A few observations in no particular order:

It is suprisingly difficult after A huge plate of rice spinache and stewed beef, half a liter of dark beer, and a two hour nap, to confront the rest of the work day.

Shopping for vegitables in the grand marché of parakou is a little like entering a cage match between you and a bunch of car saleswomen who have been fed on equil parts PCP and desperation, then left in a dark room for 6 months to kill and devour eachother until only the strongest, meanest, and most vicious are left for you to contend with. I have never apreciated the quite descretion of the Hannaford produce department so much.

Change. I used to work in a coffee shop, and it was totally awsome. Every day we would start with 85 dollars in the cash register to make change. Of course it was never the /same/ 85 dollars, but its not hard to see that the abstract concept of that 85 dollars was an investment in a service that we could provide to customers. That 85 dollars was never going to be profit, but, because we were providing a service with that 85 dollars (the ability to change a 20 dollar bill on a 1.60 cup of coffee) that 85 dollars added value to the experience of the customer, inclined them to come back, though Im sure none of them ever thought of it because its such a /good/ idea that every vendor in America does it, every customer expects it. Its such a huge return on customer experience for such a small monitary investment.

This is a concept that has not reached Benin, and is perhaps one of the frustraiting aspects of the culture here for someone who thier entire life has come to expect the vender to bear the responsibility to make change. Here, it is the customers responsability. "je n'ai pas le money" - I dont have change. Well then what are we going to do? I already ate my meal, and I only have a 5,000 bill, I know it only cost 600 franks, but thats what the bank gave me, 5,000 bills, what do you want from me!! That all translates roughly to "il faut chercher" - Go find the change. Which means you stand around for 20 minutes while they walk half way across town trying to break the bill. Im not exagerating, 20 minutes of just standing around wiating for you 4,400 franks.

We have bats here the size of crows. Lots of bats here the size of crows that fly around in flocks. Flocks of bats, wierd.

Interspecies cohabitation. I have several rats that live in my cieling, and a great many lizards that live on my roof. Sometimes at night the rats and the lizards get into fights. It is supprising to me that they should fight, usually interspecies conflict comes from a lack of resources. There is no lack of spiders and bugs that live in my house for them to eat, so its unclear to me why they shouldn't get along amiably. Things scurry here alot. At night I have turned to certain rituals to help prevent scaring the other creatures that I live with. I turn on the light, then wait a good three or four seconds for everything in the bahtroom or kitchen or bedroom to scurry under behind or around whatever it feels most comfortable with before entering the part of the house that we share. They say the ability to share is a virtue.

Theres been alot of controlled burning around my house reciently. With the rainy season finally over all the tall grass and bushes are starting to get dry and brown. Its actually very pretty, golden waves of grain and all that, punctuated by trees that as I understand will remain green all year round. In any case, it strange to ride through parakou and see in the distances many large plumes of black smoke.

Kids, eat your vegitables. I always thought this was kind of a crock, some kind of last ditch media campaigne by vegitable growers to beguile people into keeping vegitable farms financially soluable. It turns out, that if you don't eat vegitables for over a month, you can have some pretty nasty things happen to your body. Yesterday I blacked out while standing in line at the bank and almost fell over. Gettting iron and vitamines and stuff like that here is pretty tricky and usually involves alot of work and is more expensive. I cook for myself every night, I don't think Im lazy, but still, I clearly have not been getting the veggies that I need. I have since rectified this situation and am developing stratigies for eating things other than carbs and more carbs. My point is, its not a lie, you do actually have to eat vegitables.

On the subject of food. I've lost close to 30 pounds since I got here. Thats pretty incredible. Its been mostly muscle mass, which in a strange paradox of body shape means I still have a belly. So much for the African wieght loss program.

I guess thats all, Im heading up to Nattitangou again for thanksgiving, Hopefully they have a turkey, they're kind of hard to find here. Hope everyone enjoys thier holiday.

/Chris

PS. someone remind me to install imbeded spell checking software when I get back.

There are several markets here in Parakou, its a huge city and so not everyone can go to the grand marché when they need to buy tomatoes. There are however several specialized markets, and Marché Kilumbo is just that- very special.

