Bisous du Benin!

So I'm already running short on internet time, so I'll try to keep this brief-ish. This last week was the launching of my Amour & Vie team in Penelan. I've talked about Amour & Vie in past posts- it's a national program all about health peer education in village. So the launching (or lancement) is basically a big party for the village to let them know what we're all about and get them ready to have their worlds rocked. It's also an opportunity for the important men in village (like the traditional chief and delegate) to publicly give their support, so the project is more likely to succeed. Representatives from Cotonou Amour & Vie came to see the lancement, check in on us, and make sure things are going smoothly for us so far. This meant fellow volunteer Brigitte (yay!) and Hugues, who is the Beninese guy in charge of Amour & Vie Cotonou. It was really great that they came out and supported us, and it's always really helpful to get somebody else to talk to your team in French, and cover anything that you (I) said, which your team (my team) totally ignored.
So I was trying to get my team to put this thing together for like the two weeks leading up the the event, but most things like this in Benin happen LAST minute. So my efforts to get a jump on it where...not entirely successful. So the lancement was on a Sunday. Which meant that all Saturday and Sunday was last minute running around to get the entire event worked out. Penelan doesn't have electricity so all our cold drinks (a definite requirement) had to be brought in from Penessoulou- which involved me zemming out at 7 in the morning and dragging around coolers with 50 lbs of soda in them. We rented a sound system, which required both a generator and gas to run the generator. But in addition to the sound system there was a traditional band that we hired to get the party started with some dance music. There were speeches to write, a lesson plan for my team to plan. (They gave a sample presentation on family planning just as an introduction to the program.)
Because there are no really restaurant type places in my town,we had to order all the food in advance. And apparently it's rude and exclusive to just hire one woman to do everything. So I had to get Reine to be an intermediary while I bargained with the village's women's association, who were going to do all the cooking the day off! We had yam pilee (mashed yams) and chicken. It was actually really good.
I also wanted my nice neighbor to do the official launching ceremony at the very end. Which is apparently offensive to my supervisor (a non-entity that I've talked to twice at the maximum). Although my supervisor has no idea what this project is even about, he is technically my liason in village. And it would be disrespectful to him (and the village who chose him) if I went over his head. So.... I had to go talk to him and get him to make a speech.
I also had to walk around Saturday morning with my team and make house visits to all the important men in village and personally invite them to the event. This was the fun part- they were all super sweet to me, and talked about how important health was, and how I was such an asset to the village (flattery will get you everywhere). “The first thing you pray for in the morning is health. You are trying to bring health to our village- how could we not support you?” The delegate (basically a kind of political representative) actually had a longish conversation with me about how it's important that traditional voodoo health rituals work together with the health center. It was really interesting, and I learned a lot about how my village views health. And how to plan an event.
I'm gonna cut this off, even though there is so much more I could say. The event went really well- there were about 100 people there (there are pictures on facebook). It was definitely one of my most rewarding experiences in country. Because it was something that everyone in the village could see that I was doing, and I got so much positive feedback. For most of your service, most villagers will not understand at all what you are doing, why you are there, or what your role is. And I feel like I got the opportunity to show them that I'm here, I'm working, and I'm a part of their community. It was a pain in the ass to put together, and I think that's why it was so much fun when it went off without a hitch. I was very proud of my village for being so helpful, and so receptive, and so totally gung-ho. And I was proud of myself! It's this kind of real village experience that volunteers ALL live for. It's few and far between, but it makes it worth it.

