Christmas time!

Hi Everyone!

December has been a crazy month hasn’t it? I hope you have had a very wonderful Holiday Season, and that you have a wonderful New Year. Things have been good here, and I am happy to say I am looking forward to some calmer weeks in January and February. Life has been busy, but it has been pretty great.

The week leading up to my birthday I had a little trouble getting traction to get work done, since I had just gotten back from In Service Training. By the end of the week I was getting to have some exciting meetings. On Saturday I got to go to a training Session on small animal raising, which Foussena (who wants to raise rabbits) also attended. I felt good about that, even though there was a lot of pretending to understand Bariba for me. Better that Foussena understood it than me!

For my birthday some of the other volunteers (Camille my post mate, Josh, and Suzanne) all came and visited Founougo. That was so exciting. For Josh and Suzanne, it was their first time seeing Founougo, so it was fun to hear their reactions. Founougo is a pretty big town. Camille and I are pretty decided that it’s great. We all ate some good local food, and chatted a lot , and thanks to charged laptops got to watch a little Star Wars. It was a pretty great day.

For Christmas I met a lot of the other volunteers down in the beach town of Grand Popo. I tried to make the whole trip I one day, and man was it a marathon. The trip was full of uncertainty and lots and lots of stops. At one point we blew a tire, and that was actually one of our shortest stops. They had that tire changed out in 10-15 minutes. I kid you not. I felt like that was telling. I really can’t cross the whole country in a day, and that is sad, but I guess that it’s good to learn.

Grand Popo was really nice. Because there were so many of us, I actually rented a camping tent with my friend Megan. I wound up paying $8 staying there for 3 days. We do need to remember I only get paid $6 a day, but that is still impressively cheap. We all swam a little bit, relaxed a lot, and enjoyed the visit.

Now I’m on my way back up North, passing through Parakou for the night. It’s good to get to literally recharge the batteries. There are probably more deep thoughts to share, but it is late here. We will hopefully have some weeks ahead at post for deep contemplation.

Love you guys. Blessings of the season!

With love,

Lauren

First In Service Training!

*I thought I posted this last thursday, the 13th. Sorry!*

Hello Everyone!

I am writing this post from a hotel in Parakou. I’m here for In Service Training. That means, incredibly enough, I have actually been a Peace Corps volunteer for three months. That seems almost unbelievable to me. Like so many things in life, I thought by the time I made it to in service training I would have everything in life figured out, but there is so much to learn!

That’s seems to be a good place to transition. In the last two-weeks-and-some-change since I wrote a post, I have done a lot of learning.

As I may have mentioned, I was very much looking forward to getting to use the Internet at the Kandi Workstation over Thanksgiving. However, the Internet actually wasn’t working in the workstation that weekend. So, while it was really nice to catch up with people and eat delicious food, I spent the whole three day visit /not/ getting things done on the Internet. When I got back to post, I was really discouraged about that. All in all, it’s been over a month since I have been able to check my email. I felt frustrated and discouraged, and just sort of out of steam. I felt out of control of being able to get in touch with people. Being so close to the holidays didn’t make it any easier to feel like I didn’t have the ability to communicate. My work kind of went into low power. While I still did all the work that had already been planned, like environmental club, but I wasn’t taking the initiative to get people together for extra meetings and things like that.

When I was thinking about explaining to Baron, my homologue, what had me in a funk, I realized how un-relatable my ‘first-world-third-world problem’ was. It’s weird to remember that there really are no computers in my town. The times when my neighbors have been on the computer are probably more noteworthy than the times when computers have been inaccessible. That made me realize, in ways that I haven’t really internalized before, how I really do come from one of the richest countries in the world.

When ever anyone comments on my nice sandals, or motorcycle helmet, or earrings, and jokingly ask if they can have it, I used to think, “well, if you really do like [this thing] you probably could save up for it”. While that is true, at the same time, any one of those things is also symbolic of everything in my life that really is so out of reach for my neighbors. The plane tickets and the technology and the communication and the conveniences of first world life; I have to wonder if when they see any one of my nice things, they partially see that whole life that I have access too.

So that whole revelation was sort of humbling, and it started getting me in a better place. I did also benefit from the generosity of Katrina, a neighboring volunteer who shared her Internet key with me one morning. I still wasn’t able to check my email, but it was good to get a small peak at the outside world. (That was also when I updated the blog the last time.)

From there, I got thinking about Christmas. First I was thinking a little about what would be challenging because I am away from home. Then I got thinking about the religious/spiritual aspects of Christmas, which I can still participate in, and in fact can bring new perspective to this year, based on my new context. I got thinking about a line from the first chapter of John, as it was translated in ‘The Message’. As it is explaining how God became man and came to Earth, it says that God ‘moved into the neighborhood’. I am getting to fulfill a dream in that, in my own smaller way, I am getting to follow in God’s footsteps and move into the neighborhood with the people I would like to help. That revelation kind of knocked me back. In a way, since then, I think I have had a better attitude than I have had the first three months. It’s still taken me some time to get momentum back with work, but it really made a faith aspect click for me.

As a side note, the song ‘Away in a Manger’ says “no crying he makes” but I have to think that Jesus was a fussy baby. I mean that is a pretty huge transition o make. There is a lot to fuss about! But maybe I just take a lower Christology than some people…

After all of that, the last couple days here in Parakou have been so wonderful. The food is wonderful, and other people are preparing it for us and cleaning up afterwards. There is running water and (when the power is not cut) the hotel even has air conditioning. It’s so good to get to hear how other people’s work is going, and just catch up and speak English. The break has been really wonderful. In my opinion, the Peace Corps has a good supportive structure to make these transitions through the different parts of service easier.

This weekend I was at a voluntary training session here in Parakou with Baron my homologue (or work partner). It was really great to travel together and share in the class sessions. I think we bonded over hanging out together outside of village, working together in the sessions, and even times sharing in some humor about how we felt about certain lessons. It’s great to get to bond a little bit. All things little by little!

In one final piece of news, I have purchased an Internet key. It’s like a flash drive that I can buy phone credit for, and when you plug it in to your computer, it will connect you to the Internet as cellphone reception permits. I am hopeful that if I pace my laptop battery out well, I may be able to update my blog weekly, and maybe even check my email. We will see!

That’s all for now. Love you guys and I think of you all the time. I hope you are enjoying the holiday season. It still feels like it’s still summer here, so that is a weird challenge. It doesn’t stop a person from dreaming of sugarplums and future snowstorms though. I hope you all enjoy a little the season!

With Love,

Lauren

Nov 17th

**I wrote this on November 17^th**

Hi everyone,

It looks like I am going to uploading a lot of posts at once. Sorry to dump so much info at one time! These stretches where I go three weeks without Internet get a little long, and let’s not even talk about the lack of movies! However, Katirna, the volunteer in Banikoara has very graciously opened her home to all of us electricity-lacking volunteers in the area. So I have been able to charge my laptop to do some work, write this entry, and with any luck maybe even watch some TV stored on the computer!

This past Sunday was ‘Sunday School-Sunday’ at Church. We had a Bible quiz for the Adult Sunday School Class. I was really excited to get to answer some of the questions. People were sort of surprised to hear me speak up. Don’t worry though, I didn’t blow every one else out of the water. Some of the vocabulary is still very new for me. It was still a lot of fun, and it was great to get to share in Bible-knowledge with my neighbors a little. I also am getting better and better at recognizing the regulars at church, and I’m even starting to catch some of their names.