Tchukatu, or more collocilally 'tchuke' (pronounced like puke, and for good reason) is Millet, Water and Yeast, that has been left in a bucket to firment for three days. Those of you who've ever made bread are familier with tchuke already, the warm water yeast and sugar that starts off most bread recipes is essentially tchuke. Tchuke is served at room tempeture and unfiltered in a hollowed out goard called a calabash. Really good tchuke, when its poured in your bowl will still be firmenting, the top of your bowl will have tiny bubbles of teaming little creatures converting sugar into alcohol before your very eyes.

There are people who will tell you that they really like tchuke, it is my opinion that most of those people are trying to convince themselves as much as they're trying to convince you. Tchuke is not good, but it is very very very cheap (about 10 US cents a calabash). After two calabashes of tchuke, you forget that it doesn't taste good, after two more calabashes of tchuke even if you don't speak french, you can probably speak french as well as the guy who is sitting next to you. After two *more* calabashes of tchuke the Beninese guy sitting next to you can probably speak english as well as you can. At marché kilumbo, everyone speaks the same language- drunk.

Marché Kilumbo is only open on Sundays and picks up around 16:00 (4pm). There are probably about 40 or 50 stalls, which are effectively woden poles with corrigated tin nailed to them, each stall has a raised half wall of concrete around it for sitting on and a marché mama sitting in middle with a 20 gallon plastic bucket full of tchuke. Everyone wanders around the market going from stall to stall greeting eachother, making friends, drinking tchuke and peeing in the bushes. And by everyone I mean probably close to 300 people. It was best described to me as, a county fair mixed with a frat party. There is tons of fried yams and friend dough and people grilling legs of goat and guys on motorcycles and geeze it is just an awsome time. Those of you who've been to fountain day at SUNY Albany have some sense of the tennor of the event, but this is every Sunday.

There is one stall in particular that we go to that I like probably the best. Its a family of tchuke makers, the Grandma and the Grandpa sit around and greet people, the Mom and Dad and Aunt also, and the youngest daughter Vivi serves the tchuke, we buy rounds for them, they buy rounds for us, its so cheap, everyone buys rounds for everybody. There is a guy who walks around the marche in a big biege trench coat with a radio and headpone in one ear and pretends to be Mathew Kerikou the first president of Benin. Every time I have gone we've gone with other volunteers who can speak local languages, everyone always thinks its really hillarious to see the white people speaking Dendi and Fon and Lokbah and drinking tchuke and making jokes.

Anyways, I have pictures:

Thats Vivi, she's probably about nine and just started 6eme thats like middle school back in the states. Sundays she serves the tchuke at Mama and Papa Tchuke's stand.

Mama and Papa Tchuke - arn't they cute!

If you look in the bucket there, you can see the brownish sort of liquid... thats the good stuf =P

/Chris

Not a very long post today I think,

During stage, I had an opportunity to go to Ouidah for a few days. Ouidah is a fascinating city in the south of Benin right on the coast. It is the Beninese Capital of Voodun (voodoo) and every year on January 10th the national Voodoo fête is held there. Im hoping next year ill be able to go back and see that, as i understand its supposed to be very very cool. Ouidah is also one of the main ports out of which slaves were taken from Benin to the new world, and subsequently a great deal of Beninese culture is evident in Brazilian, Caribian, and pockets of American history. It was a really bizare experience walking the seven kilomiter treck from the tree of remembering to the beach where the slaves were taken from thier homes and thier families. Bizare because the day we walked the path was beautiful and sunny, there were many people out on the sandy path who greeted us warmly.

While what happened there clearly had an enormous effect on the history of our part of the world, it seemed clear that in Ouidah it was only a small part of the history of the town. All the people who live there are descendants of people who didn't get put on boats, and they seem to have only a vague experiential awareness of why this place is important to the forigners who come there now. Any number of times in moments of quiet introspection we were interrupted by the souds of kids playing soccer or loud radios or all the other signs of a healthy bustling city. Terrible things had their start in Ouidah that gives a foreigner like me reason to pause and think, but people still live in Ouidah, and they fight, and sing, and eat, and sweep the streets, and get married and get divorced and all the other things that are apart of what it means to be human and alive. It leaves a unique and unsettling impression on a person, or at least left one on me.

