Monday, May 11, 2009
Amanda is in Africa, maintenant.
And it is glorious. We ate STEAK, drank red wine, and slept in air conditioning with comforters. Amen.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Amanda!!!
Amanda comes in a couple of hours!!!! I am so stoked. With any luck the Air France flight from Paris won't be over an hour late as usual, and we can check into our hotel and have a nice dinner before it gets too late. Tomorrow we are going to explore Cotonou a bit and then meet up with my post-mate and his visiting friend (who also happens to be from Chicago, and on the same flight as Amanda going back home!) to have a nice evening of dinner and drinks. We will head to Lobogo on Tuesday, and also hit Grand Popo and Possotome while she is here. She leaves on the 20th, which gives us ten days together!
The rest of my weekend in Cotonou last week was relaxing, if not a bit boring. It always sounds so exciting to spend time in Cotonou/ the Bureau, where there are movies, air conditioning, internet, hot showers, and good food, but having a whole free day there is, quite frankly, boring. Jeremy and I had a nice dinner outside on the 2nd floor patio at Hai King, a Chinese restaurant. That night, I talked to lots of people from home since the cell network in Lobogo is STILL down. (I went to the cell phone company in Cotonou on Monday to complain, and they assured me that there were people working on it as we spoke... and six days later, it is still not working. The frustrating thing is, it works in a few spots in Lobogo, but not in my house/concession. I will be traveling a lot with Amanda so will not change networks right now, but if once she is gone it is still down, I will change.) On Monday, I saw the doctor, who informed me that not only do I have amoebas, but I have TWO other types of parasites living it up in my digestive tract right now. I am lucky I don't have more symptoms than I do (only occasional stomach pain and diarrhea), and am once again on a heavy regimen of antibiotics. Luckily, the doctor was nice to me about it, but I am worried that if I get parasites again, they could threaten me with medical separation or something like that. I am really frustrated that I keep getting sick. I am one of the few volunteers that ALWAYS filters and boils my water (if you saw my well, you would understand) and bleaches/boils my vegetables. I often cook for myself and occasionally eat street food. There are tons of volunteers who eat street food for every meal, yet I seem to get parasites more than they do. The doctors suggested bringing my own plates when I eat street food, since the plates there are often still wet with the far-from-sanitary water they wash them in. This makes me wonder: how many Beninese/developing country citizens have parasites? You don't really develop an immunity to them. I don't even drink the water, and I have already had parasites three times. They don't usually clear away on their own.
This week I proctored exams, and I had a lot of work to do since most of the teachers were still on strike. Many of the exams I proctored were four hours long, which meant four hours of sitting there doing nothing, making sure that the kids weren't cheating. Luckily, I had the oldest classes, so I didn't have to watch them too closely. Nest week are end-of-the-year finals. I got really mad when I saw the English exams for sixiéme and cinquiéme. We didn't get to write the exams together since they were on strike, so the head of the department wrote those exams. What made me so mad was that there was no thought put into vocabulary sophistication (beginning speakers are not going to understand words like “eldest” and “chieftain”) and logic in the text. Beninese curriculum mandates that every exam must be based off of a text, but the texts were so sophisticated and filled with errors that there was no way my beginners could have succeeded. Luckily, I intercepted the department head before these were printed and we edited the exams together. Next year, I am going to run for department head. This will entail me editing the exams that we will write together, and running weekly department meetings (they will actually start on time!)
Other than that, this has been a pretty low-key week. We had our first truly rainy day of the season (it pretty much rained straight from noon to midnight- I slept without a fan again!), and I spent it giving pedicures to the women in my concession and baking peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with Fifa and Mariam. Mariam is MUCH better at French now, so we can actually communicate and have a lot of fun together! I finished The Water is Wide (I still highly recommend this if you want a glimpse into my life as a teacher here, especially the frustrations with other teachers/school philosophy) and have now started Middlesex, which I have been wanting to read for a while.
The downside of the rain: the mud. Remember me saying that it was only a matter of time until I fell in the mud? Well, my time came this week. I had just locked my door and was heading out to wait for the zemidjan to take me to school, when I reallllly wiped out. We're taking a sliding five feet and getting my pants totally muddy. Luckily, only a couple of the women in my concession saw, and, mouths gaping, uttered the requisite “doucement”. So, I had to go back inside, wash off, and change my pants. I was late to school. It could have been a lot worse, though. I could have fallen in the market or, God forbid, at school.
Well, I have to get ready to pick Amanda up!!! I will be back on the internet in a week and half, and this time I should be posting pictures since Amanda is bringing my new digital camera! I will let you know if I get a new phone number.
The rest of my weekend in Cotonou last week was relaxing, if not a bit boring. It always sounds so exciting to spend time in Cotonou/ the Bureau, where there are movies, air conditioning, internet, hot showers, and good food, but having a whole free day there is, quite frankly, boring. Jeremy and I had a nice dinner outside on the 2nd floor patio at Hai King, a Chinese restaurant. That night, I talked to lots of people from home since the cell network in Lobogo is STILL down. (I went to the cell phone company in Cotonou on Monday to complain, and they assured me that there were people working on it as we spoke... and six days later, it is still not working. The frustrating thing is, it works in a few spots in Lobogo, but not in my house/concession. I will be traveling a lot with Amanda so will not change networks right now, but if once she is gone it is still down, I will change.) On Monday, I saw the doctor, who informed me that not only do I have amoebas, but I have TWO other types of parasites living it up in my digestive tract right now. I am lucky I don't have more symptoms than I do (only occasional stomach pain and diarrhea), and am once again on a heavy regimen of antibiotics. Luckily, the doctor was nice to me about it, but I am worried that if I get parasites again, they could threaten me with medical separation or something like that. I am really frustrated that I keep getting sick. I am one of the few volunteers that ALWAYS filters and boils my water (if you saw my well, you would understand) and bleaches/boils my vegetables. I often cook for myself and occasionally eat street food. There are tons of volunteers who eat street food for every meal, yet I seem to get parasites more than they do. The doctors suggested bringing my own plates when I eat street food, since the plates there are often still wet with the far-from-sanitary water they wash them in. This makes me wonder: how many Beninese/developing country citizens have parasites? You don't really develop an immunity to them. I don't even drink the water, and I have already had parasites three times. They don't usually clear away on their own.
