Working in Groupements

Hello friends,

Here we are on the eve of my third month first-of-the-month in Benin. Realizing that makes me feel really affirmed and confident. It is strange to think that riding on the back of a motorcycle past dusty streets crammed with bread vendors would ever seem normal; or eating boiled flour paste would ever be appetizing. Yet here I am, and here we all are in stage 25 of Peace Corps Benin, getting ready for the next challenge.

Since coming back from post visit, life has seemed very busy. I am starting to feel more comfortable adventuring out into Porto Novo with other volunteers. It seems like every day there is a reason to go to the marche or sit and chat at a buvette (or bar). We also are having an hour of local language class, about 3 times a week, after our regular classes. Besides that we in Environmental action are also watering our garden beds before and after class every day. Incidentally, the garden is doing really great. The garden bed that I share responsibility over has okra seeds, and we have healthy looking seedlings that are growing every day. It’s almost enough to make a person think they are good at this stuff. Almost.

The days are going by fast, and there is lots of talk about Swear-In (September 14^th!) and buying the things we need for post with our Move-In Allowance, and life at post in those first three months before our in service training. People are really excited about getting back to their assigned villages. I have to admit that I am a little nervous that it is going to be a big adjustment. However, the practical training we have been getting is a big help. It’s encouraging to think that I could work on simple projects that could really help people. Here is a small example:

Over the past few weeks, our group of EA volunteers has met with some gardening groups in the area surrounding Porto Novo. This week we met with one group in particular and learned that they wanted to know more about natural pesticides. We were able to pretty easily look some things up in our ‘EA Toolkit’ Handbook, and present a lesson, complete with a demonstration. (Incidentally, making a tea by boiling strong smelling plants like garlic, chillis, even dry tobacco leaves, mixing that with soap for cohesion, and watering the leaves of your plants with that twice a day two days a week, makes for a very good natural pesticide. Who knew!) So in one run on sentence I was able to tell you what to do. However, working on this session made me realize that I have a lot of almost assumed advantages that many of these women don’t have. I speak one (or generously two) widely spoken, international languages. I can read and write. I have access to a computer with internet. I have money to travel to a library or book store. I know people who are very knowledgeable about agriculture and gardening. All of these things make it very easy for me to gain new information about gardening. Even though these women have been gardening for years, finding new methods and news solutions seems to continue to be a challenge.

Looking forward, it will be interesting to see how that changes. (It will also be interesting to see how my understanding of their available resources changes). I think the above illustration shows how important education is here and in other developing countries. Speaking a widely spoken language and being able to read and write is invaluable for improving your life, your family, your community, and your country. At the same time, it is mind bending to observe a culture that doesn’t have electricity, but does have cellphones. It’s crazy to watch teenage girls pound yams with a giant mortar and pestles, like people have been doing for thousands of years, and then text their friends about it. I suspect that cellphones are already changing information availability, and I think that will only increase with time.

Benin is on an interesting and exciting adventure, and I am glad to be on that adventure with it.

Thanks for reading! With Love,

Lauren

Birthdays!

Hello Everyone!

Every day brings new adventures, and the last three have been no exceptions.

Monday was the birthday of Ornelia, my oldest host sister here. She is 12 now! I thought ahead and bought her a simply beaded necklace when I was up in the north, and I also made her a birthday card. I was nervous about giving them to her though, because traditions around birthdays are different here. The evening was a real guessing game. When I got home I took a quick shower and put on a casual tee shirt and skirt. I then walked out into the living room to find my host mama loading up a plastic bucket with drinks and ice.

“When does the party start?” I asked, after the customary standard greetings.

“The party starts when I finish making dinner!”

“That’s the perfect time! I guess I should change my clothes(?)”

