Bisous du Benin!

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!

(written 11jan2011)

Our inservice was just for the health and environmental sectors, which turned out to be awesome. We all got to see old friends that we haven't seen since stage, and it was really cool to hear what people are working on. We all stayed in a hotel together at Songhai, for a whole week. The food was incredible. They catered our lunches and breakfasts, and we had chicken and fries and fish and spaghetti, and tuna salad, and all sorts of magical things. The very last day, we got a “pizza salad”, which is a salad.. topped with mini mushroom pizzas. It was amazing. We also found this new restaurant in Porto-Novo, called le President, which gave me by far the best meal I have had in Benin. I had rabbit and fries. And the rabbit actually had a dry-rub on it. I was delicious in a way I can't even describe. So yay food!

The inservice itself was totally lame. Because it was like stage part 2. Classes about things we'd already learned. And the homologue were there for most of the week. The sessions were geared towards them. And we spent a lot of time sitting and zoning out. I will spare you details.

The last day I was at the inservice, me and my friends Alison and Julia went to see a Christian Celeste visionary. Christian Celeste is a weird offshoot of Christianity that exists here, that I frankly know nothing about. But if you go to one of their temples (there was one around the corner from Songhai) they will do a reading for you for free. You meditate on a topic, and they “see” a vision of you, and then explain it to you. It's pretty cool. Our lady was the nicest as can be. Here's what my vision is (fairly directly translated):

I am standing in the middle of a river, and the wind is blowing the water up around me, and I begin to be afraid. But these two (or maybe it was three) angels come down and take my hand. And they tell me not to be afraid because “this river is your country, and it cannot swallow you.”
Then I'm in this garden. And the garden is beautiful, there are flowers everywhere. I'm standing with my friend, and I'm holding a bunch of roses. My friend is also my fiance. When we are a couple, people will say, “Oh it's not serious”. And I will get discouraged, and it will cause me and my friend to fight. But I have to have patience, these people will go away, and we will be together forever and ever.
Also. I shouldn't be worried about succeeding in my village. It is already written on my palm that I will do good here. I will build a castle for my village. (Chateau can also be translated as a water type building- so it could be translated as a castle, latrine, or pump.)
She also said that if people offer me to smoke, I shouldn't because it's bad for my health. And also that I should not be outside in the deep night (midnight).

So all and all, good news right!

We spent a couple days in Cotonou after the inservice, which meant more good food at expensive restaurants, a trip to Mango (the one normal clothing store in the entire country) financed by my parents, and a trip to a hotel SPA. Which was totally legit. There were four of us who went, a couple people got pedicures and haircuts, but I got my legs waxed! Best decision ever. It was so nice to just have a girl's day out, and pretend we were in Europe for just a day.

(written 11jan2011)

So for Christmas I went up to Malanville to hang out with Matt and a bunch of girls who were passing through on their way to Niger for vacation. Malanville is way way in the north of Benin, and it was really cool to see other parts of the country! We went up via the highway that is on the eastern side of the country, which I've never been on, because my village, Basilla, Djougou and Nati are all on the western highway. Does that make sense? I got to visit both of the workstations in Parakou and Kandi, so I have officially been to all the workstations in our country. It was so lovely to travel, because not only did I get to see fabulous friends I don't usually have a chance to visit, but I actually began to feel like I was in Africa again. When you spend all your time in your one little area, it becomes so normal that all the excitement is like totally drained from it. And I felt like it was impossible to travel up north just because of the distance and the roads, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought, and I'm looking forward to spending more time exploring Benin!

For Christmas Eve we all went to a hotel in Matt's village that had a POOL, and the most bomb-diggity steak with green beans, and chocolate crepes. We stuffed ourselves silly and went swimming. It was absolutely lovely. For dinner we made beef tacos with salsa that was heavenly. For Christmas day, we all exchanged presents (Secret Santa), and went to the marche in Malanville, which is beautiful, and really interesting because it sells products that come from Niger, Nigeria and Burkina, because M-ville is such a central hub for all those countries. I really like M-ville as a whole. It's kinda big, but it still has a small town feel to it. You can find all sorts of yummy treats like yogurt and beignets within walking distance of Matt's house. I realize that most of these blog posts are food oriented. But getting out of village and eating real food is pretty much the highlight of any trip.

(written 11jan2011)

So I realize that I haven't blogged about the holidays at all! I'm been so busy since the end of november, that I've just totally dropped the ball. SO- I had Thanksgiving at my workstation in Nati, there were lots of lovely people there, and we had an AWESOME meal. I was responsible for nothing, there were a couple volunteers who got there early and did the whole thing. We had turkey (bought live, killed, plucked, and roasted in a dutch oven) stuffing, gravy, mashed potato, green bean casserole, carrot cake, apple pie, pecan pie and pumpkin pie. Which....exceeded my expectations greatly.

