To continue to follow my adventures, check out www.krissysnewblog.blogspot.com.

Peace, Krissy

Well, as of about 2pm yesterday (Friday) afternoon, I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer - I am an RPCV! (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer)

I packed up and organized my life, and am staying with a missionary family here in Cotonou until I fly out to Sierra Leone tomorrow morning around 11am local time - Wahoo! I am so wonderfully excited about this next chapter in the saga of my adventurous life. Benin, it's been real. You'll always have a piece of my heart.

It might be awhile before I can update, thanks for being patient as I move to a new country, again!!

Love to everyone who has supported me over these last 26 months in Benin. I couldn't have done it without you!

Odabo, Benin. Krissy

So SD Card reader in my computer stopped working a few months ago, so I've just been keeping all my photos on my camera. Well, in my cleaning and organizing of my house, I found the cable that came with my camera to transfer photos - cheers! Here are a few good ones:

Camp Bante - Espoir de Demain (Hope of Tomorrow)

Spelling Bee!

It's finally here!

Sunday I said goodbye to my village and came down to Cotonou. This week is hoop after administrative hoop to jump through to close out my Peace Corps service. Lots of signatures to be found, stuff turned in, bank account closed, etc. This week is also Swear-in for the new volunteers, so the craziness is just that much more insane! It's going really well, though, I expected it to be more painful than it has been!

So, I have to go to a meeting now, but just wanted to check in and say HI to everyone, I'm doing well and will write more later!

Peace, Krissy

Good Morning!

Wow, it's September! Sorry for all of you for whom summer is over or nearly over. It's always summery here!

Life in Benin is drawing to a close. It's so weird to say that. I mean, I won't say 'wow, it's gone so fast!" because it hasn't, it's felt like two years. It's just weird to think of it ACTUALLY being finished; a reality, not just this mythical date way off in the future!

I'm in Natitingou for a few days trying to finish up my latrine project paperwork, other random paperwork and forms, and say goodbye to friends up here. I just hit 'send' on the latrine stuff, hopefully they will approve it with limited drama or issues. The latrines themselves are built, they are just waiting for paint. It's raining every single day here right now so they will wait to paint until dry season hits in another month or two. They look great, once I get back to post I will take some pictures! It's nice to have something to actually look at and say 'I did that." - For the most part my projects in village have all been of the 'education' front, which is by far the most impactful (in my opinion) and important, but does leave a void in the "what the heck did I do for the last two years" question.

So anyway, I'm really just wrapping things up now. My bruises from the moto accident are only a shadow now, and I'm not freaking out about going outside or being on a moto like I was just after the accident. Last week my replacement, Kate, came to visit me for a few days and I think she's wonderful. She's motivated and excited about my village and I think she'll do a great job! We didn't have a whole lot of time to interact with villagers but they seemed to like her and we look similar enough (height, brown hair) that I am sure she will be called Christinie for at least awhile! After spending three days trying to impart two years worth of wisdom on her my throat was REALLY sore - I guess I'm used to living the solitary life! Once she left I started really cleaning and organizing my house, it's so much fun to give stuff away. And the people here love even the smallest things- an empty powdered milk container is gold to them. And I had plenty of those! So it's been really fun. I'll give away the great majority of my clothes and personal stuff; I'll leave most of my kitchen stuff and furniture for my replacement.

I actually pack up the taxi and say goodbye to my village on September 11th. The health center director is throwing me a party on the 7th, which is really sweet of him. I told him I don't want anything big - it will probably be just the health center staff, my homologue and some close friends, I am sure they will kill a goat (goat meat is SO good!) and make Igname Pilee and Riz au gras, my two favorite things to eat. I'll head out on the 11th and spend that week in Cotonou - I have to turn in all my stuff, meet with several different people, get blood and tuburculosis tests, close out my bank account, blah blah blah. That's also the same week as the new group does their swearing-in ceremony and moves to post; it will surely be a super busy week at the Peace Corps bureau and I will spend a good deal of time trying to track down people I need to meet with to sign the million sheets of paper and forms to close out my service. I officially COS on September 16th (they swear in on the 15th) and will stay the 16th and 17th with my missionary friends (the ones I spent last Christmas with) in Cotonou. My lovely British friend from Lome will come visit me, too (yay!) I fly to Freetown, Sierra Leone on the 18th to jump head first into the next big thing! WOW it's so exciting it's finally here! I'm so happy to have that to look forward to - if I was just going back to the states to unemployment I would probably be really depressed and it would be SO hard to say goodbye to Benin!

Okay, so that is the timeline of the next few weeks. I will head back to post tomorrow, or maybe Saturday, and then clean and pack and spend alot of time with the people I love in my village for the next week. Wow. This chapter is actually closing! It's been an amazing ride and I have loved it, no regrets!

I have actually already started working on a new blog, one that is not monitored by Peace Corps where I will be more free to write whatever I want! I'll send out that link as the time gets closer. It's pretty. :)

Okay, I guess that's all I have for now. Another huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated towards my time on Mercy Ships, I'm so excited about this next chapter!!

Love to all - Krissy

Greetings my faithfull followers...

Well, my service sure is going out with a bang! With the eardrum drama a few weeks ago and then the hospital drama last week, I was hoping I would be able to have a very relaxed and chill last few weeks at post. Alas, it was not to be. I was hit by a motorcycle while walking down the street a few days ago and ended up back down here in the Cotonou med unit! I'm happy to say there are no broken bones, just alot of bruises and road rash, and one REALLY nasty black eye (I look like a pirate, arrrrgh matey!). I'll be down here for a few more days to rest and recouperate and then head back to post. Next week my replacement will be coming to visit so I for sure want to be there for that!! Then hopefully it will be just smooth sailing until I fly out on the 18th of September... one can hope!

Love to all, Krissy

I got woken up yesterday morning by another volunteer telling me I had a sick girl and I needed to go to the dorms and deal with it. Joy. I was hoping it would be a matter of letting her sleep in the morning and maybe taking some ibuprofen.

Failure. Ended up spending ten hours in the local hospital with my girl who was finally diagnosed with Typhoid Fever and sent home.

Now I am paranoid that the headache I have this morning is from one of the millions of contagious tropical diseases I was exposed to while at the hospital all day.

I have so much more to write, it was truly an ordeal and I am so very thankful for American health care, as broken as some say it is, it is infinitely better than the majority of the rest of the world. I need to get moving but will write more about it later. Pray I stay healthy.

Love to all. Seriously, thank God for your medical care in America/Europe. It's truly amazing. Krissy

Hey there. Girls camp INSANITY the last few days! I'd been running around getting things ready and was SO excited for the girls to actually show up! My girls got here just fine without me which was fabulous (Thanks Lucy and Wendy!!) and so did everyone else! Yesterday afternoon with the welcome ceremony and everyone arriving was a bit crazy. I have this morning 'off' but I'm going to head over there shortly to jump in on the craziness, hopefully things have settled down a bit.

One quick story - I brought one of my girls to the bathroom after they arrived, and she literally had never used a flush toilet before. First she looked at them, looked behind every door for a hole in the ground which she was used to, and then when she used it didn't know to flush it. It was a fabulous experience for her, I do believe. :) I am absolutely sure she is not the only one among 50 girls from villages across Benin who have never used a flush toilet. This is a huge week for some of these girls!

Peace. K

So I got on the early bus yesterday morning to get up back to my village. The bus was about an hour late getting out of Cotonou, but considering the last three busses I had been on had broken down in some way or another en route I was pretty happy to make it to post without any major incident.

Once I got home I basically dumped my stuff at my house and then went out to find my four girls that are attending camp GLOW this week! (Girls Leading Our World). I hadn't spoken with any of them for a few weeks so it was great to see how excited they are for camp! It's alot like our camp was in Bante, but just on a bigger scale. The camp is overnight and being held at the University of Parakou. Their excitement got me just all the more excited!

So then after chatting with them I had dinner with my health center director and then headed home to basically unpack and then re-pack - I left this morning at 6:30 am to head to Parakou to help set up and get ready for camp! There are volunteers near me bringing girls as well so they will make sure my girls arrive alright when camp starts on Sunday. Today I got a ride from another person in my village to get here to Parakou, which was awesome because it only took like 4 hours and in bush taxis it's usually 6 or 7. Since arriving I've been running around buying supplies and getting to do fun stuff like going into a pharmacy and saying, "I'd like 150 condoms, please, the cheapest ones you have." That's SO good for funny reactions.

So anyway, I was only at post for about 16 hours but it was a really good 16 hours. My house is a mess and I just left it that way, once I am back from camp that is my next big project - clean clean clean and begin to pack!! ACK!!!! yay!

Peace, K

Oh, minor ear pain but I feel great for the most part! Thanks!

I'm on the mend.

I just saw the doctor and then went to see the specialist. Infection is getting better, still a bit of pain but definitely an improvement. The doctor would prefer me to stick around until the pain is gone but I have CAMP GLOW Parakou next week, our big girls camp! So they are lettimg me go with the promise that if the pain doesn't completely subside in the next week or if it gets at all worse, I'll be on the first bus back down here. Works for me.

Wahoo! So I'm going to try to get out on the really early bus tomorrow. Then I'll head to Parakou on Friday to help with camp preparations, as there are two other volunteers near me bringing girls who can make sure mine get there okay. Then camp all next week. Wahoo!

48 days to Freetown. Let me clarify - I am not excited to leave Benin. I have loved (mostly) my time here, I'm very much going to miss the people and the work I've done here. But I'm very excited about Freetown, my time on Mercy, and whatever excitement is going to happen next. I think if I was leaving Benin without something exciting coming, it would be awful. Anyway, I just don't want the world to think I can't wait to get out of here because that is definitely not the case. I will definitely leave a piece of my heart here in Benin.

Peace, K

Happy independence day, Benin!

For the first time since Friday-ish, I am not in agony. I'm still in pain, mind you, but not the excruciating fetal-position inducing, crying all the time pain I've been in the last three days. THANK GOD, it was AWFUL!!! Don't ever do it. Really.

I still can't eat anything that requires chewing and can't hear out of that ear well, and have a constant ache, but no longer does it feel like I am being stabbed. I can't even express in words the relief it is!! Gosh it was horrible.

Okay, I'll quit going on about it, but anyway, there is your update. I'll be here another few days at least. Wahoo. Hopefully I can eat decent food soon.

Peace. K

Greetings.

