Welcome to my blog everyone. I have finally ventured into the blogsphere to share my adventures, cultural encounters, and funny stories that I experience throughout my Peace Corps service in Benin, West Africa.
I just received my laptop from my mother after a brief holiday sojourn in Paris thus you can expect many more blog posts coming your way.
I will use my first post to give you all a brief overview of the past 6 months in Peace Corps Benin.
We all started our adventure in Philadelphia, where we could meet everyone with a brief introductory seminar and enjoy our last soft down beds, hot shower, and delicious American meal. I went all out with scallops in a fruity butter reduction sauce, asparagus, a selection of three variations of a chocolaty dessert, and a chilled glass of sauvignon blanc. I also found a place the next afternoon before our flight from JFK to gorge on guac and chips... a very important indulgence for any SoCal kid.
We left JFK around 11:30pm after I gifted myself with an airport massage. Hey, I know I’m going to be roughing it in Africa, so I knew I just got to get it while I can. We arrived in Cotonou, the biggest city in Benin, around 7pm the next day. We were greeted by a gaggle of Peace Corps volunteers upon our arrival to our hotel. They all looked so foreign to us. Many dressed in African tissue outfits with the unavoidably permanent dirt on their bodies that seems to never leave our once pristine bodies. There were the iconic Peace Corps moto helmets worn after a year of heavy use strewn about the hotel lobby floor. It felt so surreal. I am in the Peace Corps world now and I’m in Africa for the first time. Here we go…
Before I became an actual full-blown volunteer, I went through the training program in the capital city of Porto Novo. This program includes an intense curriculum of French language, local language, cultural, health survival, bicycle maintenance, and of course, teacher training. Teacher training consisted of learning how the Benin school system works and throwing us Education or TEFL volunteers into a classroom of students to practice and hone our skills and be critiqued by other Peace Corps volunteer trainers and Beninese teachers. Model school was more of a test of our discipline skills and our patience. Lesson planning seemed to come quite easily to all of us and ‘model school’ turned out to be more of a test of our disciplinary skills and our patience. It was summer break and the grades didn’t count. Thus we soon found out, model school was more of a boot camp for the TEFL volunteer. Though it was difficult at times and my patience was tried by many pagailleurs (trouble-makers), I made my way through the fray and even developed one bad *ss teacher stare.
On September 17th, we all took the oath of service and were sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers at the American Ambassador’s residence. All Peace Corps staff, some Beninese government officials and news stations were in attendance. Our swear-in ceremony was broadcasted all over Benin and many communities knew that a new batch of volunteers was coming.
On the 19th of September, I began my 10 hour taxi ride to my village, Toucountouna. All of my belongings were stuffed in the car including my little refrigerator strapped on the top. Unfortunately, as is the issue with many taxis here, we had car troubles. Our car broke down three times before we even left the city of Porto Novo. Once we were finally on the road, the volunteer Cara who hitched a ride in my taxi was taking an innocent snooze. However the front door kept swinging wide open while the car was at full speed. I had to guard her body with my arms to stop her from falling out of the car on numerous occasions. After a departure of 7AM, I arrived in the tranquil and beautiful, Toucountouna at 6:30PM. I do have to say the first night, in fact the first week, was terrifying. Okay, terrifying might be a little dramatic, but I was having serious second thoughts. But those second thoughts did not last for long; it was just initially a very different and scary change. It was a situation where I was all alone in a village, with no food yet, where I had to learn a completely new way of living by trial and error and observation. Yes, this is the story of Peace Corps volunteers but that doesn’t mean that the first introduction to this new way of life is not initially scary. Fortunately, I have a fantastic neighbor family, the Ali family, who took me in and now helps me out with everything. You will probably hear a lot about them because they are for the most part my family here.
I could not be happier with the village that was chosen for me. And yes it is quite a mouth full. Just think of ‘can of tuna.’ Toucountouna is in the North of Benin in the Atakora region, which is by far the most beautiful of all of Benin. It’s the way you would imagine Africa to be. All the people are dressed in colorful fabric and head wraps. I've even had my own outfits in tissue (fabric) made and I feel fantastically bright in every outfit. One in particular is hot pink with pink ruffles. No joke. The women carry everything and anything on their heads from a can of tomato paste to a jug of water to heavy wood branches, which I have no idea how they manage to not topple over. I will give the art of head baggage transport a try one of these days. It just truly feels like you've stepped into another world untouched by time. It’s always been the same farmers, cows, mud huts with tin roofs, and quiet untouched land stretching past the horizon.
