i have been gone! and i am almost scared to go back home in 18 months and see all the other stuff that has changed! yikes! i guess it's like a little slap in the face to remind me that, hey! life goes on without you! whether you are prepared for it or not!
well, itunes is all done downloading and i am anxious for the new ipod, so i will sign off here until next time!
oh my....this weekend was fantastic! i spent it at the beach...Grand Popo. is't that a great name, Grand Popo?! catherine and i got a room at this place called the Lion Bar. which is this rasta themed place. the guy who owns it is a total rasta man. the place is right on the beach and there is a little mini dance floor and he's got some big speakers and played some great music! there was a storm coming. keep in mind, it's the dry season...and there were some German hippies staying there too. and the rasta owner was playing raggae music and the sky was dark cause it was night, but darker than usual becuase of the storm clouds. and the clouds were creeeping along the skyline and the lightening would light up the sky every few seconds. and it was a beautiful moment. as i was dancing i thought to myself, and then out loud, that i have never felt more like a hippie than at this moment. here i am dancing to raggae music with some german hippies at the beach under a dark sky, lit up by the lightening! it was awesome! and maybe even more so because i could appreciate it at the moment!!
earlier in the day, catherine and i were sitting at the beach when this lady walked up to us while we were reading some tabloids. she told us she had been a volunteer in Cameroon 10 years ago and now she was on vacation. she's living in olympia. her name is tracy. and she told us that she had met a couple who are living in Lokossa...(like me). and that there was a Canadian girl with them. turns out the candaian is from Victoria, BC! It's a small world afterall! but canada girl is leaving in a couple of weeks. she is done with her volunteer thing.
i am excited to get to know, bill, his wife (forgot her name) and baby Paul who is 14 months old and has the blondest hair and bluest eyes i have seen in MONths! they live on the other side of town, but that's okay, they are in MY town! they are missionaries from Pennslyvania and were in Togo before coming here. And baby Paul is Togolese! and wanna know something, weird, i dunno, they arrived into Lokossa, September 26th! how strange, fate-like is it that they arrived on my birthday?! it's like it's fate or something. like i said, i dunno.
well, the beach was dandy, and i got my new ipod (big thanks to you mom!!) and to the lovely lady Sandy who brought it over here. you guys are my insanity saviours (prbably spelled that wrong, oops!).
(itunes is now 97 percent done downloading onto flashdrive....YYYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!)
and by the time this is posted, i am certain it will be all done! yay!! the new ipod nano is amazing! i can't believe how much this little piece of technology has changed in the few months that i have been gone! and i am almost scared to go back home in 18 months and see all the other stuff that has changed! yikes! i guess it's like a little slap in the face to remind me that, hey! life goes on without you! whether you are prepared for it or not!
well, itunes is all done downloading and i am anxious for the new ipod, so i will sign off here until next time!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
It’s the little things
That matter. And I feel like that saying is only magnified, here in Benin. I am going to ramble on about the little things that I miss and that you may take for granted.
Cold weather. Seatbelts that work. Grocery stores and how pretty much you ever needed can be found at Fred Meyer. Whoa. Fred Meyer. I haven’t said/written/seen that name in forever. What a weird name, hahaha. Ok, free drink refills at restaurants. Oh man, when I get back I am going to Red Robin or something and just order a Sprite. And that’s it. And it will be cold and there will be ice cubes and the Sprite will just keep coming. Of course it won’t be as delicious because for some reason pop just tastes better outside the US. Hot tap water, tap water that is drinkable. Maybe I’ll get a Sprite and a water. Yeah. That sounds nice.
Ok, I got side tracked…and I was on a roll, and I forgot some of the things I was gonna write…so, moving on.
