Hello Everyone!
Happy Weekend! As tends to be the case, it’s been a busy
Saturday!
In the morning Heidi and I got Zemis to class. My motorcycle
helmet was recently replaced with a newer one, and since we have been biking,
this was the first time I got to try it out! It is very nice. However, I miss
the Boston stickers (Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics) that a previous volunteer
put on my old helmet. It seemed pretty lucky to me. Hopefully I won’t need luck
with my newer less beat up helmet!
Once we all met up for class, we had some time to review and
chat before each of our language interviews. There were several new Beninese
outfits to admire.
I felt like my interview went well. It was definitely better
than my initial language interview in Cotonou, the day before we met our host
families. I felt like I conveyed my thoughts more clearly, and I was seldom
scrambling for the word I wanted. However, I am worried that I didn’t correctly
use enough different tenses to move up a level. We will see how it goes!
After the interview we went in shifts to the Porto Novo
Palace Museum. We got a tour of all the different rooms, and their traditional
purposes. It was interesting to hear about different traditions for Porto Novo
Kings, and I was impressed by the well recorded lineage in a culture that,
through most of its history didn’t have a written language. However, the tour
didn’t really get to go into detail about the art or other scenery that would
have been in the Palace, and we didn’t have a chance to get into Benin’s more
recent history, which I would like to learn more about. Today, there are still
regional kings in Benin, who sere a social role while the elected government
makes and enforces rules and regulations (just like Great Britain!).
When everyone finished with the tours we commenced with what
I thought would be the most stressful part of the day. We had been told a few
days ago that we would be divided into groups of 7-10 and would go tone
trainees house to make some Beninese cuisine. There was a lot of ambiguity
around who was buying the ingredients, and how we were going to learn to make
this food. It turned out that different host families volunteered, and I wound
up going to the trainee David’s house. His family was given some money by the
peace corps and bought the ingredients needed for the food we wanted to make.
The family also guided us through cooking the cuisine. We made talli talli,
which is sort of a fried banana deliciousness, benignets, rice with eggplant
and a spicy peanut sauce, and sliced pineapple. It was so good and I ate so
much! Even though I had my doubts going into the activity it turned out to work
out perfectly. I learned how to make some Beninese cuisine, ate a meal that I
helped chose and thought was delicious, and got to share the activity with my
Peace Corps friends. Who could ask for anything more?
Upon arriving at the home of my host family, I chatted and
caught up a bit. My mama was mercifully understanding when I only took a half
portion of dinner (half portion for me, which is more like a quarter portion
for the rest of the family!). We had beef for the first time since I left the
states and it was delicious. I couldn’t help but wonder why all the delicious
food was in my life on the same day!
After dinner the power went out. This happens somewhat
frequently in Benin. I picked that up the first time it happened and no one
commented or reacted. Usually it comes back on in 10 minutes to half an hour.
This time it’s been a little longer, maybe an hour now. We chatted by candlelight
for a while, and I talked about when the power went out for a day at my house
in the United States over Christmas break.
Who knows what tomorrow will hold. For today, I’m just
thankful for great food!
Thanks for reading,
Love,
Lauren
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