Welcome to the jungle

I did finally make it into my house one week ago today. And I just love it so far. I live in a gated compound with another single lady and a middle class family with kids my age. So it’s different now without thirty little screaming kids around; although you walk outside the gate and they are all over you. This of course can be good or bad, depending on your mood that day. Anyway, I have two bedrooms and a living room. Off my back patio I have an outdoor kitchen and bathroom that includes a shower and even bath tub; I am a bit ashamed to admit this! I have electricity that is more dependable than Eastern Europe, and the running water out back is almost always on. Many volunteers end up hiring a kid to do household chores for a small amount of money or provided meals. At first when I thought about hiring a kid I felt guilty, but then again this is Africa - not only is it weird for a white person not to have ten servants, but also I am helping a kid out, as some desperately need the money. Therefore, I eventually will take someone on, but for now I do my own laundry, and let me just say I have a much greater appreciation for washing machines back home.

Here is what I have been eating: beans, beans, and more beans! It’s a good thing I like them, because this is the main street food in Avrankou. Usually you take beans with rice and sauce, and this costs about 20 cents USD for a plate – normal for us, and really great for my future guests! I sometimes also chew on some sugar cane. There is also fish everywhere and eggs, so I do get my protein. As suggested, I will try next time to post a photo of a typical Beninese meal. There is also a lot of pate, which is basically thick cream of wheat with hardly any nutritional value, served with spicy spinach sauce and fish and onions if requested. I cook a lot of pasta at home. My first dinner at the house was noodles with peanut butter and curry I brought from home. It wasn’t my favorite Thai dish, but similar characteristics at least. Haha

Today I am in Cotonou shopping with my professor André (best to have Beninese friends with you until you know the correct market prices on most things). I am buying a better bed, tables, chairs, and most kitchen necessities. Africans are amazing and so efficient– example of this: the last time we went to Cotonou’s largest outdoor market, André managed to bargain for me in three different languages with three different people for three entirely different things at one time, always winning a great price and all while keeping a watchful eye on me and his engine. Then we carefully ride off through the sea of people –it is a chaotic art form the way Africans can drive; all while making sure my bags are secure between us and I am on tight. It’s all really impressive.

I now have my first real work….I am helping set up Andrè’s friend with a business plan for his new project, and can work on that from Avrankou amongst other future projects. I continue to improve my French and have been attending more events at my NGO to get a feel for things. I now have an office with my own desk as well. My main tasks for the first few months are integrating into the community, French and local language (Gun), and getting my house in order. Everyday I make progress with all three. I am making friends and am extremely well taken care of by the community already.

I’ve found here there is a fine line between too much independence and none at all. It’s sometimes so hard to do things on your own here when you are new, yet when you ask for a little help, its never anything less than, “I will take you and do everything for you” type of thing. That is just the nature of people here. When my friends try to wait on me, I just want to say “I’m not better than you; I don’t deserve to be treated like a queen!” But it doesn’t work that way. Yet, on the other hand there are things that set it straight: when I see white people in their fancy cars with air conditioning and here I am crammed into a bush taxi with 10 loud people, (usually on average I would say the breakdown is one American, two Nigerians, and the rest “market mamas”), sacks of vegetables and live chickens- while carefully dodging goats and potholes- I would say I’m getting the true experience!

But the crazy times are actually on the taxi motos in Cotonou ;-)

Hope everyone is doing great. Much love from these parts. Sara.