Well, here I am back in Cotonou, this time to visit the med unit. I have a ruptured eardrum. AGONY, I tell you, agony. How did I do it? I had a minor cold last week and woke up on Thursday morning at like 1am with my ear all plugged up. In my half asleep state I was blowing and popping and doing all kinds of assorted ear gymnastics to try to clear it out, which I did, sort of, and went back to sleep. When I woke up that morning it was sore but not terrible, like 'wow, I must have really gone at it last night' type of sore, but I took some ibuprofen and went on with the day thinking it would fade over time. Friday it was worse in the morning and I thought about calling the Med unit but it seemed to get a little better. I really didn't want to go to Cotonou again if I could at all help it, I had just been there, I only have 50 days left to enjoy my post and Benin, travel in this country is terrible, etc. So anyway, it felt like it might be getting better on Friday night but then at 1am on Saturday morning I woke up with a fever and absolute AGONY. The worst pain I have ever felt in my life, including when I had shoulder surgery. I couldn't lay there it was so painful. I took a whole bunch of ibuprofen and started throwing stuff in a bag, knowing I had to go to Cotonou on the first bus that morning. At one point I tried to go back to sleep with no luck, too much pain, I had to get up and move around to try to distract myself from the pain. So yes, at 3am on Saturday morning you would have found me cleaning out my armoire and crying. Good times.

So anyway, I got on the first bus and got down here, the doctor met my bus and the minute I saw him I burst into tears. It was a horrible bus ride and I had managed to keep my tears inside until that moment. Ha. Anyway, he took me directly to an ear, nose, and throat specialist here in Cotonou who put me on two different antibiotics and prescription strength ibuprofen. He also gave me something to help me sleep as I was a total mess at that point, having not slept since 1am!

So anyway, there you have it. Last night was still pretty painful but I was able to get some decent sleep, so even though I'm in alot of pain this morning I'm in a better place, mentally, and can deal with it. The painkillers take the edge off but it's still pretty bad. They tell me that when the infection clears up the pain should subside but it takes a long time to actually heal. I'm glad I don't have to fly anywhere for nearly two months because that would be horrible!

The other big problem is that my ear is very swollen and my jaw is now out of alignment and hurts, too... so I can't chew. So even though I have access to decent food here I can't eat anything. Lame.

Moral of the story? DON'T RUPTURE YOUR EARDRUM. Ever. But especially in Africa. :)

Peace. K

Well, I'm back at post, and it is good to be here, even if I WAS greeted by a house full of dead cockroaches and a flooded kitchen.

54 days until I fly to Freetown, Sierra Leone! Cheers.

K

Here's our spelling bee kids! Check out the fabulous tee shirts, designed by Elizabeth Huennekenns, a design student from Bothell, WA - she did a fantastic job and I would love to pass on her contact info to anyone who needs design work done!! Thanks, Elizabeth!!!

k

Wendy, Brigitte, and I on the first day of our communal girls camp, called Espoir de Deman (hope of tomorrow).

I was lovingly reminded today that it's been 17 days since my last update. At least I know one person still reads my blog!! (Love you, Meg!)

So I'm in Cotonou now, had my COS medical appointment today. I'm healthier now than I was when I got here, and the doctor was seriously surprised that I didn't have any parasites at all. Cheers.

Until coming down here, I spent alot of time doing nothing. With the spelling bee and regional camp finished, I had some paperwork to do and such but finished that up pretty quickly. Thankfully I'm good at keeping things in order so it wasn't a huge problem to close them out. My latrine project is not yet finished (ggrrrrr) there's a nationwide shortage on cement... and a nationwide shortage on motivation, in my opinion, but that's another issue. I still think they will be able to get it finished in the next few weeks, all that is left is to put on the doors and paint... I think....

And it's less than two months left for me! I will leave my village for the last time (sniff sniff) on the 12th of September, my official COS date (the day I get kicked out of Peace Corps) is September 16th, and I fly to Freetown, Sierra Leone on the 18th! So exciting. So between now and then I am trying to enjoy the slow pace of life in village, the food, and the relationships that I have built up there. In a couple of weeks I will be doing another girls camp which will be fun, too.

Really, there isn't anything else exciting that I can think of to write. Today I went all over town looking for Cocoa powder and haven't found any yet, will go back out tomorrow. Saturday I am teaching English for the UN Refugees here in Cotonou and then will head back to post on Sunday or maybe Monday. We shall see.

It was this day exactly two years ago that I said goodbye to Seattle. I believe I flew to Philadelphia on the 21st of July, 2009, and we flew out of Philly the 23rd, arriving in Benin the 24th. Sounds about right. Its been quite a ride!

Love to all. K

Greetings!

Well, all that is left of two of my big projects is now paperwork! The Spelling Bee went extremely well, the kids had a great time and some are already talking about next year. The actual competition was a bit tense, as two boys went at it for a LONG time and I was worried we were going to run out of words! Two first year volunteers have already volunteered to take over the project for next year, so one of their jobs is going to be to increase the word list! But eventually we had a boy winner and a girl winner, though everyone went home with prizes. A huge thank you to everyone who donated to this awesome project, I will post pictures when I am down in Cotonou with fast internet in a couple of weeks.

Sunday I headed out early with my kids to get back to village and took a quick nap, switched bags, and headed up to Bante to do our camp! I was directing the girls camp and Lucy was directing the boys camp, they were running at the same time but in two different locations, we all came together for the last day. It was a super great time, though I was really fighting exhaustion and was SO ready for some solitude and coffee on Saturday morning! But the kids had a great time which is what really matters. Thanks to everyone who sent art supplies and other goodies over the last year, the kids loved them!

Phew! I slept most of yesterday, (Saturday), and then last night I called home to wish everyone a happy fourth - It was so great to hear voices, even for just a few minutes! Now that camp and the spelling bee are over, my service actually feels like it is winding down. The new volunteers arrived last night, too! Welcome, newbies! I am not working training this year, I am glad I did it last year but don't want to do it again. Besides, I'm really feeling like I'm ready to leave and i think that the first year volunteers, just going into their second year, will do a better job!

This week I am looking at heading to an artisans festival just over the Togo border, as my visa is still good from when I visited there a few months ago, and my lovely British friend will be going. We'll see if it works out. I head to Cotonou on the 20th for my COS Medical physical and testing, to make sure I don't have any rare tropical diseases or malaria or anything like that. I don't expect any problems. I also teach English to the UN Refugees that following weekend, so that will be a few days in Cotonou. After that, the 2nd week of August is the larger girls camp in Parakou. I'm bringing four girls, and will actually go early to help set it up, but don't have a huge role to play in the actual execution of the camp. I'm really looking forward to it, though!! After that... the last weekend of August is when my replacement will come visit me for a few days here in village. Then... I'm outta here!

So that's a brief rundown of the next two and a half months or so. I have alot of paperwork to complete, I need to see my latrine project to completion as well. There's a huge cement shortage right now, alot of volunteers are dealing with that headache and several building projects are on hold. I'm hoping it will actually be able to be finished before the end of my service!! Other than that, nothing too stressful and I'm looking forward to enjoying the next two and a half months of my service winding down. Then comes Mercy Ships!! I'm really excited about that!! Then Christmas at home with my family!!! Lets not get ahead of ourselves, though....

Thanks again to everyone who supported the spelling bee and those who sent encouraging emails about camp! I'm trying to respond to emails but of course my internet isn't great, so please be patient with me. :)

Peace, Krissy

It's finally here! Two of my biggest projects are finally coming to fruition! Tomorrow students and volunteers from 17 communities around Benin will be travelling to Natitingou to participate in the 3rd annual English Spelling Bee, which actually takes place on Saturday, along with lots of other activities! This crazy weekend will be immediately followed by my regional girls/boys camp next week! Though I have to give most of the props on that to my postmate Lucy who has done SO much awesome work that I have been able to really focus well on the Spelling Bee. So thanks, Lucy!

SO, you won't hear from me for a while, but it's a good thing! Take care, Krissy

PS, this morning at the health center I saw 34 babies 6 months or under, and every one of them was a healthy weight. That is a GREAT morning in a rural African health center!!

The worst travel day ever.

I was already two days behind. I had planned on going home to post on Saturday, but had some spelling bee issues that required me to stay in Natitingou until Sunday, and then my usual taxi driver wasn’t traveling Sunday, so I waited until Monday – which ended up being a good thing because I was able to get a couple more things accomplished and now I am totally ready for the spelling bee! Anyway…

I was planning on leaving at 3pm from Nati with my usual driver. This driver is great – he drives a car that is not a complete trash heap, he doesn’t drink while driving, he doesn’t dink around like a lot of drivers do, doesn’t ask for or expect sexual favors in return for getting me to my destination, actually charges me less than the going rate for that distance, and most importantly, he goes all the way from Nati to my village. Most taxi drivers won’t drive that far and you have to jump from one taxi to another. (Geez… the things that are ‘normal’ to me now are kind of shocking…)

Well, my taxi driver called me this morning to tell me that he had broken down on the way to Nati. Sigh. Well, I just couldn’t stick around Nati another day, I have a lot of work to do at my post, with camp coming up and my latrines in process, and I really do miss my village. So I decided to just go for it and see how it went.

I headed to the designated place on the side of the road south of Nati to catch a taxi to the next big city, Djougou. It was going to be easier to find a taxi in Djougou that would go all the way to my post than it would be in Nati, and significantly faster, so that’s where I went. I put my bags in the car as we waited for a few more people to show up,(they won’t leave until they are full) and I sat down under a mango tree nearby. Suddenly the taxi pulled out and drove off, with my bags on it. I actually had a realization of how patient Africa has gotten me, as two years ago I would have totally freaked out and been a wreck. But now I just sat there, asked the people I was with where he was going, “to get gas”, and hoped he would come back with my bags. I’ve recognized that worrying about it will get me nowhere. And he did come back with my bags. So after about a half hour we crammed into the car, it was probably the size of a Honda civic with four adults in the front and five plus a baby in the back. Typical seating for a taxi, actually.

I’ve never been in a taxi that moved that slowly before. Generally I find myself telling drivers to SLOW DOWN or just praying and holding on for dear life! This time? Definitely not a problem. It was ridiculous. What should take an hour took two and a half. I was very glad that I was changing taxis in Djougou!

Once we got there I found a taxi that was supposedly going to Savalou which would pass us through my village and I wouldn’t have to change taxis again. Great! After sitting and waiting there for about a half an hour he said we were ready and to climb in. This time there was five men in the back seat and three men in the front, plus me. Great. Well, after we all crammed in, he couldn’t get it started, and a couple of the guys had to get out and push it so he could pop the clutch. Then literally thirty seconds after they all crammed back in (while the car was rolling, too…) we ran out of gas. Are you kidding me? So after getting gas, we finally got on the road.

