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!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Host Family Life
I guess I'll apologize first for this post being really long. Due to the lack of internet in my training town (and most of the country), I'll be blogging less frequently…which means longer posts. Anyway, I'm in a town about 3 hours northwest of Cotonou. I'm not sure how many people are here, but it's pretty bustling, particularly on marché days (traveling market days that occur every 5 days in my town).
My host family is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better one. The day I arrived they were playing some Jennifer Lopez music really loud and dancing around. There is always music playing whether it's from an American, French, or Beninese artist. Plus, they love to dance and watch music videos. I think I fit right in. I have a Papa who teaches at a local primary school and 2 Mamas. Yep, 2 moms. Polygamy is still going strong here. I also have 6 new siblings (3 boys and 3 girls). The oldest son is 16 and the youngest daughter is maybe 2 or 3. They are all so nice and helpful. It's been a really great experience so far, but definitely one of the most awkward as well. I just basically smile and laugh a lot when I have no idea what they're saying, but they seem to get a kick out of me, so that's cool.
I pretty much have my own little house to myself with my own courtyard. It has a living room, a bedroom (complete with my fairytale princess bed a.k.a. a bed with a mosquito net), and another room where I keep my sweet ride (my PC Trek mountain bike). I also have electricity in my house. I'll try to post some pictures at some point, but with the shady internet situation in Benin, who knows when that will happen.
I take bucket showers in this cement shower enclave connected to my house. It's not really my idea of a good time, but I think I'll get used to it. I also have to use an outdoor pit latrine. I won't go into any details, but if I had to choose between having running water/indoor plumbing or electricity, I would definitely choose the water/plumbing.
I eat my meals with Papa and Mama #1. Mama is a great cook! I've heard some horror stories about other stagaires (people in my training group) getting sick or eating some weird things, but I haven't had to deal with that. For breakfast I have Milo (sort of like Nesquick or Ovaltine) and bread. The bread used to have butter or cheese on it, but one day Papa asked me if I liked mayonnaise and I said 'yea,' thinking it would be going on a sandwich or something. Well, guess what was on my bread the next morning and has been ever since? Yep, mayo. It doesn't taste bad, but it's just a little odd eating bread and mayo without other sandwich toppings at 7am.
After breakfast I go to the volunteer training house in my town via bike. We have class from 8-12:30. Then I go home for repos (like siesta in Spain) where I eat lunch with Mama and Papa. Repos is my new favorite thing because I get to go home, eat yummy food, and then nap for at least an hour before going back to class from 3-5:45. Lunch and dinner usually consist of rice or pâte (local dish made of corn or flour…it looks like mashed potatoes and tastes like nothing) with vegetables and fish or some other meat. Mama also makes salad and whenever we have it I make sure to eat everything because I'm never really sure when I'll see fresh veggies again. I also eat fruits like oranges, pineapples, and bananas.
In my free time I hang out with the other stagaires in my sector (there are 14 of us total). Sometimes we'll play basketball or soccer or hang out at a local buvette (bar). We also seem to take daily trips to the little supermarché to buy drinks or cookies. I also hang out with my siblings and sometimes we'll throw a frisbee around on the dirt road that our house is on. It causes quite the spectacle because 1. They don't sell frisbees here and I might as well be throwing around a baking pan or a helmet or a hamburger or something else random and 2. I'm the neighborhood yovo and people want to see me make a fool out of myself.
The other day I also helped my sister with the dishes and even drew my own shower water from the well! I actually carried some water (in a bucket) on my head, too. It's amazing the things women carry on their heads. I've seen people carrying tables, clothing, eggs, bread, anything and everything.It's really a practical way to move things, but I seem to lack the grace and coordination needed to seriously attempt this.
I also spent a good 45 minutes with my sister picking through a giant tin tray of rice looking for bad pieces. I really had no idea what I was doing, but I just kind of went with the flow. You buy rice from street vendors at the outdoor marché here, and it doesn't come in nice, neat, clean packages. You have to pick out the single grains of rice that are still in their husks or anything else that may have landed in the rice sack.
Doing my own laundry by hand was also an interesting experience. Mama showed me how to wash and scrub everything in a big bowl and then I had to rinse it in 2 other bowls. Honestly, my clothes have never been cleaner. The bad thing about the laundry process is that American clothes really were not meant for rough handwashing and a lot of stuff will probably get worn out quickly. Also, have you ever attempted to wring out a pair of jeans? Yea, I didn't think so. It's pretty painful and I'm thinking that I'll have really strong hands and forearms after 2 years of this.