That ‘community bonding moment’ seemed to add a ton of momentum to my week. While there was still some rest time, compared to weeks past I felt like I was in a whirlwind of meetings and interviews and lucky random encounters on the street. There is a real interest in latrine building in Founougo, so I have been trying to interview current latrine owners to find out what works here. It’s been interesting for a lot of reasons, but especially since (as I have come to realize) there are so few latrines here! They seem to only be in the concessions of the most well-off citizens. Even Delegate B, who is sort of like a Selectman, and Gnon Tori don’t have them! I want to do good research, and I know there will be many challenges, but recognizing a need like that makes me really excited to get some work done.

In other work related news, I had my first meeting with the high school environmental club this week. There is a teacher at the high school, named Messouna (May-SOO-nah) who has been very motivated to get started. So far we have been combining his enthusiasm and momentum to get things done, with my organization and technical resources. It’s working pretty well, but it’s a delicate balance, especially where we don’t know each other that well yet. There is the additional challenge that the students (who are still honing their French skills) have a pretty hard time understanding my accent. I was warned about this, but I was still surprised when I addressed the club, giving a pretty basic introduction of myself, and Messouna jumped in right after me to ‘translate’ what I said into something more clear! That’s a little hard on a person ego, but it does balance out a little bit with the celebrity status you get as a foreigner. Messouna was also very intentional about explaining to the club how I was still learning French, and how if they went to America they would probably be even more lost and confused. Thanks Messouna!

This week I also took the opportunity to show my homologue, Baron, a copy of the Dedham Times, that my Dad sent me. When I read the issue, I thought a lot about what I would do if I were a Peace Corps Volunteer working in Dedham (there are so many organizations to get to know!). I also thought about how proud I was of the various different initiatives to make Dedham better, and how proud I was to recognize many names in the paper. (I made a point to show Baron a picture of Colleen Downing, a friend of the family, playing high school field hockey). That pride lead me thinking back to Founougo, and imagining a day when all the citizens will be able to read, and when they might also have a ‘hazardous waste pick-up day’ and other positive community initiatives like that. Baron was very interested and entertained. I also showed him the Police Log, and he was appropriately awed by the fight against illegal drugs, and appropriately amused by the person who called the police about ‘multiple bee stings’ and ‘loud party at neighbors’. It was so fun to get to share that with him.

Well, we’ve got one week until Thanksgiving, and I hope you are all are looking forward to the holiday. I’m finding myself with a lot to be thankful for, and you, reading this blog, are high up on that list! One thing is for sure, distance makes you realize how awesome the people involved in your life are, and how important they all are to you. So, whether you read the blog studiously, or just flip through occasionally, thank you so much for being interested, and I would venture to say, thank you for being a part of my life. I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be the same without you.  

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope to be in touch soon.

With love,

Lauren

Nov 9

**I wrote this on November 9^th**

Hello Everyone!

Another week draws to a close, and even though I am pretty sure that I won’t be able to post this for a little while, I want to share with you this week’s adventures.

Probably the most noteworthy event of the week is one we all actually got to share: The presidential election. Some volunteers in the area planned to get together and spend the night in Banikoara, so that they could all hear the results together. I really wanted to join them, but I already spent my two ‘mental health days’ in Parakou for Halloween. Still I was able to hang out for a bit on Election Day itself, and it was nice to see everyone, catch up a little, and generally share in the anticipation.

For my part I made sure my shortwave radio had fresh batteries and set my alarm for 5 am (11 pm Eastern Standard Time). It turned out to be pretty ideal timing. When I found the BBC’s broadcast, the race was still neck and neck, but after about 20 minutes, one new station after another was declaring Obama the winner. As I got ready for the day, I listened to reactions, Romney’s concession speech, and Obama’s victory speech.

It was a little strange hearing American political news brought to me by the BBC, but I think it was a good strange. I was so grateful and excited to get to share that moment with everyone who was listening-in and watching back home, and to hear the news and speeches in real time. I won’t deny that I got a little misty eyed at a few moments, one of them being Obama’s last line, “we are and ever shall be the /United/ States of America.”

Regardless of how you feel about the results, I hope you also got a moment to feel like you were participating in American politics. That kind of thing tends to lead to a little introspection, and I couldn’t help thinking back to the election 4 years ago. That was the first election in which I could vote, and I remember watching the news come in from one of the lounges in the dorms at Gordon. That was an exciting time, and I don’t think I ever gave a thought to where I would be during the next election. I definitely didn’t guess Founougo! I have no idea where I will be for the next election, but I hope it’s a good surprise. I hope election time brought back some poignant memories for you too.

But ok, ok we aren’t really here to talk about my political inclinations, we are here to talk about Founougo!

This week I thought that my program director, Salomon was going to visit, and I had kind of planned my week around that. On Tuesday I learned that it was actually the assistant director, Gbaguidi, who will be visiting me on the 20^th! So that changed my priorities for the week, and I have been reeling a little bit to get organized. I am winding down observing classes, but not quite ready to start working with the kids yet. The lack of fence around the school garden is one big reason for that. When I thought that Salomon was going to be visiting I reviewed a lot of the notes I wrote just before coming to post, and it was actually very helpful to see what goals I have really achieved (gardening and composting at home, getting to know the schools, working on my map of the community) and what things I still want to focus on more (learning about latrines here in Founougo, learning more details about the status of the trash organization, and establishing strong relationships with community members).

For your amusement, I will share a journal entry which I recently re-discovered, but wrote the week before I moved to post:

“I am kind of dreading going to post. I am worried it’s going to be hot and I will have nothing to do, especially nothing productive, and I will be angry with myself for that, and lonely, and will have nothing to eat but carbs.

I feel like if I had an easier post I would feel differently and because of that I kind of complain proudly. If I felt confident that I could get good food, and if I had electricity and could easily communicate via the internet, I would feel differently. Those would be a safety net, which I do not feel like I have.

I must imagine it going great. I want to make friends with everyone.”

That last sentence is sort of an in-joke. When I was little I once said, very seriously, that I wanted to be friends with everyone. Now in general, I was pretty harsh in this journal entry because it was private, and it can be good to vent. I am sharing it now for a little bit of 20-20 hindsight.

In fact, when I first re-read this entry, I had to laugh to myself. The thing is, it IS hot here, and sometimes it is lonely, and sometimes I don’t feel like I have much to do (and I certainly eat more carbs than I did in the States), but the thing is, it is o. k. I am learning to make the challenges (like lack of electricity) work for me, and for every moment of anxious frustration there is ay least an equal and opposite (if not greater) moment of feeling lucky to make an unlikely friendship, or the satisfaction of communicating effectively in a different language and culture, or just the joy of appreciating a sunset or a night sky that is new and different and beautiful. I think the anticipation of challenges during training was much worse than working through challenges has been now that I am finally here, living my life. And yeah, I hope and expect that more work is going to build up gradually as I get to know people and needs better and better.

And on that note, a few anecdotes: Summer (the volunteer that I replaced) had the local nickname of Maimoona (may-MOO-nah). People very regularly call out her name when they see me. Some of them still think that I am her (though I think that is getting less and less). I think some people, especially little kids, don’t really know what else to say to reach out to me and say hi. It’s seems like a pretty good place to start, I guess.