This week I proctored exams, and I had a lot of work to do since most of the teachers were still on strike. Many of the exams I proctored were four hours long, which meant four hours of sitting there doing nothing, making sure that the kids weren't cheating. Luckily, I had the oldest classes, so I didn't have to watch them too closely. Nest week are end-of-the-year finals. I got really mad when I saw the English exams for sixiéme and cinquiéme. We didn't get to write the exams together since they were on strike, so the head of the department wrote those exams. What made me so mad was that there was no thought put into vocabulary sophistication (beginning speakers are not going to understand words like “eldest” and “chieftain”) and logic in the text. Beninese curriculum mandates that every exam must be based off of a text, but the texts were so sophisticated and filled with errors that there was no way my beginners could have succeeded. Luckily, I intercepted the department head before these were printed and we edited the exams together. Next year, I am going to run for department head. This will entail me editing the exams that we will write together, and running weekly department meetings (they will actually start on time!)
Other than that, this has been a pretty low-key week. We had our first truly rainy day of the season (it pretty much rained straight from noon to midnight- I slept without a fan again!), and I spent it giving pedicures to the women in my concession and baking peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with Fifa and Mariam. Mariam is MUCH better at French now, so we can actually communicate and have a lot of fun together! I finished The Water is Wide (I still highly recommend this if you want a glimpse into my life as a teacher here, especially the frustrations with other teachers/school philosophy) and have now started Middlesex, which I have been wanting to read for a while.
The downside of the rain: the mud. Remember me saying that it was only a matter of time until I fell in the mud? Well, my time came this week. I had just locked my door and was heading out to wait for the zemidjan to take me to school, when I reallllly wiped out. We're taking a sliding five feet and getting my pants totally muddy. Luckily, only a couple of the women in my concession saw, and, mouths gaping, uttered the requisite “doucement”. So, I had to go back inside, wash off, and change my pants. I was late to school. It could have been a lot worse, though. I could have fallen in the market or, God forbid, at school.
Well, I have to get ready to pick Amanda up!!! I will be back on the internet in a week and half, and this time I should be posting pictures since Amanda is bringing my new digital camera! I will let you know if I get a new phone number.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
May?!
I absolutely can't believe that I have been out of the United States for over ten months now. I know I am starting to sound like a broken record, but my goodness how time flies!
This week has had its share of ups and downs. I taught school for two days this week, and even that was quite a feat. Most of the professors were on strike, so many students didn't show up. (Of course, no one bothered to tell me about the strike ahead of time.) Then, Wednesday, there was a soccer match between Lobogo and the neighboring village of Bopa, and the students all had permission to skip school and go watch the game. Once again, nobody bothered to tell me about this ahead of time, and about 1/3 of my students showed up, even though it was the last class before finals/of the year! Then Thursday and Friday were national holidays, so... I am done teaching for the year...?!?!
Another fun school story this week: we had a staff meeting that consisted of our administration telling us what horrible teachers we all were, based on first semester grades. Apparently, there are some classes in which no students are getting over a 50%. When asked what we could do to improve our teaching, teachers began standing up and proclaiming that they are already doing everything they could possibly do, and that the problem is that the students are stupid and lazy. Needless to say, I lost it and stood up and gave small suggestions for improvement like not writing notes on the board and then going to sleep while the students copy, not taking 30 minute phone calls in the middle of class, etc. Of course, I was just laughed at, but the administration was really happy that I spoke up and I was proud of myself. It really made me realize some key differences between work and motivation philosophy between Beninese and Americans. They are always asking, "what's in it for me?" instead of "what is the stake for the children?" Of course, this meeting lasted a wholly unnecessary 2.5 hours. Sigh.
This week I also finalized my girls for Camp GLOW. My homologue and I went to see the family of the second girl I am taking. It wasn't as magical as the first night ride through the jungle, but still really beautiful. The next day we went back to the family of the first girl because they wanted us to see them during the day. The girl herself wasn't there, and her mother and family were off working in the market. So, it was the grandparents (realllly old, no teeth, insert various National-Geographic-elderly-African-people stereotypes here) and TONS of filthy kids rolling around in the dirt. This group (I say group because I am pretty sure there is more than one wife) of parents has fifteen children between the ages of 1 and 10, all on a farmer's living.
The highlight of the afternoon was the grandpa taking us out to one of his fields, cutting down a palm tree, and showing us how to drain it of its wine. So, we drank fresh palm wine straight out of the tree! It tasted like milky beer that was slightly sweet. He then showed us how he distills the wine to make this horrid moonshine. The water he cools the liquor through looks and smells like it hasn't been changed in twenty years, and the cotton the final product drips through looks like it's alive. Disgusting. Afterwards, Blaise and I went to Bopa to ask the mayor for funding for our transportation to Camp GLOW. He was so impressed that I only asked for the price of transportation and didn't try to get more money out of him that he gave us extra money for the girls to have to spend on themselves at the camp! They are going to be so excited!
As I mentioned earlier, Friday was Labor Day, a huge holiday in Benin. The different groups of laborers in Lobogo (tailors, zemidjan drivers, etc.) got matching fabric, and in the evening, the whole village was out drinking and dancing! I had no idea this holiday was going to be like this, and I had one of those "Peace Corps moments" where I had a few beers and danced to quintessentially West African music and danced Beninese style under the moonlight with other villagers. It was so much fun!
That day I also started a book called "The Water is Wide" by Pat Conroy, and let me tell you- if you are looking for an almost exact portrait of what I'm doing here, this book is it. The author was a volunteer teacher on a small island off the coast of South Carolina circa 1970. The people on the island barely speak English, don't have any concept of the outside world, he has limited resources, etc. I was laughing so hard throughout the whole beginning of the book because it is so spot-on. Please pick up this book!
