Camp GLOW Bohicon and gluten free peanut coconut cupcake!

So we just finished up camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) in Bohicon. The Wiricks ran it and it was beautiful. I feel for the first time in a year that I can actually see the difference I'm making in people's lives here. I mean, my group, the red team, was just absolutely inspiring. My mind was blown in a totally awesome way. I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

It was amazing and I got so close to my girls. I miss them now! They were so smart and motivated to change the world and be feminists! <3

I got my first med school rejection...and then I got rejected at my dream school, the University of Chicago. So...in order to cheer myself up, I needed to make a cupcake. So I did. A delicious, gluten free peanut and coconut cupcake with chilled brown sugar coconut icing.

classy in the old tomato paste can...but so fluffy!

delicious and gluten free!

before the frosting...crumbly but amazing

probably the best thing I've tasted since America

So there ya go. Life is good despite the med school rejection...which is totally lame but I'm over it. The science camp is in a few weeks and I'm starting to get excited about it. I get my own team again and am running a terrarium project and a solar cooker project. We'll see how it goes. I'm also making gluten free snickerdoodle cookies tonight at the Nati workstation. WHATUP.

Changing my Address!

Hey all. I've changed my address so if you want to send me a package or some mail, this new one will get it to me faster. In the past, all mail went to the capital and then Peace Corps picked it up and sent it up to Nati on the shuttle. Nowadays we only have a shuttle coming up once a month and I rarely go down to Cotonou anymore...so it just makes more sense to get the letters/packages full of amazing awesome goodies (HINT HINT)/birthday presents (HINT HINT SEND NOW IF YOU WANT ME TO GET IT IN TIME) directly sent to the Nati workstation.

Elaina ________ PCV
Corps de la paix americain
BP 168
Natitingou, Benin
Afrique de l'Ouest

Ok, now everyone send me goodies! Gluten free of course :) Check out my wishlist for updates (I just typed "upcakes" haha...I wish!)

Gluten Free, Camp Success, and the 4th of July: ONE YEAR IN (with photos)

Yeah, that title is ridiculous...but very descriptive of this entry!

First thing's first. I am decidedly gluten sensitive. I have experimented quite a bit with eliminating gluten products from my diet and found that all the symptoms I'd always thought were singularly lactose intolerance are linked with gluten intolerance as well. It's mild, but causes me a lot of discomfort. In the last month or two I've reduced and almost eliminated all gluten from my diet; those moments when I slip have been very noticeable. All in all, this is not that difficult to do here and basically just means I no longer eat bread, pasta or couscous. I still get plenty of yams, rice, potatoes, beans, and oats. People with Celiac Disease or high sensitivity to gluten should probably avoid oats, but I've never had trouble with them. Basically I'm going gluten free, or as close to it as I can. I just feel better all around. To celebrate, I made amazing, easy gluten-free peanut butter cookies in my dutch oven:

AHH, they were amazing and I couldn't even tell they were made without flour. One awesome thing about going gluten free here is the easy abundance of soy products. I can get tofu and awesome soy flour that basically can serve as a wheat flour substitute. These cookies have egg in them and I'm trying to be a good vegan, but that is definitely tricky here. In America, I'm going full out vegan, but for now, I'm just avoiding dairy, cheese, eggs and transitioning a bit. 

Going vegan for me is just going to be a great way to feel more connected to the Earth, to my particular brand of spirituality and philosophy, and to be healthy in a way that ecologically and economically impacts our planet and the animals in it. I don't know if I'll be vegan forever, but I think this time I'm really serious about it. When I get back to America for good next year I'll be scoping out those cheese substitutes hardcore!

Switching gears, we just finished up with Camp Sucess up here in Djougou. We had 60 girls from all over the Donga region and we spent the week talking about empowerment, sexual health, healthy relationships, self-esteem, staying in school and not getting pregnant. 

It was great to see the girls making plans and becoming friends. I spent a lot of the week doing general help, running all over Djougou getting supplies and making sure everything ran smoothly. I also had my fair share of time with the girls and really enjoyed getting my hair done and dancing late into the night!

 My session was the sexual health one and I had a local midwife nurse from the health center come and talk to the girls about what sex is and how pregnancy happens...and how to avoid it! It went really well and I know they learned so much.

 I laughed more and was impacted more as a volunteer in Africa than I have been up to now. Camp was hands down the best and most moving experience of my time in Africa so far. 

doesn't Jared look adorable?

Anyway, immediately after camp let out, many volunteers met up in Djougou for the fourth of July celebratory weekend. The weekend included a huge soccer match against the Germans, an American football match (I scored a touchdown!), lots of beer, freestyle rapping, and an awesome rainbow.

Team America and Team Germany all together in harmony after the big USA win (1-0, my postie, Doug, scored the winning goal!)

This is a tiny sack filled with honey flavored sodabe, African moonshine. 

Doug eating a victory meal of pate blanche, sauce des legumes, and a cold beer

This rainbow circled the sun during the afternoon of the American football match

Post BBQ and post busting out some 4th of July themed rap fireworks.

I can't believe I've been here a year (well, in about a week). The new stage has arrived already and are all cozied up in their host families' houses. I've scheduled my mid-service medical exam for September, and am at the point where I can plan out my work for the rest of the year. I'm not really sure what I'll be doing after January, but until that point I actually have a lot going on!

Time has flown by a lot faster than I would have thought. And everyone says the next year goes by even faster. We've got some more ETs coming up, two people that I know of. That puts our total at fourteen people out of our original 59. At this point they said that it would be 20%. I didn't believe it then, but here we are, one year later. A year ago the idea of ETing was just terrifying, something that only people who couldn't cut it did...now, I see that each instance is very specific, very unique to that person. It isn't always a clear cut "oh, Africa/Peace Corps wasn't right for them" or even that it wasn't right for them "right now." Sometimes it just is right for a certain amount of time and then it's not anymore...things change, especially work situations. I can understand that. Who knows what the future will bring for the rest of us? A year is a long time...even if it passes by quickly!

Here's to us! We did it!

Obesity and Hunger in America and Benin

Here in Benin, I find myself thinking a lot about food, nutrition, and weight from both a biological and sociological perspective. Many people here don’t have healthy food options or are malnourished due to simple lack of food. It’s quite common to see people who are skeletally thin (marasmus), people who are bloated from lack of protein (kwashiorkor), and people who are just fat from a diet high in carbohydrates. A lot of this range is typical for developing countries. Carbohydrates play a key role as staple food items, eaten with every meal to fill the stomach. They are typically cheap and easy to prepare and gives a feeling a fullness without adding much nutritional value. Here the staples are pâte (“blanc“, “noir“, or “rouge” made with corn meal, yam skins or corn meal and tomato sauce), yam pilée (boiled and smashed yams), akassa (fermented pâte), or the remnants of colonialism: rice, spaghetti, or couscous. Of those carbohydrate staples, only couscous has any sort of real protein value, and although the unprocessed, natural staples do have some nutritional value, they are primarily used to simply fill the stomach and curb hunger. With the carb, a meal will usually include a palm oil based sauce made with tomatoes and onions, a vegetable sauce with okra, a sesame based sauce or a peanut sauce with a protein item if it is available: goat, chicken, guinea fowl, or wagasi (traditional cheese). Often times a meal is just a large pile of carbohydrates with a simple sauce when money is too tight for meat. This type of eating after a while leads to obesity and protein deficiencies in children and adults. For the most part, obese or overweight people in Benin do not follow an observable socioeconomic trend. The richer are often overweight just from overeating, the poor from a low quality diet. Mostly, though, obesity is not a nationwide health problem here, but a symptom of malnutrition in general.