Basically it was a blast. It was great to see everybody- we played Settlers of Catan- and it turned out to be total American magic.

(written 25Nov2010)

I went to hang out with Shannon in Bassila last week. And it was again reinforced that everything hysterical happens in Bassila. There is this German elderly couple that live in Bassila who have spent their entire lives trying to document Ani (our local language). It sounds pretty pointless considering that Ani is different village by village. But the point about this German couple is that they have a “pet” baboon named Tito. Apparently they “rescued” Tito from a marche, where he was in a cage and you could pay to poke him with a stick. And you might think that rescuing him means that they spent hundreds of dollars to send him to some kind of baboon sanctuary. But rescuing means keeping him in their house with a chain around his neck. How philanthropic.
Shannon went to their house a few weeks before for the “ex-pat luncheon”, which is really just her and them drinking tea. And it was then that she had gotten to hold this baboon. And in the process, the baboon grabbed hold of her collar and pulled her towards the ground with what she describes as “a force that no man is capable of”.
So naturally, as soon as I got into town, I asked when we were gonna go see Tito. And that's how I heard the Tito story.

Shannon got a call from the Germans about a week before. They called like five times in a row, but she was sick, and frankly wasn't interested. The next morning the Germans call again and she picks up. And they tell her that they know she studied zoology, and does she know how to put a baboon to sleep? What? What does zoology have to do with veterinarians? No, she does not know the accurate dosage of potassium that would put a baboon to sleep. Apparently Tito “attacked” their “assistant”. The extent of the damage is unknown (did anyone watch that Oprah where that chimp ripped off that lady's face?). Tito's fate at this moment is also unknown. One must assume that lacking the veterinary facilities, the couple found a less peaceful was to dispose of him. Oh Tito. Life is so cruel. And now I can't visit the monster baboon!



In Bassila there is this dude named Yaya, who runs this NGO that this other German kid named Julius works at. (There are a good amount of Germans here, and they all speak perfect English.) Apparently Julius is currently teaching computer literacy to Beninese orphans. Except, according to him, the orphans can't read to begin with. And every time he tells them to click a different button they have no idea what he's talking about. Needless to say, not much is being accomplished.

Shannon says that Julius is going to introduce us to Yaya, so we can talk to him about why there isn't an orphanage in Bassila. This meeting gets very built up in my mind. This other volunteer Sarah P. says that Yaya is the most unpleasant man she has ever met. Shannon says he owns half of Bassila and is essentially a mob boss. Julius says that he's stealing money from the NGO to build himself mansions in Djougou. I say that if he offers us cigars, I'm most definitely going to smoke one.

For the record: I (and my dog) have ridden on the back of the moto of Yaya the mob boss of Bassila!
And it turns out that he was perfectly nice, and not at all glamorous. And he was really just a Beninese dude in an office. He invited us to party with him for Tabaski, but alas I was already scheduled to return home. Boring!

(written 22Aout2010)

...is gone! I buzzed it off last Wednesday, with A LOT of help from some lovely friends. It was a really cool day- I did the business at our inter-school dodgeball game so there were a lot people around, and maybe 10 or 15 people worked on my hair. My friend Matt brought his beard trimmer (thank you!) and Shannon was the deputy organizer/supervisor. Krissi (a PCVT) and my pal Dave also put in some serious trimming hours. Everyone was just so sweet and complimentary, and it turned out way better than I thought it would. And then afterward, someone gave me a candy bar, and a couple of us played an awesome game (that I don't really know if I can explain- it's basically like musical chairs but with areas marked out in the sand instead of the chairs). Basically what I'm trying to say is that it was pretty much the best ever. AND Krissi also helped me go to the tailor that day and get my order placed- I should have a skirt, some capris, and a dress ready to pick up today. So big thank you to all of you who helped out/and all of you who didn't. Love ya.

Okay let me just preface the rest of this post by saying- I just saw a mouse in my room. I know it's here. Where on earth is it hiding??? I just don't know how to kill something that moves so quickly. Maybe tonight I'll make one of those water-bucket mouse traps. Maybe tomorrow. Infestations are such a pain.

So, here we go!! Another blog post! These are hard, because so much is happening every day, that I only just muster the strength to write in my personal journal like three times a week- so trying to put all that information into a post that happens every couple weeks is just difficult!