Ramblings From a Small Town Girl

One Two Three Four We Won't Take it Any More

2009-11-21T04:18:00.000-08:00

So I've been thinking about this blog post for well over a week, ever since I went to the town of Ni'lin to witness/participate in their weekly demonstration against the wall Israel is building which is cutting through their land. The demonstrations are a symptom of a much larger cause which is this wall that Israel is building. You can't talk about one without the other yet the issue of the wall is so large that it would require a blog post all it's own. And so I have felt leery about writing about what I was up to at all because I knew that to simply discuss what I had done would not be enough. I felt like you needed to know not only what I was doing there, but why others were there. It's a daunting overwhelming task that I guess I will just try and dive into.

Ni'lin is a city in the West Bank about two hours south west from where I am living. Situated only a few kilometers away from the internationally recognized Green Line, Ni'lin has systematically lost more and more land to Israel and its ever expanding settlements. In total roughly 491 acres, 13% of their land, has been taken away from the Palestinian residents of Ni'lin for Israeli settlements since 1967, without receiving any form of compensation for their loss of property.

Then in 2002 Israel began construction on the separation barrier between itself and the West Bank, which is considered illegal by the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. In 2007/2008 construction on the segment of barrier near Ni'lin began. Once/if finished this wall will take away an additional 625 acres, roughly 20% percent of their land.

Doesn't seem fair does it? The people of Ni'lin don't seem to think so which is why they have organized themselves into doing weekly demonstrations against Israel's actions. Every Friday between 50-150+ people (Palestinians, Israelis, Internationals) come together to tell/show Israel what they are doing is not okay and they will fight for what is theirs.

Upon hearing about what was going on here, both by Israel and Palestinians I decided that I wanted to see for myself what was what. Friday morning, myself along with four other volunteers headed out to Ni'lin. Because there were five of us in total we forced ourselves to squish into one taxi. It was totally Benin all over again. Four anyone who has done PC Benin, you know that four people in the back seat is totally doable, yet with three others who don't know what it means to pousser it can be a challenge. The taxi we hired to take us stopped about half way and put us in another taxi. He said it was because the other taxi was bigger but we think it was more likely he didn't want to take us all the way over there, but change taxis we did and after a rather uncomfortable trip we arrived in our destination.

The taxi let us off at the outskirts of Ni'lin leaving us to walk through the town to where we were all to gather. The streets were lined with paintings of the Palestinian flag and Arabic writing. Asking a fellow volunteer what some of the writing said, I wish I could remember the translation she gave me, but basically it was something along the lines of they will continue to resist, they will continue to struggle against what they consider the unfair occupation of their land. As I write this I don't want to give the impression that this was done in a threatening or violent way. It wasn't, I feel, written as a threat but more as encouragement for each other.

Prior to the demonstration we all gathered so that we could walk in an organized procession towards the wall. Which is where I will leave off and let my pictures do the talking.

Before the demonstration protesters come together to listen to a speaker and pray.

This video is of the beginning of the procession from where we gathered to walking to where the wall is being built.

This is a snap shot of the opening procession.

The procession ended at where the wall is being built.

This is where we walked to. From this angle all you can see is the chain link fence and not the wall that has already been built.

These are a few of who were waiting for us on the other side of the road.

This is left over tear gas canister from one of the previous demonstrations. They litter the ground here. Unfortunately, tear gas is not the only ammunition soldiers have been known to use on the demonstrators. Besides tear gas, soldiers have used rubber bullets, metal bullets covered in rubber and live ammunition. It would be easy for me to leave out that the there was a group of Palestinian youth throwing stones across the road at the soldiers. But I want to try and be as far and honest in what I share with all of you as possible. So yes, kids were chucking some rocks, nothing more. I would be greatly surprised if any of those rocks actually hit anyone. It never appeared to happen, but it is a possibility. So for the first hour or so of the demonstration nothing happened really. After we marched down to the fence and the people made their speech we all just kind of stood around. Well at least that's what it felt like to me, but I was kind of in the back. People closer to the front I am sure were saying things and there were the kids throwing stones. And then the tear gas started. It wasn't constant. It was more like a few here, a few there and then they'd pause for a bit and then just pummel the area with them. The tear gas was a horrible experience but what was more dangers was the fact that the ground was uneven and completely covered with loose uneven rocks so when you run away from the tear gas there is a very good chance you are going to hurt yourself, especially when you can't see due to the gas.

Some random photos from that day:

Upon leaving, someone left one of their signs on the wall itself.

This kid just seemed to be chillin'.

I thought this post was beautiful so I took a picture of it. I asked one of the other volunteers if she recognized it. She said no, but that the writing on it was about national independence.
The houses in the background belong to one of the settlements circling Ni'lin

A guy with a really large flag.

The flag kept making appearances in different areas of the field we were demonstrating in.

At the end of the demonstration a rainbow appeared in the sky. It's kinda light in this picture, but it's there. Maybe a sign of hope?
The area around Ni'lin is beautiful.

learning new social cues

2009-11-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

I hate to say it but the two years I lived in Benin I only found a handful of men who were nice because they were nice people and not nice because they wanted something. It never seemed to fail that I would think I had found a new friend and then suddenly they were in love with me and not only that but convenently enough they loved America as well and wouldn't it be wonderful if they went back there with me. If I had accepted every marriage proposal I received while I was there I would probably have over 1000 husbands by now. I would like to say that this didn't change my attitude towards people, that I was able to keep a fresh and open attitude during my entire two years. But after awhile I couldn't help but become cautious and suspicious. You get bitten enough times you should learn your lesson, right? I mean isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results. It would have been insanity for me to keep putting myself out there for the local men without the slightest bit of reservation about them.

Unfortunately, this is the frame of mind I have come to Palestine with. I want to make friends with everyone I meet but I know that this is a complicated issue for a number of reasons. One of which being Palestine, like my village in Benin, is a Muslim country so it is difficult for men and women to be friends. Things are thought of you if you are seen alone in the company of a man or a group of men. It is something that can't be helped. But as I said earlier my own frame of mind now regarding men colors any given situation as well. Which is how I found myself in an uncomfortable situation yesterday and today.

Sunday through Wednesday I have three classes a day, 12-1, 2-3, 5:30 -6:30 and it was at the end of my second class that three of my students hung back. I didn't really think much of it at the time. As I was leaving the room they approached me and basically started going on about how good of teach I was and that they really appreciated me teaching them English. Then they asked what could they give me to show their appreciation for my teaching them. I didn't want them giving me anything I said. But they kept on so I said if they wanted to do something for me they could just show up to class every day, that would make me happy. They didn't really like that response. I was a little panicked by this. Was this appropriate? These students are young men, university students. The same rules don't apply for them that apply for say women and/or children. And in Benin you could never accept a gift from a man like this either because to do so would indicate that you are interested in them as well. I didn't want to give these guys the wrong impression but I also didn't understand what this gift would signify.