Maybe a half hour later the dash board, which has a big hole in it where the stereo would go, literally starts smoking. Seriously, smoke comes pouring out of this hole in the plastic. So what does he do? Wraps the offending wire in some more plastic. Genius, why didn’t I think of that?

A bit later (timing is getting fuzzy now…) we pull over to drop someone off and he runs into another driver he knows, and decides to shoot the breeze with this guy for a few minutes while we are all sweltering in this tiny car sitting in the African sun. He climbs back in the car and says something to me that I did not understand but I just nodded, I was totally dazed from the heat, dehydration (I don’t enjoy peeing in the bushes so don’t drink much on travel days) and had been listening to a podcast on my mp3 player. Anyway, when we got to Bassilla he told me to get out of the car and he was moving me over to his friends car, who pulled in behind us. Great. This was a bigger taxi, like an old school station wagon. The far back seat which would comfortably hold two adults had three adults, two 8ish year old children, and a baby. The middle seat had five adult men, and the front had three adult men and a woman with a baby. The trunk area wasn’t big, maybe two feet from the back of the back seat to the back window, and in that space there were eight goats. All the luggage was piled on top. Are you kidding me? So I cram myself in and nearly pass out from the smell once inside. The goats had been sitting in the back window for several hours, in the direct sun and their own poo. Plus the rest of the people smell. If I hadn’t been sitting at the window I guarantee I would have barfed. I literally hung my head out the window like a dog for the next hour and a half and still got waves of the foul odor washing over me occasionally, and we must have stopped a dozen times to drop off and pick up people. Add to that the bleating of a goat – it sounds like a tortured child, it’s awful, along with real crying babies…. I was in hell!

We get to Bante, which is only 15k away from my village, and we pull into the taxi station there. Darn it all, the driver tells everyone to get out and I’m on my 4th taxi for the day. At least I got some fresh air. I had to sit around for nearly an hour this time before he was ready to go, but once we were moving, I was feeling better and nearly home! Alas, it was not to be. I got the privilege of actually sitting ON the emergency brake, a spot I generally refuse to sit at but was so ready to be home that I wasn’t willing to put up a fight. We stopped about halfway between Bante and my village (SO CLOSE!) to drop someone off and then the car wouldn’t start. He tried to start it until the battery was dead. (genius). This time the taxi was full of women and he actually didn’t make us get out and push it to pop the clutch, he waved down another taxi and made the guys in that taxi push us!

Well, he did get it started and eight and a half hours after leaving Natitingou I got to my driveway. Then the best thing ever happened – two of my favorite little neighbor girls, I call them my mud hut princesses, came running out to the taxi to greet me, all smiles and yelling my name, it was so beautiful! Everyone then started yelling hello and welcome home and the girls carried my bags to my door. Suddenly, the horrendousness of my travel day all washed away and I was overwhelmed with love for these people, my village, my house, and my time here.

A bit later, after sweeping my house filled with mounds of dust and dead bugs, hauling water, and washing the grime and lingering goat smell off of me, I sat on my porch as the sun was setting and enjoyed watching life happen in the families that live around me. I almost cried, actually, thinking about saying goodbye forever to these people whom I have grown to love. I don’t think I had realized how much they have become a part of me here, my little mud hut princesses, and how even though so much of life here is hard, it has been worth it all.

Love, K

(Written Monday, June 13th)

Hi Again. Two posts in ONE day! You are lucky. Anyway, I just wanted to send you over to Jonny's blog, a fellow PCV who writes a great blog on the rituals and overall odd-ness of Benin and the Beninese. His most recent post is great - check it out:

http://www.malagasyred.blogspot.com/

In other news, I've finally gotten everything settled down and ready to go for the Spelling bee! I was searching our French movie database for something to show on Saturday night and I found the perfect movie - Bee Movie! In French! Awesome!!!

That's all. I am heading back to post tomorrow, I think. If my regular taxi driver decides to work tomorrow. However, it is a Sunday, as well as a holiday (Pentecost - Benin takes off EVERY Christian holiday including Ascention, Assumption, and Pentecost) so he said he may not be travelling tomorrow. If that is the case, I'll head back on Monday! He won't actually decide until tomorrow morning, though, and I'm supposed to call him at 7am to see if he will go. I kind of think he'll just wait and see how many people call him today to see if he is travelling tomorrow and then decide if it is worth it. Cheers.

Krissy

Well, I was able to work everything out for the spelling bee. Phew. Well, almost everything - I still need to work out a few more details.

I have been here in Benin for just under two years, with just over three months to go. I've been thinking alot about the things I will miss and the things I won't miss - Unfortunately the last few days have been filled with things from the 'won't miss' list! I will definitely miss many things having to do with my village, and I haven't been there for a week. I will head back tomorrow - yay!

I definitely will NOT miss how completely rude and obnoxious the men are at the bank; busses breaking down in the hot sun and how completely obnoxious the bus line people are; Being grabbed on the street because it's assumed that as a woman any man has the right to do whatever he wants; when zemidjan drivers are complete jerks, or even worse, when they seem nice but think it's okay to start caressing your leg while driving a hundred miles an hour in the city...Yes, most of my 'I hate Benin' moments don't have anything to do with the fact that I have to haul my water or deal with the heat and bugs, though I won't miss those things either! The worst moments in my service is having to interact with men in a culture that completely disregards the humanity, rights, and personal space of women. I haven't written about this much, but it is awful. I've cried many tears over the injustice of it and the fact that there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop it. Now I'm not saying that all Beninese men are bad, there are alot of really great people, especially in my village. But unfortunately, more often in the south, these things are a common occourance for female volunteers to deal with.

Okay, enough on that! What will I miss?? My village family, of course! The girls I work with often, my neighbors, the health center staff... I will also miss the food! It definitely takes some getting used to - I didn't like much of what I ate at first, but now, I know I am really going to miss Wagashi, the fulani cheese, along with pate rouge, igname pilee with peanut sauce, and even their simple rice with tomato sauce is just amazingly good. Last week at post one of my favorite mamas showed me how to make Riz au Gras, which is super yummy rice, and I think I can re-create it, even in the US. We shall see!

Well, I need to get to work and get the rest of the details straightened out and stuff ready for the spelling bee! It's in two weeks, here in Natitingou, and I won't be up here again before then so I need to make sure all the supplies are ready and such. I'm really excited for it to actually happen!!

Peace! Krissy

P.S. To other bloggers out there - DO NOT update to Internet Explorer 9, it is not compatible with Blogger. I just spent an irritating two hours trying to figure out why I couldn't publish and ended up reverting back to IE8. You've been warned.

I'm frustrated!

I'm working hard on Spelling Bee stuff, trying to get stuff purchased and ready, and it seems like everything is stacked against me. Life in Benin.

First off, the school where we were supposed to have it held, a private school, has decided (two weeks before the event) that they are going to disregard our contract and double the price. What???

Also, yes the PCPP got fully funded, but when I applied for it, there was about 490cfa (Francs) in a dollar. I submitted it at 460cfa in a dollar just to be safe in case it changed, and that would give me just a little bit of a buffer. Just before it got funded the cfa fell to 442, which basically means I ended up getting about $75 less than I actually need. I was already really lean with the budget and am REALLY having trouble cutting more things to be able to absorb that large of a difference - its nearly 32,000 CFA which is nearly half my own monthly income. Sigh.

So with the housing I told them that I would have to find another place to do it if they were going to raise the price. There are other boarding schools here in Natitingou that will hopefully be able to accomodate me at the previous price with only two weeks to spare. I can't think about what I am going to do if I can't do that...

I'm trying not to freak out. No matter where you are in the world, money is always a stressor!

Okay, I'm going out to lunch now. Life will be better with a full belly. :)K

Hey!

Life is good. I'm in Cotonou running errands and checking things off the to-do list!

I went to the big bookstore here this morning to see if they would give me a discount on the prizes for the spelling bee - every student will recieve an english/french dictionary, plus some other school supplies, certificate paper, etc. I got myself all worried about it, thinking it would be a big deal and tax my French skills to explain what I am doing and why they should give me a discount, and then when I got there it was super easy and they were really nice. So win there. Then I was asking Peace Corps staff where I could go to get certificates printed in color, where it wasn't too expensive, and found out I could print them here for free! Double win. Add on the yummy food and air conditioning, and I am having a GREAT few days! I'm going to finish up here either this afternoon or tomorrow, and then will head up to Natitingou with all the stuff I just bought and will get everything ready to go there. Spelling bee is in two and a half weeks, followed by my camp in Bante that next week. Fun stuff!

Okay, I'm going to go get more stuff crossed off the to-do list! Send me an email or a comment and tell me what is going on in your world! :)Krissy

I have become a terrible blogger, I'm sorry. I hope someone will actually still read this! Anyway, you would think that as time goes on internet service would get better, but the longer I am in country the worse it gets. Alas, c'est la vie en Afrique.

Anyway, so life is awesome right now and I love Africa! It's great when it isn't two hundred degrees during the day. Like right now it's a pleasantly cool 82 degrees and I a SO happy about that! Getting ready for the national spelling bee and two camps is great. I've also been active in the national Polio vaccination campaign the last few days, which is in conjunction with handing out mosquito nets and giving children vitamin A suppliments. It's kept me busy, anyway! Next week I am heading to Cotonou to buy supplies and prizes for the Spelling bee and will go diretly from there to Natitingou to get stuff finalized there - exciting!

I'm nearly fully funded to head to the Africa Mercy in September - Thank you to my faithful friends and family who have given! I'm super excited about it!

Well, as I already mentioned, my internet connection leaves much to be desired so I am going to cut this short. Just wanted to get it out there that I am doing great and will write more next week when I am back in Cotonou.

Love to all!! Krissy

So today is our last day of the COS conference - and the last time we will all be together! And by all, I mean the 37 of us who remain of the 56 who arrived all together nearly two years ago. There are many volunteers leaving early (ET'ing)for grad school or other work reasons, and several others who are extending their service, so in reality there are only 23 of us COS'ing when we are supposed to! Crazy.

Today for lunch we had the Ambassador join us, along with the important government officials who presented us with official certificates thanking us for our service. All of the Environment volunteers bought the same fabric to make outfits for today so we were all matchy matchy in green and brown leaf tissue. Cool.

I had my language interview last night with an official evaluator who will give us our 'government' levels in language proficiency. Really, I could care less about my official level, but it is something we all have to do! In thinking back to my first interview, I know my French has gotten much easier but I'm not sure that it has actually improved gramatically - it's very 'villageoise', or of the village variety. Aah, well, I'm glad that is one thing I can check off the COS to-do list!