This being my first real experience in a third world country, it’s quite eye opening. But more than anything I really just see the beauty in this country. In my region, Atakora, you will find beautiful waterfalls, lakes, mountains, lush trees – including papaya, banana, and lots of mango – red dirt, and national geographic-esque mud huts to complete the perfect picture. And I can't forget all of the chickens, guinea fowl, goats, pigs, and cows that are everywhere. Also mango season is quickly approaching. I see the flowers blooming on the mango trees and by the end of February, mangoes will be plentiful. I can buy a kilo of mangos for less than 50 cents. I will soon eat mangoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
But as I said, it is Africa. I am very fortunate to have electricity, but it is a temperamental connection at best. The electricity goes out maybe about 4 times a day, twice if I'm lucky. So sometimes I am cooking dinner by candlelight with a bike light secured around my head. And my little fridge, which I bought on the side of the road in Cotonou, sometimes requires too much voltage so my lights dim in and out at night. But thank god for my fan!!!! I seriously could not sleep without it. If I had no fan in my cement house with a tin roof which retains heat, I would be honestly sleeping in a pool of sweat trying to huddle close to my little window for the cool night air outside. But fortunately I just got a wood ceiling (Hanukkah present to myself – which I must thank Nils, Mom and Aunt Bobbe for their contribution) installed which should keep the heat at bay.
I have no running water, but I have a well a few yards from my house and cleaner faucet water at my school that they let me use for free. So every Monday morning, a son of the Ali family comes for my huge trashcan and takes it on his pushcart (pouss-pouss) to school to bring me water for the week. I've tried getting my water for myself but, wow, I do not have African strength yet. I use the water to boil and filter for drinking, for cooking, and for my glorious bucket showers. Bucket showers are literally a bucket with a bowl to scoop water. My first few showers were interesting because you have to develop a strategy to single hand hair washing. Now having mastered my single handed shower, it is actually quite relaxing and refreshing. Also no flushing toilet, just a simple hole in the ground, but the last volunteer left me a nice luxury, a cement toilet over the latrine hole. There is one thing that I don't think I'll ever get used to.... mice and bugs (particularly dare I say cockroaches). There is one mouse that likes to hang out in my house. I have to keep every morsel of food under lock and key. And yes, the cockroaches... I find them occasionally and they can be quite huge. I just cringe and bear it and smack the thing with my shoe. I yelp as I do it. The crunching of a dead cockroach is just… ew… makes my body shiver. One day I will become Peace Corps tough and I won’t flinch one bit when it comes to smacking cockroaches and rodents dead. That is really it when it comes to roughing it. In December I got the cutest kitten to regulate my rodent problem and so far she has been taking care of business. So the rodent problem is not much an issue any more. My kitten, Nutmeg, is an adorably curious and friendly calico cat.
Everyone in my community is extremely friendly and helpful. I already have their full support in anything I want to do which is sometimes difficult for volunteers to get. But being a teacher has its benefits. Teachers are very highly respected all throughout Beninese villages. The people already know your role in the community so they are sometimes more open to the ideas you have to bring to the table. I already had meetings with the director and accountant of my school, my work partner, and the mayor to discuss what possible projects they think are the best for Toucountouna. Details on my developing projects to come…
The French has come back quickly. My speaking is even better than when I lived in Paris. In addition to the French – as I mentioned earlier in this offensively long blog entry – there is local language as well. I've learned a little of Fon, Wama, and Yomm. The ‘mamans’ teach me new words every day, though it’s difficult to retain strange sounding words just by memory. Sometimes they try to give me many new words and phrases at once and I have to remind them I can only retain one new word a day otherwise it will go in one ear and out the other. They always laugh with gusto whenever I say the in one ear and out the other line. Learning local language is very important because sometimes it’s the only way that you can communicate with people in your village. Also, if you learn it and use it, it’s a sign of respect and people are very appreciative, sometimes even tickled, that a foreigner is attempting their local tongue.
Everything is going well and it is definitely an adventure. Teaching is difficult. Trying to motivate and encourage learning and studying is what is difficult. But I will continue trying to find more ways to possibly interest the students.
Next blog, I will discuss more about teaching, my school, and my projects. Until next time…
