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.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
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?
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