I'm headed back to post tomorrow! Hope y'all are well. Thanks again to everyone who has supported my service to Mercy Ships, I am still short quite a bit so plan on visiting http://www.mercyships.org/page/outreach/view/crewmates/closek.

You're the greatest. :) Peace, Krissy

Wow, I just spent several minutes reading old blog posts from when I first got here - wow, I had alot to say! What happened?? Nearly everything I wrote about happens every day, it's just become old news!

Well, anyways, I'm at the COS (Close of Service) conference with 36 fellow volunteers. We arrived with 56 nearly two years ago! Now I'm staying in a comfortable hotel room with air conditioning and it's relatively quiet... and yet I can't sleep. Whaaat?? Lame. Over the next two days we have administrative sessions, a medical session, readjustment to US and next step information, etc. The hotel we are at has a really nice pool area and, as I mentioned, air conditioning! It's been great to be together, talking about the last two years and discussing post-peace corps plans!

It's an exciting time!

Krissy

Spelling Bee pcpp is fully funded - THANK YOU to everyone who donated! I'm in Natitingou right now taking care of some of the details that I had put off until we got funded. I was worried there for a bit - so happy to be able to move forward!

Next week is our COS conference - yay!

I have a ticket out of here! Sierra Leone, September 18th 2011. That means I have four months and six days left in Benin. I am no where near where I need to be with donations towards my crew fees, though - please consider giving!

Link:http://www.mercyships.org/page/outreach/view/crewmates/closek

My latrines are getting built! Right now there is a big hole in the ground and they are in the process of making the bricks. They haul in big piles of sand and cement and make the bricks right there and let them dry for a few days, hopefully they will start building next week!

Camp is coming! I'm excited!

Four months and six days, and oh so much to do... so exciting!

Peace, Krissy

Spelling Bee pcpp is fully funded - THANK YOU to everyone who donated! I'm in Natitingou right now taking care of some of the details that I had put off until we got funded. I was worried there for a bit - so happy to be able to move forward!

Next week is our COS conference - yay!

I have a ticket out of here! Sierra Leone, September 18th 2011. That means I have four months and six days left in Benin. I am no where near where I need to be with donations towards my crew fees, though - please consider giving!

Link:http://www.mercyships.org/page/outreach/view/crewmates/closek

My latrines are getting built! Right now there is a big hole in the ground and they are in the process of making the bricks. They haul in big piles of sand and cement and make the bricks right there and let them dry for a few days, hopefully they will start building next week!

Camp is coming! I'm excited!

Four months and six days, and oh so much to do... so exciting!

Peace, Krissy

Happy Saturday!

I enjoyed mine! I taught the UNHCR English class this morning and it went SO well! This afternoon I have caught up on emails and other assorted computer work and thoroughly enjoyed the air conditioning. Tomorrow morning I am up bright and early to head back to post. I'm excited to see if there has been any action on my latrine project and work with my spelling bee students!

Thank you SO much to those of you who inquired about giving to the two different projects in my last post (me to Sierra Leone/Mercy Ships and for the national spelling bee!) The Peace Corps donation page has been down all yesterday/today, argh!! Sorry about that. So I have no idea where we stand there. But thank you! Check back in a few days! And Mercy givers - THANK YOU!!! Such an encouraging day today! Still a long ways to go, though!

Okay, so when I get back to post I don't have very good internet access, so I apologize in advance for email delays - I'll be back down here in Cotonou in three weeks for the COS conference, will try to catch up then!

Hugs to all! Peace, Krissy

Good morning!

Wow, what an awsesome week. I didn’t realize how much I needed a break from all the drama that is Benin. Lome was great! (Btw, it’s pronounced low-may!) Becky and I are very similar creatures, content to not schedule out our days, just chill, and relax. A great week. Her house is super nice, definitely a huge step up from my concrete block house. Her roommate made some awesome food, we went to the artisans market, the beach, shopping… and relaxed a lot! It was wonderful.

It’s been a drama-filled few weeks in Benin. A few of the bigger things:

The Beninese government has determined there isn’t enough evidence to prosecute in the Kate Puzey murder trial (The volunteer who was killed in 2009, the 20/20 episode…) . This is a devastating blow and my heart goes out to her family. The Peace Corps Director and the Ambassador have requested that the case be re-opened and the FBI be invited to assist. It’s so frustrating that it took them over two years and several trial delays to decide that they can’t pursue. It makes us all wonder if/how it would be different if the roles were reversed and they were prosecuting a foreigner who inflicted violence on a national…. But anyway, that is where it stands.

Then, just a day or two later, during a training up in Parakou one of the volunteer’s homologues (Beninese work partner) drowned while at a pool party in the evening with other volunteers and work partners. My heart goes out to the volunteers involved. Tragic. I’m not going to publicly broadcast details of what happened but please keep everyone involved in your prayers.

This weekend is the big GAD dinner and auction in Parakou. If you read my blog last year I talked quite a bit about it, and some of you sent donations (thank you!) I have chosen not to attend this year. I fully support GAD and appreciate the idea of GAD weekend but the reality is it’s expensive to get there and then to stay there and to eat there, and a whole lotta drinking goes on and I don’t care to be a part of the shenanigans this year. I donated a few things to the auction, and I hope that the weekend goes well and that people stay safe! I’m teaching at the UNHCR (United nations high commission on refugees) refugee English class this weekend here in Cotonou, so that everyone that wanted to could go to GAD. It’s actually really nice to be here in the bureau right now, totally empty – the internet is pretty fast and the kitchen will stay clean!

I’m a bit discouraged, though, to check in with my Mercy Ships page and find that I’ve received ONE donation. (A huge thank you to that one person, you know who you are!!!) Please consider giving a tax-deductible donation towards my service fees on the Africa Mercy. We are all called to serve the poor and needy in our world, and if you can’t go yourself, help someone who can!! Please visit http://www.mercyships.org/page/outreach/view/crewmates/closek and donate. Even just $10 would be a huge blessing. And if you need a little extra incentive, everyone who gives will receive a hand made gift from a local artisan here in Benin. Please help me in my calling to serve.

Okay! What else is going on? I’m looking forward to heading back to post and seeing my latrines being built!! Hopefully the foreman of the project has gotten the work started!!! The goal was to have them finished by the end of may – I’m trying not to set my expectations too high, because since I wasn’t there it is totally possible that absolutely no work has commenced, but I also want to give my counterparts the benefit of the doubt and hope that they have at least done SOMETHING!! I will post pictures of the progress when there is something to share!!

Also going on, the SPELLING BEE!! Okay, some frustration there as well. I wanted to be able to order and buy some of the prizes and supplies while I was here this weekend, but alas, it has yet to be fully funded. Geez, I hate asking for money again, but if you are feeling extra generous, please visit www.peacecorps.gov/donate and search for project 680-203. If we don’t get it funded in the next few weeks, I’ll have to cancel it which would be a huge bummer. There are 18 volunteers involved in this project and I know most of them have NOT asked their family and friends to donate, I didn’t expect it to be a problem to get it funded with that many people involved! Sigh. Thanks for your help! If you are involved in a rotary club or other similar organization, consider bringing this to them as well. Thanks!!

Elections passed without major incident. There was some rioting and demonstrations in Porto Novo and Cotonou, but they have installed Yayi Boni as the president for his 2nd term and everything has calmed down. Phew! Actually, the legislative elections are this weekend, so we’re on alert but not on standfast. No problems are anticipated.

Okay, what else? Well, our COS conference is coming!!! In just three weeks my ‘stage’ or group of volunteers that came in July 2009 will all come together for the first time since our swearing-in! It’s kind of exciting! It’s tradition that each sector gets outfits made of the same fabric, like we did in swear-in, so for Environment volunteers we got a nice green leafy design, which I will need to have made in to a dress once I get back to village. Geez, COS conference in three weeks! A lot of people have been asking “can you believe it!” Yes, I can. I have felt every day of the last nearly-two years. It’s been awesome, don’t get me wrong, but I’m excited for what is next.

After COS conference comes the Spelling bee (if we get funded!) and then Bante girls camp I am directing – SO excited about that!! I think the time between now and my COS date (September 16th!) will go very quickly, especially now that rainy season is here!! Hot season was so miserable, but I made it and am a stronger person because of it!!! Cheers!

Well, that’s what I have for now. Thanks to those of you who dropped me a comment or an email recently! And if you haven’t – why not??? Click the little ‘comment’ button below and if you enter as anonymous, that’s fine, just make sure to tell me who you are in the comment!!

Today?? Keeping my mouse on ‘refresh’, can’t wait to see photos from the Royal Wedding!! Unfortunately the internet here is not fast enough to handle a streaming video of the event. Sad. I’m also catching up on emails, they’ve gotten quite backed up, so please be patient with me!!

Peace! Krissy

Hey all! Just a quick note - I wrote out a whole blog last night and it was beautiful and eloquent (or not, but long, anyway!) and the internet crashed. Lame. So anyway, I'm headed to Lome, Togo for a few days of fun, staying with my friend Becky who lives and works there! SO, I'll be back here in a week and leave a much better blog update.