I know I still have about 20 months left, but I have already started thinking about all the things I am gonna miss. 1. I sometimes love the fact that when I am with other volunteers we can speak English and say just about anything about anyone and 99% of the time no one will understand what we are saying. Although I really shouldn’t think of that as a rule here. I went to Cotonou with Catherine and on the taxi ride back…well, it was quite uncomfortable because a bigger guy squished into our row. And here it’s 4 in the back. So I started saying some things that weren’t so nice. And then after I literally tumbled out of the car, that guy said something in English and I was like oh, that’s nice he “speaks” English and continued on my way. But then later when I talked to Catherine she told me that the bigger guy held a conversation with her for the remainder of the 30 minute ride back to her village. Oops! But like I said, for the most part, it’s nice to really just say what I want and no one knows what I say, especially if I say it with a smile.
Fanmilk. I will miss Fanmilk. It’s this fantastic Togolese frozen “ice cream” type of goodness that comes in these little plastic bag things and they are soooo delicious. They are pretty much the closest thing I have to ice cream at any given moment. There’s all kinds of flavors: chocolate, vanilla—tastes like vanilla cake frosting/cake batter, Tampico—haven’t tried it but it’s like Sunny D or so I heard. And there a couple of yogurt varieties. But my favorite has to be Lait Vanille. It’s the newest flavor and it’s like a frozen vanilla milk. And it’s cheap. Only 100cfa. Which is less than 25 cents. The only down side to Fanmilk is that when you are all done, you are wishing for another.
Reading. I think I will miss all the reading time I have here. I have read nearly 14 books since being here. That’s about 2 a month. No record breaker, but it’s more books than I read all of last year. And I am sure that I would have read more if I hadn’t brought the laptop—I tend to choose to watch movies over reading. But at the moment I have seen all the movies I have here (there’s a LOT, trust me) so until new movies make it to the Nigeria movie man, or I borrow more from the bureau or Allison, I will have to settle with reading.
Alrighty, my attention span is still that same and I am now bored with writing this. I may or may not finish this little rambling. Most likely not. So here’s until next time!
PS
I am now a part of a secondary project. I will be helping out Mr. EDEY in his English competition for students of CEGs in the Mono-Kouffo. I am so far responsible for writing texts…I have no idea what I will write, yet.
And I think I will either start up an English club, or some kind of tutoring Saturday mornings. The past few times I have held tutoring, I’ve had about 20 or so kids show up. And they are so cute! We typically go over material that we have gone over in class and then sometimes they’ll ask me random questions that have nothing to do with the material.
PPS
I hate to admit that I have favorite students. I wonder if it’s like that with all teachers everywhere. There are just some students that are cuter and smarter than others. Oh man. I can’t believe I said that. But seriously. And I guess it’s just easier to work with them. This past Saturday we were going over telling time and everyone kept getting the answer wrong. And I really try to call on girls more often than boys. I try to call on girls to correct other girls. It’s not good to have a boy correct a girl when she gets an answer wrong. It’s just not good for girls in a society where women are still subservient to men. I try to call on girls to correct boys. Sometimes the boys catch on and I can hear them complaining, and it makes me laugh…but I try not to let it out. sometimes I wonder if these kids think I am crazy. Some of the things that they do crack me up. I don’t think any Beninese teacher would laugh at the same antics, but for some reason, there are times when I just can’t hold it in. I guess it would be clearer if I could come up with a specific example, but I am drawing a blank. Next time something funny happens in class, I will jot it down.
Alright. I am really done now.
Cold weather. Seatbelts that work. Grocery stores and how pretty much you ever needed can be found at Fred Meyer. Whoa. Fred Meyer. I haven’t said/written/seen that name in forever. What a weird name, hahaha. Ok, free drink refills at restaurants. Oh man, when I get back I am going to Red Robin or something and just order a Sprite. And that’s it. And it will be cold and there will be ice cubes and the Sprite will just keep coming. Of course it won’t be as delicious because for some reason pop just tastes better outside the US. Hot tap water, tap water that is drinkable. Maybe I’ll get a Sprite and a water. Yeah. That sounds nice.
Ok, I got side tracked…and I was on a roll, and I forgot some of the things I was gonna write…so, moving on.