Then today at the end of the class the same students hung back again and I thought to myself "oh shit, I'm going to really have to deal with this now". They presented me with two gifts, one a bracelet made in the colors of the Palestinian flag and the other was a strand of prayer beads. Very nice, but again I panicked and told them they should give them to their mothers. But they kept on so eventually I gave in and accepted them because I also didn't want to be rude. But what was I saying by taking their gifts?

After they left I went over to the Project Hope office and spoke with the English Program Officer and she assured me that due to the nature of the gifts that it was okay that I accepted these gifts. However, if this kind of stuff continues that then it will become inappropriate. Learning/understanding the culture and social cues for another culture while interesting and fun can also be stressful.

Better Late Than Never, I Guess

2009-11-07T09:56:00.001-08:00

You'd think that with constant internet access I would be better about updating this journal. Sorry. I am back to having a real schedule for the first time in over 2 years. So I've been in Nablus for little over a week now and I'm sure most of you are wondering what the heck am I up to. As I wrote in my previous blog I arrived in the pouring rain and was swept up in paper work and a city tour. Since then things have begun to settle down a bit and I guess I'm beginning to find my feet.

Palestine, being a Muslim country is different than the United States in that their weekend tends to be either Thursday/Friday or Friday/Saturday because their holy day is Friday instead of Sunday like us. So when I arrived on a Thursday afternoon I bought myself some time to get adjusted since the office was closed. Friday, the weather was still horrible and because of that and the weekend many shops were not open. However, I had no food to eat in the house and though my roommates said I could eat some of theirs I thought it best to take advantage of two of my flatmates going to one of the shops to buy toilet paper.

Nablus is situated between two Mountains, well I'd call them giant hills but anyway, Nablus lies between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim and the town itself is rather hilly so you can only imagine what it would be like to venture out in the pouring rain. Crossing the street was like trying to cross the Nile it seemed. At one point I was standing on the side walk and right in front of the curb was a fairly fast current of rain water going down the hill so I was looking around trying to find the shallow area for me to step down into. But looking across the road it soon became apparent that no such area existed. Rain was streaming across the entire road so I had better just jump in if I wanted to cross. I bounded across the street the best I could arrived on the other side with wet shoes, wet socks and making a squishy noise as I left a trail of wet foot prints behind me in the grocery store.

The store is nothing remarkable. It's a fair size with an interesting mix of Palestinian, Israeli, US and who knows where else products. It is kinda expensive, but it is nice to be able to find things all in one place and not have to make multiple stops. I bought stuff with the idea of trying to get enough of the basics that I wouldn't have to shop for them for awhile, like a bag of rice, bag of popcorn, several bags of pasta and some other odds and ends. The excursion wasn't very eventful but necessary and it made me feel like I had done something.

The following day was a Saturday. The weather was still crummy but some of the volunteers work at the local rufugee camps/town and two of them asked if I would like to go along with them observe their classes. I jumped at the opportunity because honestly at that point I was terrified. Never having taught English I had no idea what I was getting myself into. We started the day off at Askar Girls School at 8am.

Askar Refugee camp was established in 1950 and is estimated to have 14,629 residents. It's not at all what I expected. I have only walked down the main city street so my judgments/impressions at this point really mean very little. But walking down the street it seems almost like any other street in small town America. Shops line the streets, people bustle from on shop to another, shop owners linger on the side walk talking to customers/friends that they've probably known for years. The school we volunteer at was built by the United Nation and is a school just for girls. It is much bigger than I thought it would be with its four buildings built around a open gym like area that the students use for their "sports" class. My arrive caused a minor stir, first with the head mistress who was eager to recruit me to work in the school from now on and second from the students who all wanted to know my name.

Because we only meet our Saturday students on Saturdays we meet with them for two hours instead of one. I spent the first hour with the volunteer working with the younger age rang. Because Saturday school is not mandatory children are allowed to show up or not show up at will. Sometimes they will bring friends and/or family members with them. That day one of the girls had brought their little sister with her to sit in on the class. The kids were loud and active, just like children are suppose to be. You had some that wanted to pay attention and others that just wanted to hangout with their friends. At the hour mark I went and sat in on another volunteers class. This volunteer was working with older girls and was going to use me for her lesson. She knew the girls would be curious about me so she told them they could ask me questions but I would only answer said question if it was ask correctly. It was fun to see these girls in action. They are a delightful contradiction to the girls I worked with in Benin.

At 10 we left and made our way to another one of the refugee camps. This camp, Balata, is home to over 17,000 residents. However, that is only an estimate and it is possible that the number is actually much higher. Balata was built by the UN to house refugees from the city of Jafa after the war with Israel. At first these people refused the UN's offer. They wanted to return to their homes they didn't want permanent homes to be created for them. So in 1952 the accepted the UN tents.This is a picture of Balata camp early 1950's.

In 1956 these people accepted the UN's offer of building concrete houses to replace the tents they were living in. The school also built by the UN was not as nice as the school in Askar and behavior of the students was generally worse as well. I feel like life in this camp may be harder than that of Askar and perhaps this explains these differences, again I am too new here to know anything for certain.

After leaving Belata we headed to a woman's center in a different area of town. This was the first class that I observed that had both boys and girls mixed together. These were all young children that we were dealing with. It was a fun lesson filled in which we talked about direction words, played pin the tail on the donkey and bingo using pictures of animals. These kids met for only an hour.

At the end of the day I was beat and so thankful to go home.

Arrival

2009-10-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile I know. And I promise to come back and update on my final days in Benin and my travels across the Middle East but for now I thought I would simply focus on where I am now. After months of planning and arranging and years of wanting I now find myself sitting in an apartment in the West Bank city of Nablus.

For all those interested Nablus is located in the West Bank roughly 40 miles north of Jerusalem.With a population of 134,000 it is the largest city in the area.

So I left Jerusalem yesterday morning, I think, by nine. I had planned to leave earlier like 8 or so, but I had been sick most of the night before and I wanted grabbed on to any sleep I could. Thankfully with the help of Patrick I had managed to pack all my stuff up the night before so yesterday morning all I had to do was get in the shower and then pack up the bits and pieces I had been using that night/morning. With the help of the man who works/maybe runs the hostel Patrick and I were staying at I found that the bus I needed to take was just around the corner. So with bags in hand we made our way to the station. People were helpful and it really was easy to find so before I knew it and before I was ready I was saying goodbye to Patrick and finding a seat on the bus.

This bus would only be taking me part of the way there. I would be getting off in the city of Ramallah, which though smaller than Nablus seems to be a place of much activity. I was on the bus for roughly 40 minutes when we came to a stop and everyone seemed to be getting off. Someone at this point mentioned to me that this was the end of the line. I couldn't help but think to myself, "end of the line? did we even leave Jerusalem?" The cities are close enough and I guess with enough urban sprawl or perhaps smaller towns in between that it seemed like I had never left Jerusalem. And now here I was trying to figure out where to go next.