Also I got to meet the Pope of Voodoo and hang out in his house, that was pretty damn cool =P

Pictures!

bon~

A few people have asked for a better picture of my day to day life here, What i think ill do is explain the things ive done today, glossing over some stuff, and expanding on the things that strike me as being very different or unexpected.

The first time i woke up this morning was at 5:30am. There are several mosques near my house and the first call to prayer begins sometime between five and six o'clock. Even though I am not Muslim, it is nice to have the call to prayers, it gives a certain kind of structure to the day, its also a very strange experience to be ridding by on a motorcycle around dusk and see all along the streets men facing in one direction standing and prostrating in unison to a long wailing voice in Arabic. The sunsets here have been incredible lately and there is a compelling mix between the muggy grimy exhaust filled streets and the beautiful shades of reds and oranges silhouetted by palm trees tin roofs and cellphone towers.

I promptly fell back asleep and didn't wake back up until 7:30, which is in fact, sleeping in. There is very little to do here at night, especially in my neighborhood, and so I'm usually in bed by 10:00 at the latest, so seven isn't really that early heh. Lyle (the PCV who lived in my house before me) left a really great pot behind. its maybe 10oz and perfect for making a single serving of rice on the stove top. After waking up and walking to the little corner store for a few things, i put a pot of rice on and fried up the fresh eggs that i bought, with tea it makes a lovely breakfast. I sat down and read for about an hour, Im nearly done with a Scanner Darkly, which is (bien sûr) turning out to be much much better than the movie.

After that I slip on shower shoes, shower in my outside shower (which is extremely cold), and head to work at about nine or nine thirty. Today I biked in, its about a 20 or 30 minute bike ride, and I imagine its alot like what biking in NYC is like. There are motorcycles and huge shipping trucks and cars and people and goats all over the place. Biking to work is always an adrenaline rush. The first third is all dirt road, and because of erosion, even though its as wide as a regular street back in the states, there is regularly only one lane of traffic (which, if you consider all the traffic is motorcycles, is not very wide at all). After that its out onto the goudron (which is french for "tar" so, the paved roads). thats when shit gets crazy.

Theres a fluid relationship here between animals and people. There are no real fenced in areas, livestock just wanders the streets, goats chickens pigs and sheep mostly. There are several people who heard cow in my neighborhood, but i guess because cows are such a huge investment there is always at least one or two shepherds with them. To illustrate my point, the other day I saw a huge 18 wheeler carrying cement get into a traffic jam with a heard of about 50 head of cattle. To date I've personally hit a yearling pig on my bike, and been riding on a motorcycle when it hit a baby goat, and twice hit chickens. Ridiculous.

So I get to work finally and sit down in my office (its not really MY office, its just a office that i pretty regularly do work in, but it has a bathroom and an air conditioner that, out of principle and in solidarity with brethren en brouse, I do not use (yet)). The morning is all emails and reading Linux manuals. trying to understand how ubuntu's new bootup daemon 'upstart' works because all the resources online (and at my disposal) describe the old System V way of doing things with the /etc/initab file (fascinating stuff - if your a total nerd i mean). I have a small shortwave radio here that I brought from the states and i usually try and listen to talk radio (because its in french duh). The Building that I work in is on really beautiful grounds owned by the archdiocese of Parakou, BorgouNET (the people I work with) get to use the grounds for free, because they provide internet for free to the bishops house/seminary/i-don't-know-what-else-but-it-was-a-huge-freaking-building/courtyard/thingy. Most volunteers do not have anything like an office, they usually work with the mayor or an ONG, and they may furnish a room for teaching etc. I really do have kind of a nine to five in an office, but the upside is its probably the nicest place a fellow could work - so im just thrilled.