I am now in Cotonou. Last night was our ex-pat fund raising fiesta, and it was a decent success. We ended up making about $2000 to be used entirely by volunteers doing small gender and development projects. The event was held in the backyard of an ex-pat's home under big tents. We had a live salsa band that was really good, and a catering company provided Mexican food! I worked drinks the whole night, which meant sticking my arms into VERY icy water every minute or two to get people a beer. In true Beninese style, we didn't have a bottle opener until about 30 minutes after the event had started. The crowd we had was an interesting mix: loud Americans, picky ex-pats refusing to drink without straws, etc. Definitely good entertainment! The auction that went along with the dinner was somewhat disappointing- I think the ex-pats were more interested in dinner and dancing. Many beautiful pieces donated by artists and artisans sold for quite a bit under what they should have. Oh well, we still had fun and made some good money!
I will be heading back to Lobogo tomorrow. I think I might have amoebas again :(, so I am going to see the doctors tomorrow morning. Amanda comes a week from today!!!! I am giddy! I am also really excited to get my new camera! This week I will just be proctoring practice exams at the school, so not much work to do. Finally, the cell phone network is STILL down in my village!! Keep trying to call, I am hoping they will fix it ASAP. If they have not fixed it by mid-May, I am going to have to switch providers and get a new phone number- such a pain in the butt. Happy May!
This week has had its share of ups and downs. I taught school for two days this week, and even that was quite a feat. Most of the professors were on strike, so many students didn't show up. (Of course, no one bothered to tell me about the strike ahead of time.) Then, Wednesday, there was a soccer match between Lobogo and the neighboring village of Bopa, and the students all had permission to skip school and go watch the game. Once again, nobody bothered to tell me about this ahead of time, and about 1/3 of my students showed up, even though it was the last class before finals/of the year! Then Thursday and Friday were national holidays, so... I am done teaching for the year...?!?!
Another fun school story this week: we had a staff meeting that consisted of our administration telling us what horrible teachers we all were, based on first semester grades. Apparently, there are some classes in which no students are getting over a 50%. When asked what we could do to improve our teaching, teachers began standing up and proclaiming that they are already doing everything they could possibly do, and that the problem is that the students are stupid and lazy. Needless to say, I lost it and stood up and gave small suggestions for improvement like not writing notes on the board and then going to sleep while the students copy, not taking 30 minute phone calls in the middle of class, etc. Of course, I was just laughed at, but the administration was really happy that I spoke up and I was proud of myself. It really made me realize some key differences between work and motivation philosophy between Beninese and Americans. They are always asking, "what's in it for me?" instead of "what is the stake for the children?" Of course, this meeting lasted a wholly unnecessary 2.5 hours. Sigh.
This week I also finalized my girls for Camp GLOW. My homologue and I went to see the family of the second girl I am taking. It wasn't as magical as the first night ride through the jungle, but still really beautiful. The next day we went back to the family of the first girl because they wanted us to see them during the day. The girl herself wasn't there, and her mother and family were off working in the market. So, it was the grandparents (realllly old, no teeth, insert various National-Geographic-elderly-African-people stereotypes here) and TONS of filthy kids rolling around in the dirt. This group (I say group because I am pretty sure there is more than one wife) of parents has fifteen children between the ages of 1 and 10, all on a farmer's living.
The highlight of the afternoon was the grandpa taking us out to one of his fields, cutting down a palm tree, and showing us how to drain it of its wine. So, we drank fresh palm wine straight out of the tree! It tasted like milky beer that was slightly sweet. He then showed us how he distills the wine to make this horrid moonshine. The water he cools the liquor through looks and smells like it hasn't been changed in twenty years, and the cotton the final product drips through looks like it's alive. Disgusting. Afterwards, Blaise and I went to Bopa to ask the mayor for funding for our transportation to Camp GLOW. He was so impressed that I only asked for the price of transportation and didn't try to get more money out of him that he gave us extra money for the girls to have to spend on themselves at the camp! They are going to be so excited!
As I mentioned earlier, Friday was Labor Day, a huge holiday in Benin. The different groups of laborers in Lobogo (tailors, zemidjan drivers, etc.) got matching fabric, and in the evening, the whole village was out drinking and dancing! I had no idea this holiday was going to be like this, and I had one of those "Peace Corps moments" where I had a few beers and danced to quintessentially West African music and danced Beninese style under the moonlight with other villagers. It was so much fun!
That day I also started a book called "The Water is Wide" by Pat Conroy, and let me tell you- if you are looking for an almost exact portrait of what I'm doing here, this book is it. The author was a volunteer teacher on a small island off the coast of South Carolina circa 1970. The people on the island barely speak English, don't have any concept of the outside world, he has limited resources, etc. I was laughing so hard throughout the whole beginning of the book because it is so spot-on. Please pick up this book!
I am now in Cotonou. Last night was our ex-pat fund raising fiesta, and it was a decent success. We ended up making about $2000 to be used entirely by volunteers doing small gender and development projects. The event was held in the backyard of an ex-pat's home under big tents. We had a live salsa band that was really good, and a catering company provided Mexican food! I worked drinks the whole night, which meant sticking my arms into VERY icy water every minute or two to get people a beer. In true Beninese style, we didn't have a bottle opener until about 30 minutes after the event had started. The crowd we had was an interesting mix: loud Americans, picky ex-pats refusing to drink without straws, etc. Definitely good entertainment! The auction that went along with the dinner was somewhat disappointing- I think the ex-pats were more interested in dinner and dancing. Many beautiful pieces donated by artists and artisans sold for quite a bit under what they should have. Oh well, we still had fun and made some good money!
I will be heading back to Lobogo tomorrow. I think I might have amoebas again :(, so I am going to see the doctors tomorrow morning. Amanda comes a week from today!!!! I am giddy! I am also really excited to get my new camera! This week I will just be proctoring practice exams at the school, so not much work to do. Finally, the cell phone network is STILL down in my village!! Keep trying to call, I am hoping they will fix it ASAP. If they have not fixed it by mid-May, I am going to have to switch providers and get a new phone number- such a pain in the butt. Happy May!
