Right now I am online at the internet cafe near Gbezounkpa and I am attempting to update with pictures instead of playing soccer. I've had that mefloquine induced insomnia business for 2 nights now and I am way too exhausted to run around in the heat for 2 hours.
I don't have a lot to add to my post yesterday, so I'll just say that we're all very excited to hear about our placement on Friday. Heather and Craig suspect they'll be hanging out in the center of the country, the Collines, so we'll see if I'll be near them.
Today we worked on gardening and we got all sweaty and dirty. It was fun, but I was pretty tired. Heather and I now have a sweet little plot of land to cultivate each day. Hopefully we'll get some cucumbers, lettuce, and local tubers by the time we swear in after September!
I am super hungry and I really hope my family has some decent food for me tonight...I don't think I can handle french fries again.
Oh, and check out Jessica Bruce's blog, Under African Skies, because she totally had the same host family as me...which is just so weird to know after reading her blog for almost a year!
Please send me mail or email or packages or something! I want to hear about your lives =D
I think I'm going to go home and take a shower!
E
August 3rd, 2:19pm CST, 20:19 Benin
So I broke into my sour patch kids stash this evening and am happily chomping down on some sweet, sugarly deliciousness as i type this. I thought I could make it a month without candy, but apparently, it is pas possible.
Tomorrow is another round of soccer and this time I am going to remember to bring sports shorts! I have been so tired lately, though, because i think the mefloquine is causing a bit of insomnia. I talked to the doctors today about it and they said that insomnia is a common side effect reported by volunteers, but that it usually goes away after three or so weeks on the drug. I'm going to stick it out for another week, but if I don't get a good solid night soon I'm going to be grouchy and not very energetic for soccer!
I can't remember if I mentioned it earlier, but another volunteer has left training. I had talked to him on several occasions and knew he was having a hard time. I was really making an effort to include him and let him know I was available to chat about the suck fest that this whole thing can be...but I guess if you want to leave, you should go. There's only so much other trainees can do to help. I know for a couple days I was really having a hard time and the only people who reallly helped were current volunteers who had served for a year already. But even for me, I didn't need immediate counsel or anything because I wanted to leave after training was over; I knew I could make it to post at least. It's definitely a bummer to hear about one of us leaving and supposedly about 20% of a stage will ET by the end of the 2 years. So we're already 2 out of 60 gone after 2 weeks...that means like 11 or 12 of us will leave before then...which is like crazy weird to think about. But it won't be me. At least not just because I miss Colt or something. If my post is terrible for administrative or logistical reasons, I suppose I can't completely rule out my becoming part of that statistic until I've seen my post. Not everyone leaves because they miss a significant other (but of the 20% who ET, 80% of those are for that reason).
Tonight my host family was watching 24. Yeah, that's right...24...the Fox TV drama that kicks major ass. It was dubbed in French and watching it totally made my night. I totes recognized some of the drama and told them that I was very happy because it made me think of America. They don't call it 24, though...they call it "JACK BAUER!" And everytime you say "Jack Bauer" in French, it will make you crack up. Seriously, just try it. Now imagine 5 African kids all shouting it at once and you will understand my family's living room situation for the last hour. They asked if he was a real policeman in the United States...and I was like "no, he's not a real policeman. He's an actor!" and they thought that was pretty funny. It was super fun. It made up for the fact that Maman Rico was gone and Estelle made me dinner...which was a plate of lukewarm, soggy french fries with an overly fried egg plopped on top. I ate it all because i was starving, but damn. I have never wanted some ketchup so much in my entire life!
I had a zem driver try to give me shit today. At first he refused to take me home from Songhai for 200F, but then agreed to it when I told him I would find another zem, so I should have known he was finicky. Then as we got close to the school that is close to my house I told him to go to the end of the paved road, where it turns to sand and he was like "noo, you said the school, that will be 300F to go further" and I was like "whoa, buddy. I said near the school and I know the price. I always pay 200F for that same route." I made him pull over then about a block from my house and said "Fine, here is good. I will give you 200F since that's what you said at Songhai." And I gave him 200F, thanked him, and walked off. FUCK YEAH.