Now Project Hope had given me some instructions on how to get to them. I didn't really follow them. The bus didn't let me off at the bus station but instead by the side of the road at their last stop. This threw me off. So instead of finding a taxi to continue on with my journey I instead found another bus. Mind you this wasn't the simplest of processes. I asked the bus driver where I go next and he pointed vaguely in front of him, which considering in front of him was a busy street filled with tons of buildings, people and cars was not exactly helpful. So I asked a taxi driver. He very nicely offered to take me to Nablus after sharing with me the fact that he has two daughters living in America. Of course the common bond or interest didn't get me a lower fare because when I asked for the price of our journey he wanted something like 100+ sheckles which is over 30$ which is just crazy. A man standing behind me heard the exchanged and pointed to another bus that could take me, thankfully I made my way to it. This driver was much more helpful. Yes, he was going to Nablus but not til 2pm that afternoon. He did bring me to the cross road I needed to take to find the bus garage so I could find a bus that would take me.

People were helpful and I found and bordered my bus. I was expecting to have get off at various border crossing, show my passport and answer endless questions. But none of that happned. For those trying to leave Nablus it was a completely different story. Our bus passed a massive line of cars/people waiting to get out.

The problem with taking a bus and not a taxi into town was that I couldn't tell them where to drop me off. I had the name of a hotel I should go to but no idea where it was or how to get there. After I had been on the bus for some time and it looked like we were in a city/town area I worked up the nerve to start asking the people around me if they knew where I got off. It took a minute for me to find someone who spoke English. When I did they said to hold on and that they would help me. Finally my stop came, I didn't know it was my stop at the time till the people I had been speaking with told me to get off.

I don't think I mentioned that by this time the dark clouds that I had seen since leaving Jerusalem had become darker and darker and had started dropping tons of rain on us. I proceeded to follow this man and his son through the streets of Nablus in the rain as they brought me to the hotel I was suppose to go to. As a native they were use to the streets, rain, traffic but for me I was just struggling to try and keep up and not to fall on the slippery streets with my big huge backpack on me.

I arrive at the hotel a little wetter and colder than when I started my journey but over all no worse for wear. At the hotel I was able to call Project Hope and inform them that I was there and then the receptionist at the hotel called a taxi to come and pick me up. The taxi delivered me safe and sound outside of Project Hope where it seems I hit the ground running. Paper work was filled out, I met with several different people and I was given a tour of the city. It was all very overwhelming. I am suppose to start teaching on Sunday I believe and I'm scared. I don't know what I'm doing. The people I am living with are very friendly but they all seem to know so much more than I. More often than not in conversations I just sit there listening trying to figure out what they are talking about. I know I will learn in time. I just wish that time would come quickly. This is the part of new adventures that I hate most, the fear and uncertainty that always follows doing something new.

So now you know, I am here, I am safe and I am well. Today I am going to go into town and buy some groceries. I need to set a buget for myself so that I can last the 3 months I am planning on staying. More to come later I'm sure.

Until next time.....

The End

2009-09-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

It's the beginning of the end. Well some would say that beginning started three months ago when the first plane carrying Peace Corps Volunteers from my training group left Cotonou. Others might say the end began back in May when we had our Close of Service confrence in Ouidah. But even after all of that I am still here. I've watched as my fellow volunteers and friends have one by one left and now it is finally my turn. Well it will be shortly. This Thursday, with my rented taxi full of all the stuff I've collected during my time in Benin, I will leave my home for the last two years and begin the journey towards Cotonou. I will spend the night in Parakou and continue on to Cotonou on Friday.

I'm not ready for this. I thought I was. I thought I'd pack up and leave here a little sad but excited about the next big thing. Well I'm still waiting for excitement to hit. Everyone says oh you must be so excited when I tell them about my post PC plans, and well, a couple months ago when I made them, I was. Now, I'm scared. Of what I am not exactly sure. I guess it's due to the general uncertainty that always accompanies change. Today me and Kelly (she is the volunteer that is incharge of the local office we keep in Kandi) moved a bunch of my furniture from my house to the office so that when the new volunteers come they can take what they want. Packing up really made me realize that this is over. I'm not going a trip somewhere, I am leaving for good.

Tonight or tomorrow I'm throwing a dinner for myself and my work partners. I bought us two chickens and some yams (to make yam pile) as well as some cheese (wagashi, it's nothing like what any of youwould consider cheese to be). My work partner and her daughter are going to prepare it and then we are all going to eat together. It will be a nice way to wrap things up I think.

There is so much more I want to say. It's been a really good last couple weeks here with a lot going on that I'd like to share, but I'm having a hard time focusing. I guess it will just have to wait until Thursday or Friday. Until then everyone...

Good Morning, Here's a Chicken

2009-09-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

So yesterday morning I was woken up by a teenage boy who had been sent to my house to give me a chicken. To understand some of the akwardness of this you have to understand I sleep with my front door open (I have a screen door) and I only sleep in a pagnya (it's like a sheet) because it's hot. So when I'm when I'm startled to awkenness by "Co Co Co" (Beninise version of knocking) the first thing that runs through my head is hold on, gotta make sure all the important bits and pieces are covered.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I am not at my best and brightest first thing in the morning or basically upon waking up. I start out like a cave woman useing monosyllabic noises to communicate and gradually progress to being able to make full sentences. So when this guy shows up with a live chicken on my doors step somewhere between 7 and 8 am I'm more than a little confused.

He explains to me that it is a gift from this guy I know who lives on the other side of my village (I found out later it was ment to be a going away gift since we had talked earlier about how I only had a couple weeks left in my village) The boy obviously wants me to take this chicken that has been bound together at its feet and is currently handing from his fingers. I very obviously don't want to take the chicken. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to eat the sucker, but I don't want to touch it, kill it or really have anything to do with it besides the eating part.

I remember being told by other volunteers who bought meat that often they would buy an animal and then bring it to someone in the village to kill for them and in exchange they would share some of the meat. I figured this would be a good plan of action for me as well. So I explained to the kid that I had no idea what to do with a chicken but if he would kill it for me I would gladly share the chicken with him. He seemed like he understood what I was saying when he walked away. It was only later that I found out that he didn't.

That afternoon I show up to my health center only to find out that upon leaving my house the boy went to the house of the pharmasit who lives just down the road from me and basically told him that he had tried to give me this chicken and that I didn't want it. Buhari, the pharmasist, figured this couldn't be right and told the kid so. He then instructed the kid to bring the chicken to my work parterns house and have them take care of it. Thankfully that's exactly what he did. My work partner Safia had her daughter kill it and cook it for me. This had all happend before I went to the health center I might add.

I was doing Karem or as we know it Ramadan so Safia invited me back to her house to eat dinner with her and her family. The fried chicken was there waiting for me to take home. Thankful that Safia's daughter Rebeka had taken care of the chicken for me I shared it with her, Safia and Safia's son and still had a couple pieces to bring home. Yum Yum Yum

Welcome Book

2009-09-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Each incomming group of new volunteers recieve a Welcome Book designed specifically for their sector with in Peace Corps. (There are four in Benin, health, environment, business and teaching english) The book is mostly designed to introduce volunteers to Benin but a letter from a previous volunteer is also included. This year my PC health boss asked me if I would be willing to write something up to be published in next years Rural Community Health Welcome Book. Here is what I wrote:

Welcome to the Benin Family!

