Essentially we are done and officially become volunteers Friday.
Things have been good lately. I visited my future post two weeks ago- Avrankou is basically a suburb of the capitol Porto Novo, but still semi village life. Had an 8 hour bus ride, and got dumped at a host home for two nights where I was very comfortable. I am working with a small NGO-think I explained it in a previous post. My counterpart there is great, Pierre is his name, and he is a great resource in the community. The Peace Corps assigns you to a person that you work with/for or to simply serve as a mentor guiding you through your various projects in the community. So I chummed around with him all day and he introduced me to everyone and every single office in the community. I think I saluted over a hundred people. Included was the mayor, and in Africa, this is big time important. Good thing he liked me-same goes for the police chief. Pierre paraded me into his office ahead of ten people waiting for their turn to meet with him. That’s something we have to live with- we are treated sometimes like royalty and you just accept it- c’est la vie. But sometimes we Do In Fact, rough it a little. ;)
Ate some good food there, saw some governmental buildings, and buzzed around via zemi-moto taxi. Then I stayed with a volunteer for two days an hour north in his village and I shadowed him to get a feel of the typical workday of a volunteer (well, if there is such a thing) We held a basketball practice with his 12 year olds- they are a bunch of fun. It would be a great side project for me too-they really look upto you and it’s a great chance to make good impressions and further integrate into your community. Then I spent a day at the workstation in Cotonou and stayed with another volunteer in transit. Forgot how good instant coffee was. Also, we went wild and spent [a few USD] on chicken, couscous, and mashed potatoes. All in all it was a good trip; nice vacation from training site.
Something is always going on here. My neighbor who is hosting another volunteer in training had a baby the night we got back, and so now when I go over there I get to play with seven, not 6, kids ;-) The mama loves when I bop over. I think she wants to me marry her oldest son- but really she only loves me because I eat a lot of her food over there, and she gets a kick out of my constant expression-- “I ate too much again mama, I’m gonna lay down with the baby.” I think also she secretly wants me to have a child of my own because I’m getting “too old” and way behind with the baby count -is she plotting?! Donc, I get constant lessons on how to properly bathe, nurse, and sing to the baby.
Yeah, I am discovering, along with some others here, that the best way to do deal with stares is to just accept that we are bizarre and more bizarre no matter what we do/say. Laugh together and soak it all up. My favorite part is when women stare at me because I wear black stretch pants under my wrap skirts. But then when I go over there people are all nice, and we have a laugh about it when I explain why I do it. But in general, people are never meaning it rude- everyone has a big heart here and is always looking out for their visitors.
Recently I passed my language test, with a mark between intermediate high and advanced low/ I was pretty pumped about that considering we only do 20 hours of language per week and more importantly have only been here 8 weeks. We have done more than our share of celebrating the past 5 days since we finished that. I am being told I am developing quite a nice French accent as well. And this time it’s where it should be, with my French, not in my English. Those who know me will understand me here. LOL
My hosts are still great, and I will miss them after I leave, especially playing with my little sister. Only I will not miss the cockroaches- besides the latrine, I haven’t really seen them in the house until lately-----The other night I had my first panic session in my room when after hiding from me, the big guy shows up on the lap of my skirt. Is that normal cockroach behavior? I don’t know, but now I’m always on guard and paranoid. But seriously, there aren’t too many bugs here and I have never seen any snakes yet.
The weather is never boring. So basically when it rains here, everything shuts down and people run and hide. The storms here are amazing. It rains every day (it is the rainy season), and lasts between an hour and four hours. The sky unloads like I have never seen before. It’s so deafening when the tin roof is clanking and you can’t hear your ipod when its on max volume. Interesting stuff. Anyway, so we have had a couple “snow days” here where we miss classes and stuff because it’s raining and in this culture you just stay put no matter what is scheduled. We didn’t hold the class this past Friday that we have been teaching because we knew no one would show up in the rain. Guess what we did instead that afternoon? Yes, one must love the snow days.
Lots of love,
Sara
Ça c’est mon professeur