Thinking about these things, I started wondering what was going on in the US. Right now in the United States, obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Over 65% of American adults and 16% of children are considered overweight or obese (having a Body Mass Index of 25 kg/m2 or higher) and it’s only getting worse with processed sugars, oils, and sugar sodas and beverages. It is estimated that by 2015, 41% of all Americans will be obese (BMI over 30 kg/m2). Clearly this is an important issue, and one that is much broader than the scope of my little blog post today, but it got me thinking about the medical science behind obesity, hunger, and satiety. So I pulled out my handy dandy pathophysiology textbook, The Pathologic Basis of Disease by Robbins and Cotran, and turned to Chapter 9: Environmental and Nutritional Diseases. I wanted to find out what makes some people fat and some people thin and how we can, as a nation and as individuals, work toward curbing the obesity epidemic and keep ourselves healthy.

First off I read about what exactly the problem with fat really is. We all know that obesity can lead to higher levels of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Obesity has also been strongly correlated with rates of cancer in both men and women, as well as breathing problems and liver disease. All of these risks are increased if the fat is primarily stored in the middle of the body, around the midsection in the mesentery and around viscera in the abdominal cavity. I believe that modern medicine, and current scientific research clearly indicate that being overweight is a health risk. There are also many social pressures to be thin and the interplay between health and society with weight issues is an interesting one, but not what I want to talk about right now. Right now, I want to know what’s going on with the biochemical pathways that lead to obesity and why some people are fat and others thin.

At its most basic level, obesity is a “disease of caloric imbalance that results from an excess intake of calories above their consumption by the body” (439). A person is fat if they’ve consistently eaten more calories than they’ve burned off. It really is that simple. Of course, the pathogenesis of obesity is incredibly complex and not totally understood yet. Hunger, satiety, the urge to eat and to stop eating, metabolic pathways and mechanisms are all things that need ongoing research. It is clear that genetics, environmental signals, nutritional factors, and psychological signals all go into the triggering of the metabolic response and that it is a complex system based on many different interactions. However, obviously obesity would not occur without the intake of food.

The mechanisms that regulate energy balance can be separated into three parts: the peripheral or afferent system, the arcuate nucleus in the hypothalamus, and the efferent system. The afferent system generates signals from various site such as LEPTIN and ADIPONECTIN produced from fat cells, GHRELIN by the stomach, PEPTIDE YY (PYY) from the intestines, and INSULIN from the pancreas. The hypothalamus processes and integrates these signals and generates efferent signals. The efferent system carries the signals from the hypothalamus to control food intake and energy expenditure.

I want to talk about a few of the afferent components that regulate appetite and satiety: leptin, adiponectin, and gut hormones. Stick with me, this is cool stuff.

LEPTIN. The name leptin comes from the Greek word “leptos”, meaning “thin.” It is a hormone synthesized by fat calls and is a product of the ob gene. The leptin receptor is the product of the diabetes gene and belongs to the same family of receptors as IL-2 and other cytokine receptors. Mice deficient in either leptin (ob/ob mice) or leptin receptors (db/db mice) overeat and gain weight because they don’t sense their fat stores and behave as if they were starving (439). Leptin levels are regulated by multiple post-transcriptional mechanisms. In the hypothalamus, leptin causes the secretion of anorexigenic neuropeptides and inhibits neurons that cause feeding-inducing (orexigenic) neuropeptides. Basically leptin makes you feel full. In people with stable weight, these factors are all in balance. In someone with inadequate stores of body fat, however, leptin secretion is diminished and food intake increases.

Loss of function mutations in the leptin pathway in people are extremely rare. Some individuals (5% of massively obese people) could have problems with the receptors that sense the anorexigenic signals (the sense of feeling full) and would continue to overeat as if undernourished. These conditions are rare, but it’s been proposed that problems with the pathway could be associated with more common forms of obesity such as leptin resistance, rather than deficiency. Another way leptin works is to stimulate physical activity, heat production, and energy expenditure (440).

ADIPONECTIN. This hormone is produced by adipocytes and directs fatty acids to muscle for oxidation. It causes an increase in insulin sensitivity and has most receptors in skeletal muscle. Adiponectin has been called a “fat-burning molecule” and the “guardian angel against obesity” and when injected into mice, it causes a significant decrease in fat mass.

The total number of adipocytes is established during childhood and adolescence and cannot be changed in adulthood. Fat people have more fat calls than lean people. People can gain and lose weight by increasing or decreasing the size of existing adipocytes, but the number is predetermined. Trying to keep weight off is difficult because of a lack of a decrease in the number of adipocytes as well as an enhanced appetite caused by leptin deficiency.

GUT HORMONES. There are several hormones produced in the stomach, intestines, and pancreas. One of the most interesting is ghrelin. It is the only known gut hormone that increases food intake (orexigenic effect). If injected into mice, they eat voraciously, causing weight gain through increased caloric intake and reduced energy expenditure. Ghrelin levels rise before meals and fall 1 to 2 hours after eating. Interesting to note is that in obese and overweight people, the postprandial suppression of ghrelin is weakened which maintains the obesity through continued eating.

PYY is secreted from endocrine cells in the ileum and colon and levels of this hormone are low during fasting and increase after food intake. PYY levels increase after gastric bypass surgery and if injected, energy intake decreases. There is research going on now to use PYY as a treatment for obesity. Amylin, a peptide secreted from the pancreas with insulin that reduces food intake and weight gain, is also being evaluated as a drug for obesity. Both of these hormones act by triggering the hypothalamus to reduce food intake.

All of these factors work together to control hunger and satiety. Knowing what we know now, what can we do to prevent obesity and the risks that come with it? To a certain extent, how much lectin, how much adiponectin, and all those other hormones are predetermined by your diet as a child and genetics. You can keep your weight low, but if you have a lot of adipocytes and are naturally heavier, it’s going to be more difficult to regulate your weight. I’m pretty sure I fall into this category, and maintaining my weight in a healthy range is very important to me for both health and societal reasons.

Diabetes, cancer, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease all run in my family and there is indeed a correlation with high body fat content. Knowing how to eat and how much to eat is necessary for both my weight and credibility as a future physician. Eating a healthy diet of high fiber and low animal fat can help prevent colon cancer. Avoiding nitrosamines and nitrosamides from preservatives in meats can protect from gastric carcinomas, and just generally eating a healthy diet rich in veggies, whole grains, fruits, complex carbohydrates, healthy oils, and low in salt can help protect against cancers and heart disease.

Another thought is the idea of calorie restriction. It has been shown convincingly that caloric restriction decreases the incidence of many diseases and increases the lifespan in experimental animals. The particulars are not completely understood but it is thought to be related to lowering of insulin and IGF-1 levels and increased activation of sirtuins, proteins that promote metabolic activity and longevity (also associated with red wine, yay!). With a calorie restricted diet, animals live longer due to less oxidation and thus telomere breakdown and have a greater resistance to carcinogenesis and lower cholesterol levels. Most obviously, a restricted diet leads to weight loss and thus protection against many risk factors associated with obesity.

After doing all this research, I’ve decided that one of the best ways to stay healthy is to maintain a weight between BMI 18 kg/m2 and 24 kg/m2. I know BMI is not a perfect measurement, but for now, it’s the best we’ve got. Of course you can still be unhealthy within that range, and of course there are some people who can maintain health outside of that range, but in general, it’s a good indication of an appropriate weight to decrease risk factors associated with obesity and being overweight. In addition to maintaining a healthy weight, a low calorie diet with healthy foods seems to be a good option. Lots of fiber, healthy proteins, complex carbohydrates (limited pâte or yam pilée!), and lots of fruits and vegetables is a good solution. And as always, exercise. Several times a week for at least half an hour, up to 60 minutes when possible, your heart rate should be significantly elevated. This is such a simple thing that so many Americans, both obese and normal range weight, just don’t do enough. Exercise increases endorphins, makes you feel good, keeps your weight low and your figure slim, keeps your heart healthy, and helps stimulates the metabolic pathways. It’s win-win. Eat less, eat healthier, exercise more, and maintain a healthy weight range. Check.