Lunch was yam pilé, which is kind of like mashed potatoes, but much gummier, like if you beat the crap out of mashed potatoes with a huge stick for fifteen minutes (which i guess, is more 'what it is', and less 'like what it is'). you take the yam pilé and dip it in a spicy tomato puree and eat it with okra or fried cheese or chicken or goat (today it was fried cheese... mmm). Yam pilé (pilé by the way means to pound i believe, think pile-driver) is sort of the 'hamburgers and hotdogs' of the north of Benin, in the south its pâte (which means paste) which is sort of like yam pilé only made with corn flower, and not as doughy, more sticky - same sauce (mmm.... sauce).

After lunch I took a Zemijhan (motorcycle taxi) over to the bank and grabed a little money because i was heading over to a carpenter I know to get a cot made for my office (still not really my office). It might be a little misleading to say i popped in and out of the bank. In point of fact it took a little over an hour to withdraw what amounted to 40 dollars... that is however, for the bank, popping in and out. So, off to the carpenters shop to give him the money for my cot so I can have a place to sleep during repose, popped in and out of the carpenters shop (and by popped in and out i mean spent half an hour meeting his family, chit chatting about America, the relative merits of learning a non-gendered language vs learning a gendered language) before returning here to write this post. In a little bit Im going over to a really nice open air bar to meet with my language tutor and try to improve my french. After that its back home, tonight im making vegetable stew (mmm... fiber) and going to try and finish Scanner Darkly. Tomorrow will be another day.

And now, more pictures~

This should be another picture of an ally in the Azové marche and dusk in Azovè just a little before we left for post. Sorry, Im going to try and get some more pictures of Parakou, but because i dont have a camera there is some lag time.

D'accord - ça c'est tout maintenant,

/Chris

Bon~

So I have arived in parakou, arranged all my affairs, and am finally settling into some semblance of a routine. I am now officially a peace corps volunteer, which in the most immediate sense means i am no longer being babysat. This brings with it an interesting sensation of excitement and terror as i face living as an expat in Benin at a new, more intense level of freedom. Training (thank God) is over. Let me try to outline quickly, in the most general terms, what took place over the last 2 months since i last posted.

Stage is the term generally affixed by Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) in Benin to the 9 week period between arriving in country and officially becoming Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). I believe 59 of us arrived in country on the 20th of July and were whisked by bus to a seminary/boarding house just outside of Cotonou - the economic capital of Benin and chez Peace Corps. All the PCTs stayed at the seminary for the first week dealing with administrative matters, meeting and greeting the medical and administrative staff, and generally being bussed - told to wait - told to go - filling out forms - signing papers - being injected,poked,proded,medically cleared - culturally educated - historically educated - informed of major taboos - informed of major policies - getting to know eachother - getting to know the Peace Corp Volunteer Trainers (PCVTs - current volunteers who leave post to help train new arivals) - and finally, to a lesser extent, drinking beer.

Peace Corps Benin has four main sectors in which they work:

Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)

Rural Community Health (RCH)

Environmental Action (EA)

Small Enterprise Development/Information Communication and Technology (SED/ICT)

After the first week each sector broke down and traveled to a separate city for the next 8 weeks of language, culture, and technical training. I am (bien sûr) an ICT volunteer, one of two out of 14 SED/ICT volunteers. This year SED/ICT stayed in Azové which is in the Mono/Kuffo Districts (kind of like states) the Mono and the Kuffo are the southern most, western most districts in Benin. The days during stage were broken down into two classes in the morning, two classes after repose (think siesta) and optional language tutoring in the evenings. Each PCT stayed with a host family which helped facilitate cultural integration, and generally made for hilarious stories and or a fair amount of stress. Peace Corps Volunteers are required to test out of Stage in respects to language. My perception of stage is definitely slanted towards the stress surrounding learning enough French to pass. There are others who had radically different experiences from me, especially those who arrived in country speaking French fluently. Several weeks into Stage we learned where our posts would be, shortly after that visited them. Because my post is in Parakou and I work with an internet service provider, I have daily access to internet (when the electricity isn't cut heh). I sent a bunch of emails and I think made a post here (or tried to anyways). During Stage we had an opportunity to visit a few tourist sites in Benin and in future posts i will talk a little more about those. After the nine weeks, and several small snafus, 54 PCTs swore an oath to defend the constitution against enemies foreign and domestic and became Peace Corps Volunteers - there was a big party at the ambassador's house and a few days latter everyone shipped out to their respective locations.