I know I still have about 20 months left, but I have already started thinking about all the things I am gonna miss. 1. I sometimes love the fact that when I am with other volunteers we can speak English and say just about anything about anyone and 99% of the time no one will understand what we are saying. Although I really shouldn’t think of that as a rule here. I went to Cotonou with Catherine and on the taxi ride back…well, it was quite uncomfortable because a bigger guy squished into our row. And here it’s 4 in the back. So I started saying some things that weren’t so nice. And then after I literally tumbled out of the car, that guy said something in English and I was like oh, that’s nice he “speaks” English and continued on my way. But then later when I talked to Catherine she told me that the bigger guy held a conversation with her for the remainder of the 30 minute ride back to her village. Oops! But like I said, for the most part, it’s nice to really just say what I want and no one knows what I say, especially if I say it with a smile.
Fanmilk. I will miss Fanmilk. It’s this fantastic Togolese frozen “ice cream” type of goodness that comes in these little plastic bag things and they are soooo delicious. They are pretty much the closest thing I have to ice cream at any given moment. There’s all kinds of flavors: chocolate, vanilla—tastes like vanilla cake frosting/cake batter, Tampico—haven’t tried it but it’s like Sunny D or so I heard. And there a couple of yogurt varieties. But my favorite has to be Lait Vanille. It’s the newest flavor and it’s like a frozen vanilla milk. And it’s cheap. Only 100cfa. Which is less than 25 cents. The only down side to Fanmilk is that when you are all done, you are wishing for another.
Reading. I think I will miss all the reading time I have here. I have read nearly 14 books since being here. That’s about 2 a month. No record breaker, but it’s more books than I read all of last year. And I am sure that I would have read more if I hadn’t brought the laptop—I tend to choose to watch movies over reading. But at the moment I have seen all the movies I have here (there’s a LOT, trust me) so until new movies make it to the Nigeria movie man, or I borrow more from the bureau or Allison, I will have to settle with reading.
Alrighty, my attention span is still that same and I am now bored with writing this. I may or may not finish this little rambling. Most likely not. So here’s until next time!
PS
I am now a part of a secondary project. I will be helping out Mr. EDEY in his English competition for students of CEGs in the Mono-Kouffo. I am so far responsible for writing texts…I have no idea what I will write, yet.
And I think I will either start up an English club, or some kind of tutoring Saturday mornings. The past few times I have held tutoring, I’ve had about 20 or so kids show up. And they are so cute! We typically go over material that we have gone over in class and then sometimes they’ll ask me random questions that have nothing to do with the material.
PPS
I hate to admit that I have favorite students. I wonder if it’s like that with all teachers everywhere. There are just some students that are cuter and smarter than others. Oh man. I can’t believe I said that. But seriously. And I guess it’s just easier to work with them. This past Saturday we were going over telling time and everyone kept getting the answer wrong. And I really try to call on girls more often than boys. I try to call on girls to correct other girls. It’s not good to have a boy correct a girl when she gets an answer wrong. It’s just not good for girls in a society where women are still subservient to men. I try to call on girls to correct boys. Sometimes the boys catch on and I can hear them complaining, and it makes me laugh…but I try not to let it out. sometimes I wonder if these kids think I am crazy. Some of the things that they do crack me up. I don’t think any Beninese teacher would laugh at the same antics, but for some reason, there are times when I just can’t hold it in. I guess it would be clearer if I could come up with a specific example, but I am drawing a blank. Next time something funny happens in class, I will jot it down.
Alright. I am really done now.
tutoring
This morning I held a little tutoring session. I told the kids to show up at nine o’clock with any questions they may have had, or to show up if they needed any extra help with stuff that we covered in class, and that they did not understand. And I am pleased to report that about 17 kids showed up! They had a hard time with a “quarter to” and a “quarter past” but after several explanations, equivalents, examples, and drawings, I think the kids might have understood. The only thing is is that it was my smarter, more involved students—Petronile, Ricardo, Boris and Sylvain, and Hyacinthe—showed up and asked the questions. I had a couple of my slacker kids show up too, and I don’t really know why they showed up, ie Aime and Olivier. But nonetheless, I am glad that they were there and wanted to learn and study with me outside of class. I think I want to perhaps do this every or every other Saturday mornings. It was nice because, unlike in class, I don’t have to fight with them to shut up. The kids who are there are there because it’s their choice. I made it perfectly clear that it was not rattaprage, not obligatory.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
feelin better
i have to admit that out of the three holidays...new year's was probably the roughest.
but i am feeling better now. we have resumed classes and time just keeps on crawlin. i gave my kids a quiz yesterday and i'd say about 95 percent of them passed with the moyen=median. i am giving the other 2 classes quizzes today. and i can't believe how much i look forward to grading those things. i think i just like to see if they are actually learning something from me.
maria, my APCD, comes to visit me, and observe how i teach this coming tuesday! oh man, i am one nervous cookie! but at the same time all i can do is my best because i am going to have her observe me teach my WORST behaved class. however, i have an inkling that they will somewhat behave if they have my APCD, and the other English teachers in the classroom watching them too. they are like that puppy who will do tricks in front of you but no one else. except that they behave miserably for me, but the moment someone else steps into the room; you would think they are all angels!
i went to the tailor today. i am having a tank top, a dress, and a tunic top. and i am fixing one of the dresses i had made a while ago. the dress is cute and appropriate to teach in, but the skirt part of it is HUGE! some little kid came running up to me and he reached out for my stomach region and called me "mama." that made me cringe and i don't think i have worn it since. i told the tailor people that, and they all laughed and jokingly asked that...being a mama isn't good? and i said NO! i am not a mama, and they have to take in the skirt part a little because it makes me look fat! we all had a little laugh and it is gonna be fixed. and the skirt part is gonna be like a tulip skirt thing; i am excited about that. and i can't wait to see what the tunic top will look like. they said it'll be done by wednesday...we'll see about that. and all that is only costing 8 mille or about 18 dollars.
Marley is getting bigger. his fur is falling out in patches. and my friend keeps coming over to give him some kind of medication. i hope it goes away because it is making him look kinda ugly!
mmmmkay, i think that is all for now.
but i am feeling better now. we have resumed classes and time just keeps on crawlin. i gave my kids a quiz yesterday and i'd say about 95 percent of them passed with the moyen=median. i am giving the other 2 classes quizzes today. and i can't believe how much i look forward to grading those things. i think i just like to see if they are actually learning something from me.
maria, my APCD, comes to visit me, and observe how i teach this coming tuesday! oh man, i am one nervous cookie! but at the same time all i can do is my best because i am going to have her observe me teach my WORST behaved class. however, i have an inkling that they will somewhat behave if they have my APCD, and the other English teachers in the classroom watching them too. they are like that puppy who will do tricks in front of you but no one else. except that they behave miserably for me, but the moment someone else steps into the room; you would think they are all angels!
i went to the tailor today. i am having a tank top, a dress, and a tunic top. and i am fixing one of the dresses i had made a while ago. the dress is cute and appropriate to teach in, but the skirt part of it is HUGE! some little kid came running up to me and he reached out for my stomach region and called me "mama." that made me cringe and i don't think i have worn it since. i told the tailor people that, and they all laughed and jokingly asked that...being a mama isn't good? and i said NO! i am not a mama, and they have to take in the skirt part a little because it makes me look fat! we all had a little laugh and it is gonna be fixed. and the skirt part is gonna be like a tulip skirt thing; i am excited about that. and i can't wait to see what the tunic top will look like. they said it'll be done by wednesday...we'll see about that. and all that is only costing 8 mille or about 18 dollars.
Marley is getting bigger. his fur is falling out in patches. and my friend keeps coming over to give him some kind of medication. i hope it goes away because it is making him look kinda ugly!
mmmmkay, i think that is all for now.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
safari!
here are some pics. they are probaly not in order. that takes too much time and effort. and i'll load them up on here gradually. there are just too many and they take FORever!
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