A couple weeks ago (...maybe a month? It was whenever kadafi died) my close mates Jared and Heather and I had a nice little pow-wow in Jared's town of Aledjo. They each live like only 10k away from me, but they are both teachers, and somehow our schedules never really line up, so it's very rarely that we're all together! We had the goal of climbing the Aledjo mountain which is in a town right next to Jared's, and it the highest elevation in Benin (although not the tallest mountain I'm sure).
Aledjo is super cute, and actually really huge, especially for being out in the bust and off the main road. It is the main market town for goods coming across the border from Togo, and has the biggest marche in the county (commune) of Bassila. I really should be going to Aledjo for market days, but it's kind of expensive for me to get there ($6 US round trip), because I have to zem on a dirt road for a little ways. Anyway, it's right on the Togo border, so it has a cool mix of cultures!
So the three of us got there on Friday afternoon and hung out chatting for a while at a buvette (bar). We went a got some yummy cheap-ass traditional food (corn pate and goat for less than $0.50 US). And after that we went and hung out at another buvette owned by a friend of Jared's who's really cool. And by then it was getting kinda late, but we walked down to the Togo border to go to Jared's favorite chouck hut. Chouck is homemade millet beer, and it's really popular in the north. It was an awesome hut, in the middle of the forest, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Benin? Or Togo? Who can tell. We spent an hour or two drinking beer, shooting the shit with some of Jared's Beninese friends, and petting an adorable newborn puppy. All in all it was so so much fun. It's great to see how village life is for other volunteers, and get to see a little bit of traditions in other villages.
In the morning we went and hiked the mountain, which was steep!! It's dry season, so there is 5 ft. tall grass overrunning everything. And the last half of the hike, we kept losing and finding the path in the grass. So it was a little bit of a struggle getting up, and then there wasn't much of a view. But it was fun all the same, and some good exercise!
Bottom line: hiking=awesome. buvettes=awesome. village=awesome. good friends=supreme!

Hey I just wanted to send you all a quick update because it's been so long. I just got back from a conference with Amour & Vie, which is a program run by PSI (a groovy international NGO). PSI (Population Services International) is a great NGO, and they do a lot of health work in Benin with malaria, HIV/AIDS, water sanitation and family planning. So the Amour & Vie program was a training for representatives from our villages (there were like 10 volunteers who participated). The program trains them on health issues, and trains them how to give presentations, so they can go back to village and sort of “peer educate” the villagers in local language. So it's pretty cool! It's a lot of work for us right now, me and my reps are trying to set up the program in Penelan and there have been some hiccups and misunderstandings, but in another month we should be up and running, and Penelan will get at minimum two health lectures a month. By villagers, and not me! Yay sustainability! So that's sort of my main project right now.

I've also been setting up post visits for the new kids. I'm going to be visiting six different posts in November of volunteers from the new stage, just to check in on them and make sure everything's going okay. So I've been helping to set up the logistics for that.

What else has happened? I got malaria about two weeks ago, which majorly cramped my style for a little while. Malaria is the worst kids, you should avoid that for reals. I for sure wanted to die.

Last month I also got a Beninese style tattoo in my friend's village. They just make little lines with a razor blade (a new one, no AIDs!), and generally fill it with some kind of ash so the lines stay. A LOT of volunteers get these tattoos, I'd say maybe 75%, because it's pretty iconic, I'd say the same percentage of Beninese people have the scars. The guy doing mine used the ash of bird feathers, which is pretty cool! I had to eat part of the ash before he did it as pat of the ceremony. I got three little lines on my back, it's sort of a general symbol of protection.

I realize this update is horrifically short, but I feel like there is at once so much to say and so little. Now that I've updated you all on what's sort of been going on, I'm hoping next month I can get into some fun stuff! I won't have internet again til Halloween, so I hope you all have a great October!! Lots of love.

P.S. I forgot! My camera broke, so there haven't been pictures in a while, but my mom is sending a new one in the mail, so pictures should be back soon!

(written 10Oct10)

Hey ya'll!!! Sooo... there are some developments that have developed. I have a laundry girl! Most volunteers have laundry people, because laundry was created for the strong of heart and knuckles. The way to go when you get a laundry girl, is you really want to find someone who can't afford school. You pay for their school year (which is only like 10,000 cfa or $20, but most families don't have that much at one time) and then they come once a week and do laundry for you. I'm also paying for my girls' school books and pens. Pens are a really big deal here- they are expensive! Anyway, so I knew this girl previously because she's one of the chicks who is going to be in my girl's club. She's really not a girl, I think she said she was 24, but it takes a long time to get through high school here because of financial reasons. Anyway, since she became my laundry girl on Monday, I think that she also kinda became my best friend. She comes to my house twice a day to hang out and we look at magazines. She asks me questions about America and science and where is Pakistan, and what does the first lady do? I really like her a lot. Sometimes she brings friends, and I try to feed them whatever I'm cooking at the moment. She helps me with my awful awful French. And I think she must feel indebted to me over this whole school thing, because girlfriend is allllways bringing me things.