Addressing the national problem is a question that countless physicians are working on. I think public service announcements, frank conversations with primary care doctors and pediatricians, and nutritional guidelines and information are all good starts. The obesity epidemic is complex, so close to issues of race and socioeconomic status, connected to ideals of beauty and worth, value in society and mental health. It’s going to take a lot of effort to really effectively stem the trends and there are a lot of political aspects to the changes that should be proposed. One thing we can all do for posterity is to help make sure our kids have healthy options and to really think about childhood obesity as a major sociological problem. Issues like sugar soda in schools, healthy lunches, sedentary lifestyle changes, and videogames all go into it. We know now that the number of fat cells is determined in childhood and adolescence, and we also know from personal experience and anecdotal evidence that it’s hard to lose weight as an adult if you were fat as a kid. So let’s keep our children within healthy weight ranges by making sure their diets are rich with nutrients and they’re staying active. That way when they grow up they’ll have an easier time staying healthy and avoiding all those risks associated with being overweight or obese.

Like America, Benin has a lot of work to do in curbing both obesity and malnutrition in general. With more and more outside influences like sugar soda, candy, and other processed sugars and starches, developing countries are becoming increasingly at risk for obesity. As a health worker here, I am often talking to people about diet, especially about the importance of eating vegetables and lean protein. Fish is popular here and cheaper than red meat which helps make my job a little easier. It’s tough, though. A lot of the reasoning behind the unhealthy diets here is money, just like it is in the US. I think it’s easy to forget that sometimes, especially when thinking about the United States. But it’s true. To facilitate behavior change, we have to address the problem in a local, community based way. I’m learning that every day here and I know that understanding will be crucial to me as a physician later. It might not be easy, but change starts now. It starts with us. I know I don’t always eat as healthy as I should, especially when I’m in America (Taco Bell anyone?), but I think I’m beginning to see the importance of diet in long term health a little more clearly now that I have all this free time to think about food.

This has been a nerd alert, shared from me to you. So go out there, and use your nerdiness to do some good in the world!

Not much else is going on, just getting ready for the girls' camp at the end of the month! Gotta read up on sexual health knowledge!

Thanks for listening :)

-E

Med School Apps, Dog Pizza, and it's Always Sunny

"We're making brownies."
"...the drug filled kind."

Oh, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I'm sitting here in Nati watching TV with Jonny and the Spencers. We've been laughing and plotting. More on the plotting later.

First off, I FINISHED MY MED SCHOOL APPLICATION! I haven't submitted it yet, but all the information is entered in and ready to go for June 1st. I'm so excited to be finished with it. It took about twelve hours to do the whole thing and I spent the last two days up here in Nati to use the good internet to finish it off. I am now officially ready to apply. I'll send it in and wait for secondaries to arrive in July. Woo hoo!

One thing I'm worried about. I've been here two nights already and Zaari is all alone in my house. I know for a fact that she will be hungry today and I feel bad about this. I left her a lot of water and a clean litter box with two days worth of food. As long as I get back tomorrow morning she'll be okay. Sometimes she refuses food for a couple days anyway. But I still feel kind of bad.

But I have to stay in Nati an extra night. Why? Because of dog pizza, the cause of the plotting. We have decided to buy dog meat and create a pizza with this dog meat. It sounds, frankly, a little unappetizing. And there is the whole vegetarian thing to consider. However, I am also down for trying new things and this Peace Corps time is ripe for thinking outside the box. So for most of the afternoon I was torn. Then finally I just decided to go for it. We are right now making the crust for the pizza. I have no idea how it will turn out, but I'll try to get a picture or two up here later. So I'm staying one more night for this spectacle and part of me thinks Zaari would approve.

And I'll just leave you with this gem from It's Always Sunny:

"street rat!"

*UPDATE: The dog pizza was amazing. Like delicious and amazing:

Jonny looks appropriately creepy standing there behind me in the kitchen. Yum, dog pizza. I might not be able to go back to vegetarianism after this. You know what I'm talking about.

A food post!

So it's been awhile since I posted pics up here and since I'm at the workstation in Nati I thought I'd drop by to post some of my favorite kind of photos: FOOD!

The food here is amazing, honestly. Most of the time I cook for myself in my little kitchen, lots of couscous, oatmeal, pasta with tomato sauces with onions and other random veggies. I also like to add soy cheese (basically tofu). I've started really getting into black eyed peas, too. They take a while to cook, but are so much healthier than a bowl full of bleached pasta. Every now and again I'll do something fancy, like make a pizza or attempt a dessert. I had a cookies phase...which is essentially satisfied by cooking in a dutch oven, very interesting. You can probably find a picture of one on the internet. Imagine that, but more ghetto and you've got my oven. I also used to bake my own bread, but I'm trying to lesse the carbs a bit if possible and trying to get into tip top shape. I figure I'll never really have this kind of time again to devote to it, so I might as well take advantage. That doesn't stop me from enjoying my watche, yam pilee, and wagasi, however. One good thing about yam pilee? It's not processed white, empty calories. You're actually getting some bang for your buck there in nutrients. Woo hoo!

Anyway, here's some food fotos:

Watche and wagasi. The watche is rice and beans and the wagasi is that fried cheese that is amazing and might be the only food I really actually miss. Must be eaten with cold, natural sugar coke. Ah.

This is mango pie. We made it up in Nati yesterday at the workstation. Mary is a genius. I had it for breakfast today and it was awesome.

This is from my three month "let's pretend I eat meat" phase. This was taken at Chateau Vert, an amazing chicken and fries place in Djougou across from my office. You have to order an hour in advance, but it's worth it. That's Colt on the side there, dipping his french fries in this delicious tomato and onion sauce they serve avec les frites ici.

This picture didn't load quite right, but it's the New Years cake Colt and I made when he was here. It's chocolate and amazing. Affissa tried it and thought it was fabulous. Ah cake. Thanks to Alex for providing the mix. It was loved.

Colt eating yam pilee for his last time in Djougou. He started getting pretty skilled at it by the end. 

Me eating yam pilee. The pounded yams are stickier than mashed potatoes and you scoop up the sauce (usually a tomato, onion, palm oil mix of awesomeness, occasionally with a peanut sauce that is my absolute favorite) with the piece of squished yam. If lucky, you'll also have a few pieces of wagasi to snatch up to make the perfect combo. And of course, a cold coke next to ya.

This is the coconut curry at Hong Kong's in Cotonou. This meal is like real Chinese food. I can sometimes be tricked into thinking I am in Americaland when I eat out in Cotonou. This meal was awesome...but so expensive I've never been back!

Colt at Livingstone's, the expat hangout in Cotonou. The pizza is expensive but real. I think it's good even by American standards, but I am a fan of thin crust pizza. Colt was unimpressed I think, but screw him. He can get Papa Murphy's whenever he wants! Ahhh, pizza. I blow some money here pretty much every time I'm in Cotonou. 

Not really a meal, per se. But this packet of barbecue sauce I got from Becca was a vrai delight on some watche. I wish I had some more. See how excited I am about it??

This was our delicious attempt at crispy potato soft tacos. The purple bowl is filled with chopped up and fried potatoes with taco seasoning. The green bowl has an awesome fresh salsa I made with guacamole, tomato, onion, and pimantes with a dash of lime and salt. The strainer has fresh, bleached, chopped up lettuce, those are definitely homemade tortillas in the back and we made a ranch-like dressing for the typical Taco Bell ranch sauce they put on top. We didn't have shredded cheese, but what do you want? Eggs in your beer? Geez.