Of course, where I am wanting to establish myself as a new and unique person here, and as I want people to understand that I am actually not fluent in Bariba, the “maimoona, miamoona!”’s can get a little wearing. However, in the last week I got two ‘miamoona’s that I was happy to accept.

There is a woman who sells beignets, or fried dough balls, close to market, and I always say hi to her. She was one of the first people to pick up my local nick-name (Bake – BAH-kay) and she always likes to chat with me a little. I recently resolved to learn her name, which is Subaila (zoo – BAY – lah, sorry I have no idea how it should be spelled). It took me a couple tries to remember it correctly. When I finally got it down, I made a point to call out to her, “Subaila, good morning!” and without looking up she said, “Oh! Maimoo-er, Bake, good morning” I just grinned, if I can be mistaken for a person who had two years to learn everyone’s name and the way to greet them, I will take that!

Another small legacy from Summer is biking. She famously once rode her bike from Founougo all the way to Kandi in a day, some 80km! I feel no need to make such a marathon, and in fact I have been kind of staying off the bike. I am pretty intimidated by the flooded road and the general craziness around the market. However, there is a long dirt road that leads away from market, and the other day I decided to get a little exercise (and bike practice!) and take that road a ways. As I was heading out the door I greeted my landlord, and with a smile of familiarity he also said, “Good afternoon Maimoona – Bake!” If I remind my landlord of Summer because I jump on the bike every now and then, I am ok with that!

Incidentally, right after saying good-bye to my landlord, one of the kids in my concession came in on his bike. When he heard that I was going to ‘bike for sport’ a little bit, he said, “We will go together!” I was more than happy to get in a little unexpected neighbor-bonding time. I hope we get to bike together again soon. He was also very helpful when the road was crowded with cows. He knew just the right clicking noise to tell the cows to move aside. Apparently I need to learn a little bit of cow! (And in case you are wondering, biking in the Sahel just at the beginning of dusk is beautiful. I will try to take some pictures.)

To close out anecdotes, some of you have asked about the egg ladies. Awkwardly enough, the price of eggs actually has gone up right now. I can’t stand to risk being tricked into paying too much a second time, so for the moment I have been skipping the eggs. There is always something to navigate culturally. That one is still to be continued.

As I was thinking ahead to this post, I really wanted to make a quick comment on my developing perspective on effective aid (also known as, advice for Christmas donations!). Here is what I am noticing: There is a place for direct relief aid, or the giving out of things that are very much needed. The aftermath of a hurricane is an unfortunately poignant example of a time when food and supply just need to be shuttled to people asap. However, Benin is not in that type of situation. There certainly are significant needs here, but the country is stable. It’s been my limited experience that people are only as foolish, and only as innovative, as people in the United States, they just don’t always have the opportunities (or safety nets) that we tend to enjoy in the United States.

(Just today I was doing a food security survey with my homologue, Baron. There was a section that listed different possible challenges for farmers, and one of them was ‘inability to get credit’ Baron was confused and asked me what that meant. In Founougo, there isn’t even a legitimate bank from which one could ask to get a loan.)

So, if hand-outs aren’t really the answer for capable, smart individuals who want to improve their station, what is helpful? First, I would say education. Any money that can be (reliably) put towards scholarships, or more teachers, or more resources in schools is absolutely money well spent. It is so exciting already, to see a generation coming up that is more fluent in the global language of French, and therefore is going to be more capable of networking, traveling, and gaining new information throughout their lives. Anything to aid and increase that seems positive to me.

After that I would say the more small scale and specific a project is, and the more grass-roots, local support and involvement it has, the better. Cultural translation can be very, very tricky and I am afraid that we in the West have lost a lot of time and money trying to impose our ideas, (because they worked for us), in situations that are just not the same. If we can support people who have good ideas for their own communities, I think that is going to go a long way for sustainable improvement.

If I can take that one step further I would say that also gives a lot of weight to supporting artisans and Fair Trade type organizations. Being a conscientious consumer can take some time and effort initially, but every thoughtful choice does make a small step towards a better world. How cool would it be to do an entire ‘Fair Trade’ Christmas, where you knew that for every gift you bought, the people who worked to make it received a fair pay, which they could use to support their family. Now, I know those sorts of changes happen gradually, and it would be tough to completely change one’s buying habits in one gift-giving season (for my own part I I don’t think I will be succeeding 100% this year). I also haven’t really done my homework on Fair Trade, and have been pretty carelessly throwing that name around. Not For Sale, Global Girlfriends, and Equal Exchange, are other organizations that I know try to get fair pay to craftspeople in developing countries. Like I said before, each and every thoughtful choice does make a small step towards a better world.

Ok, I hope this all has been entertaining and interesting. I am sure my perspectives on development are going to keep evolving as time goes on. I hope I get to keep sharing my ideas with you as I go.

Thank you so much for reading. Being able to share my experiences with you motivates me to stay focused and to see the humor in the tough times, so thanks for being on this journey with me!

With love,

Lauren

Nov 6

**I wrote this on Tuesday November 6**

Hello Everyone!

Can you believe Halloween is already behind us? Time certainly does keep moving right along. Still, I am missing you guys back east! I hope everything is going well. Life stays interesting here.

The weekend before Halloween I went to the Peace Corps Workstation in Parakou, one of the bigger cities in Benin. (On my way south to Parakou I spent two hours in the workstation in Kandi, and that was how I was able to update the blog the last time). I knew that I would need to travel to Parakou sometime this fall, since that is where the closest branch of my bank is, so I budgeted out money so I could be in Parakou the weekend of the Halloween party.

The Halloween Party was a lot of fun. I made a ballerina tutu by re-using small black trash bags that are everywhere here. People thought that was clever, and very ‘environmental action’! I also got to carve a watermelon-jack-o-lantern. Apparently papayas had been tried in the past, but watermelon really does make for a better pumpkin proxy. It was nice to catch up with so many people that I haven’t see since Swear-In, and it’s always nice to get to chat, dance, and eat some delicious food!

While I was in Parakou, I also got to do some shopping. Since it is a larger city, there is a greater selection of goods for sale. While I was in a grocery store, I actually met a Bible Translator, and she told me that there was a Christian Book Store, with copies of the Bible in various local languages, just a few blocks away! It’s hard to explain how excited I was to hear that. Bookstores are pretty rare in Benin. Previously, I had really only heard about them existing in Cotonou, the biggest city. Printed material in local languages like Bariba, is even more rare. The Peace Corps has been able to give most volunteers basic workbooks in local language, and when we show them to our neighbors they are usually amazed and demand where we got them.

            I put away the things I had been gathering at the grocery store and darted to the bookstore before it closed. I was lucky to be shopping with Bethany, another Peace Corps Volunteer and Bible-enthusiast. And yes, I was able to purchase a real, live, printed Bible in Bariba. The euphoria was significant. It’s been amusing to look through familiar passages with good agro-pastoral vocabulary “Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham..” and “And he called the light day, and the darkness night…” Getting that Bariba Bible was one of those moments where I felt so proud of Benin. I love it  when something is created that is both of reputable quality, and distinctly Beninese culture. Hooray for Benin.

After the excitement of Bible-buying and Halloween party-ing, life went into low gear for a few days /because/, when I returned home to Founougo, I pretty promptly got food poisoning. I hadn’t been very careful about making sure my water was clean and there you go. Fortunately, I did get to chat on the phone a bit with my friend and fellow volunteer, Amber, who was also enjoying a bout of food poisoning. With a little rest, and an aggressive cleaning of the filter, I recovered pretty quickly. I had told the two principals, or directors, of the primary schools that I was sick, and they actually came by my house to wish me well! That meant a lot to me. They are good guys. My homologue Baron also came by for a meeting, so we were able to at least plan forward a little bit, even while I mostly wanted to sleep most of the time.

In the second half of the week I was feeling much better, and was able to get some good work done. Baron and I planted some cuttings at the primary school, hoping to make a hedge fence. We also had the help of about 100 little kids, that got out of classes about half way through the endeavor. We had hoped they would be able to participate a little, and many hands make light work! We will see how the fence does, it certainly gets a lot of wear from animals that want to browse around for a snack. I am glad we tried moving forward with it, but I think that is all that I will be able to do with the school garden until December when we can better protect the plants from grazing animals.

In anecdotal news, I have come to realize that in the afternoon it usually hits 105 degrees Fahrenheit here. That was a little intimidating to realize, but mostly encouraging. I have been running around getting my work done in some noteworthy heat. It’s gonna get hotter in January through March, but I think this is a good start for toughing out some high temperatures!

Alright friends. I hope you are doing well. I think of you often, and I can’t wait to share this post and here how things are.

Oh! And happy Election Day! I hope you are out voting! J

With Love,

Lauren

The trouble with eggs

Hello Everyone!

I hope that you are doing well, and I hope you are enjoying the blog!

It’s been a pretty good week, but before I get into that I want to explain a little about traveling.

In our first three months at post, we are allowed to be away from our village at most two nights per month. This is to encourage us to get to know our community and the assets there. After the first three months we have three ‘mental health days’ a month instead of two, and we will also have access to our vacation time. For the time being I have budgeted out my time so that I would get to spend a night at the workstation every three weeks. Last weekend however, I got a little extra internet in because I went and visited the Kandi Workstation for the day and got back to Founougo before dark. All in all I spent 4 hours in the workstation and 5 hours traveling, so it’s not a trip I will be making every weekend, but it’s nice to know that it’s an option.

Now for some anecdotes. The day after I got back from my Kandi day trip, I had a tricky social experience. I came to find out that the price I had been paying for eggs was more than twice what the price should have been. Now prices are often flexible here, and I sort of new it was only a matter of time until I paid too much for something because I didn’t know what the price ought to be. However, I had started to develop a rapport with the women who sold the eggs. They would recognize me (which admittedly is not that difficult) and we would go through some friendly salutations in Bariba before they utterly ripped me off. At first I was just embarrassed, but the more I thought about it the more annoyed I became. I decided I would have to talk to them.

Even though it wasn’t market day, I went to the place where they usually sell the eggs and asked some men who were standing there were was the woman who sold these eggs. It was lucky that the men were there, and got a little bit involved, because they spoke French, where many women do not. Also, shame is very significant in this culture, and I was ok with letting a few people in the community know that I wasn’t going to stand for being treated that way. I explained to them that I am a newcomer here, and everything is new for me. (I knew that in this culture it is an important mark of politeness to welcome newcomers). I explained that I am a volunteer and am not receiving a full salary. I told them how I am here to help Founougo and these women had tricked me. They could see that I was upset, and were able to reflect back to me what I was saying and translate it into Bariba a little. The women for their part looked embarrassed.

When market day came around two days later, I didn’t need to buy eggs even if I had wanted to. However, I did make a point to say a very quick hello to the women selling the eggs, and they were looking out to see if I would greet them. I hope we can move forward with some positive respect for each other. I am optimistic that we can.

Tuesday was Suzanne’s birthday, (she is one of the five volunteers here in the Banikoara area). Because I was traveling for some meetings, I got to visit her town, Toura and along with Josh surprise her and wish her a happy birthday. It was really great to see another volunteer’s town, and get to catch up with Suzanne and Josh. They both seem to be doing really well. Suzanne is an English teacher like Camille, so classes are really starting to get rolling for her. Josh is an Environmental Action volunteer like me, and he said that there was a lot of interest in his work (and his knowledge of English!) at the high school in his town. It was great to hear about little things that are starting to get moving for each of them. Suzanne and Camille were in a Bariba class together during Training, so Suzanne speaks Bariba a lot with her neighbors in village. For me, it was really encouraging to see how much I could understand based on the studying I have been doing here in Founougo. Some days it seems really daunting, so it’s good to have those moments of recognizing that growth is happening.

For my part, I had a very edifying meeting with a supervisor this week, and he encouraged me during my service to look seriously at latrine construction. Financially significant projects can be a little tricky, but I am glad to hear where there is an interest, and a project like that that has tangible lasting benefits certainly has it’s appeal. I also got to visit classes at the local high school. It was really exciting to make the jump from the primary schools to the high school and see how much the French level improved. One of the teachers is even interested in starting an environmental club! So work is piecing together, little by little. This week felt busier than weeks past, and I am trying to push myself to maximize my time. It’s always a challenge in a culture that almost can’t focus on promptness.

Well, those are the thoughts for this week. It could be three weeks, (or thanksgiving), before I get to post again, though you never know. I will try to type up a weekly entry regardless and post when I get the opportunity.

Thanks so much for reading, I’m so glad to get to share these experiences with you!

With Love,

Lauren

School in Benin

Hello everyone!

I hope you are doing well. I am enjoying being able to be in touch, even if it is in little bits and pieces.

This week I got to start observing classes at the local primary schools. It has been a big learning experience. I am hoping to possibly guest lecture in some classes, and also continue the environmental club that has been running in years past. There are lots of other small opportunities for summer camps and scholarships and things. That will all come with time.

With all that in mind I really wanted to get an idea of the teaching style, and general school protocol here. Let me share with you some of what I have learned.

To begin with, classes are often between 80 and 100 students. Teachers seem to try to be engaging, getting examples from different student and doing exercises where everyone holds up there answer on their black board. However, students really have to sit in their seat for the whole day (in fact, it is common in between lessons for the teacher to have all the students stand up and sit down a couple times). I was surprised to see that the system really works as well as it does because all the students are pretty engaged and motivated. I haven’t seen one student sleeping in class or trying to get attention by being bad or acting out. I suppose it is only the first week, so I suppose there is time for more observation in that department. Still it does impress me how much students need to be personally responsible for following the lesson, because there is just no way that the teacher can personally interact with each of them meaningfully each class.

Uniforms are required for school. I find this a little funny since, here in Founougo, pretty much all clothes are either hand me downs from the west or custom made garments in bright traditional fabric. So when it comes time to buy uniforms, parents by meters of khaki fabric and have something stitched up that basically follows the criteria of the uniform. With older and younger siblings to consider, you have students coming to school in several shades of khaki, some too big some too small, some with pockets, some with buttons… It’s an interesting mix and match.

Classes also have a long break in the middle of the day, that give things more of a college feel. Class goes from 8 am to 12, and then 3 to 5. Especially for girls, there are a lot of shores that need to be done in the day, and I think having things broken up helps with that. Also the afternoons get pretty hot, so it’s nice to break things up.