“Oh no, it’s just going to be the family”

This of course left me wondering if ‘just the family’ meant ‘just the people that live in the house, or just all of the extended family ever. It turned out that it was just the family in the house, and we just had a big feast for the 7 of us. I was proud to sincerely enjoy the pate rouge, fresh grilled chicken, spicy sauce, and the cold beer that I was offered (all the kids got sugary drinks, which was very exceptional). We even had a home made coffee cake with icing. After it seemed like he festivities were mostly over, I summoned up my courage and presented my card and the necklace. Ornelia loved them both and both parents sincerely thanked me and said hat it was a nice gift. I was very relieved to have navigated our different cultures successfully to hit the ‘just a little extra generous’ mark. Ornelia has been wearing the necklace every day. J

Tuesday was actually the birthday of a fellow Trainee, Brian. A group hung around for dinner at Songhai. I had a delicious fresh salad that was almost unbelievable. Because Brian is posted close to Porto Novo, he actually invited his homologue to the birthday dinner, and I got to chat with him a bit. It was really exciting to talk to someone who is working in a Beninese Organization that is concerned with food security. I picked his brain as best I could.

Today I got to go to the couturier, or seamstress, with fabric my host mama had picked out for me right before I left for post visit. I now have two dresses in the works, and I’m very excited to see how they come out.

Technical training has been very helpful and very motivating. There are lots of small achievable tasks that really seem like they would help our communities. Recently we have gotten to can tomatoes, prep seeds for a tree nursery, and also work on our vegetable garden and do some composting. It’s very motivating to get getting some practical work in.

That’s the update for now. Thanks for reading!

With Love,

Lauren

Hi everyone,

It’s been a pretty standard Sunday with church in the morning and relaxing, reading, and watching TV in the afternoon. Because things are starting to form a routine, I will take some time here to tell you about an important phenomenon in daily life. The term “Yovo”.

The term yovo means foreigner, and generally white person. In the United States and many other countries, addressing someone by such a broad ethnic title would be very offensive. Here people do use the term yovo to address foreigners, and it isn’t intended to be offensive.

In fact, in Beninese culture, it’s very normal and even respectful to address people by titles. The oldest daughter and oldest son in my host family are often referred to as ‘Dada’ and ‘Fofo’ respectively, referring to their roles as oldest siblings. I didn’t even know my host mama’s first name until a few weeks ago. This can be extended even further to say that in Beninese culture it is not rude to comment on outward appearances. Our host families and homologues had to be informed that in the United States, commenting about pimples, body hair, weight gain, and skin tone are all culturally inappropriate.

The term ‘yovo’ specifically has been very interesting for us American volunteers, because here in the south people, especially little kids will excitedly call out to greet you based on the name they know for you. It’s not uncommon to walk down the street being greeted by a chorus of “Yovo Yovo Bonsoir!” from excited kids and adults alike. It certainly gets old after a while, but it is a real interesting reminder of how our cultural perceptions tint our view. It’s easy to get offended, but you look at people’s faces and hear the tone of their voice and know that they aren’t trying to say something negative.

All the same, it’s very gratifying that my host family, and homologue, understand that Americans don’t appreciate being called yovo. They will almost always correct people when they hear them. I once took a walk in my neighborhood with my host siblings, and by the end of the walk they were all pretty fed up with hearing the word yovo every 50 feet. That was exciting for me, because they literally got to walk in my shoes and will probably be telling their friends about the experience for years to come.

Incidentally, in the North of Benin (i.e. in Founougo) it’s a little different, in my experience, a little more pleasant. The word for white person/foreigner is ‘Baturi’ (Bah-too-ree) and I find that has a little bit more of an elegant sound. Also, in the south it isn’t uncommon for people to just exclaim “Yovo!” as you walk by. One trainee said it seems kind of like bunch-bugee some times. In the North, where greeting people is even more culturally valued, people are much more likely to say, “Baturi, comment ca-va?” (how’s it going?).

Cultural differences make life interesting. I’m grateful to be getting to learn more about them here.

Thanks for reading! With love,

Lauren

Technical training

Hello everyone!

How are things in the States? Things are pretty good here. We have now completed our first week of technical training and two months (and some change) here in Benin. For me, this is pretty reaffirming. Whatever happens from here on out, having lived in West Africa for two months is nothing to sneeze at!