Let me pause for a moment and talk about gifts. Our third day in Benin, a return PCV came and gave us a lecture about the importance of gifts in Beninese culture. And I was like “Whatever, dude. I'm not giving anything to anybody. You crazy.” Of course now I don't think I can really describe how important they are. If you are a volunteer that doesn't buy into the gift system, it won't necessarily hurt you within your community- but if you do the gift thing- you are in sista. Let me try to explain what gifts people give me. Everyday people stop by my house. I have one neighbor who brings me food at least once a day- fried dough that his wife makes, or yams with sauce, or grilled corn or peanuts. I have another neighbor who checks in with me to see if I need my laundry done (although I do have my laundry girl). If I am at a fete or any kind of gathering, I will be sitting on my ass and people will bring me oranges and candy. One of the other girls in my girls club gave me a cute little vase of fake flowers like 30 minutes ago. My entire village is covered with corn, and I've talked with several people about how in America I like to eat the corn fresh from the stalk. They think this is crazy because that's how animals eat corn- here they always grill it. But now that they know I like corn, people are always bringing me corn, both fresh and grilled. Constantly.

I understand the importance of these gestures. These people do not have a lot. Being part of a true community means sharing what you have. Shannon was telling me last month about how bats are the only mammals (I'm assuming besides humans) that truly share their food. Every bat brings back as much food as they can to the den, because they know that some of them had better hunting trips than others and they want everyone to eat well. They do not have a formal system of exchange, but they trust that when they will be hungry, another will step up to help. It's hard to keep up with all these gifts, because I really don't have a lot, but whenever I bake something (every other day), I bring a piece to my main homies. I go and saluate them. I thank them profusely and invite them into my house. I answer their questions about the world. I bring them back fruit when I travel. I feed whoever's in my house. It's fun. It's like Christmas always. Nothing feels better than giving, why not do it every day of your life?

Back to my girl. Today she brought me bananas, the day before she brought me cornstarch, and on Wednesday she brought me A PUPPY! Apparently her mother got it for me! I never told anybody I wanted a dog although I've been secretly thinking about it for weeks. Beninese dogs are meant to be watch-dogs, and a lot of villages will get dogs (or cats) for their volunteers so the volunteer will be looked after and protected. They sort of just assume we want them. So it's a good thing I actually did, 'cause if you turn down a pet, they sometimes get eaten. (Sad fact!)

SO! I have a dog! His name is Atticus! I absolutely love him! We had a prrretty rough start- he was really fearful (I don't know if he was getting beaten or what). He whined all night the first night (of course), and then the next night he completely disappeared in the evening and didn't come back till morning. I think he finally decided that we were a pack on Friday, and has been doing so much better since. He's already pretty well housetrained if I do say so myself, and he's doing really well with coming when I whistle, but he doesn't really know his name yet. I have a basket that he sleeps in, and I'm having the carpenter make him an American-style dog crate. I've watched a lot of Caesar Milan in my time, and I think I'm doing really well as a pack leader! My laundry girl has been giving me training advice and sometimes brings food for him when she visits. She keeps talking about me needing to give him some kind of cake that she is going to buy. Whatever that means. So I'm really glad I got him so far, It's nice to have someone to talk to in English. He makes things much less lonely. I told him all about the Kardashians and mozzarella cheese. And my friend Heather who lives 2 miles away has a dog also and we got them together for a play date yesterday. (And then we biked 25 miles round trip to a marche in the next town. Which was awesome and awful, and will probably be repeated). I put Atticus in my bike bag and he stuck his head out while I biked. That was a lot of fun. Biking, with Americans, and dogs, listening to music on your ipod, on your way to buy stuff. Is there much anything better than that?