Somewhere along the line I must have blinked. The two years that I was once so worried about have passed, and I can’t help but wonder, where did all the time go? Oh yeah, it was spent learning a new language – one that I am now comfortable enough with that I can use to do any number of things from order a meal, to arranging transportation, to explaining once again that it is perfectly normal that white people change color when in the sun too long. Time was spent trying to understand Benin, her people, her religions, her culture and traditions and ultimately what role I wanted to play in them. Arriving at my new home it tickled me pink when kids bowed before me when they would stop and say hello. What was I, royalty? Nope. It turns out that they just wanted to show me a sign of respect for simply being older than them by bowing before me.

The majority of my time here in Benin was consumed with the pursuit of work as well as fun. As a Rural Community Health Advisor I worked with the old and the young, with men as well as women. I weighed babies, made porridge, taught about HIV/AIDS, held classes to help empower young girls, and painted murals on the sides of buildings. I, along with my work partner, Safia, worked to improve the general health knowledge of our community. Through this process we became more than just work partners, we became friends. As I said earlier, a good portion of my time spent in Benin was simply having fun. Now this fun has come in a number of different guises such as sitting under a tree and talking to a local principal, hanging out at my work partner’s house, or chatting with the weavers as they go about their day. Of course there are also the other Peace Corps volunteers. There is not a volunteer in this country who I do not consider my friend, who I feel I could not turn to with a question, a favor, or a need. They have been my family while I have been here and we all know what kind of fun and mayhem one can have with their family. And if all else fails, there is the ever popular volunteer game of “goat or child”. (Don’t worry; you’ll understand when you get here.)

So close your eyes, take a deep breath, and get ready to jump into the adventure of a life time. You won’t regret it.

I hope that this gives all of you a glimps as to the positive side of what being a Peace Corps volunteers has been like for me.

2009-07-25T01:36:00.000-07:00

So it's almost the end of July, where's the time going? It's been a pretty crazy month thus far and the next couple weeks will be just as crazy. As I mentioned in my previous entry, last week was Camp Kandi. Myself and two other health volunteers covered topic ranging from nutrition, to AIDS to malaria. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work and I didn't even have to organize the event which always tends to be the hardest part of any job over here. After Camp Kandi, I went back to post for a few days. On Wednesday I left to come down to Cotonou. Now, I know I've lived here for two years and all but I'm not sure how familiar you all are with the geography of Benin. My village is in the north east region of Benin. I am about an hour and a half south of the Niger/Benin boarder. The largest city in Benin, Cotonou, is on the cost and about a 10-13 hour bus/car ride. I did this on Wednesday, getting into Cotonou around 4 or 5. There were a couple reasons for this trip. One I had some paper work that I needed to get done which I am ashamed to say that due to reasons two and three didn't really get done. My really good friend Miriam left last night for America. It's been really hard watching everyone leave. I'm dreading my last month of service in a way because I'm going to feel like I am all alone. But anway, I wanted to spend some time Mir and get some teaching materials from here. She was an English teacher here and gave me a bunch of stuff to hopefully help me out when I go to Palestine in the fall. And then my third and final reason for coming down here was because the new volunteer arrived last night. Yep, our replacements landed in Benin around 8 last night. Where it then took them about 2 hours to make it through cutoms and get there baggage and make it out of the airport where several of us were waiting to greet them. There are 56 of them, I wonder how many will stay? We came to country with 59 and lost 20 some over the two years.

Me and Miriam at the airport

Camp Kandi

2009-07-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

So this week marked the beginning of week two, the health week of Camp Kandi. What is Camp Kandi you ask yourself? Camp Kandi is a two week summer school designed by a PC English professor volunteer and led by various other volunteers from throughout the country. The camp is free and voluntary for any student in the local middles schools (there are 3) who wish to attend. The primary focus of this camp is to help these students develop their english skills, however the volunteer who created this camp wanted to take advantage of all potential helpers she would have with other pc volunteers as well as realizing that these student's education is in general greatly lacking so anything we could teach/do would be a benifit. So last week environment volunteer were invited to do sessions with the students once their english lessons were done and this week health volunteers are taking their place. Monday a volunteer taught the students about malaria, and today I talked about the three food groups, what they are, why they are important and which foods fall into each group. Tomorrow, myself and another volunteer will start talking about how AIDS is transmitted.

Today was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I've been doing this same lesson all around my region over the past couple months, and when I do the full session it lasts around 4 hours. Today I focused solely on the food groups, as well as making a comparison between the pourridge that they ate that morning before comming versus a reciept for a porridge that I wrote on the board. In total it lasted about 50 minutes give or take. But good grief was I tired by when I reached that 50 minute marker. And then I ended up doing it four times in all. I have developed a new found respect for teachers here. I always knew that their work wasn't easy, but wow.

Aren't Latrines Wonderful

2009-07-09T03:34:00.000-07:00

So I have a latrine. This isn't probably a news flash since you know I don't have running water in my house. But I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about why latrines are such a joy to have. Incident one happened during my first year of service. I was standing in my latrine lifting the cover so that I could go pee. I had done this hundreds of times before, not a problem right? Not more than 10 sec after lifting the cover off a bat flew out of my latrine and at me. Needless to say I panicked, screamed and did a lot of waving my arms around. Ever since this I have taken to rattling the latrine cover a bit before I lift it up in hopes of making any such creatures fall to the ground before I lift up. The second incident happened just last week. Since my first year I've gotten pretty lax about covering my latrine. It's mostly due to the fact that I share it with the other people in my concession and they never ever cover it so it seems futile most of the time. Anyway, this time around I had hiked up my skirt and was standing on the little foot pedestal things squatting when I look down into the latrine and see a big mouse (i refuse to believe it was a rat) climbing the walls out of the latrine pit. Because I was in mid-going to the bathroom I couldn't leave my spot and had to just stand there motionless and hope that the mouse paid me no mind as it continued to climb out of the latrine pit and up the walls of my latrine on the the roof.

For the most part I don't really mind using a latrine. It's a pain when I'm not feeling well and I have to leave my house 20x a day and walk across my yard and the creatures that live there are definitely not friends of mine. But since becoming reliant on one it has shown me how much water a toilet uses and how wasteful they are. Just something to think about.