So, there is tons more i'd like to post here, but i know the attention span of most people is about 1 paragraph and so i'm going to cut it short here. hopefully this helps people understand a little better the vocabulary and general structure of stage. There was no internet access in Azové and thats why posts here have been short and irregular. My access to internet is probably as good as one can expect in Benin and so I should be updating more frequently, I will also throw pictures up as they become available - i don't have a camera, but many people do and i can get at thier pictures from time to time. Unfortunately because computers and internet here is so slow, i've had to size a bunch of these down so they've lost a little detail. A picture can never capture an experience anyways.

The marché in azové:

in a cyber in lakosa on french keyboqrd. news! i will be posted in parakou at the beginning of august and communication should pick up after that my post is about 10 miniute bike ride from the workstation where there should be a reliable internet connection; i miss everyone but am healthy and happy; hope to catch up soon!

Hey everyone, initial reports said that there was an internet cafe in Azove, where I will be training for the next two or so months. This report seems to be wrong. So internet communication may go dead for awhile, I will try and write.. we are very very busy learning french and getting paperwork done, and also learning to ride zemi's (oh my goodness sooo awsome).

Again not alot of time, the line behind me is getting wicked long.

/Chris

PS. the beers are all 22oz and the national beer Beniniose cost just under a buck hah!

Another Quick post, we are all at staging getting shots and such, there is a quick opportunity to post but there are others who want to contact their friends and families. Forgive the spelling, i don't have time to check it over

First - In case it isn't obvious, these are my opinions and my opinions only, they don't reflect any possition of the Peace Corps, and should always be read with a critical eye, grain of salt etc.

A long fligt to Paris and then layover in Charles Degal (spelt wrong i have no doubt) then another long flight to Cotonou international airport. Everything went smoothly, no real mistakes, no one got lost thank God. We took the bus to a dormitory/monistary where we are staying for the next couple of days. Absolutely amazing to travel the streets at night. There are very few road lights, so everything is ominously dark just off the streets where the houses are. All along the roads are stands with people vending food and clothes and gasoline kept in big jugs. there are literally hundreds of motorbikes and mopeds. Its hard to describe the experience of it. Like when you drive along and see a bike gang in the states, only there are 12 gangs of bikers and they are fluidly mixing together and pulling apart. Driving was like any other developing nation i've been in. "balls to the wall" I think describes it best. We met a bunch of 1 year and 2 year volunteers who have been answering all our questions and releaving anxieties. I am happy to say I am without axiety at all, and am now *finally* really excited.

Another Observation, Most buildings here are made of cinderblocks and have rusted tin roofs, There is very little color and the city I think would seem very sad if it were not for the clothes. I am told its called 'tissue' and everyone wares even if it's mixed with western clothes. I have seen pictures before, and have always thought it was sort of tacky looking (tacky isn't really culturally sensative, but i don't have a better word, and the line behind me is getting longer). But here, here because everyone is doing it, it is simply and absolutely amazing. There is always a new fabric to see and I think if i had the chance i could probably just watch for hours. Anyways, we arived safely, and I am already laboring through the french. Very excited. I miss everyone.

/Chris

Staging has gone very very well, most of my worries have been aliviated, and we are currently waiting to board busses and being the flight to France/Benin. This will be a short post because I'm borrowing another volunteers Laptop, just wanted to check in and let those who might be worried know that all is well. I'm leaving with 59 really great people, and there has been a great deal of bonding over similar worries and anxieties.

THe busses are here! I have to go!

This was sent by the peace corp if anyone is bored and wants to come visit.

Information and Advice

for Families and Friends Planning to Visit Benin

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The following points of information and advice have been compiled from various sources (previous visitors, former Volunteers, staff, etc.) for people planning to visit Peace Corps Volunteers in Benin. Visitors and Volunteers have learned that advance planning, communication between the volunteer and visitor, and flexibility are very important aspects of a successful and satisfying trip. We hope that the suggestions and information below will be helpful. You may also wish to consult various travel books such as the Lonely Planet's Africa on a Shoestring and West Africa on a Shoestring or the Rough guide.