I'm gonna run out of battery soon! If you are reading this- congratulations! You made it through another post about Africa! I know what you're thinking, you just want to finish this so you can get back to Glee, and doesn't Shelly know that the new fall seasons have started are there are shows that won't watch themselves? I love you. Have a great day! I hope you use a dishwasher today. And eat Thai food. (And I'm not saying that to be sassy, I really hope you do! It makes me happy to think of American things.)

P.S. I just remembered. I hope you are all watching this season of Oprah, 'cause it's her last and lord knows she's gonna step up and do some crazy shit! Bye!!
Happy birthday mom!

(written 23Aout2010)

It's been raining this week, which led me to discover a weird Benin thing. NOTHING happens when it rains. No stores are open, no zems will drive you, the streets are deserted, everybody sleeps in. I did not know about this. I got up on Tuesday morning and spent 30 minutes walking in the rain trying to find a zem. This is freaky. Because generally, I can just go around the corner from my house and three will come by at once. Now I know! And I can't wait for post, because once I'm there, I will be among those people who don't leave the house!

Something I'm not quite sure if I remembered to mention in the last post is hissing and kissy noises. They are everywhere. Like instead of saying “Hey!”, people will make one of these two noises. Sometimes it's 'cause you dropped something, or they are trying to get you to come over to where they are, or just because you are white and they can't help but harass you. I don't mind yovo (generally) but I MIND this shit. That kissy noise drives me insane. Men do it when they want to call you over, like you should go to the effort to stop what you are doing and individually saluate them just 'cause they make that damn noise. I don't know anyone who can tolerate this. It generally throws us into a bitch fit. Some days, man. Some days.

Okay I just saw the mouse again. It's kind of freaking me out- I wonder how long it's been living in here!?

(written 23Aout2010)

So here's something that is evidence of how everything in Benin is more difficult that you think it should be. France is a different culture from America- but it's still a European culture. Having never really been anywhere that isn't European influenced, I never really even imagined my current situation, which I call “the marche situation”. There are a couple supermarches in Porto-Novo (I think two), and there's supposed to be a really good one in Cotonou. However other than there, everything is sold at one of the two outdoor marches or in these little mom and pop stores that are everywhere. These stores keep their stuff outside for the most part- or they are in these very shallow store fronts, that are maybe a couple feet deep with a door. And at night they just close up the door.

In order to buy from these mom and pop's (or from whatever is on top of a child/lady's head) you need to have an ever evolving knowledge of item prices. This depends on region and season, and if you are taking a zem... weather.
You need to know how to ask for these items in French, because its not like you can pick stuff off the shelves (although you can sort of fake do this sometimes). Things are generally behind counters/ sometimes potentially hidden.
If you are a resident, it's best to have relationships with these ladies, know who has the best of what, and who sells what specialty.
For example: I can get credit across the street, but if I want toilet paper, it's three blocks away. Buttons and thread are one block away.
If it's not a shop built into a building, it will move. Our school's sandwich lady turned into a gas station overnight.
Oh course, knowing all these things is ideal. I buy one newish item every like three or four days because I consider it such a minor victory to attempt the pricing. I'm a pro with pineapples and popcorn, but lord knows I've needed shower flip-flops for a week and have put it off. (P.s. It should be 250-300 cfa, or 50 cents)

God damn that mouse! I just had the perfect opportunity to crush it with my shoe, but it was so darn adorable I couldn't do it! It better not be eating my things!!!!

(written 23Aout2010)

I am going to try to explain something that is near impossible to explain. My impression is that this is not just Beninese, but African, from what I've heard from friends who have studied around and about the continent.

This is my favorite thing about Benin besides fried plantain and getting a good price on a zem- I never (and let me say, NOBODY EVER) have/has any idea what is going on.
It is like chaos is just a required part of the culture. Let me emphasize- this is not just me, and not just Benin, and generally it really has nothing to do with language. Seriously. I love it.
Here are some actual examples that I hope will give a glimpse:

- Are we going home after the party? Oh we are? Oh, we're not. We're going to hang out at grandma's house. This is not at all what you said.