My first package from home arrived two days ago. I got home made cookies from my Grandma. A more perfect sentence was never formed. I was pretty surprised by how excited I was to receive something from home. My mom says that there are a few other items in the mail somewhere in the world, and it’s taking us both an extra measure of patience to wait for those to get here.

Technical training has been going well. The Environmental Action volunteers (including myself) have started a practice garden at Songhai with cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, and a few local legumes used in Beninese sauces. We split up watering the plots every morning and evening. We also got to help with Songhai’s composting system. It’s smelly work for sure, but really exciting to learn more about composting. Those ‘in the field’ activities have been interspersed with lectures in the classroom. Today for example we talked about organizing different meetings in Beninese towns.

We have pretty quickly fallen into a pattern of meeting for class every day at Songhai. There’s negotiating Zem prices in the morning, or biking, then watering, then class for two hours, then a break. A lot of people like to buy avocado on a baguette at break time, but I usually refrain. After some more class time I usually cross the road with a couple people and buy lunch from the rice and beans lady on the side of the road. Sometimes I get the rice and beans with cheese, but always with a spicy tomato sauce. It’s pretty tasty in my opinion. After lunch I often buy a chopped up pineapple. In the afternoon is more class, then biking or zemming home. It’s a good system and being in technical training is giving me lots of little ideas for post. I try to write them all down. Still, I find that I really enjoy being with all the other volunteers and it’s sad that we don’t have any more classes with the three other sectors until right before we swear in as Volunteers. Baby steps to life at post I guess!

That is about it for right now. With any luck I will post more tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren

TWO WEEKS IN FOUNOUGO

Wow.  The last two weeks have been such a process, and such an adventure. A challenge and a gift.

When I came back to Porto Novo, I was surprised by how much more confident I felt. Each thing that greeted me, each time I needed to greet someone, each spider, each jemidjan negotiation, I felt notably more prepared and proficient. I have learned and taken on a lot in the last two weeks, there has been a confidence boost that has gone with that.

The Journey:

Saturday night I packed my bags for two weeks in the unknown. My host mama made my favorite Beninese dish, fish and chips, and presented me with plantains, shortbread cookies, and gum for the trip. I was really touched by the thoughtful gifts and gestures.

Sunday morning I got up early and my host papa drove me to where I met up with the other volunteers heading north and our homologues. We spent most of the day on the bus. For my part, I was pretty content to shut down and listen to my music, with few needs and few expectations. I was surprised to notice that the homologues did a few things that at the time, I found a little rude and annoying. By the end of my stay in Founougo I understood where they were coming from. Perhaps 2 ½ or 3 hours into our 8 hour voyage, the Beninese people on the bus (our homologues and supervisors) insisted that the driver stop for a break. To my horror, when they came back on the bus many of them had big cement bags (like potato sacks) of oranges. I can understand wanting to bring back a gift for people at home, but wasn’t it a little late for souvenir shopping? Anyway, we didn’t have that much space to begin with. To make matters worse, no more than an hour later they were insisting we stop for food because they were hungry. Fortunately, the place we stopped did have really tastey avocado sandwiches and sliced pineapples. We were trucking through, but the whole thing was very un-American.

I will spare you the suspense and let you know now what I gradually found out over the next few days. Fruit, especially fresh fruit, is a very very limited commodity in the north right now. At my villages market, even after a serious tour, the best one could find was limes and coconuts. I wished that I had bought a cement bag full of oranges!

Also, the place that we stopped, Bohicon, is the best rest stop along the major highway of Benin. One of the current volunteers later joked that it’s practically a requirement that buses stop there. Throughout my travels I had to agree that for options, freshness, and price, Bohicon really was the best place around.

I don’t get blind sided by cultural differences /too/ often, but the ones mentioned above did catch me off guard. It was a good learning experience. I think sometimes the areas we feel like we should be professionals in, (road-tripping for example) are the areas where we are in most danger of failing to observe cultural differences. Anyway, that was a lesson acknowledged.