I have to say, for me, really trying to follow the French for four hours of class straight has been surprisingly tiring. It’s great practice though.

That’s been the main action in this week. I also scrubbed out my filter. Let me tell you, it’s been doing some work. I also successfully made a quiche. I was very proud of how it came out, but also felt like maybe I need to get a new hobby. So I picked knitting back up. I haven’t been working at that since August, and it’s good to be back building something. The hat is coming together pretty nicely too!

Tonight I was listening to some of my rationed-out podcasts and I was listening to a sermon from my church back home. It was from psalm 94 (“better is one day in your courts…”) and was generally about the concept of home. I was a little nervous that it  would make me homesick. However, one of the first points was about how home is somewhere you feel like yourself, and also somewhere you grow. That made me think about how I am making a kind of home here, and that made me happy. But one of the last points was that with whatever else we strive for, as Christians, God is Home. That was really powerful to hear. It’s really what I want, and what I believe. I miss my family and my home in New England very much, but I know I am traveling with my most crucial home with me. My greatest hope is to be doing God’s work so it’s also a major source motivation of growth.

Ok, I try not to get preachy on the blog, but every now and then I want to make sure I share what motivates me, as well as what I’m doing. Thanks for sticking through it.

In more anecdotal news, the other day I came home and greeted my neighbors, only to be quickly told to be careful. I immediately looked down for animal droppings. It was probably silly to expect a warning for something like that. In fact, what they were trying to warn me about was a huge swarm of bees that was in front of my house! As one of my neighbors said, they were trying to saluer, or greet me! Fortunately, bees are one animal that the Beninese and Americans seem to have a pretty even fear of. They wouldn’t let me go near the house. As it happened, hey were getting ready for lunch and invited me to join them. I’ve been wanting to share a meal with my neighbors for a while, so I said a quick prayer that everything was prepared ‘kosher’ and dug in. It seemed like a real turn of good luck after all. I am hoping to bake something for them this coming week.

I think that’s all for now. Thanks for reading!
With love,

Lauren

Looking at one month at post

**I wrote this on October 13th**

Hi Everyone,

I don’t expect to be able to post this to my blog for a little while, I thought I’d write just the same. It’s been a week since I last updated the blog in the Kandi workstation, and I’ve been keeping track of some thoughts and anecdotes that I wanted to share.

First I wanted to tell you about the taxi ride back from Kandi to Banikoara (before the motorcycle taxi ride from Banikoara to Founougo). Taxis tend to be over crowded as a rule, but this one was a record breaker. Four of the five of us Banikoara area volunteers decided to find a taxi together. We would up smushing into the middle row of a three row station wagon, with 4 adults and 4 kids under the age of 5 in the back, and three adults in the front row with the driver. At 16 people in a station wagon, we felt like we had reached capacity, even in Benin. But after about 20 minutes on the road we slowed down almost to a stop and Camille and Suzanne, our two best Bariba speakers started laughing. When Josh and I asked them what was funny, they said that a man had approached the driver, and the driver had said in Bariba, “Let’s go” and then the man jumped up on the roof with the luggage. Sure enough when we looked back there was a pair of feet dangling from the roof. All 17 of us made it to Banikoara with a good story to tell!

Coming back to post after visiting the workstation in Kandi was a little bit of a transition. I journaled about that, and thought I would share my thoughts with you now. I’ve been glad that I shared challenging moments in the past, so here we are.

I wanted to talk a little about how life has been different since I visited the workstation in Kandi. There it was cooler and cleaner, and I ate delicious food, and listened to American music, and talked to other Americans. I also spent almost the entire time on the internet – downloading the new Mumford Album, and pulling other information like West African Folktales, and posting to my blog, and posting pictures and emailing. It was great. I also didn’t get very much sleep trying to fit everything in.

When I got back , the next morning I slept in and never wound up leaving my house. Given, I did work. I worked on my compost pile and read up on rabbit raising and studied Bariba. But still. The next day I was in my house until mid afternoon when I finally got stir crazy and went for a meeting with my homologue. For most of the day Tuesday I was just happy to be in my house, studying and doing paperwork. I got worried that now that I’ve seen how awesome it is to go to the workstation, I will just spend my time waiting for the next time I get to go there. I certainly do look forward to those trips a lot already. When does that become wishing your time away? Maybe it’s when you look forward to those things more than you enjoy your daily life. I certainly like my house, and I care about the people I interact with. I am eagerly searching work opportunities but trying not to jump at every stray opportunity.

Anyway, I did feel a lot better after I got out of the house. On the way to the meeting I met someone who said they would teach me Peuhl, one of the other local languages. (I haven’t followed up with them yet, sometimes people make offers like that just to be friendly, still I’ve been looking for someone who speaks both French and Peuhl.) On the way back I saw the coiffure, or hair salon where one of the mamas in my concession works, and I saw Sabi, the old man who sat next to me at church. The meeting itself was less exciting. I got worried that I am becoming less of an exciting novelty. Still, I did have work matters to discuss and it seemed to go well. I would like to get working on an ongoing project. I’ve started messing with the school garden a little, that’s good. I am also hoping to install a living fence (made of trees) there. Soon I will be able to visit classes at each school and before December 9^th (when we have In Service Training) I would like to guest lecture, at least a few times. Soon enough it will be mudstove building season, and things seem to be going well with Gnon Tori (she worked on mudstoves with the volunteer I am replacing). There is also the tree nursery with Seidou, who knows what will happen with that. I guess we keep organizing and keep on keeping on. It’s a challenge but I do feel lucky to be here.

A few days after I wrote that journal entry I got to share a laugh with Gnon Tori. She has been helping me with Bariba, and that day I was studying vocabulary on physical descriptions of people. While we were working a man came by to talk to her briefly. As he was leaving Gnon Tori leaned over to me and whispered, in Bariba, “He’s fat!” I appreciated the teachable moment. Do remember that here it isn’t considered rude to comment on people’s physical appearance, and actually being a little heavy means that you are well off and haven’t been sick. She’s a good hearted person, that Gnon Tori. I think I like her sense of humor.

Incidentally after the Bariba lesson we wound up sharing lunch. And by sharing I mean eating off the same plate with our hands. I’m getting a little better at not making a complete mess of myself when I eat with my hands (though it’s taken me longer to learn than learning to eat with chopsticks!). I was so grateful to share a meal with her.

So that was a positive experience, here’s a frusterating one. A few days back I had been walking past the market with someone when a woman selling food called out to great me. The person I was walking with said, “Oh, that’s Foussena” and I looked over and believed it was the woman who wants to raise rabbits. I think you can see where this is going. I actually stopped by and made a point to great her and ask about the family, and the rabbits after that. A few days later, my homologue Baron and I wanted to have a meeting with Foussena. I told Baron she was selling food by the market. When we arrived there I said hi to the woman and then Baron said, “Where’s Foussena?” I was mortified to realize I had gotten her confused with someone else. I was so embarrassed. Baron was very understanding about it and just said, “Yeah, in Bariba there are a lot of women named Foussena.” Oy vey. Incidentally the real meeting with the real Foussena did go well.