- Didn't that banana-lady used to stay on that corner? Where is she? Why are there no bananas anywhere? ANYWHERE? Does this have to do with Ramadan?

- I didn't give you those earrings, can I have them back? Yes? You say yes, but you are looking at me blankly. You are never giving those back, I can tell.

- I ordered a banana crepe. This is a flaming banana.

- I told you that I wanted to go to the high school. Why are we at a church? This is totally the wrong place.

- I thought there was a voodoo spirit coming to our neighborhood tonight. Why are you looking at me like that. How can you not know what I'm talking about- the entire city is discussing this.

- Has the schedule changed? Does anybody know the schedule?

- I ordered three zems to come here at 9:00. It's 10:30. You are busy when I call? Yes, you are zemming OTHER PEOPLE. Could you zem me? Like an hour ago? Like we discussed? Yesterday.

- Yes I realize your husband is the village chief, however I already have many husbands and I don't know if I could take another- although it does seem this man can materialize Pepsi from the jungle itself.

- Are we at a distillery? How did we get here?

- What? My brother lit a small fire? How is this possible.

- You said the wedding was this Sunday. Now you say it's next Sunday. I don't believe you. There will never be a wedding. NEVER!

- Where did these children come from? And why are they spending the entire weekend in my living room?

- Oh the village wants to give us some oranges. Wait. This is an entire cement bag full of oranges. This is 30 lbs of oranges. What?

- I thought I was giving a lecture on malaria today. Diarrhea? Okay.

- You said you couldn't help me with laundry because you had to go to church. You haven't left the house all day.

- Where is everyone in my family?

- Who are these people?

Why do I love this??? Because it ensures that anything I am doing at any given moment is absolutely hilarious. I can tell you about life here until I'm blue in the face- but if you want to really imagine what I'm doing the very second when you are thinking of me- picture me doing something ridiculous and inexplicable. And that will be exactly what I am doing.

P.S. There will continue to be a delay in picture putting-upage. My dad is mailing me a computer program that will let me upload pics quicker, because every time I try the internet errors out. So it'll prob be a couple weeks while I wait for the package, so I'm sorry!! Please be un peu plus patient.
To anyone that is reading this sentence right now- mental high-five for being so awesome! Thanks for taking the time to read this- 'cause as I whined about earlier- it's kind of difficult to put together. I love you very much.

(written from 25July to 6August)


So I live right next door to a Mosque, which is pretty cool. There are really quite a lot kind of everywhere. I really enjoy it... but let me say that 5 am call to prayer got old real quick, tempered only by the fact that I'm usually already semi-conscious by 4 because the roosters. Mosques and lizards and general poverty- all things that I imagined but never lived- become normal almost instantly. I feel like I've been here forever, and no time at all.


Apparently on Tuesdays, my family holds church in our front yard, I had no idea this was happening last week until I came home from eating dinner at my friend Alex's house, and like I can hear the music from down the street. This is straight up African church. They're playing drums, and every prayer is a song- some call and response, and you are basically required to clap and dance the entire time. At one point, one of the domestics in my house fell on the ground in spasmodic love of Jesus, and lay there moaning occasionally for about half an hour. It's pretty fabulous, as you may well imagine. My bff Shannon came last week, and my mom provided head scarves for us. My grandma does this booty dance that she like insistent that I imitate.


This Sunday is the 50th anniversary of Porto Novo, and the whole town is going ape-shit. The president of Benin is flying in on his helicopter- every street is having their own block party, and there have been mini parades all week. There is special 50th anniversary tissue (cloth) you can buy and make a dress or whatever out of, and I'm hoping to do that tomorrow.


I can't figure where to put this- I guess it's cultural- but in Benin you ride zems everywhere. Which basically fulfills every dream I've ever had about motorcycle riding. It is so much darn fun, especially on the roads where you can actually go fast.
My first zem ride was pretty scary. You reach behind you and hold on to the back of the motorcycle, and the drivers dart around small children, potholes, sand pits, and general debris. There are very vague traffic regulations, and zems generally just try to be where the cars are not. Often I see people going on the wrong side of the road. On the bus from Cotonou to Porto-Novo, one of my friends asked, “Where's the other side of the road?” The reply, “We're on it!”