Here we are pounding some yams for our dinner at Affissa's house. We pounded just long enough to get this photo, haha. Colt is such a dork.

Lapain and frites (rabbit and fries) et La President's in Porto Novo. This was the first meat I purposefully ate (there was the auspicious hot dog incident of 2008), and this rabbit was fabulous. I thought it was amazing and I wondered why I had been a vegetarian so long. Then I went to America and ate meat there for a month and wondered why the hell I would even bother eating meat in this country. So I'm a vegetarian again...after a short vegan stint in March and April. But that rabbit still looks good, huh?

Another Livingstone's pizza shot. I mean, Matt looks awesome, Scott is mid mouthful, how could I not post this pic? Eat that pizza, Matt!!!

Oh, wow, three Livingstone pictures. I mean, I thought this epic cheese string was pretty badass. And note my cool Beninese soccer jersey. Their team is the Squirrels. 

After all that food, pretty much we just go out for beers. It's the best staple of any good Peace Corps Volunteer's diet!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! 

mangoes, kittens, and blogs

It's mango season! I've eaten three in the last two days and they are so good. It's wonderful when they're just a little warm from the sun and the delicious flavor sort of bursts out. Ahhhhh. My tree in my front yard is heavy with them, but apparently there are mangoes made for eating and ones that aren't so healthy and can actually make a person sick, so I'll probably be avoiding the ones in my yard. It's okay though because the marches are selling them for like 50F...or ten cents.

Zaari is settling in nicely. She's still pretty thin because tuna is really the only thing she'll eat. I mix up sardines with the tuna and I'm slowly trying to wean her off the tuna, but it's difficult. She's super picky and only eats if it's fresh out of the can and very moist. Brat! We've been cuddling and playing a lot, too, which is the highlight of my day. I have to confess I got super mad and almost went Beninese on her when she tried to pee on my chair. Instead of smacking her little head (which is what I wanted to do, grrrr) I grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, told her "no" very firmly, and put her in her room and closed the door so I could calm down and give her a time out. She was meowing at a near constant rate that was driving me NUTS but I've been just ignoring her when she does that (after making sure she has water, food, and a clean litter box of course). She's slowed down a bit with it after realizing that she gets no response from me. Sometimes I have to play my music super loud to drown her out. I actually made a mix for her called Zaari's Mix that has a lot of loud hip hop and and rap on it as well as bitchy women singing about scrubs lol. She seems to like it, at least she doesn't meow constantly when it's on! Overall, we're getting alone very well. I haven't taken her to the vet yet, but sometime next week I'll do that so she can get her shots and maybe get spayed.

I've started a new blog over at WordPress about applying to medical school as well as healthcare in America and abroad. I also include a lot of stuff about FOOD because I love it and am always missing out on my favorite stuff here (can you say CHEDDAR CHEESE? Or CUPCAKES?). It's shaping up pretty nicely and I've been spending a lot of time on it, just talking about premed stuff, applying to schools, and the business of medicine in America. If you're bored and/or interested in the process for medical school, you can check it out! If I post here a little less frequently, it's partly due to my time over there. Also it would be because I am currently in the beginning of applying to medical schools which is very time consuming, marathon training (although I have yet to run more than a mile since like November) and also just because my life is indeed pretty routine now and there's not a lot to regularly update about! I'll try though for sure, so don't worry. But I doubt I'll be posting more than once a week.

Take it easy, folks, and as always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns! AND CHECK OUT MY 'DONATE!' PAGE UP ABOVE WITH INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO DONATE TO THE KATE PUZEY FUND TO SUPPORT MY MARATHON RUN AND GIRLS' EMPOWERMENT!

Thanks all and keep it real!

Elaina

America, heck yeah!

I've been in America for the last two weeks and I have two more to go. My mom had some surgery so I came back to help out a bit on Peace Corps dime. I am actually extremely thankful for the time and money they've given me to let me be here.

I've done a lot of thinking and came extremely close to early terminating. I had made peace with the idea of never coming back to my little Djougou house; I packed like I was leaving forever and gave away so many things that I'll have to re-buy. But honestly I don't mind. I'm really glad to be coming back, I'm actually a little surprised at how happy I am that I made the decision I did. I feel like I've had this huge weight on my chest for weeks now and it's just completely lifted and I can breathe again.

Which means I can fully enjoy my time here. We're talking movies, and so much American food. And since I've been eating meat in Africa, why change my habits for such a short amount of time here? So I've had cheeseburgers and chicken and pork and omg, I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to being a veg. Colt is making me steaks for Valentine's Day tomorrow and I'm getting a really expensive bottle of Cabernet with my per diem that I've saved up.

Reverse culture shock is a very real, and very strange thing. My dad picked me up from the airport and took me to a super grocery store and I about had a nervous break-down. I looked around and saw all the tomatoes and fruit and cereal and started mumbling like a crazy person. "You can buy the lettuce...and then the onions....and then walk over here and get cookies...and the water comes out and sprays the vegetables..." There was actually tears in my eyes. But give me a break; I was tired and jet lagged out of my mind. I actually got trapped in the Minneapolis airport because of a giant snow storm. I spent the night there when my flight was canceled and while those seats are pretty comfortable, I was still a little shaken at the hugeness of the store.

There are actually probably about a hundred different examples of me being weirded out by things that should be familiar. Colt didn't know what to do with me for a while I think. I just see so much waste here that I didn't notice before. So much ingratitude for so much stuff. I mean, we have so much freaking STUFF. Why? I'm feeling very existentialist about America's materialism right now. But at the same time, wow. I mean, WOW. America is the best place ever. We have everything you could ever want or need. I can get Chinese for lunch and Indian for dinner or get a quiche or a salad or both or buffalo wings (OMG SO GOOD) or cocktails and pizza. You can buy a rug and fan and a table and bed, all premade and ready to go. It's just sort of amazing and I don't think people appreciate it. Plus the democracy? The freedom? The sheer force of American awesomeness?? Well, that's not something I'll be forgetting on my way home to Africa.

It's kind of cool, but a few times now I've referred to my house in Djougou as 'home' without even thinking about it. And it really is. I can't say that I'm jumping at the bit to get back there right away, but knowing I'll be there soon doesn't sound too bad at all.

E

M&Ms, dentists, money, and Glee!

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

much ado about rien

ok, it has been a while. if i make some mistakes here it is bc of the french keyboard i am using at work. as some of y'all may know, my computer cord died. yes, the elecricity surged and my cord was plugged in...leading to explosion and dead cord. luckily my computer wasn't actually plugged in at the time...so i am entrain de waiting for a new one from dad...and apparently there are also dark chocolate peanut m&ms in the package; score. on the subject of packages; no i have not received yours; anyone's. i am going to the nati workstation soon and i will hopefully have a nice pile waiting.