1. Planning. Start planning at least six months before departure since several things have to be done sequentially which can add up to several weeks/months. Keep in mind that communication takes a long time, so arranging the logistics through the mail will require a lot of lead-time. Make sure that the timing of your visit is convenient for the Volunteer you are visiting. A Volunteer's primary obligation is to his/her assignment, so be sure that your visit will not disrupt any work plans. We recommend visits at some point during the second year.

2. Passport. If you do not already have a passport, obtain a passport application and application instructions from a post office or your travel agent. To apply for a passport, you will need the completed application with two passport photos (with your signature on the back of each photo) and the application fee.

3. Visa. To apply for a visa to Benin, obtain two application forms from the Beninese embassy, 2124 Kalorama Road, NW, Washington DC 20008; the phone number at the embassy is (202) 232-6656. After completing the applications, send them to the embassy with your passport, two passport photos, W.H.O. records showing the required yellow fever shot (see below), the application fee, and a copy of either your tickets or your detailed flight itinerary, and a bank statement. You may also need to submit a letter of invitation from your Volunteer family member. You will be issued a single entry visa only, unless you specifically request multiple entries. You must have multiple entries if you plan to leave the country and return during the period of the visa's validity. Be sure to call the Embassy and verify with them that procedures have not changed.

It is our understanding that the Embassy will not return your passport to you unless you send a pre-paid express mail envelope. If you are in the D.C. area, you can pick it up at the embassy.

Separate visas are required for almost all African countries you may plan to visit, except for intermediate stops where you will not go outside the terminal while en route to or from Benin. Each embassy requires that you send your passport with the visa application, so you can only apply for one visa at a time.

You can consolidate and expedite your passport and visa applications if necessary by going through a private company that handles it for you for an additional fee of approximately $30 per visa or passport. (Ask a travel agent for details).

4. Health. A yellow fever vaccination is required. This immunization must be logged in a World Health Organization (W. H. O.) International Certificate of Vaccination. For more information on what additional vaccines, antimalarials or medications are required or recommended, contact your local health board or the Division of Immunization at the Centers for Disease in Atlanta, Georgia, (404) 639-1870, or on the Internet at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/cafrica.html

You should also plan to take anti-malarial prophylactic drugs prior to departure from USA and during your stay in Benin. Contact the Malaria Hotline at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, (404)639-1610 for information on what drug(s) to take and where you can get them.

While in Benin, precautions must be taken with food preparation and water treatment. Drink only bottled water in sealed bottles or water that has been filtered and chlorinated or boiled. Vegetables must also be soaked in chlorine if they are not being cooked or peeled.

There are health risks, and the medical facilities in Benin are not comparable to facilities in the United States. Peace Corps medical Staff cannot provide care for family members or friends who require medical attention while in Benin. We strongly suggest that you consider extra insurance with emergency evacuation coverage from a company such as International SOS Assistance, Inc. (P.O. Box 11568, Philadelphia, PA 19116, 1-800-523-8930 or 215-244-1500 in PA).

5. Money. The currency used in Benin is called franc CFA. The franc CFA is linked to the EURO (About 656 FCFA = 1 EURO; 1 USD is about 485 CFA.) Travelers’ checks are recommended. You may want to take at least some travelers checks in EURO, since switching dollars to CFA in Cotonou is usually more expensive than switching dollars to EURO in U.S. and then EURO to CFA in Cotonou. Some of the big (and expensive) hotels in Cotonou will accept an American Express or Visa credit card. The best person to answer questions about money (and how much to take ) is the Volunteer whom you are planning to visit.

6. Baggage. Have all your suitcases locked. On most airlines, you are allowed 2 pieces of baggage (not to exceed 50 lbs. each) per passenger for trips from the United States to Europe, but only 20 kg (44 lbs.) total for intra-European or African flights. Therefore, you may be charged an excess baggage fee for anything over 44 lbs. from Europe to Africa unless you check your baggage through to Africa directly from the U.S. (If you check baggage all the way through, be sure the baggage ticket has all appropriate code letters for the trip; the code for the airport in Cotonou (COO), and the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris is CDG). Consult your airline or travel agent for further information.

