New French Classes

Hello Everyone,

Another busy day in Benin!

Health first: I have been amazed by how affective the cream and antibiotic have been. The swelling on my skin infection is down at least 80%. Yay doctors!

Also, today I came to find out that it was not one chicken living outside my window, but three! No wonder they were making so much noise. Another volunteer, Josh, lives on a chicken farm. I don’t know how he gets any sleep. As for me, I put earplugs next to my bed and actually put them in after I woke up, while I was getting ready. It kept my morning a little more serene. Fortunately or unfortunately, our gang of three chickens is now down to one (and the other two were delicious! XD Sorry chickens).

After successfully navigating morning with chickens, Heidi and I took Zemi taxis to Songhai. We actually both got very reasonable prices. It’s taken a while to get better at bartering, but I think we are learning a thing or two.

At Songhai I learned that I placed Intermediate High on the language test. That’s four levels higher than when I started, so there is a lot to feel good about. However, Heidi did place higher than me, which means for this week at least, we are in different classes. I think I need to be more of a perfectionist about my grammar, and push myself to use different tenses. My comprehension is relatively good, I just need to push myself to think out my conjugations a little more before I speak.

Class today was mostly administrative work, talking about safe travel, and mental health. It was all reasonably easy and manageable.

Tomorrow my new French class will be meeting at Songhai. There are two other students in the class, David (who hosted the cuisine challenge last Saturday) and Sarah A. who is a self-proclaimed herpetologist. They are both pretty cool, but I don’t know either of them very well, and neither of them live very close (sadly!). I guess I will have to get to know Porto Novo a little better.

Tonight Heidi is in Cotonou so that she can be examined by one of the doctors tomorrow. She has had a persistent cough for maybe two weeks, and it’s time to get that checked out. I hope she has my good luck with diagnosis and treatment!

Also, (depending on how you want to count) it was one month ago today that I left for the Peace Corps. What a month it’s been! I’ve been so lucky to have so many things go in my favor, and to have the challenges be manageable. I am so grateful that I’ve been able to communicate so frequently. Being able to share my experiences with you (and to hear from many of you also!) has meant so much to me. I know the road ahead is going to have more challenges in store. I am so grateful to have such a strong, well-supported start.

Thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren