A Very Long Time

Wow, it has been a very long time since I last wrote anything, and for that I apoligize. I will be suprised if anyone actually even reads this since I'm sure many of you have given up on hearing anything from me. But I am here, 3 months later, but here none the less.

So, what am I up to these days you may wonder? Well to back track a bit, when I last left you I was in Lokossa just finishing up a confrance with my supriversor with all the other health volunteers and I was getting ready to go to Nattitangou to turn boardgames into health games for kids. It was a fun time up in Natti. We made Shoots and Ladders and Candy Land and made them health related so that we can play them with elementary school aged children. What was also nice is that the volunteer at whose house we were doing all this all at lives in one of the most beautiful places ever. She lived near these waterfalls that we were able to walk to and swim in during our down time.

When i got back to post from that it was closing in on the end of the school year so I was in a bit of a rush to do any last minute things with my girls club. I decided to do a world map mural on a wall of one of the buildings at my school. I basically decided to do this project because it is a popular peace corps project to do and i needed/wanted something to do. though the actual doingof the project wasn't as much fun as i was told that it was, the reaction to the painting by my community was much greater than i had ever anticipated. so that in and of itself has made the project worth doing. the director liked it so much that he is interested in me doing another one at the new school that was just finished being built this year.

In June or July (I can't remember right now) I participated in a 3 day bike tour where we visited several small villages and gave talks on malaria, the symptoms, where it comes from, how to treat it, how to prevent it, and how to properly take care of a mosquito net. I was suprised by how many of these people already knew the information, but I would be interested to see how many of them actual do any of the things we talked about. That being said, we are still fighting a common belief that malaria is caused by the sun. It can be a frustration at times. But who would have thought that I would ever be able to take part in a 3 day bike tour. Even if I had wanted to I don't think I was ever in the shape to do so. During the 3 days we covered roughly 35-40 miles, pretty impressive huh. Unfortunatly I don't have any pictures with me at the moment to share, but sometime soon I hope I can share some with you.

Since then work has become pretty nonexsistant. It is the rainy season here which means everyone who can work is doing so in the fields. My village is like a ghost town. So I've been reading a lot and trying to take walks and just get my face seen by those in the community.

Right now I'm down south in Cotonou because we are preparing for the swearing in cermony of all the new volunteers who came in this summer. It is almost impossible for me to believe that that was me just one year ago (and that I only have one year left, time flys). We are also celebrating the 40th anniversary of PC being in Benin. So all of us are down here which is fun and overwhelming. I like when we get together in small groups, but when we all get together like this it makes me miss my village and my quiet life there.

So I guess that's it in a nutshell, or at least the highlights. Hopefully the internet will become more reliable where I'm living so that I won't go another 3 months without posting. But just think everyone, in 12 months I will be back there with all of you. (Beware, lol) Anyway, I thought I'd close out today with a picture from my house. This was taken from my doorway just a few nights ago, pretty beautiful huh. Until next time...