Just for kicks, here is what it looks like if i type without cherching for the correct keys:

i just typed like q hourùs zorth of ,qteriql qnd of course none of it zqs sqved:::so i q, going to try to not throz q fit qnd just cql,ly try to re,e,ber zhqt i typed here qnd hope thqt i donùt throz so,ething out the zindoz in frustrqtion:

so i cannot really remember what i had written here...i have typed for an hour and published it and of course it didn't work for wharever stupid reason. aaargh, i guess i'll just give a mini update.

i have been running, i made a beninese friend who runs with me and helps me with my french...which has gotten a lot better, but still needs a lot of work. i have read like twenty different books including all the twilights, a david sedaris, some robin cook, a little john irving, a book about running, and a lot of my pathology textbook. i thought maybe not having a computer would induce some sort of ascetic like revelation about the spirit sucking technology dependant, but honestly i am just really missing watching californication and other movies. i LIKE technology, i like the internet; i like being connected to the world. give me an iphone or give me death!

as far as work goes, i still do a lot of sitting and waiting. i'm trying to not let it get to me; it's pretty typical for the first few months at post. i've been reqding my pathology book at work and people just say ''good work!'' whenever they walk by. i also spend a couple days at the maternité and hopefully i'll be helping out with births in a few weeks. the sage-femme (mid-wife) doesn't really know what to do with me; i'm not a nurse or doctor and can't speak particularly good french. hopefully that will get better as they get used to me hanging around.

i had been doing a lot of cooking, but i've been eating out a lot more. the wagasi on the streets is just so much better than i can make it especially with yam pilée and the couscous qnd omelette plate at this one cafetariat in town is fabulous. i have also discovered watchi, this delicious rice and beans combo that combined with savory wagasi is soooo freaking good. since i've been cooking for myself less i've naturally been sick a lot more. in the last month i've been sick enough for cipro at least twice although i think it's from the same salad place that got me sick on post visit. i'm going to keep eating out, but not go there and see how i do. since i'm all out of cipro now...seems like a good time.

i'm writing more since i am sans computer, working on my YA novel about fairies that i started last fall in my writing for children class. it so far has a suspiciously twilight tinged feel to it, but hopefully once i transcribe it to computer i can edit a bit of that out. i am writing in these little 80 page cahiers that are gridded like for geometry or high school chem and really hating the shitty cheap pens that are so ubiquitous here. someone please send me those four-in-one bic pens. they are my favorite and remind me of taking notes in organic chem and genetics.

i saw a facebook event ad for the wellesley sex carnival tomorrow and felt a surge of pride that the tradition continues. my beninese friend would pee her pants if she heard about that, haha.

well, i think that's it for now; i am really getting tired of this keyboard. i have a couple insanely cynical and depressing entries that i've written in the cahiers, but i think i'll save them for later. right now i am looking forward to some couscous, omelettes, and fries and life is good.

i miss and love you all, please send chocolate.

e

Natitangou

October 3, 2010

I just got back from Natitangou and I tell ya, it is freaking gorgeous up there. I can see why it is the primary place of tourism in this country. The entire city is surrounded by these majestic hills that the sun sets behind. There is this restaurant that is up on one of the hills and were we went to dinner (and lunch the next day!); you could see the entire city and the stars from up there. I am definitely taking colt there on a date one night; it’s easily the prettiest place I’ve seen in Africa thus far. And the food was damn good, too…at least by African standards. Frites and I hear the chicken was fantastic (at least for African standards).

Speaking of meat, I have been seriously craving a steak. Like a big, juicy, delicious, expensive steak. I think if someone presented me with one right now all ready to go, I’d probably actually eat it. The problem is that I don’t particularly want to eat any other meat; I don’t want to waste my meat eating on something not good enough…something lame. And since the only place I can get a sufficiently delicious piece of meat is the US of A, I think I will be remaining a vegetarian. And I’m also going to cherche some more sources of protein because I think I’m probably not getting enough since I’m legit having intense cravings for steak!

Right now I am downloading like a million movies from another volunteer and I am super psyched about it. I will have all the Harry Potters and Back to the Futures and I am also getting more 6 feet under so I can finally finish the series in peace even though mom ruined it for me last year. I’m also going to get caught up on 30 Rock and Entourage and I might watch Californication…all of that after I finish season 3 of Dexter. I definitely did not expect to be watching this much television in Africa…hmmmm.

Ok….well, that’s pretty much it for now. I’ll definitely update soon if anything actually interesting happens around here! I think I’m headed to the centre de santé tomorrow or Tuesday. Perhaps something cool will go down. I really need something interesting for my medical school personal statement! Haha

E

Voodoo and Foodoo

Friday, August 20

It is officially less than a month until my birthday and I have started counting down the days. I’m not really sure what I’m so excited about, though. My birthday just so happens to coincide with the exact day that I’ll be traveling up to my post after swear-in. It’s possible that it could end up being my first day at post, but either way it’s not exactly going to be a party. It will be hot and I’ll be exhausted and dirty from travel and I’m sure I won’t have everything I need to feel at home…and I’ll be all alone in a brand new city where I’m probably one of like 0.2% of people who speak English. I guess birthdays aren’t so special as to require a huge group of people celebrating my life or anything, but being totally alone seems sort of a bummer, too. I hope people call me, hint hint.

The language interview went well for me I think. I won’t know for sure what my level is for a few more days, but I know it went up at least one level. I doubt I’ll make it to intermediate high, but on va voir. It’s nice to feel like I can take a mini break and not worry about French for a couple days.

This weekend we’re all getting together and cooking some good old fashioned American food. We’re having fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese with banana bread for dessert. We were promised pizza for a few hours and I was especially excited due to the ridiculous amount of pizza I usually consume in the states, but mac and cheese is still a pretty awesome idea.

I cadeaux’d my can opener to my family today when Rico was opening up my can of peas. He was using a knife and it looked super dangerous, so I just ran and grabbed it and he was super stoked about it. I told him it was a gift for the fam and he definitely was into how easy it was to open up the peas.

I’ve been in kind of a bad mood for the last couple days and I just feel grumpy. I don’t really know why exactly…there’s nothing specific…but just little things seem to annoy me more and my food has not been tasting as good as usual. I think I might be a little sick, but I’m sort of just easily irritated, physically and emotionally. Like one mosquito bite was frustrating me way more than normal and certain little things that other people have done have been more irritating than perhaps the action truly was. I don’t know; I’m ready for a change soon. I like my host family, but I really just need to get to my post so I can figure out my own routine with my own food. I am also really frustrated with the quality of training that we’re getting. I don’t feel like I’m learning anything from the administrative staff and rather all my knowledge is coming from the PCVs. There just seems to be a lot of mix ups and confusion about scheduling and we always seem to be changing things around at the last minute. There have even been a couple things related to health that we’ve been told of which I’m not sure about the validity. I don’t know, I’m just annoyed right now and am really looking forward to week 7 when we go on our post visit!

There was a mini hope for Akon earlier in the week when Papa said he’d think about letting one of the older sisters go with me and then after we could stay at Maman’s sister’s house in Cotonou…but he hasn’t gotten back to me and since the concert is in less than a week, I don’t really foresee it happening.

Ramadan has started and the amount of prayer calls has increased by a large factor. Instead of just a few times a day, I’m pretty sure the pink mosque down the street does the call like every two hours now. I am probably going to keep Ramadan next year when I’m living in a predominantly Muslim area, but in Porto Novo it’s pretty commonplace to see people eating and drinking during the day just because of the large Christian population and no one thinks twice about a yovo doing the same.

Speaking of yovo habits, my beauty routine has changed considerably. Instead of make-up, I basically apply like four different white creams to my body twice daily. One is sunscreen. Another is benzoyl peroxide. Another is this anti-mosquito cream and if that fails, the fourth is hydrocortisone cream. I have all the tubes lined up on my little white plastic desk by my water filter and stack of health related books. And on that note, I really want that “Where There Is No Midwife” book that Jeni bought, but I never actually received. Does anyone know anything about this? Jeni?