Friday, April 24, 2009
The end is near...
I can't believe that it was already ten months ago that I was rushing around getting ready to move halfway across the world and saying my goodbyes. It is almost May! (Amanda comes two weeks from Sunday!!!) This has been seeming really crazy to me lately, since the end of the school year is literally here. This coming week is my last week teaching for the year, and then we have two weeks of exams followed by grading and end-of-the-year meetings. While I am proud of getting through my first year teaching here and am looking forward to the summer break, I am disappointed by how not-far the English department got in the curriculum. I am even behind some of the other teachers, but I know that is because if a tough grammar point is not understood by the end of a lesson, I spend another lesson on it. Nonetheless, it is going to cause some headaches as we prepare for finals, since every student has to take the same exam, regardless of their teacher/spot in the curriculum.
I still have one of my four classes' midterms to grade, which I will do this weekend. I am still amazed at how long grading takes (and how it can make me grumpy when students don't do as well as I know they could). Many teachers poked fun at me for taking so long grading, but when I watch them grade they barely scan the paper and mark off for the slightest error. I also write in the correct answers on my students' papers so that they can learn from their mistakes when they are studying later.
Enough about school! Last weekend was great. Monica, Michelle and I made and awesome homemade minestrone soup and cornbread for dinner, and watched most of season four of Grey's Anatomy. A very cozy/homey night :) Then on Saturday Katie and John Mark came to Lobogo! They were amazed at just how different it is down here, and declared that I live in a “jungle paradise” and that my post was the favorite one they have visited! We walked around the village, went for some beers, and made an awesome salad for dinner. On Sunday we went to Possotome for a few hours of beach time (I got my first real sunburn since I have been here) and then came back to check out Lobogo's market on market day. Once again, they were blown away with everything you can find in my market and they each spent lots of money. We came home, made some fried rice, and watched Munich on Katie's laptop. The next morning we made some pancakes (second day in a row!) and they left for Cotonou. It was great having so many friends come to visit me over break! Like taking a vacation without having to travel anywhere :)
Speaking of burns, I got a really bad one by accidentally touching the exhaust pipe of a moto as I was getting on it. It is easy to do and quite frankly I am surprised that I hadn't done it before. It really hurt and left a nasty char mark, and it will definitely leave a substantial scar :(
It was fine going back to school, although one day my administration got testy with me when they asked if I believed in sorcery and I said no. They then proceeded to tell me that a sorcerer in Porto Novo had recently found a cure for AIDS and got upset when I bluntly said that that was not true. Conversations like these remind me how deep-seated beliefs such as these are in their culture. Honestly, I believe that if you believe in sorcery, then it exists for you, but if you don't, then it doesn't. I tried telling the administration this, and they just laughed at me.
This week, I got even more excited to come home this summer when I found out that David Hines Jr., a good friend of mine from the euphonium section of the marching band, was elected drum major for the 2009 season! I am so proud of him and am so happy that I will get to see his first game on September 5! I went to the tailor to check on progress on the U of M dress that I will be wearing to the game- it is great! He had made it a bit too big and is fixing it now, but I can tell it will be fabulous. He is also making me a purse and headband to go with it! The other dress that my tailor made me is adorable, but unfortunately too short to wear anywhere except maybe Cotonou. I keep telling myself that I will wear things made out of African fabric when I go home, but everyone keeps telling me that you realize when you get there that that is impossible. Too bad :( I also don't think I will ever again wear anything that shows above my knees- it is so scandalous here! There will definitely be some major culture shock when I get home.
I am in Cotonou today for our final meetings about Camp GLOW and the expatriate fund raising dinner and auction next weekend. Tonight Michelle and I are buying some beef from the butcher and making beef and broccoli (broccoli you can only find in Cotonou- I haven't had it since home!) at her place in Lokossa. If anyone at home wants to call, today or tomorrow is a good time to do it since I will be in cities- the cell phone network in my village had been down for a week now. Hopefully it will get fixed soon.
I still have one of my four classes' midterms to grade, which I will do this weekend. I am still amazed at how long grading takes (and how it can make me grumpy when students don't do as well as I know they could). Many teachers poked fun at me for taking so long grading, but when I watch them grade they barely scan the paper and mark off for the slightest error. I also write in the correct answers on my students' papers so that they can learn from their mistakes when they are studying later.
Enough about school! Last weekend was great. Monica, Michelle and I made and awesome homemade minestrone soup and cornbread for dinner, and watched most of season four of Grey's Anatomy. A very cozy/homey night :) Then on Saturday Katie and John Mark came to Lobogo! They were amazed at just how different it is down here, and declared that I live in a “jungle paradise” and that my post was the favorite one they have visited! We walked around the village, went for some beers, and made an awesome salad for dinner. On Sunday we went to Possotome for a few hours of beach time (I got my first real sunburn since I have been here) and then came back to check out Lobogo's market on market day. Once again, they were blown away with everything you can find in my market and they each spent lots of money. We came home, made some fried rice, and watched Munich on Katie's laptop. The next morning we made some pancakes (second day in a row!) and they left for Cotonou. It was great having so many friends come to visit me over break! Like taking a vacation without having to travel anywhere :)
Speaking of burns, I got a really bad one by accidentally touching the exhaust pipe of a moto as I was getting on it. It is easy to do and quite frankly I am surprised that I hadn't done it before. It really hurt and left a nasty char mark, and it will definitely leave a substantial scar :(
It was fine going back to school, although one day my administration got testy with me when they asked if I believed in sorcery and I said no. They then proceeded to tell me that a sorcerer in Porto Novo had recently found a cure for AIDS and got upset when I bluntly said that that was not true. Conversations like these remind me how deep-seated beliefs such as these are in their culture. Honestly, I believe that if you believe in sorcery, then it exists for you, but if you don't, then it doesn't. I tried telling the administration this, and they just laughed at me.