My host family is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better one. The day I arrived they were playing some Jennifer Lopez music really loud and dancing around. There is always music playing whether it's from an American, French, or Beninese artist. Plus, they love to dance and watch music videos. I think I fit right in. I have a Papa who teaches at a local primary school and 2 Mamas. Yep, 2 moms. Polygamy is still going strong here. I also have 6 new siblings (3 boys and 3 girls). The oldest son is 16 and the youngest daughter is maybe 2 or 3. They are all so nice and helpful. It's been a really great experience so far, but definitely one of the most awkward as well. I just basically smile and laugh a lot when I have no idea what they're saying, but they seem to get a kick out of me, so that's cool.
I pretty much have my own little house to myself with my own courtyard. It has a living room, a bedroom (complete with my fairytale princess bed a.k.a. a bed with a mosquito net), and another room where I keep my sweet ride (my PC Trek mountain bike). I also have electricity in my house. I'll try to post some pictures at some point, but with the shady internet situation in Benin, who knows when that will happen.
I take bucket showers in this cement shower enclave connected to my house. It's not really my idea of a good time, but I think I'll get used to it. I also have to use an outdoor pit latrine. I won't go into any details, but if I had to choose between having running water/indoor plumbing or electricity, I would definitely choose the water/plumbing.
I eat my meals with Papa and Mama #1. Mama is a great cook! I've heard some horror stories about other stagaires (people in my training group) getting sick or eating some weird things, but I haven't had to deal with that. For breakfast I have Milo (sort of like Nesquick or Ovaltine) and bread. The bread used to have butter or cheese on it, but one day Papa asked me if I liked mayonnaise and I said 'yea,' thinking it would be going on a sandwich or something. Well, guess what was on my bread the next morning and has been ever since? Yep, mayo. It doesn't taste bad, but it's just a little odd eating bread and mayo without other sandwich toppings at 7am.
After breakfast I go to the volunteer training house in my town via bike. We have class from 8-12:30. Then I go home for repos (like siesta in Spain) where I eat lunch with Mama and Papa. Repos is my new favorite thing because I get to go home, eat yummy food, and then nap for at least an hour before going back to class from 3-5:45. Lunch and dinner usually consist of rice or pâte (local dish made of corn or flour…it looks like mashed potatoes and tastes like nothing) with vegetables and fish or some other meat. Mama also makes salad and whenever we have it I make sure to eat everything because I'm never really sure when I'll see fresh veggies again. I also eat fruits like oranges, pineapples, and bananas.
In my free time I hang out with the other stagaires in my sector (there are 14 of us total). Sometimes we'll play basketball or soccer or hang out at a local buvette (bar). We also seem to take daily trips to the little supermarché to buy drinks or cookies. I also hang out with my siblings and sometimes we'll throw a frisbee around on the dirt road that our house is on. It causes quite the spectacle because 1. They don't sell frisbees here and I might as well be throwing around a baking pan or a helmet or a hamburger or something else random and 2. I'm the neighborhood yovo and people want to see me make a fool out of myself.
The other day I also helped my sister with the dishes and even drew my own shower water from the well! I actually carried some water (in a bucket) on my head, too. It's amazing the things women carry on their heads. I've seen people carrying tables, clothing, eggs, bread, anything and everything.It's really a practical way to move things, but I seem to lack the grace and coordination needed to seriously attempt this.
I also spent a good 45 minutes with my sister picking through a giant tin tray of rice looking for bad pieces. I really had no idea what I was doing, but I just kind of went with the flow. You buy rice from street vendors at the outdoor marché here, and it doesn't come in nice, neat, clean packages. You have to pick out the single grains of rice that are still in their husks or anything else that may have landed in the rice sack.
Doing my own laundry by hand was also an interesting experience. Mama showed me how to wash and scrub everything in a big bowl and then I had to rinse it in 2 other bowls. Honestly, my clothes have never been cleaner. The bad thing about the laundry process is that American clothes really were not meant for rough handwashing and a lot of stuff will probably get worn out quickly. Also, have you ever attempted to wring out a pair of jeans? Yea, I didn't think so. It's pretty painful and I'm thinking that I'll have really strong hands and forearms after 2 years of this.
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