7. Flight Check-In. If you fly through Paris, arrive at the check-in counter for the flight to Cotonou two hours before take off. They start checking passengers in then and you cannot get a seat assignment until this check-in. The check-in process goes very slowly, so plan to stand in line a long time. They will not allow large carry-on bags.

8. Arrival in Cotonou. You must have both your passport and W.H.O. card for immigration when arriving at the airports in Benin. French and some English are spoken at the airport, but it would be best to ask the Volunteer you are visiting to have someone meet you at the airport. You will have to open all bags for inspection. Try to keep all your bags in sight once they come into the baggage area. There will be men vying to carry your bags for payment. Carry your bags yourself if you can. If not, negotiate a price with one person before allowing anyone to take your bags (about 1$ per bag.) If no one is going to meet you at the airport, get instructions ahead of time from the Volunteer on how to take a taxi to your next destination.

9. Accommodations. Your best source of information about where to stay is the Volunteer whom you are planning to visit.

10. Photos. Picture taking is fine, in general, but you should always ask permission before taking anyone's photograph. Photos are never allowed at the airport, seaport, embassies or any military installation, so please keep your camera concealed when near these locations.

11. Identification. During the course of your stay in Benin, you will have to show your passport to the police several times, so you must carry it with you in a safe place at all times. It is sometimes convenient to have a certified photocopy of your passport to present to officials.

I fly out of Albany Airport July 17th at 9:30am arriving in Philly at 11:00am. There are two days of state side training and form filling out/needle poking before the training class leaves for Benin Thursday afternoon. Once in Benin there will be a week of language training and orientation etc in the City of Cotonou. Afterwards, those of us in the Small Business Development sector will travel three hours north west to a city named Azove. I will be staying with a host family in Azove, learning French and cross cultural skills for 9 weeks. After that training is complete, if my French is competent, I will be posted somewhere else in Benin which will be my permanent address for the duration (maybe).

For the First two and a half months or so, snail mail should be sent to the following address:

Christopher Kotfila

Corps de la Paix

B.P.971

Cotonou,Benin

Once I know my permanent address I will post it here. The good news is that Azove apparently has an internet cafe so email communication should be possible (though maybe sparse). My understanding of the training is that it is very intensive, and so it is unclear whether keeping in touch with those who have expressed an interest will be possible right away. If there is a lapse don't worry, I haven't forgotten.

Cheers!

/Chris

Starting this off is proving more difficult that I had originally anticipated. Let me say this, in general I find blogging and web journaling to be shallow and self-aggrandizing. Most blogs I have encountered devolve into breeding grounds for emotional baggage and opinions of the most base and ill-informed type. There is a value to venting the joys and tribulations of the present moment, but in the public domain these forays into the tenor of ones daily experience lose their perspective. They quickly become worthless as they are repeatedly subjected to the judgment of any 'right-click stalker' or voyeuristic yoyo. It shows a lack of respect for the substance of ones own life, parading it around for anyone to see. Worse than that by creating a single "prefab" window into your experience it shows a lack of respect for those who are genuinely interested; those that have bothered to invest time in getting to know you personally. Friendship with another person means developing a shared language of experiences, not to employ that language when expressing your thoughts and feelings is disrespectful. Personal matters require personal communications. To me a successful blog begins by actively working to eliminate the author, and ends by sharing unique topical information that interests some group of people. The line becomes blurred though when the audience is actively interested in a persons experience because of a unique aspect of their life. How do you share your experience without it becoming self-centered? I'm not sure I know... I hope I can be successful in keeping this topically interesting with out it becoming a laundry list of my personal shit.

All this to say, The purpose of this blog in my mind is to record my observations on actively living and working in a different culture, and to provide a single source on how I can be reached if your interested in maintaining a relationship across seas. This is not for whining and bitching!

Cheers!

/Chris