I visited the Tata Sombas in northern Benin this past week. They are about 9 hours north of where I live, near the town of Boukombe. I was lucky enough to travel with Jeff, Rima, and Rima’s mom, Aire. The Tata Sombas are the homes of the Somba people who live in the Atacora region. [...]

I lost a dear friend this month and much of my time and energy has been spent with other friends remembering her remarkable spirit and kind heart. I wanted to share some memories… -being squeezed 16 into a toyota land cruiser as we were evacuated from Burkina Faso during last year’s riots -spending two hours in a [...]

I am proud to let you know that we had our spelling bees this past week! My fellow teachers seemed to enjoy the event and were impressed that many students could pronounce the alphabet in English.  Amazing both of the winners are from the same class! Christine and Akim made their fellow classmates very proud [...]

Gosh, it has been a long time since I have posted.  Sorry! So what has been going on lately? Well, I am preparing students for an English spelling bee. I  meet everyweek after classes to help them study the words. I have some very serious students who come all of the time. They like learning [...]

I had the chance to stay up all night and watch the election coverage at a staff member’s house. It was about 5am when CNN announced Obama as the winner. Beninese people have been rooting for Obama because they believe he, as an African American, will give more support to Africa than previous Presidents. I’ve actually [...]

What is whipping fete? Well fete is French for party and you already know what whipping is. Whipping Fete is a cultural celebration in a small northwestern region of Benin. It happens every October (it is scheduled around the moon) and has been one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had while in Benin. My friend, [...]

The “it” in the question would be the school year. School was originally slated to start in early September and has yet to get going. I finally got my teaching schedule last week, but I can’t start meeting with my new students because they haven’t been grouped into classes yet. If you visit my school [...]

So we’ve been plagued with mice and some larger mice which lead me to believe they are actually rats. Our friend Rima’s cat had  kittens and thus we are now the proud owners of a cat that Jeff calls Tiger. She is super cute and I think she has the killer insticts that we need. [...]

I am putting out a plea for assistance! My friend Rima (another English teacher) and I are organizing free eye exams for our students. Over the past year, we’ve noticed that many kids struggle to read the board clearly. I remember, when one student, Angelot, actually got up from his front row seat to walk up [...]

Peace Corps Benin celebrated 40 years of service in Benin this September. When the new volunteers were sworn in, a big party was thrown. All the different sectors (TEFL, business, health, and environment) wore the same fabric in different colors. It was a special commemorative design that said Peace Corps Benin, 40 years and had the [...]

After the seemingly interminable bus ride to Burkina, we arrived in Ouagadougou in the afternoon. We found a place to stay for the night and then went looking for food. We made our way to my favorite restaurant from my previous trip to Ouaga… Le Verdoyant where we had brick oven pizza and delicious ice [...]

Jeff and I were very fortunate to have our good friend (and my maid of honor) come visit us. Susie took the summer off to travel all over the world. Before landing in West Africa, she had traveled to Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Spain, and England. Susie arrived in Accra, Ghana on August 4th [...]

A year has gone by (and so quickly too!) and a new group of volunteers arrived in Benin on July 4, 2008. We call the training groups PSL. I was in PSL 20 and this group is PSL 21. I got to work weeks 3 adn 4 of training and met many trainees. I spent most [...]

I am returned from a fabulous vacation in Cairo, Egypt. ! For those of you who don’t know, Jeff studied abroad in Cairo almost ten years ago.  One of his friends, Mike, hosted a party that we decided to attend.  Our first night in Cairo, we spent the evening on a boat that cruised the [...]