Hey, how about you hit that little 'comment' button just below this and leave me a comment? I haven't heard or communicated with almost ANYONE for several weeks. Let me know how you are doing. One sentence is acceptable, so no excuses. Though I would love more than one :)

Peace. Krissy

“You have so many extraordinary gifts, how can you expect to live an ordinary life?” I watched the movie “Little Women” the other day and I can’t get this quote out of my head! It’s the newest version of the movie and this line is said by Marmee (Susan Sarandon) to Jo (Wynona Ryder). I read the book a few months ago and then when I got ahold of the movie I knew I had to watch it. I was very much impressed by the movie, it wasn’t a disappointment as many based-on-the-novel movies are. But most strikingly I find myself relating to Jo… Kind of awkward, not really knowing how or where she fits in to the lives her sisters are contented with. At the time of this line she is lamenting the fact that she can’t have just an ‘ordinary life’. I have to admit that I have thought this myself from time to time… an ordinary life. But what is ordinary, anyway? I think I might have had that at one point – when I had a high paying job in a huge corporation, owned my home and a nice car, and was racking up the frequent flyer miles every week. I had achieved the “American Dream” quite young… but I guess I could say that my ‘extraordinary gifts’ were not contented being contained in the ‘ordinary life’ and I had to leave it. I simply wasn’t content to live that ordinary life! Now I find myself living in the “anything but ordinary!” and I love it!! I do love it!! This last few months have certainly been trying, dealing with the heinous African heat, the aches and pains of injuries, and probably some from just getting older (what is that, anyway??? I’m 30! Not 100!!!), and the minor daily frustrations of living in the bush. (Speaking of getting older, papayas are packed with antioxidants. If I eat two per day, will I actually get younger??? Ha!) And then days like today happen – Nothing major, nothing grand, just the simple joy of students who are excited to learn and the opportunity I have to teach them. It is such an amazingly wonderful gift I have been given to be able to be a part of their lives, if only for a brief time. I love it! I am sure it helps that today was also a cool 92 degrees. Could it be possible that I actually did survive another hot season through to the end??? One can only hope. The mango rains fell a few nights ago, it was glorious. The reason they call them the mango rains? It’s mango season!!! I have a love-hate relationship with mango season. Love? I LOVE MANGOES!!! Straight from the tree, huge, it’s like biting into a piece of heaven with the juice dribbling off your elbows. Hate? They are poisonous to me. I have a mango allergy that is not dramatic or life threatening, yet. However, the potential is there that if I were to overdose on mangoes, I could go into anaphylaxis. No fun there. SO… I’ve had a bite here, a bite there, and managed to keep from killing myself! Sunday I made several loves of mango bread. No other fruit is available right now and my neighbors have been feeding me regularly so I wanted to make something for them. I am sure I looked quite ridiculous peeling and cutting up the mangoes with plastic bags over my hands!! I guess the peel of the mango has some of the same properties as poison ivy and can be part of the allergy problem, so wanted to minimize contact. Well, I started breaking out in hives yesterday, so my mango bread making days are over! It turned out well, though, and my neighbors loved it!! In other wonderful news I finally got latrine funding!! Now I’m trying to make sure the work starts this week!! Cheers!!!!! I’ll be sure to take some pictures of the process! Also planning out the girls camp I am directing, working on final Spelling Bee plans, and getting ready for the new group of volunteers arriving on July 1! So down to just over 5 months left in country, and it’s looking like it will go out AWESOME. I win at life. Peace out. K This post written on 4/12) Please visit my Mercy Ships page at http://www.mercyships.org/page/outreach/view/crewmates/closek and give! Interesting. Usually when I sign in to my blog it automatically has everything in French. This time it’s some completely different language/alphabet. Where does Google think I am??

It’s Official: Next stop, Sierra Leone!

Here it is – the official announcement of my post-Peace Corps plans! In September, when my commitment here in Benin is complete, I’ll be heading to Sierra Leone to serve on board the Africa Mercy!

Mercy Ships is the worlds largest non-governmental hospital ship which offers free surgeries to the worlds forgotten poor. I encourage you to check them out at www.mercyships.org. It’s an awesome organization that changes lives every single day.

If you will recall, I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Africa Mercy last year when they were in Togo and had the most awesome time. Since then I’ve been hoping to return for a longer period of time to serve and those prayers have been answered! I’ll be living and serving on the ship as a general steward for 3 months, which means wherever they need me is where I’ll be – anything from working in the kitchen, washing dishes, hospitality or housekeeping. It’s not super glamorous, but without stewards, the surgeons and support staff wouldn’t be able to do their work!

Mercy Ships crew are expected to raise their own support to pay crew fees and transportation. Thanks to the Peace Corps, I don’t need to raise transportation costs, but please consider supporting me financially to cover my crew fees of $680 per month (for 3 months)! All donations are 100% tax deductible and very easy – simply visit my crewmates page at http://www.mercyships.org/page/outreach/view/crewmates/closek

After I serve on board for 3 months I’ll head back to Minnesota for Christmas with the family, something I am very excited about already! After that? Not sure yet, still exploring many options!

Thank you for your support!!! Peace, Krissy

And now I’ve re-formatted this post three times and for some reason it won’t hang on to the formatting…. Sorry it wasn’t intended to be one long paragraph! Will keep trying to fix it…. Peace!

I'm still here! Sorry for the delay in blogging.... my internet provider changed their programs and it's been difficult to get online at home. Well, I decided after MANY emails have backed up and I had some other legal/tax/work related emails to send and documents to scan that I would come up here to Natitingou for a couple of days and get it all taken care of on the super fast internet! It's nice. I really do love running water. And good food. Already ate a papaya - I think I am addicted. I suppose there could be worse things! Nothing of particular excitement going on lately. I'm working on the latrine project, getting ready to do a couple different camps this summer, and the regional and national spelling bees are keeping me just busy enough to get up every day but not overwhelming me in the intense heat! Oh dear, it is SO SO SO hot right now! But the Mango rains arrived yesterday, hopefully they will be here to stay! It's super late here and I'm ready to crash. I just got my quarterly report done, due today, finished twenty minutes before midnight. Tomorrow I have a whole long list of emails to send and other work stuff to do, also headed to the market and the supermarket in the morning before the heat becomes too much!! Peace! Love to all. Krissy

Hey.

So I've been in Parakou the last few days, enjoying the wonders of running water, good food, and fans. Today we had a meeting for our regional camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) so there were alot of people here! It's been great. I'm heading back to post tomorrow morning, early, hopefully before the heat gets too unbearable. It's just really hot right now!!

I have more to write but no desire to sit and write right now. After I'm back at post I'll have the time to write more. :)

Love to all. Krissy

While the Ides of March was a pretty bad day for Julius Caesar, it’s been a great day for me!!

Life has been moving very slowly lately, it’s really hot, my shoulder has been hurting, I haven’t had any chocolate in the house, and I haven’t had much in terms of actual work to do in village. This was a really hard time for me in my service last year, too, and it’s really the heat that affects me. I’m a sleeper, always have been, and when I can’t sleep everything else is so much more difficult! Last Friday I got myself to Bante to go to the post office, where I knew I had some packages waiting, only to get there and find out the post office was closed, the store I can buy oatmeal was also closed, and the egg lady jacked her prices from 100f an egg to 125f. Little irritants like that aren’t usually a problem, but when you also add in the fact that it is 100 degrees in the shade and your taxi is in the blazing African sun…. it’s tragic.

Anyway, enough of that. Today was a great day. Yesterday I went to Bante to get my packages and there was one from Mom and one from Nana, along with a few letters. Both of the boxes had chocolate, protein, and other American goodies that I have been absolutely craving and at a lack for several weeks. Yay! All of the chocolate was in liquid form but had stayed within it’s wrappers, so was no problem! Then this morning I woke up and it had cooled off in the night – 78 degrees this morning! That is downright cool, all the chocolate was hardened and it’s incredible how much energy suddenly I had… I cleaned my house, did laundry, hauled water (my shoulder is feeling MUCH better), and even went for a bike ride all before 10:30 am. Then I went into town and found BOTH eggs AND bananas in the same trip – I have some new neighbors and have wanted to make them banana bread but haven’t been able to find eggs at 100f, but there they were! While during the heat the little irritants can become big irritants, in the cooler days the little joys can become big joys! So there you have it. Nothing particularly huge or exciting, but just a good day. It’s getting hot now, but one can hope that it will have another cool night tonight!! I will probably get up super early tomorrow morning to bake banana bread before the heat makes it unbearable. Yummy.

I’m still waiting on my latrine money to come through, a bone to pick with Peace Corps, but hopefully this week! Also, be sure to check out www.peacecorps.gov/donate and search for my Spelling Bee project number 680-203 and give a tax-deductible donation where 100% will go DIRECTLY to this awesome student experience!

Love to all. K

(if you are still wondering the Ides of March is March 15th, today, and is a reference from the book Julius Caesar, also the day he was killed.)

I’ve mentioned it a few times before, but now it is LIVE!

I am directing the National English Spelling Bee here in Benin this year and we are being funded by PCPP = Peace Corps Partnership Program. This is where YOU can directly impact the lives of the students I and other volunteers are working with. Please consider donating. I have no way of knowing who donates how much, I will just find out when it is complete – so thank you in advance!

Go here: www.peacecorps.gov/donate and search for project number 680-203.

THANK YOU! Krissy

The Presidential election was supposed to be on Sunday. On Saturday we were notified that they had pushed it back a week and it would now be the 13th. Seriously? You can just change something that big at the last minute?? Wow.

So we were also notified that we were off standfast until the 11th, told to go restock food, phone credit, etc. Great! So the next morning I headed up here to Natitingou. I had planned on going this week, just a few days later, but had nothing planned for Sunday and it's as good a travel day as any! Actually, travel in this country is never pleasant, and this particular trip, while uneventful, was extremely HOT. However, I made it up in decent time and almost immediately went to the market and bought a huge bag of fruits and vegetables. Yum!

Anyway, so I've gotten quite a bit of real work done, too, stuff printed, signed, scanned, and sent off to Cotonou for the Spelling Bee. Updated my computer, downloaded some new music, all kinds of fun stuff! Yesterday some volunteers from Mali who were visiting came to the workstation and cooked us all dinner - it was delish!

I'm going to head back to post today. My shoulder has really been bothering me lately - I think I tweaked something when I had my bike accident a few weeks ago but instead of getting better, it's getting worse. Unfortunately, it's the same shoulder I had pretty invasive surgery on a few years ago after I tore it to shreds during Kids camp! I'm in the middle of big, funded projects right now and really really really don't want to go to Cotonou during the election mayhem... so I think I'm just going to try taking it easy for awhile. I'm going to have a student pull my water so that will ease that stress on it a bit, and hopefully it'll just start healing itself!

Two interesting conversations I had yesterday:

A volunteer painted a huge world map on the wall of a school and when the kids had gathered around she asked them to point out Benin. The kids looked for a bit, and then pointed to Russia, the biggest country they could find. Must be Benin, right? So they had to step back to establish where Africa was, first.

One of the Mali volunteers was talking about a conversation he had with some villagers about heaven. The question was what will it be like there? and the answer - "There will always be enough rice and there will always be meat in the rice". Sounds like paradise to me.

Peace, K

On March 1, 1961 President Kennedy signed the executive order creating the Peace Corps. Since then nearly 200,000 volunteers have served in 139 countries. Here are Kenendy's words to the youth of the nation - truly asking not what we our country can do for us but what we can do for our country! I'm honored to be a part of his legacy.

TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY SIGNING THE EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING THE PEACE CORPS:

“I have today signed an Executive Order providing for the establishment of a Peace Corps on a temporary pilot basis. I am also sending to Congress a message proposing authorization of a permanent Peace Corps. This Corps will be a pool of trained American men and women sent overseas by the U.S. Government or through private institutions and organizations to help foreign countries meet their urgent needs for skilled manpower.

“It is our hope to have 500 or more people in the field by the end of the year.

“The initial reactions to the Peace Corps proposal are convincing proof that we have, in this country, an immense reservoir of such men and women—anxious to sacrifice their energies and time and toil to the cause of world peace and human progress.