Sunday night our traveling group spent the night in Parakou; a (relatively) snazzy city, a bit more than halfway north, on Benin’s main highway. A current volunteer, Anna, who was traveling with us pointed us to ‘Chez Antionette’s’ for dinner. The restaurant is owned by an Italian woman, and is one of the few places where you can get straight up pasta with meat sauce or if you are lucky lasagna. It was a very enjoyable evening eating some semi-familiar food and chatting with current volunteers and other trainees.

Monday I traveled all day in a van with 5 other trainees and their north-bound homologues. The van only had to stop because it was over heating once, which was a surprise to me. Almost all the cars here are impressively used. While it cooled down we got lunch which features rice and spicy sauce with an amazingly cold coke.

Camille and I took an incredibly old camion, or truck, from Banikoara to our post of Founougo. Camille’s supervisor went off ahead of us on his motorcycle, and my homologue, honest to goodness, rode on top of the truck with a live goat. The goat was tied up, so it mostly just chilled. It was deposited with a family along our journey, so I am happy to say I don’t know what became of it.

The camion rattled along down the dirt road and Camille and I took in our first sights of the Founougo countryside. We both had smiles on our faces and butterflies in our stomachs. The drive was beautiful. There a sprawling cotton and corn fields peppered with large old trees as well as small herds of cattle and their retainers, and nomadic women with bright colored jewelry (the Fuhlani, or Peuhl, I later found out).

When our camion miraculously eased to a stop at the edge of Founougo we were greeted by Summer, the volunteer I am replacing. It was so encouraging, and so overwhelming to meet her. In black rubber boots, a dusty skirt, a sweater and a baseball hat, she smiled and shook each of our hands, flying through a whirlwind of greeting in English, French, and Bariba, making sure to say hello to everyone, including a zemidjan driver who came past.

After we were dropped off at our respective homestays, I unpacked a bit and ate a dinner of pate (sorghum flour and water boiled to a mashed potato like consistency), with sauce and beef. I started eating my meal in the dark, and as I ate the family actually turned on the generator that they have. I noticed that I found my dinner to be more delicious when I was eating it in the dark. Make of that what you will.

The days that followed were a mixture of meeting important people in the community, going to market, visiting with Summer, Camille, or my host family, and plenty of rest time, or repose-ay.

On Wednesday I went to the market (which comes to Founougo every 4 days) with my host family’s mother and oldest sister. There were 8-9 kids at the house most of the time, but apparently only 5 of them were the biological children of the husband and wife that were hosting me. I never quite got that straight… Anyway, we bought, among other things, a red plastic inflatable horse for the youngest boy, Savi. When he first started to play with it, he just sat it up on the floor and rolled around it, watching it and making galloping noises. It was adorable.

That night the three elementary school age girls sang and danced together While the mama and two older sisters finished preparing dinner. They stood in a triangle and would alternate who was in front. The girl in front would pause to think for a few seconds and then start into the first line of a song, but the second line the other two had joined in, singing and dancing in sync.

Friday was Megan’s birthday and I got to talk with her and Mom and Aunt Julie for a few minutes. It was hard being away from them, but I was so glad that we got to talk. They seemed to be having an amazing time and really cherishing all of it.

The cherishing part was especially appreciated on my end, because Friday I was really feeling the reality that there just is not much fruit up north. Just like I haven’t very often been blindsided by cultural difference, I haven’t had many moments where I think, “wow, I will never take that for granted again.” However, I did have one of those moments about the fruit. There is just no one who is braving the slow and precarious roads of Benin, to bring fruit up to Founougo. I hope that I never again take for granted the distances my food has traveled in order for me to always expect that whatever time of day or year, a piece of fruit is just a five minute drive to the grocery store away.

That being said, I hear that food availability is much more seasonal in northern Benin. When it’s mango season, they are practically giving away mangoes, and when the season is over, it’s really over.