I thought I had something else to say, but I don’t remember. TIA

E

Sunday, August 22

I started thinking about writing a book about my Peace Corps service. Since the Peace Corps owns everything I write while I’m here, I won’t be putting any of it up here on the blog because I’m not officially writing it yet. I’m envisioning it as having two main sections for each year of service and having it follow, chronologically, my time here. I’m actually going to include the application process and all the thoughts and decisions about choosing to go. In a really sappy turn of events, I am pretty sure it’s going to be a chronicling of having a super long term long distance relationship in addition to what will hopefully be entertaining snippets of my service here. I know that when I was considering the Peace Corps I read almost everything written by RPCVs and really wanted information about successfully maintaining a serious relationship with someone in the states. So I envision this book as being both informative, reassuring, and an enjoyable read. It always feels very self-involved to be writing something vaguely memoir-esque, but I’d like to think that my experiences here are both enough outside the norm and potentially helpful to others as to negate a little bit of self-aggrandizement. In addition to that book, I’m writing a bunch of Africa related short stories to maybe collect in one book as fiction and publish someday. And in addition to those, I’m continuing on my latest young adult novel about a girl living in the US, but who is actually a fairy princess from another realm. Good stuff. Plenty of things to keep me occupied for after swear-in when I’ll just be sitting around meeting new people before I can actually work.

I met the girl who I am replacing in Djougou and she was super nice and helpful about the house. I haven’t asked her too much about working with PSI yet, but she’s here during this week for training so I’ll definitely have the opportunity. PSI definitely pays for my electricity…so I will be getting a fridge for sure. Immediately after finding that out, I heard that Erevan, the huge yovo store in Cotonou, just so happens to have diet coke…so I will be bringing diet coke to my house in Djougou to get cold in my fridge. I am thinking that during the Chaleur this will be the best idea ever. I also found out about furniture. I will need to get a double bed frame made and possibly some dining room chairs, but that the house is basically completely furnished. She said that I have: a dresser, bedside table, chair for the bedroom, extra bed in the guest room, a cot, a futon like sofa, a coffee table and a dining room table with three chairs, but places for 6 people. So depending on what it looks like on post visit, I might be getting another relaxing chair for the living room and additions to the dining set. I am super happy though! It was pretty funny because she said that everyone always says that she’s spoiled and doesn’t have the “real Peace Corps experience” because the house is so nice, but that she didn‘t really mind missing out. Well, that’s okay with me, too!

Right now I am super hungry for protein. I want a huge glob of peanut butter and I am really regretting not buying some from the peanut butter lady at school yesterday. She’s always there with her jars during all our breaks, but I just decided to wait until Monday for some dumb reason. Mmmmmmm, peanut butter.

So last night Auro came out. Auro is a vodun (voodoo) spirit that comes out in the south of the country during certain times of the year. It is forbidden for a woman to see him; if she does, she will die. Men are supposed to avoid Auro, but nothing will happen if they see him. What happens when “Auro is out” is everyone makes sure they are home before dark and that all the lights are out (because he doesn’t like the light). When he comes by the house, you will know because there is a loud, creepy sound that surrounds the house. There might also be banging on windows and doors. But whatever you do, do not look outside or open the door if you are a woman. It seems sort of silly to us…clearly, “Auro” is just some dude dressed up making a lot of noise to freak people out. But there are actually some pretty serious consequences for not taking Auro seriously. Essentially, because people believe so strongly in the vodun, if a woman is known to have seen Auro, she can be murdered and it will be blamed on Auro. It’s a very subtle difference, but most people don’t even risk looking because of the strong superstition. There are actually some parts of the country where volunteer women are allowed to leave during the time of the year Auro is out because it’s just not safe to risk it. The fear of the community’s reaction to you seeing Auro and the fear of Auro himself become interestingly intertwined in a lot of volunteer’s minds it seems. It almost becomes something you believe in. Last night, for example, I made sure I was home before it was too dark and I asked my host sister when Auro would be out. She said if he came it would be around ten or eleven and that we’d be safe in the house because he wouldn’t come inside the concession. All the windows were covered anyway, though, which seemed super spooky. The entire night I listened for Auro, not sure about what I’d hear. Then I heard it in the distance sometime before midnight. I was half asleep, but the eerie whooping whistle sound was not something I had ever heard before. It never got close enough for me to analyze and I was too tired to stay awake to wait, but the noise was definitely unmistakable for something natural. This morning I’m not even sure if it actually happened or if I was dreaming. The fear of Auro is very intriguing. He never forces you to see him. As long as you’re inside and don’t peek out your windows when you hear him outside, you are in absolutely no danger. And yet, the curiosity about what he looks like…about who he is and how he’s dressed up…about who is with him and what they’re doing to produce the eerie, loud sounds…that curiosity is almost strong enough to almost cause you to want to look, even though you know that looking is the one thing you are not supposed to do. So the fear is not really of Auro, or even of the community’s reaction to you seeing Auro, but of not trusting yourself to have self-control over your own actions. It’s very vertigo-esque. You don’t fear falling itself, but the desire to fall.

I have run out of all snacks and candy. It is really depressing. Someone please send me a package of something! Include stamps (preferably the ‘forever’ kind) and maybe some cheap, women’s cut, colored t-shirts. Handwashing is super rough on my tee-shirts, and whites have not remained white. I’m thinking simple reds and blues, browns, blacks, etc. No writing on them, just a simple scoop neck, size small. Please and thank you!

My birthday is in 28 days! WOO HOO!

E

PS. Apparently, all the money that was stolen from me has been returned! Miranna and Charlie are coming down to Porto Novo at the beginning of week 7 before post visits and will return it to me then. YIPPIE! They will recount the story and the perpetrators then, too…so get ready for that story!

Monday, August 23

Well, the levels are back and I’m intermediate-mid…as expected. I really wanted to get up to intermediate high so I could start learning local language, but apparently no one in our sector is starting local languages yet…so it doesn’t really matter for now. I just have to get one more level before swear in…which I think is possible if I just practice a little bit more at home. It just takes time and it’s hard for me because I am so not a patient person. But little by little I get better. One thing that is sort of frustrating, but nice at the same time is that I have the same instructor as I did before. It is sort of annoying because I wanted to work with someone new, but it’s good because I know her style already. I have two new classmates, though and I think they will make it fun. One guy, Matt, seems very good at just going off on tangents and having a conversation which is so much better than always just doing the lesson. We debated the merits of dutch ovens in french for like ten minutes…which was way better than recounting a boring story.

So I finally went to a tailor to get some stuff made…I haven’t gotten it back yet, but I’ll pick up a new skirt and a modele (the Beninese outfit of skirt and top) on Thursday and report back. Sometimes it’s necessary to get some alterations afterward, but the tailor took all my measurements and I should have some faith in his ability to do a good job. Innocent until proven guilty haha.

After going to the tailor, I bought a coconut on the side of the road off of some little girl’s head. I paid 100 F for it and had a hell of a time cracking it open on the ground. Rico and Fifa helped me and we were giggling for like 20 minutes while we tried to get all the delicious pieces out. There was one particularly stubborn piece that Rico was working on that he kept bouncing up higher than our heads. I was definitely having a good time with it haha. The coconut milk was amazingly refreshing after a long day, too, although I spilled a lot of it on the ground. There was something super rewarding about eating some nourishment that I had worked on with my bare hands (and my leatherman lol).

Well, I guess I should talk about something sad that happened. Today I came home after going to the grand marche to get some meme tish with Carlos and Papa was MAD. He was totally going off on Amede and I asked Rico what was up and he whispered to me that she had failed her school exams and had to repeat the year next school year. On one hand I was happy to see him taking her education so seriously, but damn, he was pissed. He is still mad and she’s been crying for like 2 hours. Every few minutes he’ll come back to where she is and talk to her…the yelling has decreased which I think is good…but she just looks at the ground and cries. I feel so bad and I don’t really know what to do. I would totally give her a hug if I thought she’d be receptive. I tried to give her a piece of my coconut via Fifa, but she didn’t want it. I just wish people would leave her alone. I am pretty sure she gets it now! I told her just now that she would be okay and she just nodded and her eyes welled up. Man, it totes sucks. She’s now just sitting in the living room with us, but on her own couch and she’s just crying silently, looking down while everyone ignores her. It’s so awful but I don’t know what to do!