“In establishing our Peace Corps we intend to make full use of the resources and talents of private institutions and groups. Universities, voluntary agencies, labor unions and industry will be asked to share in this effort—contributing diverse sources of energy and imagination—making it clear that the responsibility for peace is the responsibility of our entire society.

“We will only send abroad Americans who are wanted by the host country—who have a real job to do—and who are qualified to do that job. Programs will be developed with care, and after full negotiation, in order to make sure that the Peace Corps is wanted and will contribute to the welfare of other people. Our Peace Corps is not designed as an instrument of diplomacy or propaganda or ideological conflict. It is designed to permit our people to exercise more fully their responsibilities in the great common cause of world development.

“Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed—doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language.

“But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps—who works in a foreign land—will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace.”

source: http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1715

The first round of the Presidential elections are supposed to be held on Sunday. Wierd day for elections, I think, but it could still change. No news to report, everything is calm here! yay!

Next week we get a reprieve of four days when we can leave post before going back on Standfast (stay at post) for the second round of Presidential elections, or maybe it's the legislative elections, I can't remember, they've changed everything around a few times. I really don't mind standfast at all, I like staying at post and have plenty of work to do here! I think it's a bit easier for me in that I have internet access, though! wah-hoo!! It also hasn't been as hot as it was last year. I keep hoping it will stay cool like this!! By cool, I mean it's been in the mid-90's every day and in the 80s at night. It's been great. Last year during this time we were hitting 105+ on a regular basis and sleeping was much more of a problem. The hot season still technically has almost two months to get ugly, though, so I'll leave it at that!

Next week on our reprieve days I am going to head to Natitingou to take care of a few Spelling Bee details. I've got the PCPP application finished and I am just waiting for Peace Corps to jump through their hoops! I also have to have a form signed by the community official in Natitingou so will do that next week. Then, hopefully, the PCPP (Peace Corps Partnership Program is the funding I am applying for... I think I mentioned this in my last post?) will be posted online and YOU can all donate directly to an awesome project that will impact kids lives in a meaningful way!

Okay, that's all I have to say for now. I have a study group with some girls this afternoon as well as a Spelling Bee practice session. I love it! Last time my girls study group studied for like a half an hour then we went and played soccer. It was fun. Maybe we'll do that again, depending on how hot it gets today....

Peace out. Krissy

SO after the craziness that is a regular week in Africa just trying to get something done, you can imagine my reaction when Friday morning I got an email from the grant person who said "when am I going to get those forms?" Are you kidding me?? I about blew a gasket. As it turns out, their internet down in the office wasn't working right, and the emails with the signed forms did get there, they just hadn't gotten to her inbox! Phew. Supposedly the grant will be processed this week! Cheers!

Now that that one is done, I'll be sending in the application for the grant for the National Spelling Bee. Knowing what I know about Beninese people, and considering the same person will handle that grant as the latrine grant, I thought it best not to apply for both at the same time. The application is done, though, and this time I had last year's application to work off of, so it should be mostly correct and go through quickly.

This particular application is for what we call a PCPP, or a Peace Corps Partnership Program grant. If you followed my blog last year you may remember I sent out a request for donations for the National bee. Well, I'll be sending that out again this year, as the PCPP is funded by friends and family donations on the Peace Corps website. I'll send out more specific information as it gets approved and posted online, but for now, keep it in mind. A way to really make a difference in the lives of the students I work with!

Okay. Well, standfast for the elections starts today which means I won't be leaving post for awhile. It's okay as I don't really have a reason to leave/want to leave! There have been lots of marches and rallys for the candidates, but no violence so far, let's pray it stays that way! I look on the news websites and all I read about these days is unrest around the world.

Hope y'all are doing well! Shoot me an email! Love, Kris

PS the wish list to the right is new!

SO, I had thought earlier this week I would go south or north, either to Bohicon or to Natitingou, to visit some other volunteers, use decently fast internet, and get some other business taken care of. I’ve also not had any vegetables or fruits to speak of for the last three weeks I’ve stayed in village, so was hoping to pick up some of that, too. Well, my plans to go north were foiled when the taxi driver I always take is on vacation. He always saves me the front seat, which is really quite comfortable. The thought of sitting crammed in the back seat, or the front seat for that matter, of a standard bush taxi (8 people in a car made for 4 or 5) in this heat for five to six hours just made the trip SO not worth it! Going south was always an option because one of my work partners goes down there a lot, and had said he would be going this week so I could catch a ride with him. I can also catch a bus going south, which is infinitely more comfortable than a taxi and much faster! Well, the volunteer who lives there who I would stay with has had her water out for awhile and has no idea when she’ll get it back. So I decided that if I got the free ride there from my work partner I would go but wouldn’t pay for the trip there… and that never happened.

It all worked out well, anyway, because of my last post – I needed to do some crazy amount of running around to get those papers scanned and sent in, so it was good that I was here! However, I decided a few days ago that I was FOR SURE going to Savalou today. It’s their market day, and you can usually find vegetables there. There is a bank in Savalou, too, and I was running low on cash, and there is one REALLY good restaurant that makes European-style food. Expensive, but considering how little I’ve spent this month and how little I will spend again next month, it was worth it.

I’d been looking forward to that meal for days. I knew what I wanted – a steak and fries. Now, when you imagine a Beninese steak, imagine a very tough cut, hard to chew, dry… that’s what you get. Oh, how my standards have lowered – it was SO SO SO SO good. They drown it in a pepper sauce that is so so so so good.. I also indulged in a salad which was great and a glass of red wine. An expensive lunch, but oh, so worth it. I met up with a couple of other volunteers there and we had a great time catching up, chatting about projects and life and it was overall a great time!

I scored big, too, when it turns out the health center director was going to Savalou today for a training –so I got a ride both ways! No stinky crammed in taxi for me! I did my bank run and also found carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, and pineapple! I’m set for a few days of healthiness, anyways!

Now I’m back home and it is just too hot to go out on a bike ride. I think I probably ate a bit too much to be terribly active in this heat anyway. In other news, I’ve been here 19 months today! And today was the first time someone asked me my age (one of the volunteers I had lunch with) and I had to say ‘thirty’. It was a little weird. But cool. Haha.

Peace, Krissy

Other things that should be easy and aren’t: yesterday after posting it took me over an hour just to change my credit card information online for my antivirus software that was about to expire. Geesh. And now I’ve been trying to post THIS entry for over 40 minutes with no luck… yet.

I mentioned to someone a few months ago that life in Africa is simple but never easy. These last few days have highlighted that fact quite a bit – my trials and tribulations in getting three documents printed, signed, scanned, and emailed to Cotonou… Something which would take just a few minutes in America, as easy as a stop to a friend with a scanner or to the nearest Office Max, took way too many hours and headaches here in Africa. Sometimes I can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of my life!

Monday was just another day in paradise. In the evening I went for a bike ride, which I do almost every day but as it is getting hotter, my determination may taper off. :) But anyway, I was out there on a short ride, only 30 minutes, when on my way back I came up to a family who had just finished their day in the cashew orchards, were carrying full bins of cashews on their heads. Now, I’m not a very quiet biker, and I always ding my little bell if it seems as though they don’t know I am coming, and the little kid in the family saw me and started waving, so I continued on kind of through the family, there were two kids that stepped to one side of the road and the rest on the other. Well, I was flying by relatively quickly and apparently one of the girls did not realize I was coming, got scared, and turned right into me. I hit her really hard, straight on. SO scary. She was probably 12 or 13 so not a little girl but definitely smaller than me. She went flying into the bushes on the side of the road, her cashews flung every which direction, while I went over the handlebars into the dirt road. I laid there for a second, wondering what the heck just happened, then got up to make sure she was okay. I just scraped up my hands and got pretty dirty, and she seemed alright, too, so we cleaned up her cashews and I got on my way. One of the shifters on my bike was broken worse than either of us, so I guess that’s a good thing.

So anyway, I got home, cleaned up, made dinner, and settled in to watch a movie when I was overcome with agonizing abdominal pain. This was bad, worse than I have ever had. I wondered at what I should do; it was late and dark. I decided to just ride it out for a while and see what happens. This is one thing that Africa will do for you – I actually hoped the floodgates would open and I would have me some raging diarrhea, as that would mean it was nothing more serious! Of course, I watch House, so I had images of my tumble off my bike tweaking something funny in my little pinky and that causing something bizarre which caused something else bizarre and all kinds of randomness happened to lead me into my pancreas failing or my kidneys shriveling up or something crazy like you only see on TV. Anyway, I never got the hoped-for diarrhea, but fell asleep in the fetal position and woke up just fine the next morning. SO weird!

So the next morning, Tuesday, I decided I was going to just take it easy. I was nervous from the night before and hesitant to eat anything, so I was just going to chill at home all day and make sure everything was in proper working order. Well, that got shot out of the water. Around 10am I got a call from the person at Peace Corps who was in charge of my grant application for the latrine project. She said she was going to get it approved and I needed to send in the signed community forms right away, and could I please do it in the next few hours? Yeah, right! Now, I apparently didn’t understand her before because I didn’t realize these forms would be needed at this stage, or I would have had them printed and signed long ago! Okay, so my quiet morning at home is no longer. I called the health center director – he is the only person in my community with a printer. He said sure I could use it so I headed out. It’s about a 20 minute walk to get there and it is nearly noon at this point, getting hot! Anyway, I set it up and dink around with it for about twenty minutes and come to the conclusion that it is NOT working, I think it is out of ink. Now, I told him I needed to print and he said come on over… he would KNOW if he was out of ink, right? Grr. Well, anyway, I packed up my computer and was going to go to Bante to use a printer at the mayor’s office, when he (the health center director) walked in. He couldn’t understand why it wasn’t working so he wanted to fire up his whole computer (ancient and takes forever, as I had just hooked his printer into my computer) and figure it out. He is nearly computer illiterate and every time I have to work with him it really tries my patience. Anyway, he tries all these ridiculous things that have nothing to do with a printer, and I sat there irritated for about a half an hour before we finally found the place where it told us he was completely out of black ink. Not low… completely out. seriously?? You have warning with these things! So frustrating. So there goes an hour wasted.

Anyway, I called my homologue who works at the mayor’s office in Bante to see if he had a printer (I thought so) and if he was there. Yes, he has a printer and yes, he was there. Great. I wasn’t at all looking forward to finding a taxi at this time of day, it’s hot, gross, and can take a while. But as I was exiting the health center to walk back to my house, here came a zemidjan from Bante! Fabulous. He took me back to my house where I grabbed my helmet and left my computer, and we headed up to Bante.

It’s about a 30 minute zem ride to Bante and so I arrived about 40 minutes after I had called my homologue to see if he was there (yes!). He wasn’t. By “yes I am here at the office” he meant “yes I am here in Bante and plan on going back to the office sometime this afternoon”. Great. I called him and he seemed surprised that I was there already (didn’t I call you 40 minutes ago?) and said he’s was on his way. After sitting there for 45 minutes (did I mention it is HOT here?) he finally pulls in. Yay! So we go into his office where he actually has a really nice printer and I get them printed out and explain them to him and he and I both sign them. They’re just papers saying we’re not going to steal the money we are receiving for the latrine project. They are all in English, though, which is ridiculous considering the community members are expected to sign them, and why wouldn’t we want them to understand what they are signing? Lame. Anyway, that’s a different bone to pick with the Peace Corps.

Great, so the forms are finally printed and signed. Now, there is one guy in Bante with a scanner, so my homologue calls him to see if he is home and he doesn’t get any answer. Well, it’s getting to midafternoon so we must go get some food and drinks, as all good Beninese do at this time. I had yet to eat since the night before so I was happy about this turn of events, though turned down the first offer of Yam Pilee in favor of something a little easier to digest, like rice. We found some yummy rice and Fulani cheese and sat down to eat with some other random people from the community that my homologue was talking with. Well, after sitting there for nearly two hours, I was getting a bit antsy to get this thing scanned and emailed back to Peace Corps, and started making that fact a bit more obvious.

So we decided to just go over to the guys place with the scanner, and he of course wasn’t there but his wife said he would be back around 5pm. Okay. So instead of sitting there we went back to the Mayor’s office and my homologue did some work while I sweated around, bored. “We’ll come back at 5” of course doesn’t at all mean we’ll go back at 5, but about 5:30 I started making it clear I was getting very irritated. It had also started getting very windy while I was sitting around at the mayor’s office. Well, we got back to the scanner guy’s house around 5:45, and yay, he was there… and literally thirty seconds after we got there, the power went out, the temperature dropped twenty degrees and the skies opened up.

It is dry, hot season right now so to have the heavens start dumping rain in that magnitude was WEIRD! We sat around at this guy’s house for like an hour and a half to see if it would stop raining/the power would come back on… but alas, it was not to be. Finally my homologue brought me home around 8pm, it was dark, rainy, and I hadn’t accomplished a thing that day. Cheers. He told me we would try again tomorrow (today) and he would come by and pick me up at 9am. Great.

Well, by 9am I knew not to actually expect him at 9, but knew he wouldn’t be here before that, so I slept in a bit and got myself ready to go at 9. Then I sat down and started going through piles of paper I had accumulated over the last 19 months, cards, letters, peace corps stuff, everything I needed to go through had been piled on my table when I cleaned my house last week. So I started going through it and ended up reading a lot of old letters from my mom – she’s awesome. She still, 19 months into my service, sends me a letter every single week. And I’ve kept them all.

Anyway, the power was still out this morning so I didn’t expect him at 9, but the power came back on around 10:30 (Yay, my phone was nearly dead!) I sent him a text message at 11:15, saying “Hey, how’s it going, I’ve been waiting since 9am” but got no response. At 12:30 he finally pulls in, when I had just about given up on his ever coming and we headed back to Bante to see if we could get the papers scanned, finally! When we got there, the guy was home and the power was on, but the computer was in about fifteen pieces all over his living room. Ugh. Are you kidding me?

We sat around in this guy’s living room for an hour while he put his computer back together and FINALLY I got my forms scanned. Then I came back home and truly expected, after all that, to find out that the scans didn’t work or the files wouldn’t open or some other problem. Thankfully, they seem to work fine, and I just emailed them off, 28 hours later, to PC in Cotonou. Hopefully they were done correctly and I can FINALLY get the project off the ground!!

Sigh. Now I am going to try to post this… and then need to haul some water and do some laundry. It’s cooler today, thanks to the rain yesterday. Oh, that was such a glorious thing! And I’m happy because it means that it is less likely that wells will run dry this year! Simple things. I will probably go on a bike ride later, if I can fix the gear shifter thingy on my bike. We shall see.

Peace. k

There is a nomadic people group in Benin and most of West Africa that herd cattle. They are the Peule people, or sometimes known as the Fulani. They hang out usually in the north of Benin and you can pass them herding their big scary horned creatures while flying by on the highway.

They are really big and have horns like the Texas Longhorns. I've never come up close to one until the other day.

As you have read I have taken up biking lately. Well, there is really only one road that I ever go on, it goes past my house away from my village and the freeway into the forest, fields of cotton and orchards of cashews. My only other option is the highway where people drive waaaaay to erratically and fast... I don't have a death wish. So I stay on my little 'terre rouge' into the bush.

The other day I was really only about 5 minutes into what I had planned on being about a 45 minute ride, when I came up on a herd of cattle. Walking down the road, filling up the road.... Hmm. Now, there isn't much that scares me, really, but very large unknown animals with extremely dangerous huge horns are one of them. I didn't know how they would react to a stranger, a white stranger at that, and on a bike? One flick of that huge neck and I would be history. The herders of course do not speak French, or Tcha.

Actually, they communicate in a series of clicks and clacks with their tongues. It was totally wierd. Anyway, after following a bit wondering what I was going to do, one of the herders, who couldn't have been more than twelve years old, beckoned for me to follow him, and he literally just walked through this mass of huge stomping dangerous animals. Who, it turned out, basically just shied away from me as I rode by. No big deal. On the return trip, I was winded and as I met them coming at me this time, I just stood by while they walked by me.

So that is my cattle story. Great story, huh? Ha. Peace. K

Hello!

Life en Afrique continues on, one foot in front of the other. It's been really nice to be at post for three solid weeks, but I am getting a little bit stir crazy, so I think I'm going to go visit some other volunteers this week. Starting this next weekend we are on 'standfast' for the elections and are not allowed to go anywhere. It's good for my pocketbook, anyway, life in village is dirt cheap.

I'm working on my latrine project, school building project, the spelling bee, and I am also director of our girls camp in Bante this year. Exciting stuff going on! Also working at the health center of course. I really like my work there. Earlier this week I had a crappy day, really crappy, to the point of seriously wanting to give up and go home... then a small child who cried and screamed out of fear whenever she saw me 16 months ago came running up laughing for me to hold her and all was well again. I have such a love/hate relationship with Africa it's almost comical.

Facebook has refused to load for me, on my computer or on my phone, for three days now. So, if you have anything to say/send, please send me an email. It's wierd, as every other website works just fine. I miss the connection there, so please, send me an email. :)

I'm healthy (wah-hoo!). If anything, Africa has caused me to very much appreciate good health, as it is rather rare here. So I just thought I would share that with the world. I will never take my gastrointestinal health for granted again. haha.

It's getting hotter every day. The day before yesterday it was 96 in the afternoon. In my house. I'm getting used to it. Yesterday was cooler, only got up to 92. I still have been biking almost every evening, but pretty soon I think that is going to have to stop. It really affects my mood, though. I knew that in the US, when I was feeling blue a trip to the gym would always help, and I really am missing that Pro Sports Club! But anyway, my only option here is biking, so I started up last month, and have really noticed a difference. And it's not even so bad in the heat, as the wind keeps you from getting totally drenched in sweat. Anyway, I'm totally rambling.

What else is going on.... I cleaned my house, like major cleaned my house. Got rid of a whole lot of junk, have several piles of stuff ready to be given away when I leave. All of my souveniers and gifts for people are packed up ready to go and I have a whole crate of stuff to give back to Peace Corps. I guess you can say I started packing to COS, 7 months early. COS is an acronym you will need to become used to, as I will start to use it alot. It stands for Close of Service, and can be used as a noun or a verb. Like, "I'm COS'ing on September 17th" translates to September 17th is my last day of service. We have our COS conference at the end of May, which is when our whole group will get together for a few days of policy information and talk about readjusting to life after Peace Corps. We will talk about money issues, insurance stuff, jobs, etc, and also get our official COS dates. We will also schedule our COS physical with the med unit and such other things like that. So anyway, now you know. It's a bit surreal to think about COS'ing already, even though I will be totally ready when that day comes.

Anyway, back to cleaning my house... so it's not just because I was dreaming of my COS date earlier this week, but also with the elections going on there is always the possibility of us getting consolidated or evacuated, if there is any problems or safety concerns. At least now I feel like if that were to happen, most of what I want to come home with me will eventually make it there! (But please don't worry. The likelyhood of anything actually happening like that is very low!)

Along side cleaning my house I am also trying to eat out of my house. I have shelves piled with stuff I've bought or received in packages and need to eat! So I am not buying bread for the next few weeks - instead, I am forcing myself to actually use up some of what I have. I have so much stockpiled pasta, couscous, beans, lentils, etc that I must get rid of. It's kind of nice, as living in village is cheap anyway, this is even cheaper. I literally spent down to almost nothing on my vacation with Lydia in January, which was totally worth it, but I need to save money from here on out!

Wow, this is one really long rambling blog post. As you can see, nothing terribly exciting going on, but life in Africa is always an adventure. Today is market day in village, and I have some fabric I've been hanging on to that needs to be made into a dress, so I think I'll head in to town and go to the dressmaker and see if I can find some tomatoes at the market. Being in the middle of dry season, produce is really hard to find. I've not been able to find any type of fruits or vegetables in weeks... Another reason I may go visit some other volunteers this week. If I head south a bit I should be able to find some fresh produce. Yum.

Peace out. Love to all. Send me an email (facebook no worky!). Krissy

Still here. No worries. My internet hasn't been working right this whole last week, so that's why I've been quiet. Along with the fact that nothing exciting is going on. It's getting hotter every day.

Last week I got a whole pile of Christmas and Birthday cards. It was fun. There is a package waiting for me in Bante, but in true Africa fashion, the post office guy had to travel last week for some reason, and there is only one post office guy. If he isn't there, the post is closed. Good times.

Shoot me an email and tell me how you are. I miss America! Just over 7 months left here in country... plans for life after Peace Corps are in process, I haven't made any final decisions yet, it's all a rather fluid process, I think! But it'll be great... and I'm looking forward to Christmas with my family this year. That is what is getting me through the most miserably hot moments this year, I think!!

Love to all. K

Twin newborn babies came into the health center this morning. Well, they were brought in, they didn't come in on their own. Anyway, it was a little boy and a little girl. Their names? Christ and Christelle. Hmm.