This week, I got even more excited to come home this summer when I found out that David Hines Jr., a good friend of mine from the euphonium section of the marching band, was elected drum major for the 2009 season! I am so proud of him and am so happy that I will get to see his first game on September 5! I went to the tailor to check on progress on the U of M dress that I will be wearing to the game- it is great! He had made it a bit too big and is fixing it now, but I can tell it will be fabulous. He is also making me a purse and headband to go with it! The other dress that my tailor made me is adorable, but unfortunately too short to wear anywhere except maybe Cotonou. I keep telling myself that I will wear things made out of African fabric when I go home, but everyone keeps telling me that you realize when you get there that that is impossible. Too bad :( I also don't think I will ever again wear anything that shows above my knees- it is so scandalous here! There will definitely be some major culture shock when I get home.
I am in Cotonou today for our final meetings about Camp GLOW and the expatriate fund raising dinner and auction next weekend. Tonight Michelle and I are buying some beef from the butcher and making beef and broccoli (broccoli you can only find in Cotonou- I haven't had it since home!) at her place in Lokossa. If anyone at home wants to call, today or tomorrow is a good time to do it since I will be in cities- the cell phone network in my village had been down for a week now. Hopefully it will get fixed soon.
Friday, April 17, 2009
I hate flying ants.
We had another swarm last night, and this time they made their way IN to my house, my mosquito net/bed, into my water, etc. It was horrifying, but my cats had a hayday.
Anyway, Monica has been at my post the past few days, and we have had lots of fun exploring the area. Yesterday we went to Possotome to chill by the lake and make an awesome veggie lasagna, and today we are in Lokossa to cook, bake, and watch movies with Michelle. Last night we also drank wine and went star gazing! I will never get over how beautiful the stars are here.
Katie and John Mark come tomorrow, and I start school again on Tuesday. Lots of work to do grading exams this week! I will be back on the computers in one week when I will be in Cotonou for a Camp GLOW meeting.
Anyway, Monica has been at my post the past few days, and we have had lots of fun exploring the area. Yesterday we went to Possotome to chill by the lake and make an awesome veggie lasagna, and today we are in Lokossa to cook, bake, and watch movies with Michelle. Last night we also drank wine and went star gazing! I will never get over how beautiful the stars are here.
Katie and John Mark come tomorrow, and I start school again on Tuesday. Lots of work to do grading exams this week! I will be back on the computers in one week when I will be in Cotonou for a Camp GLOW meeting.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter
Happy belated Easter! I hope you all had a wonderful one and spent it with family. I had a nice Easter with my quasi-family. On Good Friday there was a reenactment of the stations of the cross, but it took place in the afternoon in the hot sun and they walk over 4 miles, so I decided not to do it.
My Easter started at 1am when the Easter vigil service got out. I did not go to the service, but I was awoken by the absurdly loud drumming and singing that followed it. I sat up and did crossword puzzles until the party ended almost two hours later.
I took the young girls to church in the morning. The service was three hours long and all in the local language so it was pretty hard to sit through, but I entertained myself by looking at all the fancy and outrageous outfits people had made for Easter. One really cool thing is that every year the village picks out a fabric that anyone who can afford it gets to make their Easter outfit out of, so many people were wearing the same orange and blue fabric. Another entertaining thing was watching the ten or so men with big sticks who roamed the church during the service, smacking those who were sleeping, talking or babies who were crying. It sure seemed to me that they enjoyed and almost abused this position. I wanted to scream that if the services weren't so darn long, people wouldn't be falling asleep! A few older women received their first communion, and they each gave the church a gift: one woman gave 20 eggs, one gave a live chicken, one gave a basket of onions, etc. After the service these women paraded around the town singing.
After church I took the little girls to get some food, and then we came home and they helped me bake a devil's food cake. While it was dancing, we had a dance party in my kitchen! It was a blast despite being I think the hottest day since coming to Benin. Then, I was invited out with the family for the evening. We stopped at several different family members' houses and had a drink at each one, and then ended up at the main family house to have a meal of delicious BBQ chicken, beer, and my cake! (I can't imagine how many chickens were killed yesterday- our family alone killed 5! Poor guys) It was nice to feel like part of the family. In fact, the zipper on my top broke, and they acted like it was no big deal and the women covered me and got me a pagne to cover-up- it was so nice! I also got several calls from family at home, which was great. I guess my dad put together a DVD of the photos and videos that Sandy took when she was here, which my whole family got to watch on Easter. They got to see me teaching!
My spring break is now in full swing! We had a short two-day school week, the highlight of which was my department meeting in which- no joke- we took two hours to discuss the steps for doing a reading comprehension lesson. My first day of break I took to overhaul my house, and while I cleaned a boy from my concession scrubbed the floors, walls, and windows. It was kind of fun- we turned the music up and drank some beers as we sweat profusely and did our work. I am finding that I am already getting a bit bored, which isn't a good sign for the summer break! I have lots of camps and little trips planned, though, so hopefully it will be ok.
Today I am in Cotonou to get my packages and run some errands, and tonight a friend and I are going to a nice dinner. Tomorrow she is coming back to my village with me, and then on Saturday my friends Katie and John Mark are coming to Lobogo. We will probably visit Possotome one day, and maybe even hit the beach at Grand Popo. I still have about 150 exams to grade before the end of break :(
But how crazy is this: I found out that our final exams start on May 11! And one of the weeks before then is practice testing, so there are no regular classes. So basically, the year is over! Part of me is happy, but I am also disappointed in how not far I got in the curriculum. Since exams are the week Amanda comes, I will now have that whole week free to be with her and not worry about school, which is great. She now comes in less than four weeks! She is going to bring my new camera which I'm really happy about.
Yesterday, we had an insane downpour in Lobogo which almost flooded my kitchen and revealed several small leaks/seepages in my house. I didn't even care, though- my house got down to 77 degrees!!! It was HEAVENLY! And then- drumroll, please- when I woke up I was COLD and it was 75 in my room!!I don't think I have felt a temperature that cool since leaving the States! Let's hope that this means the start of the rainy season! (One bad side effect, though: flying ants decided to breed in my shower. There were so many that I couldn't see the walls, it was horrible. There was a mouse trying to eat the ants and then in turn my cat ate the mouse. Ah, circle of life...)