A commercial for the Akon concert was just on and everyone was like AHHHH, AKON!!! ELAINA TU L’AIME, OUI?! And I was like YES I like Akon, I want to go to the concert…but papa just smiled and went back to berating Amede. Totes lame sauce.

On the lame sauce note, there wasn’t any peanut butter at school today. Also, I’ve given up with trying to be super careful with my weight while I’m living with my host family. They get all sad when I turn down food and since I’m actually usually able to keep eating…and the food is generally pretty tasty…since we’re talking a giant plate of delicious spicy spaghetti for example…I think I will be a happier person if I just sort of enjoy myself for this last month and I’ll watch my weight once I get to Djougou and I can actually have some control over the amount of oil in the sauce and how many carbs I’m taking in. I just can’t control it now and it doesn’t really help anything for me to be all worried about it, you know? So for now…my 6 pack abs plan is on hold. But I will recommence with it after my birthday and hopefully I’ll be super svelte for my Christmas conjugal visit. haha

Ok, I just started laughing at the very serious soap opera and the whole family looked at me like I was being ridiculously disrespectful of the tres grave situation. But I mean, come on. The music was super intense and then this guy said (dubbed over the Spanish) “No, doctor. That is not my brother” and everyone gasped. It was just hilarious and I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

Oh, Rico’s birthday is the same as Colt’s which he was pretty pleased about. He and Fifa were actually planning the meal for when he visits in December and kept asking me if Colt liked various things…meat, beans, fromage, etc. I had a hard time describing his aversion for red meat, but willingness to eat chicken…especially since the best way for me to explain my vegetarianism is to say that I’m a buddhist and it’s forbidden by my religion. Since that’s sort of true, I guess it works.

Ok….so, one of the sisters just said that Papa is going to go to the Akon concert with me…now I am super confused and frustrated with my French. Grrrrr. Tomorrow I will ask him because he is sort of tired right now.

Until next time,

E

Tuesday

So, I am definitely going to Akon on Saturday! Papa said we're going and maybe I can bring Krista and Andrew.

Today we learned about Moringa oleifera. It is a plant that was introduced to Benin in the 60s and many environmental action volunteers here have worked with it since 2000. It has been called the “Miracle Tree” which is a little sensationalistic, but actually pretty appropriate. Moringa has all the essential amino acids, which is super rare for a plant. It also has more potassium, calcium, and vitamins than most other sources. There is statistical evidence that shows that when added to nutritional recuperation programs, there is a higher success rate of increasing weight and improved health for malnourished kids. It is also an extremely effective carbon sink and absorbs a lot more carbon dioxide than many hardwood trees. It can be used as animal food, fertilizer, a natural pesticide, and a way to purify water. So, I’ll be eating this in addition to eggs and wagasi to get all my protein. Yay!

Lalo, Gavages, Voleurs, and Wishes

Tuesday, August 10, 2010, 8:11pm CST, 14:11 Beninese

So I'm sitting here during a presentation after watching a health video of self breast examinations that was very lengthy and thorough. Literally there was this attractive young woman feeling for breast cancer on herself for like 10 minutes while we all watched uncomfortably. It was super hilarious and awkward. I think that was the hardest I've giggled since I've been here.

We're getting ready to embark upon our technical visit and I am going with two other trainees to Lalo, a village in the south that is about 3 hours from here. I'll be with Charlie and Miranna, a married couple that have a pretty sweet blog that I've followed a bit for the last year. Reading their blog always made me a little jealous, so I tended to read the single people blogs more often. But Miranna was one of the volunteers who helped out in the beginning and was incredibly supportive and helpful when I was stressed out about needing to get in touch with Colt. I am happy to get out of Porto Novo and take a trip to see some of the country. I won't get to go all the way up to my Northern post, but it'll be good to see some of the country that I probably won't be that familiar with.

I lent out my book, Cunt, to a volunteer here named Josh after he let me read this awesome philosophy book called the Wisdom of Insecurity. He is pretty hilarious and will be posted as a SED (Small Enterprise Development) volunteer living pretty close to me, just north of Natitangou. I'll also be close to a TEFL-er, Magda, and a couple other health volunteers are just a bit south of me. The volunteer who had my host family last year , Doug, also lives in Djougou and apparently we both have sweet houses. I heard from a reputable source that my house is PINK. Internet, I hear, is pretty expensive to have in my house, though. And since there are a lot of cyber cafes near by, I might not end up paying the money for constant internet because it will end up being like a quarter of my monthly allowance...which is probably too much, but we'll see what my expenses are like after a few months of cooking for myself and doing basic household things. It would be nice to be able to save up a bit of money for a little vacation at some point.

It sounds like Colt is definitely coming for Christmas, which is wonderful because it gives me something definitive to focus on as a countdown. My dad is getting the ticket next month and while it's pretty expensive, it's still do-able. Anyone who can give a little something to this enterprise should send money to Colt! It's like Christmas for both of us and birthday for me all in one! Speaking of his trip, I am pretty sure we'll just be hanging out in Djougou, doing all the normal things I will normally be doing, but I also really want to do a couple sweet ass African things while he's here. I decided it would be a great time to go check out Pendjari, the National Park and see us some lions and giraffes as well as go visit the waterfalls south of Nati. But I want to keep it pretty relaxed so we can have lots of time together stress free. The ticket has not been purchased yet so I'm sort of still nervous, but I will have a great weight lifted once I have confirmation and can officially start planning this trip. But Dad assures me...it will happen before swear-in!

So, I need some good books. I need a book about yoga instruction and a book about Buddhism, Theravada or Zen would be best. I also really really REALLY need a BIOCHEMISTRY TEXT BOOK. DAD, this might be a task I assign to you. It is a large NEED. I have been feeling very intellectually lazy lately and the idea that I am not going to be LEARNING stuff soon, the idea that I am not going back to school in a couple weeks to expand my BRAIN, is actually causing me some distress. The stuff I'm learning now is NOT sciencey enough for me and I NEED some science stuff that is up my alley...and I chose BIOCHEMISTRY. DAD. HELP ME. Haha, Ok, got the point?? I. NEED. SOME. SCIENCE.

In other news, I am really craving some American food...or rather, Mexican food more specifically. The idea of an enchillada or chips and salsa or...QUESO...makes me weep and salivate simultaneously which is a very strange feeling. I want to get together with a few other people to do a taco night or just be able to cook for myself. I am intrigued by the food that my Maman makes for me, but I am really ready to take over that avenue of my life again. I miss the days when I'd just make up an enchillada casserole with ridiculous amounts of CHEESE and just drown in it..the hot, bubbling, delicious, cheesy creamy mmmmmmmmm cholesterol.....Seriously, though. The wagasi is awesome and I'm really glad I'll have it fresh up North. But damn I want me some CHEDDAR. And I also had an elaborate fantasy about a big glass of cold milk yesterday...which is odd since I don't actually even drink milk in the states. But, maybe the fantasy was cold soy milk. Which, incidentally, I can make myself here as well as tofu...both of which I will be making on a regular basis and storing in my FRIGO (that means FRIDGE! yes, my house is awesome).

1:32pm CST, 19:32 Beninese time

I just finished watching awesome Bollywood music videos with my host sisters. Hindi movies and culture is surprisingly big here and I was very comforted by the dancing and singing; it's really familiar to me and makes me feel more at home. I know that's totally random, but definitely true. I also watched the three episodes of Scrubs that I have stored on the ipod. I don't think I've been more content in this country as when I was watching Turk and JD do the world's most giant doctor while snacking on sour patch kids under my mosquito net.