So I have discovered that the internet at the cafe close to my school, Gbezounkpa, is soooo much better than the internet at Songhai. they don't have wireless, but I can pay the same amount to use a desktop and then just plug my computer in instead. Heather totally was talking to her sister on skype there the other day, so I'm going to try to get on and post this on tomorrow after school and maybe even get to chat with my naughty puppy, colt...who was not online today when I was at songhai. Grr.
mais, c'est bon!
Love and miss you all,
Elaina
I think I'm going to go home and take a shower!
E
August 3rd, 2:19pm CST, 20:19 Benin
So I broke into my sour patch kids stash this evening and am happily chomping down on some sweet, sugarly deliciousness as i type this. I thought I could make it a month without candy, but apparently, it is pas possible.
Tomorrow is another round of soccer and this time I am going to remember to bring sports shorts! I have been so tired lately, though, because i think the mefloquine is causing a bit of insomnia. I talked to the doctors today about it and they said that insomnia is a common side effect reported by volunteers, but that it usually goes away after three or so weeks on the drug. I'm going to stick it out for another week, but if I don't get a good solid night soon I'm going to be grouchy and not very energetic for soccer!
I can't remember if I mentioned it earlier, but another volunteer has left training. I had talked to him on several occasions and knew he was having a hard time. I was really making an effort to include him and let him know I was available to chat about the suck fest that this whole thing can be...but I guess if you want to leave, you should go. There's only so much other trainees can do to help. I know for a couple days I was really having a hard time and the only people who reallly helped were current volunteers who had served for a year already. But even for me, I didn't need immediate counsel or anything because I wanted to leave after training was over; I knew I could make it to post at least. It's definitely a bummer to hear about one of us leaving and supposedly about 20% of a stage will ET by the end of the 2 years. So we're already 2 out of 60 gone after 2 weeks...that means like 11 or 12 of us will leave before then...which is like crazy weird to think about. But it won't be me. At least not just because I miss Colt or something. If my post is terrible for administrative or logistical reasons, I suppose I can't completely rule out my becoming part of that statistic until I've seen my post. Not everyone leaves because they miss a significant other (but of the 20% who ET, 80% of those are for that reason).
Tonight my host family was watching 24. Yeah, that's right...24...the Fox TV drama that kicks major ass. It was dubbed in French and watching it totally made my night. I totes recognized some of the drama and told them that I was very happy because it made me think of America. They don't call it 24, though...they call it "JACK BAUER!" And everytime you say "Jack Bauer" in French, it will make you crack up. Seriously, just try it. Now imagine 5 African kids all shouting it at once and you will understand my family's living room situation for the last hour. They asked if he was a real policeman in the United States...and I was like "no, he's not a real policeman. He's an actor!" and they thought that was pretty funny. It was super fun. It made up for the fact that Maman Rico was gone and Estelle made me dinner...which was a plate of lukewarm, soggy french fries with an overly fried egg plopped on top. I ate it all because i was starving, but damn. I have never wanted some ketchup so much in my entire life!
I had a zem driver try to give me shit today. At first he refused to take me home from Songhai for 200F, but then agreed to it when I told him I would find another zem, so I should have known he was finicky. Then as we got close to the school that is close to my house I told him to go to the end of the paved road, where it turns to sand and he was like "noo, you said the school, that will be 300F to go further" and I was like "whoa, buddy. I said near the school and I know the price. I always pay 200F for that same route." I made him pull over then about a block from my house and said "Fine, here is good. I will give you 200F since that's what you said at Songhai." And I gave him 200F, thanked him, and walked off. FUCK YEAH.
So I have discovered that the internet at the cafe close to my school, Gbezounkpa, is soooo much better than the internet at Songhai. they don't have wireless, but I can pay the same amount to use a desktop and then just plug my computer in instead. Heather totally was talking to her sister on skype there the other day, so I'm going to try to get on and post this on tomorrow after school and maybe even get to chat with my naughty puppy, colt...who was not online today when I was at songhai. Grr.
mais, c'est bon!
Love and miss you all,
Elaina
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