On Saturday we had a major downpour in that afternoon (they weren’t kidding about it being the rainy season)! I sat in my room and knitted. The rain on the roof was so loud that I could sing as loud as I wanted in English, and no one would hear me. I really enjoyed that break. Singing alone in the car is a stress reliever I have been surprised to miss.

On Saturday we had another market day and I bought a kilo of peanuts to make peanut butter with the family. It was a good, time intensive, culture and food sharing activity. I was surprised that even though peanuts are fairly common in the north, peanut butter was a new concept for my host family. We toasted the peanuts and then mashed them with a large wooden mortar and two large wooden pestles, taking turns rhythmically pounding the peanut butter. I couldn’t help thinking, ‘this is just like Plymouth plantation!’ Watching the women cook outside over small wood fire stoves has been a real blast-from-the-past experience.

Monday Camille and I helped Summer with a map mural she is painting. I got a pretty unpleasant sunburn. By that point I had already noticed that the sun sometimes shines brighter in the north than it does in the south, where it is often over cast. I did put sunscreen on that morning, but I just wasn’t careful enough and the African sun really schooled me. I certainly will be using my big sun hat a lot when I move to post! For the time being aloe and a little ibuprofen did the trick.

Tuesday night I finally saw the mouse that had managed to snack on my above mentioned plantains. It wasn’t a major event. I reminded myself I once lived in Hawaii for two months with the wild pigs (slight exaggerations are acceptable when woken up in the middle of the night). All the same, I can’t say I had a great night sleep that night. After that I made doubly sure any food was in a sealed pot that my host family gave me. After telling myself that no matter how unsettling the mouse might be, it really has no interest in me individually, I started putting in earplugs and I slept pretty soundly.

Wednesday I worked on my technical reports for the Peace Corps, detailing the important things that I had observed about the community, like water sources and the health center. In the afternoon I descended into some serious boredom. There is always some time for ‘repose’ or rest in the afternoon, since it’s the hottest part of the day. By Wednesday of week two, I was feeling a little aimless. Fortunately in the evening I got to go out with my homologue to observe some of his work collecting money for the waste management company, Bethesda. That was also a great opportunity to practice greeting people.

Thursday I went to market with my homologue and shadowed him while he collected dues from all the vendors. It was an amazing way to get a second to see every single stall (often twice, since people often don’t have change). It was a hot sunny day, and collecting the money (and of course greeting the vendors) took about three hours. However, during the course of it, bmy homologue was generous enough to buy me not one but to ‘Judor’, orange soda with real orange juice in it. I downed them pretty fast.

Friday morning I met up with Camille and our respective host fathers/primary school directors drove us (and our luggage) on their motorcycles to Banikoara. That was a 45 minute trip. It was beautiful, but with the rainy season the roads are kind of bad. In Banikoara we were reunited with the other volunteers in Alibori, our state (or Arondissment) Katrina, Josh, and Suzanne. Together we took a taxi to the Peace Corps base at Kandi.

At Kandi we met up with three volunteers who took us out for an extravagant Beninese lunch: yam pilet (a specialty of the north; white yams mashed into a very fine mashed-potato consistency) with your choice of meat and a beer. I had to go for the antelope. (Sorry antelopes!) After lunch we went to market and the volunteers introduced us to a few vendors who are good friends to have. In the evening they made chili and brownies for us. It was heavenly.

Saturday was probably the most trying day. The 5 of us from Alibori met up with 3 other Kandi trainees (Alex, Alyssa, and Kendall) and the 8 of us took a station wagon taxi that we hoped would take us all the way across the country to Porto Novo. We left at 7:45 and around 3 or 4 we got to Bohicon, the great rest stop I mentioned from our initial voyage north. After Bohicon we realized that our driver was taking the highway that seemed more direct, but actually is in terrible condition and would force us to drive through Cotonou, Benin’s biggest city, before getting to Porto Novo. In all reality, if we had gone with this plan we probably would have arrived in Porto Novo around 8 or so, when we would have found moto-taxis to take us to our homes by 8:30 or 9. For a seasoned volunteer I am guessing this wouldn’t be a problem, but none of us were excited about taking zems (with all our luggage) after dark. We called one of the Peace Corps administrator/facilitators, and she agreed that we could stay in Cotonou. It had been a long day, and we were pretty happy to rest. Some current volunteers showed us a great restaurant for dinner. I got a calzone and a glass of red wine. It was heavenly. Chatting with other volunteers, trainees, and a few volunteers who are closing service was so great. Good bonding and good advice, and of course good stories.

In the morning Suzanne got the gold star for finding a taxi for us to go to Porto Novo. In Porto Novo my host papa picked me up and took me back to the old homestead. I was excited to be back, and so tired. Through out the whole trip I really had a ‘it’s not over until it’s over’ mentality. Flat tires and break downs are a significant reality. Frankly I am surprised we didn’t get a flat on the road between Bohicon and Cotonou. Those potholes are trying to take people out. Arriving back at the house I was able to breathe a sigh of relief, and also realize how tired I was. Just the same, I took some time to organize my stuff a bit and then go out to a local restaurant to meet up with other trainees. So much glamour and fine dining at the end here, right? It’s ok, I paid for it eating pate-sorghum every night of my visit! The other trainees seemed to have really good visits and it was exciting to exchange stories.

Today (Monday) was the first day of technical training. It looks like I will have pretty much all of my classes from here out with the other Environmental Action Volunteers. Today we got the long –coveted tour of Songhai. It is great to see how every system benefits another on the property. Water is used and re-used, plant waste is fed to the livestock, maggots from livestock are fed to the fish… the cycle goes on and on complexly. I hope we get to learn some of the finer details! Either way we got some great reading material, and the classes that are scheduled seem very applicable.

Well, I think that about covers it for now! Thanks so much for reading about my trip to Founougo. Even with so much, I feel like I’m just skimming the surface. I am so glad to get to share the process with you. Hope all is well with you and yours.

With love,

Lauren

Training after post visit

Hello everyone!

Yesterday (Tuesday) and today (Wednesday) we have been jumping right in to technical training. For EA volunteers this has meant starting a vegetable garden at Songhai and helping out a little with the compost piles in between lectures. I’ve got to say, it has me pretty excited. As I told Amber on Tuesday, when I woke up in the morning, I was thinking to myself, “Man, two years is a long time,” and then we had a lecture on food security and how 37% of infants are under nourished,  and I was like, “I will stay forever!” I was definitely over reacting there, but it was so good to be reminded of real problems that we can help with. After class I have been digging into the new literature we have been given, and I have lots of little ideas for projects I could do in Founougo. Everything from utilizing shower water for fruit trees, to possibly creating living fences that would help keep the goats out and be less work to maintain. It’s exciting.

I have also been thinking about a lot of application for back home. It’s hard not to apply what you are learning to the context you are most familiar with. I am curious how interested you guys would be in some of those ideas. I’ve been thinking a lot about the cool ways that people have found to cope with limited resources here. In the States we have so many resources that are over abundant, and that can make them easy to over use and abuse. I can think of several exercises to take a fresh look at things we take for granted in the States. Let me know if you are interested in hearing about some of those ideas.

I will continue to try to keep this blog primarily informative. I don’t want to use it as a soap box to spread my opinions and agenda. Sometimes giving my explicit opinion is part of informing you about my life, and I know that my opinion naturally is going to color all of what I write to some degree. Still I want you to know I want this blog to be somewhere you can swing by to learn about my life as a peace corps volunteer in West Africa. Not much more, not much less.

I hope you are enjoying the journey so far. I have to say that I am. Thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren

Meeting homologues!

Hi Everyone!