That's all for now! Have a good week :)
My Easter started at 1am when the Easter vigil service got out. I did not go to the service, but I was awoken by the absurdly loud drumming and singing that followed it. I sat up and did crossword puzzles until the party ended almost two hours later.
I took the young girls to church in the morning. The service was three hours long and all in the local language so it was pretty hard to sit through, but I entertained myself by looking at all the fancy and outrageous outfits people had made for Easter. One really cool thing is that every year the village picks out a fabric that anyone who can afford it gets to make their Easter outfit out of, so many people were wearing the same orange and blue fabric. Another entertaining thing was watching the ten or so men with big sticks who roamed the church during the service, smacking those who were sleeping, talking or babies who were crying. It sure seemed to me that they enjoyed and almost abused this position. I wanted to scream that if the services weren't so darn long, people wouldn't be falling asleep! A few older women received their first communion, and they each gave the church a gift: one woman gave 20 eggs, one gave a live chicken, one gave a basket of onions, etc. After the service these women paraded around the town singing.
After church I took the little girls to get some food, and then we came home and they helped me bake a devil's food cake. While it was dancing, we had a dance party in my kitchen! It was a blast despite being I think the hottest day since coming to Benin. Then, I was invited out with the family for the evening. We stopped at several different family members' houses and had a drink at each one, and then ended up at the main family house to have a meal of delicious BBQ chicken, beer, and my cake! (I can't imagine how many chickens were killed yesterday- our family alone killed 5! Poor guys) It was nice to feel like part of the family. In fact, the zipper on my top broke, and they acted like it was no big deal and the women covered me and got me a pagne to cover-up- it was so nice! I also got several calls from family at home, which was great. I guess my dad put together a DVD of the photos and videos that Sandy took when she was here, which my whole family got to watch on Easter. They got to see me teaching!
My spring break is now in full swing! We had a short two-day school week, the highlight of which was my department meeting in which- no joke- we took two hours to discuss the steps for doing a reading comprehension lesson. My first day of break I took to overhaul my house, and while I cleaned a boy from my concession scrubbed the floors, walls, and windows. It was kind of fun- we turned the music up and drank some beers as we sweat profusely and did our work. I am finding that I am already getting a bit bored, which isn't a good sign for the summer break! I have lots of camps and little trips planned, though, so hopefully it will be ok.
Today I am in Cotonou to get my packages and run some errands, and tonight a friend and I are going to a nice dinner. Tomorrow she is coming back to my village with me, and then on Saturday my friends Katie and John Mark are coming to Lobogo. We will probably visit Possotome one day, and maybe even hit the beach at Grand Popo. I still have about 150 exams to grade before the end of break :(
But how crazy is this: I found out that our final exams start on May 11! And one of the weeks before then is practice testing, so there are no regular classes. So basically, the year is over! Part of me is happy, but I am also disappointed in how not far I got in the curriculum. Since exams are the week Amanda comes, I will now have that whole week free to be with her and not worry about school, which is great. She now comes in less than four weeks! She is going to bring my new camera which I'm really happy about.
Yesterday, we had an insane downpour in Lobogo which almost flooded my kitchen and revealed several small leaks/seepages in my house. I didn't even care, though- my house got down to 77 degrees!!! It was HEAVENLY! And then- drumroll, please- when I woke up I was COLD and it was 75 in my room!!I don't think I have felt a temperature that cool since leaving the States! Let's hope that this means the start of the rainy season! (One bad side effect, though: flying ants decided to breed in my shower. There were so many that I couldn't see the walls, it was horrible. There was a mouse trying to eat the ants and then in turn my cat ate the mouse. Ah, circle of life...)
That's all for now! Have a good week :)
Monday, April 6, 2009
April
I am writing this blog just about ten minutes after watching one of the concession goats give birth in my bike shed. It was quite the site- and came with quite the sounds- but we now have a new goat in our concession that could literally fit into the palm of your hand. I know I have said this before, but I think that baby goats are just about the cutest things on earth.
I would take a picture of the little guy, but unfortunately my camera recently broke :( I think I mentioned that in my last blog. I emailed technical support at Kodak and they said I have to send my camera in for repairs. My parents are going to try and send a me a new camera by way of my friend who is visiting next month, since the one I have now is quite old. I don't want to go another four months without taking pictures!!!
Life since my last post has been a series of ups and downs. The first few days back in Lobogo after the week of being away and with friends were really tough. That is when the tragedy really hit me, and I just felt really sad an lonely. I didn't feel scared, but nonetheless had some trouble sleeping those first few nights, for obvious reasons. I think the reason I had a tough time was a combination of the support being with other volunteers was taken away, and I had no one in my village to commiserate with, as the way they deal with grief here is either very private or just saying “God wanted this.” I noticed that volunteers who live in towns with other volunteers or other westerners did not have this problem, so I realized that it was my isolation making it harder for me.
However, life has been getting better everyday, and I no longer have trouble sleeping nor do I get so sad and lonely in the evenings. Many people from home have called to support me though this, and I really appreciate that. I have definitely missed home more since this incident. It has helped getting back into the swing of things at school, and spending lots of time with my kitties! (They really care about me- the other night they caught a big fat mouse and dropped it at my feet triumphantly as a gift.)
School was the usual this week, with lots of frustrations because of discipline and building problems, and lots of fun in the classroom like when I taught the kids the “Days of the Week” song to the tune of the Addams Family theme song: There's Sunday and there's Monday, there's Tuesday and there's Wednesday, there's Thursday and there's Friday, and then there's Saturday! Days of the week (snap snap), days of the week (snap snap), days of the week, days of the week, days of the week! (snap snap) They went NUTS over that song! I have also been grading a lot of quizzes and tests this week, which I must confess is probably my least favorite part about teaching, both because it is very time consuming and because it is depressing when kids don't do as well as you would expect and hope.
