Hello Everyone!

Life is a crazy thing isn’t it. I got sick here for the first time yesterday. Just some pretty minor food poisoning, but I did take it pretty seriously. It was a little tough to try to explain to my host mama that I wasn’t going to eat anything until dinner time. She already thinks that I eat way to little. Still, she was really supportive and flexible. I had to laugh though. We had a good conversation in the morning where I explained that my stomach needed to rest, and I would just have some plain white rice for dinner. Naturally I was served a heaping cup of white rice with chicken and fried plantains. Oh cultural differences. Fortunately, my appetite had really come back by then and I was happy to eat. She knows that fried plantains are a little bit of a comfort food for me, so it was a kind gesture. (Plus you are supposed to eat bananas when your stomach is recovering, and plantains are like bananas right?) Anyway, after giving my stomach a rest for most of the day I’m feeing much better.

We have a section of our French language class where we wander around the area and practice our French with people nearby. I am always hesitant to take the plunge, but it has been an invaluable experience. Yesterday we talked with a waitress who is a refugee from Cote D’Ivoire. It was interesting to hear her talk about how developed Cote D’Ivoire is compared to Benin, and we also talked a lot about culture around family and marriage. It was really interesting to talk (and speak French) with someone who was also an outsider to Benin, and had an additional perspective on the country.

Today I talked with a group of high school students in the area who just finished exams. That is always fun because they have interesting questions about culture. Today I had a hard time comprehending though; partly because I was feeling under the weather and partly because at least one person was speaking pretty quickly and quietly. Great practice I guess. One of the reasons we do this is so that we are speaking French with people who aren’t French teachers.

This afternoon we did a section on cultural adjustment. We got this great textbook from the Peace Corps that talks about perception of Cultural differences, adjustment, and general stresses and challenges in the Peace Corps. Strangely, I felt pretty good after that section. I know there are a lot of challenges ahead, and recognizing and managing cultural differences can be like walking on egg shells. However, I was encouraged that there weren’t really any surprises in that section, and that most volunteers have low moments getting along in a new culture. It’s a challenge that is worth getting through.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren