July 27, 2009

Today I had to confirm the first casuality of my trip, which oddly enough occurred in Philadelphia: my iPod. It’s a good thing its too hot/polluted to run. In general though we’ve been blessed with great weather. We’re in the middle of two rainy seasons so it’s been on the cool side and even breezy at times. Yesterday we could barely hear our training sessions because holy day drum circles were going on outside and today we ate our first goat and had lessons on how to bargain with moto (zemi) drivers. Awesome.

July 25, 2009

It’s now closing in on my first full 24 hours in Benin, the first of 820 days in Benin. Yesterday, upon arriving at Cotonou Aeroport after an ungodly amount of travel time, we were greeted by not only stifling humidity but by about 20 Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) who had traveled from their various posts around the country to welcome us. I definitely wasn’t alone in tearing up at the sight of a few dozen strange/only familiar faces cheering us as we individually lugged our give or take 100lb. baggage to the awaiting WWII style mega jeep. A group of volunteers departs for Benin only once a year, so it’s a pretty big deal. Current volunteers alternate taking leave from their post for a few weeks to come to Cotonou and train incoming volunteers. My group numbers 56 currently and we have yet to lose one.

We are staying at a hostel in the “suburbs” of Cotonou with electricity and running water. So far we are dealing with administrative tasks: filling out papers, risk reduction, safety, dress code, rules for travel, health issues, vaccinations, issuing bikes and helmets, rules, rules, and more rules. We will be discussing diarrhea in depth on a regular basis and we are prepped for the real possibility of needing to describe it in detail to a near stranger or to send a stool sample via local delivery. Every meal, every training session, every conversation, offers something valuable, greater insight into Benin, its people, and our place within it. So far the food has seemed like an attempt to cater to American mouths, gently easing us into the unknown. I’d take some goat over spaghetti and baguettes any day though, so I’m excited to get to the homestay and have some real food! Real coffee, it seems, is a delicacy. And milk, too. I confused condensed milk for honey this morning and put it on my baguette. Tasted good, I’d have never noticed if someone older didn’t say something.

I’m not nervous, maybe I’m too excited to be, maybe its because I see similarities in Benin and other developing countries I’ve been to and feel a sense of comfort, maybe its because I’ve been working toward this since September and thinking about it for years. Maybe its because right now I’m too exhausted to feel anything and my bed feels like an incubator with the mosquito net surrounding me. Bonne nuit.