Today I met my homologue, my work mentor for my time at post in Benin. His name is Pali Baron. He seems kind and genial and a little reserved. He wasn’t overflowing with questions and conversation topics, but was willing to smile and laugh. He also speaks slowly and clearly (if a little quietly). He seems to have a lot of patience for words I don’t understand. I felt like I didn’t do very much bluffing while I tried to figure out what he was trying to say. He also seems really passionate about educating people to better the town. We got to talk a bit about educating kids about responsible waste disposal, and we also talked briefly about the adult literacy classes that take place in the town. Both of these were very exciting to me. Incidentally, I did notice that my homologue reads very slowly and carefully. This could simply indicate that he wanted to make sure that he completely understood what he was reading, but I think it is likely that reading is not the daily activity for him that it is for me. This theory is backed up by a line that I read about my post saying that there are very few people who know written Bariba (the most common local language at my post). If this is all true, I think I will be very interested in helping increase literacy in adults when ever possible. I’m pretty excited to see what the opportunities and interests in Founougo are.

I also got to talk briefly with Josh’s homologue, Daniel Odja. Apparently Monsieur Odja is currently the homologue Summer, the volunteer I will be replacing in Founougo (Josh is posted in a neighboring town 60 km south of Founougo). I have gotten the impression that Monsieur Odja works in the Mayor’s office in Banikoara (the larger town in the area). He is very knowledgeable, but also a little difficult to access. I am glad to have met him, and excited to work with him, but I am also excited to work with my Fouougo-based Homologue!

Tomorrow we will have class in Porto Novo with our homologues like we did today. It was a little bit of a marathon, listening to a lot of lectures in French. However, it was very reassuring to sit next to our homologues and listen together as Peace Corps officials talked about the mission and approach of the peace corps, as well as safety and security, and specific environmental interests. The homologues certainly proved themselves to be attentive and passionate about the good work they want to accomplish with us. I have to say I was inspired by them. My own homologue told me he arrived in Porto Novo at 2 am last night, and I didn’t see him yawn once.

Sunday we will embark on our journey to post. I believe that all the volunteers that are going up to Alibori (the arondissment, or state that Founougo is in) will drive to Parakou and spend the night at the Peace Corps base there, and then continue to our destinations on Monday.

I don’t expect to be able to update my blog until I return to Porto Novo on August 18^th. I have decided to keep my laptop locked securely in Porto Novo. I will miss posting to you guys, and I certainly will be eager to tell you everything then. However, I think it will good for me to just focus on the people in village, in sort of a ‘be here now’ mindset, with one eye on the communications for later; instead of spending time and energy in the two week visit trying to make lots of communication happen. My hope is that when I return to Porto Novo I will know what provisions to make before I move to post, in order to be able to communicate consistently. In the mean time, I will be taking a two-week blogging vacation!

Thank you so much for reading the blog throughout these three weeks. Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm (even if this is the first post you are reading!). I really appreciate it. I will talk to you on the other side of this mini-adventure!

With love,

Lauren

Independence Day and Homologues

Hello everyone!

Yesterday, August 1^st, was Benin’s Independence Day. As one volunteer’s host mama described it, “There is a military parade, and music, and parties, and the president will give a speech and we will watch it all on the television!” I felt like I could relate, thinking back to watching 4^th of July fireworks on TV in the United States.

We only had a half day of classes, so I resolved to go out with other trainees after class and get a burger. It’s not hard to miss classic American food when everything is new and different. Even though I was pretty sure the burger wouldn’t be the same as it was in Boston, I still wanted it.

Classes were fairly low key and I got to learn a little more Bariba. The journey to the burger was successful. It was indeed different than a burger in the States. The meat was at least seasoned differently. However, it was very satiating. Probably 2/3 of the trainees came out to the burger joint and a neighboring restaurant. It was so nice to just hang around with lots of different people, and chat about our language classes, and just about anything else that crossed our minds.

In the afternoon I watched so of the festivities on TV with my host siblings, and I also chatted with my host mama about my Bariba vocabulary. It has been really exciting o get to run things by her.

