Earlier this evening, I repacked my two suitcases and backpack to make room for more Benin souvenirs.  My embossed leather jewelry case is carefully wrapped next to my bronze chicken (don’t ask) and carved bull horn.  My silver Tuareg jewelry is stashed in my carry-on with a hand-appliqued tapestry and hand-woven fabric from my village.  I’m on [...]

Last night, two of my volunteer friends dragged me to a new supermarket in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city.  They lured me with the promise that this supermarket would be special.  If you ask me, supermarkets in Benin are already very special.  They only exist in a small handful of cities across the country.  When they [...]

Insulting someone in Goun, the language of my post, is tricky for Americans.  Labels that would be very insulting to Americans (Liar!  Coward!) aren’t actually very negative here.  On the other hand, labels that Americans would find laughably mild are deadly, deadly insults in Benin: Weak-willed.  Crazy.  And the worst of the worst: Impolite. Yes – “impolite” is [...]

The new cycle of Peace Corps Benin volunteers have gotten their letters of invitation for Benin.  They have less than ten days to accept or decline, and I know they’ll be scouring the internet soon for packing advice.  So, before I forget, here’s my own commentary on Peace Corps Wiki’s (www.peacecorpswiki.org) “official” packing list for the [...]

In memory of Kate Puzey, my friend and fellow volunteer, who was found outside her home in the North of Benin on Thursday.  The American embassy and Beninese police are investigating her death. She was an extraordinary person, a gifted teacher, and a great friend.  We’ll all miss you, Kate.   Here we are with the other TEFL volunteers soon [...]

We’ve just started the second semester in Benin.  Benin’s school calendar is very odd: the first semester starts in October and goes to the end of February, while the second semester is only from March to early June.  I believe it’s set up this way to compensate for how incredibly slowly some of Benin’s schools [...]

Times are tough now at post.  Most local farmers are bringing in their okra crops, and for some reason, they’re getting paid far below the customary price.  A whole bushel basket of okra this year is worth only 100fcfa, or about 25 cents, to the middlemen who come to market from as far as Togo to load [...]

Those of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while may remember that I’ve been working with a primary school in a small village just outside my post.  I’ve spent this morning e-mailing out descriptions of our current project.  Here’s what we’re doing: ************************************** A small village in Benin, West Africa, called Lowé is facing a [...]

Here are some long-overdue photos of my house at post, cleaned and dressed up for the holidays.  As you can see, the floors are bare concrete.  The walls are also concrete, but I had them painted a few months after I moved in to make the place look nicer.  There isn’t any running water or plumbing, [...]

Last weekend was very busy - I left post immediately after my last class on Thursday afternoon and traveled up to the northwest of Benin to see the annual whipping fete, a local celebration in that area where young men whip each other to prove their manhood. The trip was long and exhausting. [...]

I started teaching last week - this year, I have all four 5eme classes again. Only about two-thirds of my kids showed up because I’m the only one of their teachers who’s started having class. Most of the other teachers at my school don’t have their teaching schedules yet, and there’s already talk [...]

Sorry for the gap in posts - I was too busy having fun in the U.S. this last month to bother updating the blog.  I left Benin in late August and traveled overland by taxi through Benin, Togo, and Ghana to Kotoka International Airport in Accra.  (That was a very exciting airport for me since [...]

My Gun is really coming along.  I’ve gotten to the point where I can often get the gist of overheard conversations.  Last week, I spent several hours one day sitting with a friend at her market stall.  I’d hoped to hear the great and exciting things going on at post that I’d had to miss out [...]

The Oros are out right now at my post.  Back before Benin was Benin, the Oros were a secret society of Beninese men in each village who patrolled the town at night to discourage bandits who would attack and steal by night.  Having them out meant that there was a curfew after dark for everyone [...]

This last Sunday marked one year in Benin for everyone in my training group.  Of the 59 of us who arrived in July 2007, only about 45 have made it to this point.  Fifteen of us went out for ice cream and Indian food in Cotonou last Friday.  For an enormous banana split and dinner [...]

Click on the picture to see it full-size. Helping out at a computer training session:   Discussing goal-setting and decision-making with the girls:   Wearing our paper hats from the origami session:

Last week was the girls’ leadership camp in Porto Novo, the capital of Benin.  About fifty girls attended, coming from all over the southern portion of Benin.  I brought four of my 5eme students from my post, and I think they really enjoyed it.  Two of them were girls who performed very well in my English class this last [...]

The school year will be over for me this coming Tuesday when I hand back the last of my finals and give students their overall grades.  Originally, we were supposed to be done at the end of May, but the Beninese government pushed back the end of the school year in response to the strikes…which [...]