I'm in Cotonou for a few days because I've had some unfortunate stomach issues the past couple of days. I just had to have some blood drawn and I am now taking some medicine that's supposed to kill all the microbes in my belly. The positive side of this is that I actually have access to the outside world! I was able to read the news online and check facebook! haha. Honestly, it's been nice to kind of get away from all of that for a little bit, but I still want to know what's going on in the world and in my friend's lives.

My latest news is that I got my post placement. I'm not allowed to write the name of the town, but it's a few hours north of Porto Novo (the capital). I'm happy because I'm located in the south which is far less isolated than the northern part of the country. I have a post visit next week where I'll get to see my house (I'm crossing my fingers for electricity and running water) and meet my homologue (work partner). My homologue is the president of the collective of artisans I'll be working with. I was so happy to find out that this person is a woman because the gender roles in this country are so vastly different than in the US, and I was pretty worried about how much work I would actually be able to get done as a young woman in this country. Luckily, I've been given this boss who will surely be a great role model, not just for me, but for other Beninese women in my community.

Also, one interesting thing I learned is that my town is located in the Plateau region (like a state) which has this thing called an 'oro.' The oro is this type of ceremony that takes place only in my region where people dress up and make loud noises at night for about a week or so. However, women are not allowed to be involved in this ceremony and it can be pretty dangerous if a woman is caught outside at night when the oro is going on. You shouldn't be worried for me because the PC sends the volunteers in that region to Cotonou for the week. I'll write more about it once I get to post and learn about what it really is/means.

Training is...pretty rough. The days are long and often frustrating, but everyone (the other volunteers and my host family) are really supportive. I've also been able to get out of my town on the weekends to visit the other volunteers who are training in different cities. I went to the closest town with internet (about a 4o min taxi ride away) a few weeks ago and then I biked with 5 other people to another site (about an hour bike ride) this past weekend. It was pretty cool to be able to see the more rural parts of Benin.

That's all I have for now, but I may end up putting up another post tomorrow just because I feel like I should take advantage of having internet!