Strange Day, yet weirdly typical

2009-06-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

So I've been traveling a lot this month. I had a workshop earilier in the month, then followed by a good bye party for a fellow volunteer, followed by our close of service confrence and concluding recently with a wedding. So I've been feeling pretty guilty about being away from my community so much so I made a decision not to do any more traveling for the rest of the month. the past two days i was in alfa kora the neighboring village to mine working with a fellow volunteer and his environment club. i got back to angaradebou yesterday evening. this morning when i got up i headed straight into the health center. for some reason, i don't know why, i decided to bring my wooden penis and some condoms with me. this was i guess just incase i had the chance to talk to someone, or the subject came up I would be ready with props in hand. there's not much i can do, but i like them to know i'm around so i go and hangout, chat with them, help with some of the paperwork if i can. i stayed till around noon, which is break time and also the medicine i'm taking now for my ears really upsets my stomach so I wanted to go back to my house and relax anyway. well i was leaving, walking down the side of the road when I heard someone call my name. It was this guy i generally avoid, but for some reason today I decided to be polite and go over and talk to him. He was sitting outside his shop with a couple other men. The conversation started off simple enough, how are you, you've been gone a long time, what did you bring me. yada yada yada. i don't know how it happend though but during our 2 hours of chatting our conversation hit upon topics such as voting, why did people vote for obama, teen pregnancy, what africa needs to develop, and finally AIDS. one of the questions first asked was whether or not it was true that the cure for aids had been found but that we just weren't sharing it with africa. that's when i had to inform them that there was no cure at all for aids and that americans die from aids just like african's do. they were a little suprised by this but then recovered to say that they(americans) don't die as much as africans do. I wanted to say that's your own fault, but I was more polite about it and said that that is because not enough of you use condoms when you have sex. Which led me getting out the wooden penis and condoms i had brought along. I sat there with these men explaining and demonstrating how to use a condom. i'm glad i did it, they needed to know and it's the only way things will change around here and it was refreshing to see that two of the men at least already knew the proper way to use one. of course questions followed about condoms breaking because there penis was so large and what not. typical guy stuff. one of the men then showed me on his very nice cell phone a porno clip where a man had a very large penis and then asked if a condom would even fit that one. it was so strange i couldn't help but laughing. it wasn't long after that that one of the men had to go off and pray and so our little group broke up. the guy i usually avoid wanted me to stay and keep talking but there was no way i was going to do that with no one else around so i made my excusses and head home...2 hours later.

Chick Killer (Random Story)

2009-06-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

So a couple months back I was doing laundry at my house. Now doing laundry entails a large basin (metal bowl) filled part way with water, some powdered soap bought at local market, my pile of dirty clothes and me sitting out on my front porch with them scrubbing them by hand. So I had finished up with my laundry for the day but decided not to toss out my rinse water so that I could use it later that evening to wash my feet off before going to bed. (I wear sandles all day while walking in the dirt and sand, washing feet helps keep sheets cleaner longer) I left the basin outside while I went about the rest of my day. That night when I came back the basin was still there, but I noticed something floating inside. For a moment I thought I had left some clothes in there to soak since I do do that from time to time. I go over to look and inside were baby chick. I empty out the water and count the bodies of 5 babies chicks that I for some reason or another decided to jump into my basine.

Catch Up Round 2

2009-05-24T00:27:00.000-07:00

So I've been a bit lack lately in playing catch up for all those months that I didn't post, but at least I've been trying to keep you all up todate on what's going on with me now. Anyway, in my last round of catch up I talked about Thanksgiving and the 2 day AIDS workshop I hosted.

December I tried to host a World AIDS day event for the 8th, but alas it fell through, well parts of it fell through and then no one showed up so thus it didn't happen. What I had planned originally was for the student peer educators I had trained during the AIDS workshop to come and do the skits they prepared during the workship for the community. Everyone seemed on board with this. The week before the event was to take place I was informed that the students could not infact participate because they had their semester exams during that period and could leave school. GRRR I wouldn't have been so frustrated if they had told me that in the beginning instead of letting me plan an event around them being there. I was still going to go on with the event only this time it would just be me and my work partner talking to people in the community and showing them how to use condoms. Unfortuantly, no one showed up. No one was suprised by this lack of turn out, but it did make me sad. It also made me grateful in a way that the kids couldn't make it, cause I would have felt really bad to have had them there waiting and then no one come.

So the planning of that event brought me to the week I was to start heading down to Cotonou to make my way to Accra so I could fly home and suprise my family for Christmas. I didn't get back til mid January. I was scheduled to go on my first vacation in Africa the first part of February so I had to use what little time I had left between getting back and leaving again to find out information regarding the cost of building a well, working on a grant so I could do nutrition workshops later on during the school year, as well as finish and AIDS mural we had started before I left for America.

Talking to God

2009-05-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

So I received an email from Mona saying that I should ask God what I should do in regards to my post Peace Corps options. I have tried this in various ways not only regarding this decision but at various times/cross roads in my life which out much luck I must say. So I am asking now, how does one do this? And how does one feel generally during/after doing so?

I usually ask for guidance in making the right decision or for some sort of sign or something that shows that one choice what I am "meant" to do. But always I am left feeling as I did before I did the asking as if I said nothing at all. Never have I felt God's guiding hand, presence or anything which would lead me to believe that a. he's listening to me and b. that one choice is any different than another. So I am always left hoping that I make the right choice as I jump in.

How do you know that when you are getting guidance from God vs. letting your own wants direct you to doing what you want to do?

I'm confused

The Future is Bright, but Unclear

2009-05-20T03:23:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my previous post that my time in PC is coming to an end. I know find myself looking towards the future and asking myself "now what?" I feel like I am graduating college all over again...saying good-bye to friends and a place I've called home now for over 2 years as well as choosing what path I will take as I move on from this amazing experience. Some volunteers are going straight home to look for jobs in what seems like a horrendous job market, some are going to travel and then go home before starting graduate school, and yet others are continuing on with Peace Corps. Some will stay in Benin but doing different work, but most will be going to different countries and again some will stay working in their same field (i.e. keep teaching English) while others will use these past two years experience to find a new job. So where do I fall in all this you ask?

Well I applied and was accepted into a volunteer program in Palestine teaching English and doing general youth outreach work. I had planned on traveling a bit with Patrick before hand to the neighboring countries of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. After finishing up in Palestine my plans were to spend the spring months working in a language immersion camp for french kids in France to help earn some money before going home for the summer and starting graduate school in the fall.

But I'm not sure if that is going to happen any more. I was recently offered another post withing Peace Corps. This time I would be volunteering in Cambodia as a Heath Education Leader. I would be more involved in the training of other volunteers in this position, but probably doing similar work as to what I have been doing. The only problem with this is that it is a new job and thus not very organized as to what they want/expect. But still a definite option.

However there a third option on the horizon. I am looking into going to Jordan with Peace Corps as a English teacher or a Youth Development Volunteer. Because I am switching sectors (I am currently a health volunteer and these positions are not health) I have to send in my resume again and get a letter of recommendation from my PC boss to see if I am qualified enough for either of these.

So as you can see options out the wazoo. I know I am blessed, because as one volunteer stated it is better to have several options than none at all. However it is stressful. I want to make the right decision, but I have no idea what that is or even if there is in fact a wrong decision to be made. All of the above will be great experiences that will help me grow and develop as well as give me skills for my next job. It's just making that choice.

The Beginning of the End

2009-05-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

22 months ago I stepped on a plane heading to benin, west africa. boy did i not have a clue as to what I was getting myself into. all i knew was that i was to be a rural community health advior living two years in a small west african village. images of mud huts (mine, not theirs) filled my head. i pictured people eager for help, waiting only for someone to share their knowlege. and through it all not once did i consider how difficult communication would be. how naive i was. i am reflecting on this now (and probably will many times before I leave) because this past week all of the volunteers came into country with (35 out of the 59 we started with) were pulled together for a 3 day confrence in Ouidah. With a beautiful ocean backdrop for the confrence we relaxed either poolside or on the beach after day long sessions convering topics such as resumes, power statements, readjusting to the states and basically life after peace corps. This was the last time we were all together. Slowly one by one we will begin leaving to start our new projects, our new lives lives outside of Peace Corps, or should I say outside of Peace Corps Benin at least. Next week the first of our group will leave. 2 volunteers got picked to go do Peace Corps China, teaching english at universities and so they must leave next week so that they can have their 30 days of home leave (PC pays for volunteers to go home for 30 days if they decide to continue on with PC for another year). A lot will be leaving the end of June and after that we are all kind of sprinkled throughout July, August and Septemeber.

It has been a great time seeing everyone, but tinged with sadness as well. Saying goodbye is never easy especially considering all that we've been through together. I find myself looking around the room sometimes wondering who will I keep in contact with, who will move from being a Peace corps friend to being a real world friend. I would like to think they all will be but I am more realisitic than that.

So we started out with 15 health volunteers, but are only leaving with 7. Here we all are at our Close of Service Confrence in Ouidah. I made us all matching shirts.

Here's a close up the shirt. On front it says, "We Came, We Saw..." and on back it says "We stayed" and is followed by a map of Benin with all of our names and posts listed.

It has become tradition with the health sector to wear meme tissue (same fabric) to the close of confrence ceremony. meme tissue is used in this culture often as a sign of family and save for special events.

Our night were free to do with as we pleased, however we were pretty far from town so we stayed at our hotel for the most part. One night some of the volunteers decided to have a talent show/skit night. Well not many people were prepared so I was a filler telling a short story about the night I recieved my breakfast at 2 am by my host mama.

Here I am with a couple volunteers.

Ouidah in the Morning

Ouidah in the evening

My Home

2009-05-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

Burned Bus

2009-05-02T05:55:00.001-07:00

I shared with all of you about my near death burning bus experience. A couple weeks ago Meagan had to head down south and en route to her desination she found that the remnants our or bus was still there so she stopped and took these pictures. Here is what's left of our bus...

I am pretty sure that I was in the third row from the back and my friends were in the row in front of me.

Getting a little bit older

2009-05-02T03:17:00.000-07:00

I'm 27 now. I'm now closer to 30 than I am 20. When did that happen? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was walking across my college campus or at the vary least leaving home to go to Africa? But it was a good birthday none the less. I wanted to avoid just sitting at home on my ass staring at my white walls contemplating the fact that I am another year older so I made plans with Meagan. She is friends with missionaries in a neighboring town and they make their own ice cream from time to time so I asked Meagan if she could talk to them about us comming over and making ice cream for my birthday. What I thought would be a simple, yet very tasty birthday turned out to be a three day birthday extravaganza. Day one was not even suppose to happen. It was the day before my birthday and I hadn't planned on going up to Malanvile till the next day. I was hanging around the house cleaning up and doing laundry when Meagan texted me. She was bored. One thing led to another and I ended up going to her place.

The night turned out to be a typical night of cooking watching Dawson's Creek. We made a really good salad with breadsticks dinner that night. If you could understand how hard it is to get vegetables up here you'd understand the importance of us actually eating a salad, but anyway. For dessert we tried to make this pistachio pudding Meagan's had for ages. You may be wondering how it is we can make pudding here, but instant pudding is a miracle. Cold water stirred into it and voila you have pudding. It's great! But for some reason it didn't really work for us that night so instead we used it to dip cookies into.

Here we are with our awsome salads and bread sticks.

Day two was birthday day! The day was started off with a coffee bread that Meagan had made the day before.

Me eatting the bread, yumm!

Since it was Sunday we decided to go to church. Like I said earlier Meagan has befriended these missionaries who live in the neighboring village. Each Sunday they hold service not terribly far from where she lives. Sometimes I go with her. They are nice people (man and wife with you child) and it's a really good way for me to practice my french. But anyway, since it was my birthday we did a couple things that we don't normally do, well I don't normally do I should say. The first being trying to look nice. It's hot as well as dirty here. So I am usually of the opinion why bother with makeup or doing my hair or any thing such as that because honestly I sweat off the make usually before I leave the house and am dirty within an hour. But it is fun to dress up once and awhile and so when Meagan suggested doing so for church that day I was like what the hell. I hadn't brought any of my nicer dresses with me so I couldn't look too nice, but I put some make up on and did my hair a bit different than what I was use to. We then possed for "glamour shot" in the living room. Sorry none of those pictures got posted. In honor of my birthday Meagan made me a balloon crown. Yes, Meagan is one of those people who knows how to make balloon animals and such. The crown was awsome and I wore while I walked through town on my way to church. Needless to say the local loved it. Many stopped up to ask us where we were going or what we were doing because obviously we don't wear balloon hats every day so they knew something was up.

Me with my balloon birthday crown before leaving the house.

Me outside the church, wearing my birthday crown.

After church we went to the market trying to make for my birthday dinner. We settled on burgers made from beans. I know that sounds probably horrible, or at the very least increadibly strange, but they are rather tastey. You cook your beans in one pot and in the frying pain you saute onions and garlic. When the beans are done you drain them stir in the onions and garlic add an egg and some oat me, mix to together. Make patties and then fry. But anyway... we got the ingrediants we needed for dinner and made it back to Meagan house at which point Meagan asked me if it was ok if Melanie came over for my birthday as well. I am not as close with Melanie as Meagan is obviously, but I still consider her a friend so I was like sure. By the way Melanie is a german graduate student living here working on fish ponds for school. So she came over and we decided to go tchucking. Tchuke is a localy made beer. It is kind of sold on the sly in these shacks around town, but not really on the sly because everyone knows where they are or where to get it if they want it.

Me, Meagan and Melanie with our tchuke.

After tchuking we went back to Meagan's house to prepare dinner.

Here I am with our dinner, burger with sweet potatoes, yumm!

What a great day! The following day was just as good to. This was ice cream day! The missionaries were cool with hosting us and making ice cream for my birthday. The only thing we needed to do was bring ice since she couldn't make enough to feed all of us. So that morning before we left Malanvile our mission was to find blocks of ice. It took some time, but it was actually suprisingly simple. I was afraid that we weren't going to find any because the power get cut a lot up here so often people don't have electricity enough to keep things like fridges running in order to make something like ice. But after asking around a bit we were able to find people who sold ice. So we packed up the ice and headed down to Guene. The missionaries were cool enough to also make the lunch of our choosing as well. We chose pizza and salad.

Here I am making ice cream. Since it was still my brithday weekend I was allowed to lick the beaters.

So that was my birthday extravaganza. After eatting ice cream we hung around for awhile and chatted. We also did henna tatooes, which here are call lalo, on our legs/ankles. After this I knew it was time to head back to post I had been gone too long as it was. So as it stands I am another year older now, any wiser, well that's debatable. But I'm still standing and I guess that's all that counts.

Until next time...

AIDS Workshop

2009-04-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

Okay people I'm doing what I said I would, playing catch up. But here's the deal, ya'll need to start commenting more.

So AIDS "officially" has not touched Benin as much as it has many other African countries. Last records report 2-3% of the population is infected, however, most of believe these number to not be accurate. I have a couple reasons why I do not believe these "official" numbers. One is that there is a huge stigma attached to AIDS tests here so many people are still not getting them. Life is easier for them if they don't know if they have it or not. Another factor is the doing the test itself. More and more health centers are offering it but not all of them so those people who live out in the brush will never be tested. Another reason I feel these numbers are false is that all of the neighboring countries have significantly higher AIDS rates than we do. Benin does not have some protective bubble around it protecting it from this disease, especially considered how much crossing boarders does happen.

But anyway, even if these numbers were correct the best way to keep them low was to keep educating the population, keep teaching them how to prevent getting sick in the first place. I had been doing mini lectures on HIV to the girls in my girls club but I wanted to get to a wider range of people, especially boys. Because fidelity is an unheard of concept here I wanted to reach out to the young men in my community and teach them how to protect themselves and thus others from HIV. I decided to organize a two day workshop focusing on HIV/AIDS, what it is, how you can get it and what you can do to prevent it. I worked with 40 students, 20 boys and 20 girls. I asked volunteers to come up and help me do this workshop. I knew that a topic such as this could not be discussed all together, I needed to divide the group girls with me and the other female volunteers and the boys with the male volunteers. It was touch and go for awhile if I would even have male volunteers comming up to help. Out of the three originally asked two backed out thankfully on the day of the workshop a new volunteer to the region had come by to visit and was willing to stay and help out.

The activities I had originally planned on were to last for a day and a half, with the end of day two for review and getting the students involved by having them give presentations over the information. Well, I underestimated how much the kids already knew and we flew through the information for both days in day one. I was paniking at this point. What was I going to do for day two? I had already arranged for the kids to be out of school so I had to do something with them. But it was obvious by their behavior that we couldn't continue as planned or they would have revolted out of boredom. I was also in a tizzy that day because the lunch that I had arranged to come never did. I had asked a woman who makes and sells lunch to come and do so for my children. She said no problem and because this lady is my friend I believed her. Because I was busy the day before the workshop I was unable to go back an remind my friend to make the rice but I hoped she would remember because we had just talked about it the day before. Well she didn't remember. Thankfully my friends were there running the workshop for me so that I could be free to take care of the smaller details like providing food to all the participants. It was probably better that way anyway my friends have better french than I do. But anyway back to the workshop.

So we did several activies with the students. The first one entailed talking about our body parts. Since we were going to be spending 2 days talking about sex I thought we should familiarize

ourselves with the various terms used for our body parts. The idea behind it was that there is only one word for arm yet how many for penis? Also kids here have no idea what masterbation is. It was one of the terms we were to discuss but none of them had even heard of it before so we let it drop. We got them using condoms. For many of the students this was the first time they had ever seen or touched one. We taught them how to correctly use and dispose of them. We also wanted them to see how strong condoms are so we blew a bunch of them up and put questions inside. We then played hot potatoe and whoever had the condom last had to break it and answer the question inside. It was a lot harder than what they thought it would be to do this, but it was great to watch.

We did another activity where students took two dice that had the names of four fluids that transmit HIV and two that do not. The student then had to role the dice and explain what situation would put the two fluids that came up together. For example if one dice said breast milk and another dice said saliva, you could said during breast feeding these two liquids would be in contact with each other and that the person is at risk for catching HIV. The picture to the left show me with the two dice I made. The other white girl is Jaren, a friend/volunteer who came up to help me with this workshop.

Because we went through the activities so fast I was a little freaked out as I said earlier about what to do day two. I wanted these kids to be peer educators so in order for them to do that I wanted to work with them on how they would share this information with others. Day two was spent doing this. We divided them into four group, each group was responsible for different information. One did transmittion, one prevention, one condoms and one risky behaviors each group was asked to find some way to share their knowledge of their topic with the rest of us. The first time around they were horrendous. Their lack of general knowlege on how to do presentations would shame even an elementary school child. During round one basically each group got in front of the class and made one kid do all the talking while they just stood there looking at the ground, and the one kids who was doing the talking was doing so by reading directly from a piece of paper. After two groups proceeded to do exactly this we stopped them and gave them some feed back and what we wanted and expected. Basically everyone had to talk/particpate. We wanted some sort of introduction as to who they were and what they were going to talk about. We took a break then to give each group time to regroup and rework what they were going to present. It was awsome to see some kids really work at this and make their presentation awsome. Others, I was sad to see used this time to nap instead. The next round went so much better. This time most had come up with some sort of skit to prensent their information. However there were still the problem of not everyone participating and also when presenting information to group it is necessary to speak towards them not with your back towards them. Also covering their mouth with there hand while talking was a common problem. So with that feedback we sent them back to work on their skits. This final time I was blown away by 2 out of the four groups. There were two that worked so hard and you could tell. The other two, well one just didn't care and you could tell. They didn't apply any of the feedback or instructions we had given them and still had only one or two people out of the group doing all the talking. The other group I felt really bad for because they tried to please us and each time they did better than the time before but in the end they still sucked.

And so that was my AIDS workshop. It was stressful but it was a good learning experience for them and for me. The lessons learned from it have definetly helped me in my current work.

Here is a picture of everyone who participated day two. Can you find the white people? It's like playing were's Waldo. :)

2009-04-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

So I said a couple posts back that I would try and catch you all up on my comming and goings during those months when I didn't post, so here is my first attempt.

So I was lucky enough to participate in two Thanksgiving dinners this year. The first first of which was the unplanned one. Thanksgiving fell not long after a two days AIDS workshop I had held in my village (I will talk about this in another post) and so I was busy running around trying to wrap up everything for that as well as get things ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Because I had to go down to Parakou to make some color prints (how sad that the closest color printer to me is four hours away, but that's another can of worms) I said that I would also pick up veggies while I was there. (Again how sad that I have to travel 4 hours to get vegetables) I wasn't looking forward to the trip but it's a necessary evil and I veiwed it as such. I don't remember why but I ended up going down with Noel instead of taking a taxi. I thought going with Noel in a Peace Corps vehicle the trip shouldn't take no time at all. WRONG! We made so many stops along the way that the normal 4 hour trip ended up taking around 7! By the time we rolled into Parakou it was already getting dark and I had about a half hour to get to the store and pick up some of the things I needed. My plan had originally been to get back up to my post after buying all the stuff the same day because I had to work the following morning, however getting into Parakou so late threw that plan out the window. However also saying in Parakou at this time were all the TFL volunteer (english teachers) they were all together for a Peace Corps training which happend to fall during Thanksgiving so they were using the workstation to fix dinner. And what a wonderful dinner it was too. Turkey legs, fruit salad, green bean casserole and so much more that i have forgotten by now. The next day I woke up early enough to finish all the work I had come to Parakou to do and then catch a taxi back up to Kandi to celebrate what came to be my second Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving last year was amazing and it was mostly due to the work of the older volunteers. They had planned ahead and asked their familys back home in America to send the "traditional" foods associated with Thanksgiving. This year we wanted to make Thanksgiving as nice for the new volunteers as the older volunteers made it for us last year. So between Meagan, Alex and I we asked our families to send us the things we each felt we needed to have a great Thanksgiving. Meagan took care of the stuffing and pecan pie, Alex found and cooked the turkey and thanks to my wonderful family I was able to provide the pumpkin and cherry pies as well as cranberry sauce.