Another more positive anecdote: There have been a few people who knew Summer well who have reached out to me. One girl, Mamato  (MA-ma-toh) who goes to the local high school even came by to say hi to me at my house. The other day I was walking through the market with a very heavy canvas bag. Mamato saw me and said hi, and when she saw that I was going home she offered to carry my bag. I automatically refused, but she insisted. Truth be told, I had already been walking for 20 minutes or so, and I can’t say I wasn’t grateful for the help. We talked about her English class and the school garden, and when we got to my house I was able to give her some of the fried bread I had splurged on. I’m still grateful to her.

I thought of another anecdote from a while ago that I didn’t share before, but I found it funny and wanted to share it now. I hope I’ve mentioned before that people are generally pretty willing to drop what they are doing to help when someone needs it. That’s actually very well demonstrated in the story with Mamato. I should also emphasize that kids do a lot of work. They are sort of the first line of attack for any chores that need to be done.

Well one day I had been out all morning and didn’t arrive back at my concession until after noon when the sun was already beating down and it was very hot. I was tired after walking home and so raedy to sit down and drink some water. I was surprised to find that when I got to the entrance to my concession the door was closed. When I tried the handle and shook the door a little it didn’t move. For a while I stood there and looked at the door, trying to decide if I would go to some street food vendor to sit until someone came home, or if I would just sit in front of the door. I even considered trying to climb over the wall, but if nothing else that seemed like it would attract a lot of attention. There was already a little kid standing watching me deliberate. Then a man came up on a motorcycle and stopped in front of the concession. I wasn’t really sure if he lived there or not (this was still early on). The little kid stepped up and the two of them talked in Bariba a little bit. I just stood there, totally passive in the heat. The man tried the door and also tried the large metal gate next to it. Both were closed. Then the kid climbed over the gate into the concession. I was so hot and tired it was all good with me. The little kid and the man talked back and forth across the door in Bariba. The kid couldn’t get the door open. Then he tried the gate. After various metallic banging noises he couldn’t get that either. Then, because there seemed like nothing else to try the man noticed a rope tied around the gate and looped through part of the lock of the door. When he untied the rope the door fell right open! I felt silly, but mostly I felt tired. So just as if he and the little boy had just held the elevator door for me, I said thanks and went inside.

Ok, that’s all the anecdotes that I have saved up for this week. I did have one more thought that I wanted to share with you. I want to talk a little more about when I first rode into Founougo. As I was riding in that rickety peugot truck down the dirt road, I was hit by a thought that I have often revisited since then. I kept thinking my whole life, I was always going to come to Founougo. And the whole time Founougo has existed, I Was always going to come here. You can take that as literally or as metaphysically as you want to. I know it’s possible things won’t work out between me and Founougo. And it’s always possible that some political unrest that never actually affects the town itself could mean I have to leave, there are a hundred unforeseeable circumstances. Heading towards Founougo for the first time almost felt like a betrothal. I wondered if I would love the town right away, and new it didn’t really matter, because I would slowly get to know the town and find things that worked and come to love it little by little. That’s been true so far. Even though there are a lot of things about being here that are hard, I feel a sense of pride and even a little personal ownership for this town. I certainly have some affection for it. And yeah, I keep coming back to this idea that all my life I was always going to come here.

There are still some adjustments. I don’t think this entry would be complete if I didn’t point out that it has been a whole month since I have seen a movie. I don’t think that has ever happened before. At what age did I start watching movies Mom and Dad? Still, all things are going pretty well. The latrine is doing well, the well is doing well, the kitchen is great, and I’m doing just fine.

Thanks for reading, and as the saying goes in Bariba, ‘May God bestow spices upon you’.

With love,

Lauren

My house in Founougo!

First three weeks at post!

Hello Everyone!

Wow. It’s been a while. There’s a saying here that goes, “It’s been two days!” and it certainly has. I hope you all are doing well. I think about you all back in the western world on a daily basis. Ok, we have a lot of ground to cover and less than infinite time to cover it in. Let’s get started.

Work:

My work as an Environmental Action volunteer is largely unstructured. Major areas of focus include: working with the area schools to teach about environmental awareness and also start/continue/assist with an Environmental Club or Clubs, building and teaching about fuel-efficient mudstoves, and generally gardening and planting trees with people.

For me personally the first three weeks have involved a lot of meeting people and establishing connections. I met I man named Seidou (SAY-doo) who works with the neighboring national park and will also be recommencing with a tree nursery in November. I am planning to tag along with him and at least pick up some local tips and insights on growing things here. I also am particularly interested in organizing saving seeds (seeds are very expensive) and planting fruit trees (which are woefully rare). If there’s anything I can do to help Seidou and the tree nursery, I am interested!

Seidou also introduced me to Foussena (Foo-SAY-nah) who would like to start a women’s group to raise rabbits, which would then be sold for meat (very sorry rabbits!). This idea has been met with a lot of enthusiasm. People in Founougo like rabbit and there isn’t really anyone who sells it. Rabbits also grow very fast. I am interested to see how I can help her. I have been networking with Summer’s old homologue to find interested women. I think there may be some grant-application in the future, since Foussena would like to build more cement rabbit hutches.

School is also /starting/ to start up this week. I was told that it would take a while for the schedule to be published and lesson plans to be subsequently written and for classes to actually start. When they do, I would like to observe a couple, until I get a feel for the rhythm of classes here. After that I am hoping to offer to teach a couple classes, at different levels, on environmental topics (possibly with a nutrition tie-in). There also is a vegetable garden started which I now believe is shared between the three primary schools. I am eager to get working with kids on that. There is a lot that is still growing from last year; carrots and tomatoes and cabbage… However, since it’s the end of the rainy season, the fence around the garden is breaking down and animals can get in. That’s kind of stressful, and not very easy to fix immediately. I’m talking with people about the problem.

I’ve also gotten to see some of the mudstoves that already exist in Founougo, many of which were made with the last volunteer. I’m hoping to see more of them this coming week. Once the rainy season ends some people will be repairing their stoves, and it will also be an ideal time to make new ones!

There are other little bits and pieces but those are the broad brush strokes. I am eager to tell you about daily life!

Non-work:

I am actually really living in a house with no running water and no electricity. This provides a shifting scale of excitement and contentment and anxiety. I will say I am missing the internet and movies. However being able to call home has been a big, important lifeline. Not having running water was tricky the first couple days. The first time I went to wash dishes and had to think, “wait. Where… do I… put this.” But in a twister-like game of one thing and then another, I’ve figured out a system, and the lack of running water doesn’t really phase me, I just need to make sure I stay ahead of having good water in the house. That is becoming more and more routine.

As for the house itself, I actually really love it. I inherited a respectable amount of furniture (even after sharing some with Camille, my post mate). The house has bright green walls and stays relatively cool and well lit during the day. I have a porch with a garden and compost bin already set up. I love the kitchen and am spending a lot of time there.

Lately, cooking has been my major creative outlet. I cooked all my meals for myself while I was in Hawaii, and I am really enjoying getting back to that. It is so nice to be in control of how my food is prepared, and to be able to choose what I am going to eat, and it’s just so nice to get to create things every day. I’ve been eating a lot of eggplant, both stir fried and in tomato sauce. I’ve also had a lot of African yams – sweeter than potatoes, but savorier than sweet-potatoes. I have been pleasantly surprised that so far I have been able to find a constant supply of fruit – mostly guavas with some bananas, oranges, limes and coconut mixed in there. Rice and beans have also been a trusty staple. I haven’t branched out into meat and cheese too much yet. I wanted to be sure I mastered safely cleaning and preparing my fruits and vegetables, and also get to know the market a little, before I jumped into that culinary deep end. I’m still taking my time.

