**I wrote this post on Friday, June 29th**
First Day with my host family
Today was one of the days that I have been most nervous
about: the day we all met our host families. I have got to say, it’s been so
great!
In the morning we packed up our stuff at St.Jean Eudes
dormitory/hotel/compound (I never quite figured that out) and went to the Peace
Corps base in Cotonou. After an introduction to what French class will be like
over the next three weeks, we loaded onto the buses and drove to Cotonou.
When we got there we were supposed to find our family, based
on a picture we had gotten earlier. My family seemed to have a Mom, Dad, an
older girl (maybe an aunt? Maybe a sister? It was hard to tell) and then a girl
and two boys under the age of 12. I was having a difficult time finding them,
but didn’t feel too bad, because I was seeing equally confused expressions on
the faces of the Beninese host families. Finally I found my host papa and he
greeted me with a handshake and a kiss on the cheek. From that moment, through
the rest of the day, the family has been so generous, understanding, and
enthusiastic.
After meeting a host family we had to sit through a few
speeches about how great this Volunteer-hosting is (I was pretty sold, who am I
kidding). Afterwards we were supposed to meet up with our French teachers. I
explained to my host papa that I had not met my French teacher yet. He went up
to /my/ Peace Corps schedule coordinator to explain to her the problem! I
thought that was very kind.
When we got to the house they showed me to my lovely room
with light blue walls and (wait for it) my own bathroom! I never expected to
have my own bathroom and was a little worried about the politics of sharing an
outhouse with family members. Clearly my expectations were way low. I have my
own room with a locked door in addition to a locked safe box (apparently the
Beninese are really into locking things, so this isn’t offensive). And yeah, I
have my own private bathroom!
As the family showed me the room my host papa told me ‘we
had this double bed, but the peace corps said only a single for one person, so
I hope this is ok’. They had bought a single mattress and put it on top of the
double mattress!
The kids are pretty bashful around me, but they seem really
sweet. I’m excited to get to know them better. My host mama talks a little fast
for me at this point, so I haven’t gotten to know her as well but she has been
so genially kind, welcoming and hospitable, I am pretty excited to work my way
into cooking and working with her.
Oh, they also have a wonderful air conditioned car in a
world of motorbikes, and so does their neighbor who is hosting my classmate,
Heidi. So it’s been a pretty great soft landing for me. I’m feeling really
lucky and really excited. As we were driving from the big meet and greet to the
host house, I couldn’t help smiling to myself. I am moving into Benin. And so
far, it has been all of the wonderful different yet familiar adventure I could
have dared hope that it would be.
I am having the adventure of a life time and I am loving it.
With love,
Lauren
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