Here I am after making the pumpkin pie, I am about to put into the oven.

Ryan and Alex were in charge of the turkey this year.

Me showing off part of our delicious dinner.

You Are Special

2009-03-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, so in my last blog entry I shared with you all my flaming bus story. As you can imagine the three of us were pretty shook up the next day. I think to help cheer us up one of my friends, he was on the bus too, told us about how in his family they had a " You are Special" plate and whenever someone in his family had a bad day they would be suprised with this plate. So that morning for breakfast he made us two "You are Special" plates.

As you can tell from the syrup in Meagan hand we had pancakes that morning for breakfast. Great comfort food as well as easy to make.

Blessings from God

2009-03-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

So I know in my last posting I said I would write more about what I had been doing to catch you all up, sorry that has not happend. However I did live through a rather terrifying experience and since i do hate to keep things to myself I thought I would share it with the loyal few who have kept reading this.

Tuesday afternoon, myself and two of my volunteer friends decided to leave Cotonou and head back up to Parakou to get an early start there before all the other volunteers show up. The 2:30 bus left at 3ish like always and we were on our way. It started out as an uneventful trip. Wonderfully the airconditioning was working and the horrible music video that they play on the tv screens was turned down low instead of at its normal ear splitting level.

It was probably around 8 or so, several hours into our journey with perhaps 2-3 still to go that I first noticed a burning smell. No one seemed to pay much attention to this so neither did I. I involved myself in a book I had brought along, reading by the flashlight at the end of myself phone, when a family of 3 rushed forward yelling to the driver to pull over the bus is on fire. I did not believe them at first because even though there was smoke and obviously a problem there probably was not a fire. So I did not panic. However they kept yelling for the driver to pull over and finally he did and this time when I looked back I did infact see flames. Oh Shit! The Beninise are not known for doing things in an quick and/or orderly fashion but thankfully the buss was only half full so though some pushing and shoving we were all able to get off. At one point we were contemplating going out the window when the driver was not opening the door fast enough but again thankfully that ended up not being necessary.

I would say within 2-3 minutes of all of us getting off the bus the entire thing went up in flames. It looked like something out of an action movie, thank god though the explosion part was missing, even though that is what the three of us kept thinking would happen. At this point we were still several hours from our destination and in the middle of nowhere. A bus heading up to Niamey stopped to check out what was going on, at this point they could see the fire but the fact that it was a bus was unrecognizable. The ppl on the bus were nice enough to make room for us on their bus and take us to where we were going. It seems just when you are ready to call it quits God gives us just what we need.

And so that is my adventure. It is a blessing from God that my friend and I as well as everyone on the bus made it through this ordeal. Had it been a full bus, I feel that this story would have been very different with a very different ending.

Don't Hate Me Cause I Don't Update

2009-03-09T01:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been forever and a day since I've written an honest to goodness update on this damn thing. Are there reasons for the delay? yes. Excuses? Plenty of those to, but I'm going to try and remedy some of that right now. I figured I'd tell you all about what I've been up to here just recently and then back track and cover what I did during the past couple months of no blogs. I hope that will satisfy all of you.

So February was the longest month of my life. For being the shorest month we go through it seemed to last ages and ages. The first two weeks rocked as I spent them on my first African vacation. Me and three other volunteer friends spent two weeks visiting Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. I will come back on another post and talk about the vacation but for now I'll just bring you all up to speed as to where I'm at now. So after getting back from my vacation I had a roughly a week to get my shit together for training activity I had planned over nutrition/malnutrition at my local middle school. This activity is the first of nine or ten I plan to hold over the next couple months in middle schools around my area. Again I'll post more specific information/reflections at a later date. The week following the training activity was forever long because the kids were on school break (they have more breaks than anyone i've ever heard of) so I had no girls club to help break up the week and I wasn't able to host a nutrition activity at any of the schools during that time because with the kids on holiday none of them would be around.

That bring us up to March, which could prove to be an incredibly busy month. Already I have held another of my nutrition activities which went suprisingly well. And I have schedule at least one more for this month and am working on the second. Also this month is the GAD dinner/auction. I talked about it last year a lot. If you remember me and another volunteer participated in a date auction and ended up going on a "date" with a fellow volunteer that included a car ride and appetizers. I know there is a picture of it some where in the old blog enteries. Anyway, it's that time of year again so we will all be getting together to eat, drink and raise money for GAD (Gendar and Development fund). And of course at the end of the month is my birthday. No plans as of yet as to how i'm going to celbrate it. But something will come up. If nothing else I'll be here in Kandi making pizza and watch movies and just hanging out. What won't be happening is me alone in my house, so not cool.

This month also had me going to Nikki this month to celebrate their annual Gahnine fete. It is a traditional fete (party/holiday) that is held every year around this time. The actual date of the event changes because it is based on the lunar calendar cycle so outsiders like us are always having to consult with the locals as to when it is. There is a volunteer who lives in Nikki and he was nice enough to open his house to us all for the duration of this celebration. I can't remember the specifics regarding the fete right now, but later when I am able to post pictures I will fill you all in.

So I guess that's all for now. I know this wasn't a terribly good post, but a rough over view to let you know kinda what I've been up to and what I will be up to this month. More will come soon I promise.

Happy Birthday Mom

2009-01-23T22:59:00.000-08:00

I am a horrible daughter and forgot that yesterday was my mom's birthday. She would have been 52. She was too young to have died when she did. The older I get the more that plays in my head. She had so much life to live, so many things to see and do. Not a week goes buy that something doesn't happen that I don't want to share with her. I can't count the number of times I've picked up a pen to write her a letter to tell her about something or other that's happend. Lord I wish she was still here. Never in the condition she was in for her illness was the personification of a living hell in my eyes. But in my weaker moments I long to be able to talk to her again, hear her laugh, have her hug me. I forget how bad it was while she was alive when I get to missing her.

So Happy Birthday Mom. I miss you and I'll always love you. And you can bet your bottom dollar I would have given you hell for getting to so old :D But I'm equally sure you'd have given me as much hell over the fact that I have as much gray hair as you.