I get out into the community every day and get lots of practice speaking Bariba (the most common local language here). Salutations are very important in this culture, so it’s easy to get to introduce myself to the neighbors!

On that note let’s take a look at a slice of daily life in Founougo.

Daily life:

I try to wake up right as the sun is coming up. The first hour of the day is the coolest, and it feels like a good window of time to get things done. I usually visit the latrine and then pull up water from the well and water the garden. Then I usually draw up another bucket of water that is split between water for dishes, boiled drinking water (if need be) and shower water. After that I might take a bucket shower, but most days I proceed straight to making breakfast.

I turn on the gas on the propane tank and light the gas stove. I have a small metal teapot, and I either make tea or wonderful American coffee (just like in Hawaii). The first two weeks I had oatmeal, and this last week I had Honey bread (which I made! In a ‘dutch oven’) with an orange. I almost always eat breakfast sitting in a wooden Adirondak (-esque) chair on my porch, watching the day get brighter. After breakfast I wash the dishes, first in a large plastic bowl with liquid dish soap, then rinse them in a second plastic bowl that just has water.

After breakfast I get dressed for the day and put on sunscreen. The window of time between about 8 and 10 is ideal if you have to do any laundry (this requires three larger plastic bowls). It can also be a good time to study Bariba a bit. If I’m not doing either of those things, I put on my big sun hat and strap on my sandals or put on my rainboots to go visit people.

I live across a dam/semi-flooded road, or “barrage” from most of town. I have had impressively good luck at not falling in, so far. Then I saluer (SAL-yoo-way), or greet people. I saluer the kid who is usually at the butcher’s shop. I saluer the women who braid hair, I saluer the woman who is /always/ selling fried dough balls. I saluer the woman who runs a small convenience store. Then the moto-taxi drivers, the guy who owns the phone charging boutique, and the other women selling streetfood, especially the one close to the school who loves to chat with me a little. Most of the greetings (and more besides) happen while I’m still walking.  There are a good number where I will just stop for a few seconds to exchange general questions about health, and work, and family, before moving on.

From there I visit the schools, or practice Bariba with Summer’s old homologue, Gnon Tori, or I say ‘Hi’ to Seidou or Foussena, and I almost always visit my homologue’s house and catch up with him a bit.

Around noon I head home and make lunch. Sometimes this is what I had for dinner, thoroughly reheated. In the afternoon I lie low and read some technical manuals, or practice Bariba, or possibly cook a bit. Around 3 I might venture out again. Every 4 days market comes to town and I pick up fresh produce for then next couple days. I might also go drop my phone off at the charging cabin, or go visit anyone I still need to after the morning round of social-ness.

Around 6, I water the plants and pull up more water from the well, if need be, especially for the shower. I take a bucket-bath and then start preparing dinner. As it gets dark, I usually use a solar powered desk lamp propped up on a shelf, and I can see very well to cook with that. I usually do most of the dishes while dinner is cooling a little. After dinner I wipe down the counter and put all my fresh food in a plastic container, to discourage any interested bugs and animals. Then I read, or possibly listen to the radio until bed.

That’s the basic idea of general life here. There will be other random visits, and some calls and texts with other volunteers, some sweating, some dozing, some adding a little more sugar. I have to say, in general I am really enjoying the challenge and the adjustment. I’m excited to see what work I get to do!

Anecdotes:

Now it’s time for some of the most important anecdotes over the last three weeks. Moving up here was an important one.

Camille and I shared a station wagon taxi, and we set off before it was light out. I was nervous we would never make it to Founougo before it got dark, but the roads were clear, and amazingly, we got to Founougo a little before 6! We went to Camille’s house first and as luck would (not) have it, her landlord was traveling and there was no way to get into the house! It was suggested that her stuff be taken to my house, but I pushed for it to be left there, because our houses are kind of on opposite ends of town, and I didn’t see another helpful station wagon being likely in our future. We wound up leaving her things on the porch, believing the landlord would be back that night.

Now it came time to cross the barrage. It was looking pretty flooded, but I had seen the Peace Corps jeep cross it, so I was curious to see if the driver would make it work if we asked him to. He wouldn’t make it work. He tried edging out onto the barrage, but at the first sign of getting stuck in the rocks, he refused and said he would take my stuff back to Camille’s. This was not a very appealing option, since Camille hadn’t even gotten into her house yet, never mind how far away it was.

By this point a small crowd had gathered around the car, with several people offering their opinions. A couple able-bodied young men offered to carry my stuff over the barrage to my house. I looked around. I didn’t know any of these guys, but it seemed like they were going to be my new neighbors. I thoughts about all my stuff, and trying to haul it piecemeal from Camille’s house. I looked at the guys and thought, “lets do this.” So with one moto, one bicycle, 7 guys, and Camille and I bravely and foolishly taking more than either of us could carry, we set off across the barrage in the failing light.

Amazingly, nothing fell in, and even though I was far and away the last one to make it to my house, all my stuff was there waiting for me. After getting in the door, one of my neighbors helpfully took me aside and explained that it was expected that I pay them, and then recommended a price. I was very grateful that she realized I didn’t know what was normal for men carrying all your worldly possessions across a flooded road. All things considered, I think it went amazingly well.

Camille, as it turns out, wound up spending that night and the next one, at one of her neighbor’s houses. She was incredibly resilient and easy going with the wait, and she is very happily moved in now.

Church:

The morning after I arrived was Sunday morning. So, as was the logical thing to do, I stepped out my front door and said ‘hi’ to my neighbors that were pulling up water, preparing breakfast, and generally hanging around. I said, “is anyone going to church, and can I go too?” They took me to the Catholic Church in town, which I had visited when I was in town for two weeks in August. This time around I was more prepared to introduce myself during the announcements and was even half waiting to be put on the spot. Everything went smoothly, and afterwards I was able to say hi to my hosts from the previous visit.

The next week, my homologue’s kids took me to the local Evangelical Church. When we got there, there were about 10 adults all standing up and praying out loud simultaneously. I had seen this in the Boston area, so I wasn’t too thrown off. After some minutes of this a bell rang and one man said, “Now we are going to have French inside, and Bariba outside”. I stayed inside and everyone else went outside except for the man who had made the announcement and one kindly old man. To this day I am still skeptical of his level of French. As he and I sat there and listened to the man speak, I thought “I like the tone of this church, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to go to a church that only has two people showing up on Sunday morning.” However, as the man continued to talk another five or so people showed up. I was surprised by how much the man who was talking would single people out and asked them for examples. After about an hour the Bariba-speakers came back in and then church started. I had been at Sunday School that whole time! The service itself was well attended and had really lively music that was easy to sing along to. It was a good experience.

Church also featured one of the best tee shirts I have seen here. A lot of English tee shirts make their way to Benin, and people here don’t really stress out about what the shirts say. I’ve seen a man with California Kittens on his shirt (another favorite). In this case a young man was wearing a brown tee shirt and it took me most of the service to finally be able to read the whole thing. It said, “Good Boys go to Heaven/ Bad Boys go to London” I couldn’t help smiling to myself. Does that take on a different interpretation if you wear it to church? I don’t know. I thought about asking him for it, but it wouldn’t fit me anyway!

Mail!

So with regards to sending mail: First off, emails are great, and so are facebook messages. Thanks for those, and feel free to keep ‘em coming J

Large packages should always go to Cotonou:

Lauren Mawe

Corps de la Paix

BP 971

Cotonou, Benin

That stuff is sent to Cotonou where Peace Corps Administration picks it up and delivers mail around to the work stations once a month. This means it can take a long time for things to get to me, but it is definitely the most secure means of sending something.

For letters and small package envelopes, the 5 Banikoara volunteers are sharing a PO box, at least until the end of the year. That mailbox is only 45 minutes away for me, so it’s easier to get to, and letters will probably get to me faster than they would via Cotonou. The address for that is

Lauren Mawe

01 BP 37

Banikoara, Benin

West Africa

Also: Recieveing calls is free, so if you ever want to buy a calling card, or figure out sSkype calls or Google voice, or any of that fun stuff, email me and I will give you my phone number J

To Sum up:

Adjusting to life here is a daily (weekly, monthly) process. However, the challnges have been so exciting. For the first time in my life I really feel like the physical challenges put before me have made me strongerthan I was before, and I have surprised myself. Not having he internet is tough, but I am so grateful to have so much support from my friends and family.

I am glad to be getting to share this all with you. If all goes according to plan I should be able to update, and get a long gulp of internet, in three weeks time. Until then, keep being awesome. J

With much love,

Lauren

Two Peace Corps Volunteers

Swear In

Hello Everyone!

Wow. Here we are. I can hardly believe it, but I have actually sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! Who let that happen? On one hand I can see how I have worked so hard to get here, overcome so much, grown so much, and on the other hand it feels like the time has flown by, and I’ve really just shown up for classes and wondered what was for lunch. I guess that’s typical.

Yesterday my host family had an “Au Revoir dinner” for me, which strongly resembled Ornelia’s birthday. We had shishkabobs (a first for me in a Benin) and some strange starchy cakes, that might be called Ablo. The kids got soda and us ‘adults’ had beer. I was relieved that there wasn’t a cake. I didn’t really want a big fuss, and honestly I wasn’t ready for the good bye dinner and I didn’t have any presents ready for them! They gave me a dress/poncho which is apparently traditional for the area Papa is from, near Bohicon. It’s a little quirkier than most of the stuff they usually wear, but I’m all the happier to receive it. There’s a lizard embroidered on the front. (I did give them presents today, but I will get to that).

When I was eating dinner, I thought about all that had happened in my time with the host family. I thought about my first dinner, nervously trying to make conversation (only to find out later that conversation at the dinner table is generally considered rude). I thought about the morning when my little host sister Cena had to show me how to open the can of Nescafe. Then I thought about everything after that. I went to a party for a first communion and a party for a wedding. Cena lost a tooth, Jerro threw up on the floor one time, Ornelia had malaria for a little less than a week in there, Ornelia had a birthday, a baby came and visited regularly, a grandma visited, cousins came and left. We ate, we drank, we laughed, we watched soap operas. I can’t done being greatful to this family for opening their home to me. They have been so patient and loving. When I went to the couturier, or seamstress one time with my host mama, another mama talked with us there, when she found out who was hosting me she said I had a great host mama, “elle est gentile avec tout la monde” ‘she is kind to everyone’. That certainly is true and it stuck with me because of it.

Today we had the Swear In Ceremony. My dress was fabulous. The buses were slow. The Ambassador’s house is so mice and air conditioned, though the ceremony was outside. It took a long time to start. We had to wait for honorable invitees to arrive. The speeches were good and I was pleased with how well I could generally follow the French. As per tradition, trainee/volunteers also gave short speeches in Fon, Barbi, and Wama, which some have been studying since the beginning of July. Swearing in was a pretty quick process, and I had one of those “I don’t feel any different” moments. I think the realization comes a little more slowly. Still, we were all happy and excited. Little by little I am feeling ready to get to my post and get to work.

In the afternoon we got to shop in Cotonou a bit. I went to Erevans; the big, overpriced superstore where you can buy almost anything western. I had fun and spent a little too much money. Among the conquests was SPF 50 sunscreen, a great pillow, two sented candles, chopsticks, and cinnamon. I think I kept myself in check essentially. After that I went to a seed store and spent way too much money on papaya seeds. Those had better work out!

The drive back to Porto Novo was riddled with traffic and when we got back it was dark. The buses dropped us off at Songhai and we all said our goodbyes, or at least ‘see you later’s. It was a sad moment. A lot of little things have given me flash backs to leaving for the Peace Corps. This is partially encouraging, because that transition went well, all things considered. The dinner with my host family made me remember saliently my last dinner with my family, featuring surprise lobsters. Planning the trip to Erevans’ made me think of my last trip to Home depot, when it was hotter in Boston than in Benin and I wanted a knife sharpened (no correlation, I swear!). Saying goodbye just reminds me how great the people in my life are.

When I got back to my host family we had a fairly low key dinner. I wore my new poncho dress and gave them some small gifts from Erevans and some of the beads and string my mom sent for the kids. After dinner I watched the Indian soap opera Sheree for the last time (for better or worse). I said good night to my host parents and started down the hallway to go to my room. Cena met me in the hallway. I don’t think she said anything, I think she just stopped and looked up at me. I smiled and held out my hand and she took it. I told her I would come back for her birthday in January. She just sort of smiled and shuffled her feet. And then she kept holding my hand, standing there for probably ten minutes. I just let her. I was so touched and didn’t know what else to do. Her two younger brothers started joking around and pushing each other or just laughing. Cena and I laughed to, but we kept hanging on to each others hands. Finally Ornelia came by and told Cena that I needed to pack and go to bed. I asked Cena if she would wake up early to say good bye. She said yes, so I told her for now it wasn’t goodbye, just goodnight. The whole encounter was so wonderful and so heart breaking. I guess you never can fully know what you mean to people. I didn’t want to let go of her hand, but I guess it had to happen eventually.

I don’t often find myself saying that events have changed me, or made me grow measurably. I hope I haven’t lost anything that I was when I left Boston, I don’t think I have. However, I feel like I have surprised myself and stretched myself through all the adjustments that have been made so far. I can negotiate a fair price for a motorcycle taxi ride to my destination in a culturally appropriate way. I lived for two weeks in two cement rooms overrun with spiders. I’ve gotten to know and love a family that was once strangers. I have come to believe that I can succeed in my own apartment in rural, upcountry, Benin. (I sometimes think of the quote from Tim Burton’s Alica in Wonderland, ‘Sometimes I think of five impossible things before breakfast’).

Gratefulness is what I keep coming back to, and it is the most fitting. I feel so lucky to get to encounter these crazy challenges, and I feel grateful to share them with you.

On that note, sadly, this will be my last post from Porto Novo. Tomorrow morning (bright and early) I am heading up to Founougo. I have dreams of being able to update the blog weekly, but we will see what works out. In the mean time I think it will take at least a month to get some sort of routine figured out. I expect to be in touch with my parents, if you have any pressing comments or questions.

Thanks for sharing this journey with me. I look forward to seeing where it leads!

With love,

Lauren