In other news, the Harmattan is over. Instead of waking up refreshingly cold, I'm back to the world of waking up sweaty and gross. And it is only going to get worse. The last two days it has hit 93 degrees in the afternoon, in the house... This feels hot after two months of low eighties every day, but will feel cool after being 105 every day next month. Cheers. I see most of the US is digging out of a winter storm. Stay safe.

I'm not supposed to talk about the presidential elections or anything political, for safety reasons. We don't expect any problems but with all the unrest popping up all over Africa right now please pray for calm here in Benin. I don't feel unsafe here, will be careful. :) The end.

Peace. K

I was so excited to get to post that I got up and out on the early (air-conditioned) bus before dawn this morning. All is going well until about an hour into the trip I sit bolt upright and start digging through my bag. Yep... forgot my keys. Called someone at the Bureau and yes, they are still sticking out of my locker. Genius.

As luck would have it, just as this was happening our bus was pulling over due to brake problems. Nice. I also had just been next in line to pay for my ticket. But having not paid yet, I just got myself off. Thankfully a zemidjan was driving by a few seconds later headed in the direction of cotonou. Yay! So off we go. Gonna cost me a bundle for that zem ride, though! Anyway, he took me down a way I had never been before in Cotonou but I knew we were going in the right general direction, so it didn't bother me. Well, there we were, flying along near a technical school in the middle of Cotonou, when we drove right by the President, Yayi Boni, exiting the school. He was surrounded by soldiers and a march of students was following behind him. I waved. It was kind of really cool.

Anyway, got back to the bureau and grabbed my keys and flew back out on to the zem. At this point it was about 9:15 and I was hoping I could still catch the 9am bus north, which often doesn't leave until closer to 9;30. I was hoping today was one of those days. It was. I flew on and we took off a few minutes later. Cheers!

Unfortunately the bus was HOT and we ended up stopping at one point for a problem with a tire, but overall, it wasn't the worst trip I have been on. And I got to see the President.

In other news, back at post, it was hot today! 92degrees. I think that cold season is drawing to a close. Sad. I do see that there is a massive winter storm hitting most of the US right now... I think I'll keep my 92 and dry, thank you.

Peace out. K

Hey you. Krissy here again. I said goodbye to Lydia yesterday night after a wonderful last day in Ouidah, swimming at the Ambassadors pool, and a yummy-o dinner at a restaurant near the airport. I haven't ever spent that much on dinner since coming to Benin, but I figured it was the end of a celebratory couple of weeks and really, from here on out, I plan on eating rice and beans until my COS date. (close of service)

Anyway, Lydia will probably have a couple more blog posts for you, but for now, you're stuck with me. It was really great having her here - to see my life through new eyes. The things that stuck out to her, to write about, are things I don't even notice in my every day life. So I hope you enjoyed my life through her eyes these last few posts!!

Now, getting back in to the swing of work is crazy. I just finished my quarterly report, need to fill out some paperwork for requesting to be replaced in my village, re-submit my rewritten latrine grant proposal, go shopping for spelling bee prizes, pick up the t-shirts, go to the bank, get some meds.... a whole lot of stuff! So I am going to sign off for now to get stuff done. I hope to get back to post tomorrow but it might not be until Tuesday. We shall see.

Love to all. Lydia, I miss you already! Hope you had a great trip home. And that your sunburn isn't too painful. Darn tropical tan :)

Krissy

Parc de la Pendjari (or The Four Days I was Covered in Dust)

Note: I wrote this in two parts…I started the post right after I finished the one about our travel day, and I finished it last night when I couldn’t sleep. I think the humidity was over 100% and it was hot, but it wasn’t raining. Gross.

Benin really is beautiful. Krissy and I left her village last Saturday morning for our trip up to Natitingou and eventually the Parc de la Pendjari, and as we made our way north, I was struck by the transitions. Krissy’s village is in a lush, green, forested region where Benin’s second largest cash crop (cashews) grows…well, it would be green if it wasn’t all covered in red dust. There are some barren, rocky hills in places, but for the most part, as you head north, the forests give way to the quintessential African savanna. There are small villages of mud brick huts with thatched roofs scattered among the savanna scrub brush…which they burn every year to scare the snakes away. I know it doesn’t sound beautiful, but there is something special about seeing the spirit of the people rising from the dust and ashes.

Natitingou is a small city, and it sits among the hills. The people are much more pleasant. Kids still wanted to get the attention of the yovos, but instead of yelling at us, they had a little sing-song chant they all seemed to know…”yovo, yovo, bon soir, ça va bien, merci.” (Correction: I was just informed that they do sing it in most of the rest of the country, but I guess I only noticed it in Nati…whatever…it’s still going to be stuck in my head for awhile.) We went to a restaurant up on the hill that first night, and waited at least an hour and a half for some of the best garlic fries I’ve ever had, and the first antelope meat I’ve ever eaten (like most of the rest of the meat I’ve had here, it was about as close to jerky as you can get without actually being dehydrated meat). The wait didn’t seem that long because we watched a gorgeous sunset with some great company.

Sunday morning, our driver/guide picked us up from our super cute hotel, and we left for the park. We drove through a section of Benin that reminded me of parts of eastern Washington (which is a desert for those of you that thought the whole state was rainy and green like Seattle as I once did). As we made our way down the road the led to the park entrance, we didn’t see the fields, but we saw the gathering/loading points for Benin’s first largest cash crop (cotton) alongside the road. (At one point, we saw a loaded truck that was piled so high it looked like a strong wind would tip the truck over on its side. They also didn’t cover it as well I might have because they were losing a lot of cotton along the way…it was Benin’s version of a snow storm! Not that I’m considering a career in cotton, but I understand it’s hard work and to see it go to waste like that would have frustrated me if I had gone to the trouble of picking it…)

We got to the park, and the short version is that we drove around for hours and hours and saw lots of cool animals.

The longer version is that we woke up well before dawn, got bundled up because it was freezing in the morning. It seemed crazy when I was packing, but I am so glad I brought a pair of wool socks. And yes, I wore them with my sandals, but I’m from Seattle so it’s okay. I was a wonder to behold with my socks and sandals, capris and my hoodie tied tightly around my face; in my defense, I wasn’t the only one who would not have my picture on the cover of Vogue. Thanks to harmattan dust, local dust and smoke from the controlled burns in the park, we saw some amazing sunrises. An hour or two after the sun rose, we began to shed our layers. We usually drove around until noon-ish, and then went back to the hotel for a break during the hottest hours of the day. Later in the afternoon, we would head out in search of animals for a few more hours, and we would return after dark, clean up and have dinner at the hotel. Thanks to harmattan dust, local dust and smoke, we saw some equally amazing sunsets, and we were covered in all kinds of layers of dust. I have a confession: I don’t always clean behind my ears when I’m in the States; my mother would be proud that I cleaned behind my ears while I was in Pendjari. (Since we have been in Cotonou the last day and a half, where it is ridiculously humid, I’m beginning to feel like the dust is being purged from the subcutaneous layers of my skin. A day at the spa, here I come…)

We saw hippos, crocodiles, birds of all sorts of kinds, lots of hooved creatures (I called them all deer because I didn’t recognize a number of them, I couldn’t remember their French names, and so I have no idea what their names were in English), baboons, and lots of elephants. Apparently, there aren’t any giraffes in Benin (bummer), and of the 78 lions in the park, we saw 0. (I’m not sure who counted all of them.) However, we saw some big cat paw prints in the dirt on the side of the road and the tracks appeared to be following one of the families of baboons…I’m not sure if I should cheer for the baboons or the lions (I took pictures of the prints)…A group of Germans visiting the park saw 3 lionesses on the road about 5 meters outside of the hotel compound (they showed me their pictures), so that’s comforting, knowing the lions are just outside the door…awesome.

Anyway, the elephants were my favorite. They are so amazing. At one point, we saw them pulling grass out of the ground and they would whack the grass against their foreheads. It seemed strange, but just so you know, the next time you see me smack my forehead with a cheeseburger, I’m just trying to get the dust off of my food like the elephants. I did not know elephants had their own version of the 10-second rule…(speaking of the 10-second rule, for all you mothers that worry about what your children have possibly put in their mouths, it can’t be worse than burned SPAM can the neighbor kids pulled out of Krissy’s garbage pile, or the used-up spray cans of insecticide that Krissy has witnessed in kids’ mouths.) Yeah, so elephants are cool.

On the way out of the park, we stopped at this waterfall. We weren’t quite sure why we had to pay to go back to see the waterfall, or why we each had a guide assigned to us, but once we started climbing up the falls in the middle of the river, it made sense. It wasn’t very deep because it hasn’t rained since November. (It was awesome!! It reminded me of family trips to the north shore of Lake Superior as a kid.) The first few sets of cascades we encountered were beautiful, but then it opened up a bit, and we were at the base of 100-foot(ish) high waterfall. The pool at the base looked inviting, except for the knowledge there were parasites and things living in the water that invade bodily orifices-but that didn’t stop one of the guides from climbing up the cliff next to the falls (barefoot, no less) and jumping in from a ledge near the top. It looked like fun, except for the parasites…

After all of that, we basically went back to Cotonou and had an amazing bus trip, which you’ve probably read about already. Krissy, Nicole and I have a few more adventures planned for tomorrow, but then it’s back to the States for me. If I feel the need to write about those adventures, or if Krissy asks me to, I will send my thoughts to her at some point in the near future. I probably won’t have time tomorrow.

In the meantime, thanks Krissy, for inviting me to come and see your life here in Benin, and for letting me send my ramblings off into the void, and for being a great friend! I’ve had such an amazing time with you!

Special thanks to Krissy, Nicole and Katie for putting up with me talking incessantly about my new camera (I just really like it and I’m still excited about it…sorry…hopefully the rest of y’all will get to see some of the pictures of Krissy’s village life and our safari soon.)

Lydia

PS: I have been informed that it is “cute” that I’m spelling “zemi-johns” incorrectly. I figure if PCVs can speak in acronyms and franglais while I am here or forget to translate for me, I can spell unfamiliar African words fuh-net-ick-ly. Besides, I think I saw it spelled that way on one of the six pages dedicated to Benin in the various guidebooks I checked out before coming to Africa. Clearly, the author/editors didn’t bother with fact-checking, so the rest of their information is probably useless too, so don’t use that book if you are planning on visiting…

PPS: Nicole let us stay at her incredibly wonderful apartment the last few nights-(she has running water and electricity and a few other benefits that I probably shouldn’t mention for fear of inciting a riot among other current volunteers)…however…her bathroom(s) are so narrow that I have to sit sideways on the toilet because otherwise my knees hit the opposite wall. I can’t say that I’ve experienced side-saddle toilets anywhere else. C’est l’Afrique.