Last weekend, I went to Lokossa to help grade the written portion of a regional English competition. That in itself wasn't too exciting, and was certainly frustrating at times. We were working with Beninese teachers, so everything inevitably took about five times as long as it needed to, and I also had to convince my fellow graders that even if the answer that the student wrote wasn't word for word what was on the answer key (such as for the short answer section), it could still be right. For instance, the answer key had “Would you watch my child on Tuesday?” listed as one of the answers, and I had to go through hell to convince them that “Would you mind watching my child on Tuesday?” meant the same thing and was also correct, since it wasn't listed on the answer key.
I was happy to go to Lokossa as it gave me some time away from the isolation of my village and with other volunteers, and after the competition we all went and got pounded yams, cheese, and beer for lunch. I met another American volunteer who is in Lokossa for two months, she is there for a college class. That evening, that girl, Michelle, and I went to the local missionary family's house and watched 27 Dresses, which was really nice. On the way home from Lokossa, I discovered a farm on the side of the road that sells fresh cheese! I bought some for myself and my neighbors.
This week I also decided the girl that I want to bring to Camp GLOW with me in June. We asked her the neighborhood where she lived, and my homologue and I said that we would be there that evening. Well, it turns out that she lives almost five kilometers from the school and literally out in the middle of the jungle. We had to use a machete to get through some of the bush on Blaise's moto, and it took us over twenty minutes to get there on a moto! That poor girl has to walk that four times every day, and she told us that she leaves her house at 5:30am to get to school by 8! My heart was breaking for her, but it also made me very happy that I had chosen her to come to the camp with me. When we got there, the ENTIRE family clan of about thirty people gathered around us, and we sat in a circle and had a meeting under the moonlight. I very politely introduced myself and told them all about the camp, and that I had chosen Carine because of her grades, good attitude, and potential. Everything I said was translated by Blaise, and he in turn translated the questions they were asking me. They want so much for Carine to do well for their family and not become a farmer like they are. Finally the VERY old grandfather- the head of the family- pulled out a shot glass and some sodabe (the local moonshine) and took a drink, signifying that he agreed to let Carine go. To seal the deal, Blaise and I also were required to drink and then bow to the grandfather.
I have to say that this was probably one of my favorite moments since arriving in Benin. There was something so magical about driving through the jungle in the moonlight, sitting with that huge group of bare-breasted women and decorated men, having a traditional meeting with them, and drinking their local brew as a symbol of agreement. All the while, a voodoo drum circle nearby in the jungle added to the effect. The fact that this very traditional family scrapes together the money to send Carine to school and wants her to succeed was so uplifting, and their agreement to let me take her to the camp made my night complete. They have invited me back in the daytime sometime next week to dine with them- I am really looking forward to it!
The bricklayers have added two layers of bricks to my back wall, and today they finally added the broken glass bottles (sort of like barbed wire). They were very timely about the bricks and came to do that right away, and then every day subsequently they promised to return to add the bottles, and finally showed up a week later. I can't say I'm shocked- it's the Beninese way. Similarly, the electrician has been promising to some every day for the past three weeks to fix one of my outdoor lights and only came after I told my homologue how exasperated I was. (My homologue apparently told the electrician I was “furious” and he came with many apologies.) The same thing happened with the tailor who was making a pair of pants for me this week: every day I went and he promised they would be done the next day, and every day he said to come back the next day. When he was finally finished, he hadn't done a great job and the pants were too big, so I STILL don't have them. Patience is a huge virtue here in Benin, folks...
On Saturday, we had an American BBQ in Dogbo! We made cheeseburgers, corn on the cob, jello, potato salad, coleslaw, and a cake (with Betty Crocker frosting sent from home!) It was SO delicious, and so much fun to make all of that stuff from scratch. We bought two kilos of meat and had to cut off all the fat and bad parts and then put it through the meat grinder several times, but most of the other work was minimal. We also had lots of delicious cold beer! Then on Sunday I stayed in Dogbo the whole day to work on revising the TEFL manual for the incoming volunteers this summer. It is so weird to start to become the “old guys” in Benin and to have much of the focus shift to the newbies coming on July 24! After a day of revisions, we made fresh pico de gallo and guacamole for dinner :)
Now I am in Lokossa in the cyber cafe, and I needed to head to the bank before going back to my village today. Starting Wednesday at noon is my spring break, which is 1.5 weeks long. Two of my fellow volunteers were supposed to come down and spend Easter weekend with me, but they found out at the last minute that they have a meeting up in the north and can't come, so I am kind of bummed about that. I still ave a few people coming later in the second week, though, which I'm really looking forward to. I will probably just end up celebrating Easter with my neighbors, which hopefully will be fun. Other than that it will just be a good and relaxing break, and I am glad that I don't have to travel anywhere! (I will be doing plenty of traveling during my summer break: I have recently decided to help run an English camp waaay up on the border of Benin and Niger at the beginning of July, and afterwards I will travel around visiting my friends who are posted in the north.)
Final thought for this blog: one year ago today I took off to France with my parents- so many good memories! One year ago yesterday was Maddie's ritzy bat mitzvah, too. I can't believe how fast time flies.
That's all for now. Keep the calls coming! They are really helping me through the tough time right now. And they help me get excited for coming home- just over four months now!
I would take a picture of the little guy, but unfortunately my camera recently broke :( I think I mentioned that in my last blog. I emailed technical support at Kodak and they said I have to send my camera in for repairs. My parents are going to try and send a me a new camera by way of my friend who is visiting next month, since the one I have now is quite old. I don't want to go another four months without taking pictures!!!
Life since my last post has been a series of ups and downs. The first few days back in Lobogo after the week of being away and with friends were really tough. That is when the tragedy really hit me, and I just felt really sad an lonely. I didn't feel scared, but nonetheless had some trouble sleeping those first few nights, for obvious reasons. I think the reason I had a tough time was a combination of the support being with other volunteers was taken away, and I had no one in my village to commiserate with, as the way they deal with grief here is either very private or just saying “God wanted this.” I noticed that volunteers who live in towns with other volunteers or other westerners did not have this problem, so I realized that it was my isolation making it harder for me.
