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