I feel the need to recognize a few awesome people who have unknowingly contributed greatly to my life in Benin. I owe my sanity to the following individuals:
-Lynn and L.L. Bean- for giving me and manufacturing an awesome flashlight than has magically evaded Africa’s destructive powers on my possessions.
-Felice- for insisting that I take the copy of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius at your apartment that has provided a much-needed respite from French/Benin/life on numerous occasions.
- Dad- for sending me a battery and charger for the camera that stopped working a mere week into my trip.

On the subject of sending me things, I’ve had several people ask if/how they can send me things. And I’m sure those who have yet to ask were planning on doing so soon. Here’s the sitch: My mailing address is on the right side of my blog. Yes, it’s in Cotonou. Yes, I live in Porto Novo. Yes, send it to Cotonou. Packages take under three weeks to get here (not five months to never, which I previously believed) and letters less. SUPER QUICK!!! I would love anything from anyone. Like a letter would be pee-my-pants-exciting. If you feel inclined to send a package, I would love just about anything that you put one minute of thought into. Here are some suggestions:
- Periodicals- Newsweek, The Economist, The New Yorker, Time
- a French press (can’t believe I didn’t bring one!)
- coffee
- new music
- gum, but in foil type packets where each one is individually wrapped because if not they melt together
- chocolate!!! In small wrappers is best, like fun size
- pictures
- a crossword puzzle book
- bars (Fiber One, Cliff, anything edible)
- anything I can just add water or eggs to and cook

There’s really nothing I need, so don’t feel guilted by this or for not making it on my honorable mention. Every single facebook message or comment, blog comment, email, etc. is greatly appreciated. Honestly, you people make my days. As I said to one friend, its hard to see the bigger picture or feel good about what you’re doing when your biking uphill through sand, after 8 hours of class, mouth full of exhaust, being yelled at and taunted by people of all ages.

On another note, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what I actually do in class for 44 hours a week. Our time is split into three parts: language, technical, and the other stuff. Language is French for most people like me who came in with not much French, and local language for those who came in near fluent and will need to speak a local language at their site. We are in groups of two to four for language and it’s the class we have the most. We just had language progress interviews so I’m waiting to hear the results of that. I made the mistake of saying in my interview that I watched a movie on my birthday and my interviewer made me attempt to explain the plot of Twilight to her in French. FML.

Our technical sessions are sector specific. So I learn everything an environmental volunteer should know:
- Benin’s environmental problems and government and NGO projects that address them
- Gardening: making seed beds, tree nurseries, what to plant where (this includes watering our garden every day before and after class)
- Making mud stoves (its exactly what it sounds like)
- Starting environmental clubs
- Teaching students about the environment and getting teachers to incorporate it into education
- Composting
- Names, identification, and harvest times of various plants and trees
- Everything about soil and natural fertilizers, including the mineral content of various animal feces including bat guano (Ace Ventura anyone? Coincidentally, bats living in roofs is a common problem, so we have a steady source of natural fertilizer close at hand. The glass is half full yet.)

The “other” portion of our class time covers everything else we need to live and function in Benin:
- culture: norms, gender roles, deciphering gestures, behavior, food, cooking, etc.
- safety: how to avoid/deal with unwanted attention, avoiding and reporting incidents, transportation safety, how to look for a good taxi, using your common sense in general
- bike training: maintenance, oiling, cleaning
- administration: paperwork, getting paid, paperwork, opening bank accounts, more paperwork
- medical: A to Z of diarrhea, filtering water, washing and bleaching fruits and vegetables, malaria, AIDS, bird flu, giarrdea, all illnesses and diseases that we can/might/probably will get.

I’ll stop at the details of the at home stool sample procedure. Bon soir mes amis.