So I have gotten really good at zemming, and can discuter (bargain) the price down pretty well. Here's something cultural- the entire country has this perception that there is a shortage of petit monaie (basically change). ANYtime you buy ANYthing you have to ask before hand if the person has change. Every hoards their change, is not happy to part with it, and is equally unhappy to break your bills. So you really have to plan ahead. When you prend a zem you have to ask if he has the money, because if you arrive at your destination and he doesn't have change you have to literally ask all the people standing around you if they will break your bill. However, if the zem driver tells you he has the change and he doesn't- then this responsibility falls to him. It's really quite interesting.


I've been riding my bike to and from school. It's not far- but it takes about twenty to twenty-five minutes depending on how quickly you want to go. It took me a long time to figure out the route, because my family was zemming me and kept going different routes each time. And then my family started being really flaky about providing zem rides in the morning, and I was getting to school late. So I decided I needed to get the bike thing rolling so I didn't have to depend on them, and my dear friend Jocelyn (who is unfortunately finishing her service in like a week) convinced one of the housiers (staff in charge of housing) to personally escort me to school while a drew a detailed map. So now I am an independent woman. Which is awesome. I must say though, that there is a fairly large stretch leading to my house which I affectionately and literally describe as the sand trap. Roads here are mostly cobblestone or dirt.... or sand. Or concrete over sand. Every time I ride through I think about how ya'll in the US would not believe how ridiculous it is. It is exactly like biking at the beach, depending on whether or not any zems have come through that morning and carved a semi-path. It's good practice, I feel buffer already (whether or not I actually am)! It totally annoys me when I'm using a zem path which is not at all in the middle of the road and then I get honked at to move over. We're both in sand! This is horrible for both of us! What's with the honking!
There are no addresses, and only sort of street names sometimes, so it can be hard to get around when you're learning the city because everything is by landmarks.


This yovo thing is not a joke. When I'm biking, it's especially bad. Young children have thrown themselves in the path of my bike yelling, “Yovo, Yovo!!” And a couple people in our group have essentially been mobbed. There's a song that goes like this, “Yovo, yovo, bonsoir! Ca va bien, et toi?” And it just gets chanted at you all the when you're traveling. Sometimes people will grab your arm, and yesterday at market some lady grabbed my butt and said yovo. My grandma calls me yovo. Frankly, the word itself doesn't bother me. There are some volunteers that really don't like it. It means white person, but it's not necessarily like an insult, people tend to identify each other by characteristics and professions here, like tall person, or doctor. It can get tedious after a long day when you just want to go about your business. Sometimes I wave back and say hello, people are ALL about salutations here. Saying hello to people and asking how they are is like the most important thing you can do in Beninese culture, its a crucial part of every interaction, even when just asking for directions or buying something. You always have to have a conversation before the business even happens. So sometimes I feel bad just driving by when everyone is “Yovo-ing” my ass, but time is money homes. When I get to village and actually have to sustain relationships with my neighbors, I'm gonna be a serious saluate-or.


Another “culture” note. My family is absolutely obsessed with kung-fu. They have these Nigerian boot-leg compilation films, which are just edits of Jackie Chan action scenes, so when you watch it straight through there is absolutely no continuity. We also watched part of “Romeo Must Die” in English last week, and I tried to convince my sister that Aleah (sp?) died in a plane crash. She didn't believe me.
They also have a bunch of cartoons- Tintin, Superman, and Tom and Jerry. Beninoise love TV, and will stick you in front of the TV pretty much all day if you let them. ALL DAY. Lately we've been doing like a James Bond marathon, and they have like all the super old ones that I've never seen. And they are,,,not that good.


Let me also just say that Barack Obama is a BIG deal here. People have Obama t-shirts, and will ask you about Obama. I have a couple friends who live next to the Barack Obama gas station. Which is just a guy on the side of the road with a couple jars of gas. Michael Jackson is also very popular. Both my brothers dance like him, and when I first moved in, they asked me if I knew he was dead.