Well, I'm still in Cotonou. I've been here for 4 days now. I chipped my tooth Friday night while munching on some dark chocolate peanut M&Ms and watching the West Wing. Apparently it was my time, because that is just pretty lame. Not even a cool African related incident, just...M&Ms. So I came to Cotonou on Sunday to meet with the dentist. But of course, the bureau was closed on Monday because of the holiday. I quickly ran out of money on transportation and eating here for two days. I saw the dentist yesterday and he filled in my tooth. It looks fine, but feels strange. But I can't leave because I don't have any money. We won't get paid for a couple more weeks yet, so I need to get my reimbursement in cash...which is something unusual and apparently really difficult to do in a timely manner. But, I understand they're all busy. But I'm trapped here. If I had not chipped my tooth and stayed in Djougou, money would have been tight, but I can eat on less than 500 F a day if necessary, so I would have been fine. But travel here and back? Nope. The good news is that I got to watch True Blood and GLEE, season two. I hear my little brother Oliver is into Glee as well, so that rocks super hard. I also started watching Weeds, the shotime show about the suburban widow who sells pot and I am seriously loving it, but that might just be because I love Mary-Louise Parker so much and see her character as an extention of the sexy white house politico from the West Wing. Ah.
Ok, that's my life right now. Hopefully I'll make it back to Djougou tomorrow. Next Monday we're starting a family planning campagin in the village and i'm working with the midwife nurse to put in birth control implants and talk to village women about different bc types. I'm super stoked about it; it's a week long campaign and it sounds pretty baller.
take it easy, send tuna.
<3
E
Hello over there! I watched the 20/20 show and Googled “Kate Puzey” and your blog came up. Wanted to know what happened to the murderer. Also, was he an American, or where was he from? Anyway, I saw another show documenting all the women in the Peace Corp that had been assaulted and/or raped over the years and the number was disturbing. As that number could be double as not everybody comes forward. A girl friend of mine went with the Peace Corp to Ghana and came back early due to illness. I’ll be emailing her next as I’m wondering if something happened over their she didn’t want to talk about.
ReplyDeleteI feel the Peace Corp is doing a horrible job according to these reports. You and the other volunteers might have a more favorable bias toward the Corp. 50 years and they don’t have protocol on returning the personal effects of the deceased? For $100 dollars they can contract the local sheriff’s office to make a personal call to the home to deliver the message and belongings. I don’t think all of the rape victims on the other show came forward for fame or glory but to tell what needed to be told so others can make a truly informed decision. People will always volunteer for the Peace Corp but let them know what they are signing up for, all of it!
Good luck to you, stay safe and don’t eat any more junk food (M&M’s)
Hi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteI just read the comment above and thought, "hey, thats what I was going to write...lol"
Anyways, I also came across your blog through looking up the 20/20 segment. However, as a person aspiring to join the Peace Corps for Sept 2012, I read some more of your blog. I applaud you for leaving the US while you are engaged (if you are planning a wedding??). I am actively trying not to start any relationships because I feel anything I start at this point won't have enough foundation to last a 2 yr PC tour. So I applaud you, and wish you both the best!
On that note, I saw your wish list, and I know this is like totally random, but I want to send you a package! I know you have your address on the blog, but is there anything else I should know if I want to send you some stamps, tuna and splenda? Or, if it's too weird getting a package from a total stranger, just let me know and I won't.
Anyways, my name is Maggie and I am currently a grad student at Assumption College in Worcester MA, to become a school counselor. feel free to email me if you want to chat more... paynich@gmail.com
Thanks for the comments! Maggie, I emailed you back! Anon, you're right that the PC has failed in a lot of situations in the past (and if you read some of my posts, you'll see that I am definitely not always soft on them!), but at the same time you have to realize that as a government agency, there's going to be difficulty just by existing within the system. Everyone I've met through the administration is honestly just doing the best they can with what they've got and I don't think they always receive a lot of recognition for how hard they work. We as volunteers would not be able to function without our in-country staff! Aaaand, that's about as nice as I get about that because yeah, I think they royally screwed up and continue to screw up when dealing with Kate and her family. As always keep the comments coming!
ReplyDelete