Today (Thursday) we had class at the Ecole Normale Superiur, and we spent a lot of time talking about the near future. Tomorrow we are meeting our homologues, or mentor/boss/counterparts for our work at post. It’s an exciting time, but I am definitely nervous about making their acquaintance. I am trying to remind myself that they are pretty nervous too. We will have different informational sessions with our homologues Tomorrow and Saturday, and then on Sunday we will begin the journey to post. I, along with a bunch of other trainees and our homologues, will probably wind up resting for the night at the Kandi Peace Corps Workstation, or else the Parakou Workstation. We will see.

While I am visiting my post for two weeks, I will be staying with the family of one of my work partners – a director of one of the three primary schools. I am excited about getting to make this personal connection with a future colleague, and I hear that the family has two kids, so that is exciting. However, the Peace Corps has recommended that we keep valuables (like a laptop) locked at our host homes in Porto Novo. It is unlikely that we will have an equally secure private place to store such valuables during our short visit. I am starting to resign myself to the fact that this visit is going to be relatively electronic-free. I am trying to think of it like a vacation.

For that reason, it is unlikely that I will be able to post between August 5^th and the 18^th. If we do stay over night at a work station, it’s possible that I could post then, and there is a possibility that there will be a cyber café in my town. Other than that, I think this two week trip is for assessing my future communication options, not communicating consistently through out. However, I am hoping to get a phone call or two in with my immediate family, so the lines of communication are staying somewhat open J.

I hope you are doing well, my thoughts are with you all in the States, and I am very grateful to get to stay in touch as much as I have.

Thanks for reading,

With love,

Lauren

Independence Day and Homologues

Hello everyone!

Yesterday, August 1^st, was Benin’s Independence Day. As one volunteer’s host mama described it, “There is a military parade, and music, and parties, and the president will give a speech and we will watch it all on the television!” I felt like I could relate, thinking back to watching 4^th of July fireworks on TV in the United States.

We only had a half day of classes, so I resolved to go out with other trainees after class and get a burger. It’s not hard to miss classic American food when everything is new and different. Even though I was pretty sure the burger wouldn’t be the same as it was in Boston, I still wanted it.

Classes were fairly low key and I got to learn a little more Bariba. The journey to the burger was successful. It was indeed different than a burger in the States. The meat was at least seasoned differently. However, it was very satiating. Probably 2/3 of the trainees came out to the burger joint and a neighboring restaurant. It was so nice to just hang around with lots of different people, and chat about our language classes, and just about anything else that crossed our minds.

In the afternoon I watched so of the festivities on TV with my host siblings, and I also chatted with my host mama about my Bariba vocabulary. It has been really exciting o get to run things by her.

Today (Thursday) we had class at the Ecole Normale Superiur, and we spent a lot of time talking about the near future. Tomorrow we are meeting our homologues, or mentor/boss/counterparts for our work at post. It’s an exciting time, but I am definitely nervous about making their acquaintance. I am trying to remind myself that they are pretty nervous too. We will have different informational sessions with our homologues Tomorrow and Saturday, and then on Sunday we will begin the journey to post. I, along with a bunch of other trainees and our homologues, will probably wind up resting for the night at the Kandi Peace Corps Workstation, or else the Parakou Workstation. We will see.

While I am visiting my post for two weeks, I will be staying with the family of one of my work partners – a director of one of the three primary schools. I am excited about getting to make this personal connection with a future colleague, and I hear that the family has two kids, so that is exciting. However, the Peace Corps has recommended that we keep valuables (like a laptop) locked at our host homes in Porto Novo. It is unlikely that we will have an equally secure private place to store such valuables during our short visit. I am starting to resign myself to the fact that this visit is going to be relatively electronic-free. I am trying to think of it like a vacation.

For that reason, it is unlikely that I will be able to post between August 5^th and the 18^th. If we do stay over night at a work station, it’s possible that I could post then, and there is a possibility that there will be a cyber café in my town. Other than that, I think this two week trip is for assessing my future communication options, not communicating consistently through out. However, I am hoping to get a phone call or two in with my immediate family, so the lines of communication are staying somewhat open J.

I hope you are doing well, my thoughts are with you all in the States, and I am very grateful to get to stay in touch as much as I have.

Thanks for reading,

With love,

Lauren