Thursday, June 28, 2012

First Night in Benin!


Hi Everyone!

I know this post probably isn’t going to hit the internet until Thursday, but I am writing it on Tuesday night, my first night in Benin.

Today started when we exited our plane from JFK in Brussels, Belgium. We had a 5 hour lay-over and shopped around a little bit. I bought two books I French, the 7th Harry Potter, and P’tit Pif, a novel about a young neandertal and his mammoth. P’tit Pif is geared towards 7 year olds, but it’s still giving me a run for my money. Hopefully that will change with some practice.

The flight from Belgium to Benin consisted mostly of sleeping and being woken up to eat some pretty decent plane food. As we entered the final hour of the flight, we were all craning out the windows to try to catch the first glimpse of the country. I was surprised at how easy it was for us to share the mix of excitement and nervousness we all felt. As the plane finally started it’s decent we were able to make out the coast, or the Bight of Benin.  We were all surprised by how many lights we could see. There were glowing highways stretching out below us, and an even covering of illuminated two story houses.

At security, we were greeted by two Beninese Peace Corps Staff who helped us find our luggage. There were also about 8 current volunteers who cheered for us as we crossed through security.

The compound we are staying in this week has several dorm buildings, as well as a dining hall. The space in between buildings is covered by several inches of red sand. You do constantly feel a little like you are trekking across the beach, but my wheeled suitcase made it through fine so no complaints here!

Looking at my first few hours in Benin, and my first few days in the peace corps, I am really pleased with all the experiences, and grateful to the people I have met. I feel like taking things one day at a time s crucial. It would be easy to be over whelmed at this moment, but I am choosing to focus on how nice it was to put our bags down in our rooms, and just think about what time I need to be at breakfast tomorrow.

My thoughts are with you all back west. Thank you so much for your prayers and your interests. I am so glad to get to share my journey with you.

Sincerely,
Lauren

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