However, life has been getting better everyday, and I no longer have trouble sleeping nor do I get so sad and lonely in the evenings. Many people from home have called to support me though this, and I really appreciate that. I have definitely missed home more since this incident. It has helped getting back into the swing of things at school, and spending lots of time with my kitties! (They really care about me- the other night they caught a big fat mouse and dropped it at my feet triumphantly as a gift.)
School was the usual this week, with lots of frustrations because of discipline and building problems, and lots of fun in the classroom like when I taught the kids the “Days of the Week” song to the tune of the Addams Family theme song: There's Sunday and there's Monday, there's Tuesday and there's Wednesday, there's Thursday and there's Friday, and then there's Saturday! Days of the week (snap snap), days of the week (snap snap), days of the week, days of the week, days of the week! (snap snap) They went NUTS over that song! I have also been grading a lot of quizzes and tests this week, which I must confess is probably my least favorite part about teaching, both because it is very time consuming and because it is depressing when kids don't do as well as you would expect and hope.
Last weekend, I went to Lokossa to help grade the written portion of a regional English competition. That in itself wasn't too exciting, and was certainly frustrating at times. We were working with Beninese teachers, so everything inevitably took about five times as long as it needed to, and I also had to convince my fellow graders that even if the answer that the student wrote wasn't word for word what was on the answer key (such as for the short answer section), it could still be right. For instance, the answer key had “Would you watch my child on Tuesday?” listed as one of the answers, and I had to go through hell to convince them that “Would you mind watching my child on Tuesday?” meant the same thing and was also correct, since it wasn't listed on the answer key.
I was happy to go to Lokossa as it gave me some time away from the isolation of my village and with other volunteers, and after the competition we all went and got pounded yams, cheese, and beer for lunch. I met another American volunteer who is in Lokossa for two months, she is there for a college class. That evening, that girl, Michelle, and I went to the local missionary family's house and watched 27 Dresses, which was really nice. On the way home from Lokossa, I discovered a farm on the side of the road that sells fresh cheese! I bought some for myself and my neighbors.
This week I also decided the girl that I want to bring to Camp GLOW with me in June. We asked her the neighborhood where she lived, and my homologue and I said that we would be there that evening. Well, it turns out that she lives almost five kilometers from the school and literally out in the middle of the jungle. We had to use a machete to get through some of the bush on Blaise's moto, and it took us over twenty minutes to get there on a moto! That poor girl has to walk that four times every day, and she told us that she leaves her house at 5:30am to get to school by 8! My heart was breaking for her, but it also made me very happy that I had chosen her to come to the camp with me. When we got there, the ENTIRE family clan of about thirty people gathered around us, and we sat in a circle and had a meeting under the moonlight. I very politely introduced myself and told them all about the camp, and that I had chosen Carine because of her grades, good attitude, and potential. Everything I said was translated by Blaise, and he in turn translated the questions they were asking me. They want so much for Carine to do well for their family and not become a farmer like they are. Finally the VERY old grandfather- the head of the family- pulled out a shot glass and some sodabe (the local moonshine) and took a drink, signifying that he agreed to let Carine go. To seal the deal, Blaise and I also were required to drink and then bow to the grandfather.
I have to say that this was probably one of my favorite moments since arriving in Benin. There was something so magical about driving through the jungle in the moonlight, sitting with that huge group of bare-breasted women and decorated men, having a traditional meeting with them, and drinking their local brew as a symbol of agreement. All the while, a voodoo drum circle nearby in the jungle added to the effect. The fact that this very traditional family scrapes together the money to send Carine to school and wants her to succeed was so uplifting, and their agreement to let me take her to the camp made my night complete. They have invited me back in the daytime sometime next week to dine with them- I am really looking forward to it!
The bricklayers have added two layers of bricks to my back wall, and today they finally added the broken glass bottles (sort of like barbed wire). They were very timely about the bricks and came to do that right away, and then every day subsequently they promised to return to add the bottles, and finally showed up a week later. I can't say I'm shocked- it's the Beninese way. Similarly, the electrician has been promising to some every day for the past three weeks to fix one of my outdoor lights and only came after I told my homologue how exasperated I was. (My homologue apparently told the electrician I was “furious” and he came with many apologies.) The same thing happened with the tailor who was making a pair of pants for me this week: every day I went and he promised they would be done the next day, and every day he said to come back the next day. When he was finally finished, he hadn't done a great job and the pants were too big, so I STILL don't have them. Patience is a huge virtue here in Benin, folks...
On Saturday, we had an American BBQ in Dogbo! We made cheeseburgers, corn on the cob, jello, potato salad, coleslaw, and a cake (with Betty Crocker frosting sent from home!) It was SO delicious, and so much fun to make all of that stuff from scratch. We bought two kilos of meat and had to cut off all the fat and bad parts and then put it through the meat grinder several times, but most of the other work was minimal. We also had lots of delicious cold beer! Then on Sunday I stayed in Dogbo the whole day to work on revising the TEFL manual for the incoming volunteers this summer. It is so weird to start to become the “old guys” in Benin and to have much of the focus shift to the newbies coming on July 24! After a day of revisions, we made fresh pico de gallo and guacamole for dinner :)
Now I am in Lokossa in the cyber cafe, and I needed to head to the bank before going back to my village today. Starting Wednesday at noon is my spring break, which is 1.5 weeks long. Two of my fellow volunteers were supposed to come down and spend Easter weekend with me, but they found out at the last minute that they have a meeting up in the north and can't come, so I am kind of bummed about that. I still ave a few people coming later in the second week, though, which I'm really looking forward to. I will probably just end up celebrating Easter with my neighbors, which hopefully will be fun. Other than that it will just be a good and relaxing break, and I am glad that I don't have to travel anywhere! (I will be doing plenty of traveling during my summer break: I have recently decided to help run an English camp waaay up on the border of Benin and Niger at the beginning of July, and afterwards I will travel around visiting my friends who are posted in the north.)
Final thought for this blog: one year ago today I took off to France with my parents- so many good memories! One year ago yesterday was Maddie's ritzy bat mitzvah, too. I can't believe how fast time flies.
That's all for now. Keep the calls coming! They are really helping me through the tough time right now. And they help me get excited for coming home- just over four months now!
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