The Day Before Seeing Her Village.....

Okay. So I have met my work partner and am very happy with meeting her so far. I found out that the director of the NGO I will be working for was a Peace Corps facilitator. He was a french language trainer. Crazy cool huh?!! From what I hear they have been waiting on a volunteer for quite sometime and they are really excited to have me!! I will be the first volunteer here and my home is newly built for me so I'm happy about that. And I see my village tomorrow....I just don't know what to expect and I am really nervous about it. I am only staying for four days but this is the time to gt a feel for our work partners and communites. My work partner wants to help me order my furniture from the carpenters and bargain. Im excited about that. Visuals always work with limited french. She told me that I will meet the mayor, village chief, and a bunch of other people waiting for me. Can you say "nervous"???

Again I heard that my village is beuatiful with palm trees all over the place. And I am in anana (pineapple) paradise!!!! Nice!!! She says, I will be living in a village with 500-700 people actually. I thought it was 1500. I'm very excited about it because I wanted a very small close knit community. She said I was lucky about getting what I wanted and my facitator said I was lucky to be working with the director who already knows the mission of Peace Corps. Yay!!!! However....my french SUCKS!! I am getting discouraged but I continue to try every chance I get. I know I will get better like anyone else who learns a language but I feel that I really SUCK!!! However I have been told that I'm doing fine. I plan on getting a tutor. So now I have put my focus on learning Fon because only about three or four people in the village speak French. Great huh? Oh yeah!! I got my first Beninese outfit made and I am very happy about it. I blend right in which is good and bad. I even fooled one or two volunteers who glanced right at me and thought I was Beninese. Nice. I still havent packed so I should probably get started on that. Wish me luck!! I hope I like the place I will be living in for two years.

Thoughts crossing my mind...
How will the ride there be?
What does my village really look like?
What does my house look like?
How will I react?
Hope my village isn't mad that I'm not white
Will they believe that I'm American?
What will they think of my French?
How much will my furniture cost??
How friendly are the people?
What do they expect from me??

I will soon find out.....

Damn I hate these computers. They are slow and because these are French keyboards make contact even slower. Oh well...I should just thank God I have the internet. I saw a HUGE spider in my room last night!!! I mean freaking huge!! Did I ever tell you that I was terrified of cockroaches and spiders?? Well I am. The spider was about half the size of my shoe!! EEEEEKKKK!!! And guess what....I killed it myself!!!!! There was no way in hell I was gonna run and get somebody so he could hide when I got back! Yay!! I'm a big girl now!! First, there was the flying cockroach, the one I stepped on barefoot (eww, by accident), and now a spider on steroids! I'm so proud of myself for bringing that big ass can of Raid here with me!! I didn't even have to go near the monster. I will provide a picture of him soon. A la Prochaine (until next time)!!!

Some pics

This was in Ouidah at the Sacred forest. We've been told that trees are the wisest because they have seen so much in their years. If they could talk they'd have a lot to say!! This one is over 300 years old.

This is at the Sacred Temple of the Serpents in Ouidah. I love snakes! If you cant see it, my shirt says "Benin....Right there next to Nigeria" We aren't allowed to go there even though we are soooooo close! It really sucks but rules are rules. News update...I still love BENIN!!! You would too if you ever been in Benin lol!!

Randomness

Hey everyone. Things here are still awesome! I love my placement i'll be getting after traning. Its definitely in the bush. Its a real small community in the south with less than 1500 people. I have solar electricity!!! Way cool!!!! I'll be working in violence againt women, family planning, maternal care and anything else would be too many expectations at least until i get there. I love the volunteers here. i feel we have a great support system. believe it or not, i haven't even been homesick!! the pace here is awesome!! everyone is so chill!! the clothing is absolutly gorgeous!! and training is going pretty well! french is sooooo hard but im forced to use it all day everyday. sometimes i just want to shout out in english what i am thinking to someone but very few people around me speaks english. my host family speaks in goun all day so its even more challenging to learn my french; but i can do it!! pas une probleme (not a problem). man do i miss flaming hot cheetoes right now!!!! So bad i can almost taste them!!! i love benin so much!!! i see a cool thing every single day!!! Just the other day i saw a baby goat being born on the side of the road. Cant get that in Baltimore i tell you that!!! i am soooo happy to be here! Write me!!!!!

i need privacy!!

okay so my sense of privacy is totally different here. even right now if you get my drift... it is okay to show your breasts here but you should NEVER show your lower back.......yah i dont get it either. people dont walk around like that in public by they do in their houses sometimes like it isnt a problem at all. when my host auntie talks to me, i get a little side tracked lol!! also i miss just getting in a bed without having to re fix my mosquito net. there are goats and chickens walking around everywhere. yet they have owners. sometimes they just sit right on your steps and just chill. i just wanted to be random. i also hear the muslim calls every morning at 4:30 am....things here are sooo different but soooo awesome....until next time!!!!

My host family and other things!!

Wow do I have an awesome family. Everyone takes extra care of me. They feed me all day, I sing and play hand games with my host sisters and neighbors which they absolutely LOVE, I dance all day, and pretty much just entertain people with my jokes in french. At least with the little french I know. My family greeted me with open arms and it is surely the best experience I have had thus far. They want me to get fat. I don't mind. The food is great!! I had crabs for lunch the other day. I have fish almost everyday which is one of my favorite foods so things are working out. People here use a lot of hot peppers which isn't bad either. The music is great!! Also, they have black eyed peas!! That's big in southern African American diet along with many other things here such as a similar green sorta like the collard green. They have okra too!! Things are coming together in terms of how African Americans and the people of the Caribbean connect through the slave trade. Even the instruments are the same like in the Caribbean!!

Earlier in my posts I was worried about how I would be viewed by the locals being black. Well...it has its good and bad. When I'm with the other volunteers I am not greeted. If I'm greeted, it's second. So in that sense, I don't feel included. Some people even look at me like "Why is she speaking when I was talking to the Yovo (white person, stranger)??"" Also people wonder why I don't know the culture and think I'm Beninese. On the other hand, when I wear the local clothes, I blend in with everyone!....until I ride my bike with my book bag and helmet and then I look like a complete idiot instead of an American. They stare at me like I'm a fish out of the water. It's cool though. I just greet everyone who stares and whomever I pass. I also can talk to them about the similarities that I share with them at home and they love to hear about it!!! In that sense it's nice to be able to show them that all Amerians are not white. My experience is definitely unique and I'm loving every minute of it. I feel at home. I'm so happy to be in the motherland!!!

Just a few pics to get an idea of where I am at the moment....

This is Cotonou. The city where the Peace Corps Office is located. See the Zemijans! They are EVERYWHERE. Plus I love the sign with the African flags. Those are just a few by the way. Busy place!! My post won't be this populated though.

Go speedracer go!!!! Pray for me!! Zemijan training. How do you negotiate prices, called them over, get on and off with a dress and what not? Very cool experience.

Bonjour!!! Je suis en Benin!!

So It was great to have so many volunteers greet us off the plane. I felt so included. The first thing I noticed once we loaded all of our luggage and rode the taxi to our hostel was how many Zemejans (get me there fast) motorbikes are around. Just think of New York City and the cars.....replace them with Zemejans. And they drives like nuts. But they are soooo awesome. I rode my first one today. The other day I had my first bucket bath and believe it or not, It wasn't bad at all!! In fact, since it's hot, the cold water actually feels pretty good. Glad I have black soap. It's sooooo cleansing. It's an African soap which for some reason I can't find ANYWHERE. I have five bars so far and in about 3 or 4 months I may need some more. That's what someone told me. I didn't realize how much French I knew! I'm so proud of myself. I've been having nice conversations already with the local people. I can't wait to get better at it. Training is intense but well worth it I'm sure. The other volunteers are soooooo kind. One even gave me a digital camera memory card since I left mine home. People REALLY look out for each other hear and I am ever so thankful for being in Benin and being with such an awesome group!! I love the Beninese people!! They are soooo kind and really try to make an effort to get to know you. At least that's what I'm getting. Then again, I approach everyone. Just wanted to say again that my time in Benin is awesome and I'm even MORE happy that I joined Peace Corps now that I'm here. It's totally me!!!! Yay!!!!!