For dinner tonight I had myself a Beninese salad and I'm happy to report that they are growing on me. This one had lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, hash brown cubes (warm from being fried) and hard boiled eggs without the yolks (I totally have kept throwing out the middles and they've caught on that I usually skip that part!) all on top of macaroni pasta with a mustard viniagrette sauce. It was delicious especially since all I had for lunch was fried plaintains and some yellow Nigerian pate (which was awesome, just not particularly filling)

I still could really use some queso, though. I think I'm going to buy some wagasi and some vache qui rit triangles and try to melt them together. I have it on good authority, though, that wagasi doesn't melt. At least not if left out in the sun...but I'm wondering what would happen if I crumbled it up with the softer cheese and put it over a fire..? Probably I'd just get lumpy, gooey vache qui rit...but honestly, damn! I mean, I could add a little pimant, some tomatoes and onions all chopped up, a little cilantro (I hear it exists but have yet to view or smell it in anything) and a little lime (and I mean little as in tiny...the limes are like the size of a small kumquat here). I am thinking that could be pretty damn good queso. I'd also have to make my own chips with which to enjoy my concoction...but that's pretty straightforward in the COOKIN'N'BENIN cook book we all received a couple weeks ago. I am totally going to do this as soon as possible. The problem is that I don't have any pots and pans of my own right now...and I'm sort of liking that I don't have to do my own dishes yet. I mean, as much as I want to be cooking for myself, I am damn happy I don't have to spend multiple hours scrubbing my plates and pans yet. It already takes me three hours to do my laundry by hand!

On the subject of cheese, we totally learned yesterday how to make soja fromage (soy cheese). It's actually just tofu, but the fact that I can make it here is totally bomb. It is actually pretty straightforward. You buy plain soy beans in the market and then soak them overnight. In the morning you take 'em to the mill and get them ground up into this sticky paste stuff. You then take that paste and add water while straining it through a thin, mesh-like fabric. The liquid that comes out is essentially soy milk. The solid part that stays on top is the toxic shell pieces of the seed that you throw out. After that, you take the soy milk stuff and boil it for like 20 minutes. You can then drink it after it cools (add a little sugar and vanilla and fucking have vanilla SILK) or you can add an acid to make it curddle to make the tofu. You can use akassa water, which is basically acidic water that people use to make this fermented type of pate, or you can use water that has sat overnight with 20 lemons squeezed into it. It's also possible to use just straight vinegar, but that's more expensive. Anyway, you put that in the boiling soymilk and then collect the curddles that collect on top. You then squeeze out all the liquid in those curddles by pressing it out with huge blocks and stones while protected in plastic. After that, the curddles are boiled in seasoned water to add flavorings...good flavors I've had are salt, ginger, and pimant. The tofu/soy cheese can be stored for 2 days at room temperature or for 2 weeks in the FRIGO. Often people will fry the pieces and add them to sauces in place of meat. It's super firm tofu, too, which is awesome. I'm totally going to make tofu stir fry when Colt comes to visit haha. It's a great option for us vegetarians and is also full of so many nutrients that we, as health volunteers, can give demonstrations about how to make it and that will totally count as working. Score.

I keep wanting to go on a run, but the street outside my house is a busy one and I really just don't like everyone watching and laughing at me as I run by. I think if it was my permanent home I would just get used to it, but here I am just so exhausted all the time that running is just not high on my priority list. I do a lot of working out in my room, though. Yoga, especially. I tell ya, 20 sun salutations is some good cardio! I also use my 5 Liter water jug as a weight and do some situps and pushups while listening to Usher. I manage to get in a pretty decent little work out at least 4 times a week. C'est tres bon! I even burned some incense the other day and felt very much at peace, even though the pink mosque down the street was blaring the muezzin call over my Usher and Nicki Menaj collaboration. C'est la vie en Afrique.

SOMEONE PLEASE SEND ME SOME MOVIES. I'm already bored and it's going to be so much worse during the first three months at post when I am not allowed to work!! AHHHH. Seriously, though, keep a list of sweet movies I need to see when I get back and every now and again, toss one in the mail for me or something.
HERE's some more stuff for my wish list...I'll add it to the side bar, too. All of these things are great birthday gift ideas (39 days until age 23!) Some of this stuff I only need once (like specific books...so y'all should coordinate with each other) but other things can just keep on coming for the whole two years (LUNA BARS HOW I LOVE THEE)
-movies (DVDs)
*Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse
*Inception
*Other new releases that you thought were awesome and I must see before 2012
-used magazines (COSMO, the Economist, etc when you're finished reading them)
-photos!
-Luna bars (lemon and dulce de leche)
-Taco seasoning
-Enchillada sauce (do they make powdered versions?)
-cheap non scented hygiene wipes
-Cheap non scented facial wipes
-splenda packets
-starbucks instant coffee packets with creamer in it
-vanilla extract
-baking powder
-nutmeg
-Biochemistry textbook (DAD as discussed)
-Yoga positions book
-Book on buddhism philosophy (especially something about western buddhism and living as a buddhist in western society)
-An American flag to hang in my house
-cheap, but cute picture frames for regular sized photos for my house
-Letters! tell me about your lives! I'll write back from AFRICA if I get a letter from you!
-Grateful dead bear stickers for my moto helmet (at least 3 inches tall)
-What to Expect When Your Expecting (hey, i have a lot of down time and it's never too early to be prepared for womanhood! It's also very applicable to a lot of the work I'll be doing hopefully)
-Where There is no Midwife (or something like that...Jeni bought it for me already I think, but I need someone to send it to me!)
-Ipod charger that plugs into the wall ( I KNOW I used to have one, but it seems to be lost, now)
-Colt, in a box, with some enchilladas


Saturday, August 14, 2010, 2:01pm CST, 20:01 Benin

Well, we returned last night from our awesome and simultaneously not so awesome four days with the Darrs in Lalo, Benin. First off, I'll start with the awesome. WE ATE SO WELL. We arrived Wednesday afternoon after a funfilled 4 hours on the road with a quasi suicidal/homicidal taxi driver (he literally reached out his window at one point and slapped some guy on a moto for driving badly!) and immediately we made our way through the town of 5000 to be greeted by good old American PB&J l'ananas style with a side of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies from Miranna. That first night we spent just a few minutes preparing CHILI. It was the Lalo Three Bean Moringa Chili after we added Moringa leaf powder (this freakishly healthy plant that has all the essential amino acids!). It was actually sort of cold outside since it had been sprinkling on and off all day and the warm, spicy chili really hit the spot. We nommed it with corn bread and some cold Beninoise beers and we all stuffed ourselves...or 'gavaged' ourselves as the Beninois are wont to do with small children sometimes.

For lunch the next day we stopped by a "restaurant" and had what is known as...cum. It is like pate blanche, but slightly fermented and reboiled and it has more of a bread like consistancy. It was actually freaking delicious and it was served with this spicy tomato sauce with fresh onions and a dark red pepper sauce. We used our hands (but only the right!) to scoop up the sauce with the cum and it was amazingly refreshing to have a plate of truly delicious Beninese food.

The second night was our MEXICAN FEISTA. YES, that's right. I HAD MY MEXICAN FOOD. We made flour tortilla chips that were almost as good as Omaha's California Tacos chips, used taco seasoned tofu (soy cheese) as a spicy sauce, had this awesome fresh pineapple salsa, and I made the bombest, most amazing guacamole that has ever been created by desperate individuals from fresh, organic avocados, onions, tomatoes, pimants, salt and limes. The only thing missing was the cheddar cheese, but frankly, that guac made up for it and those chips were fucking fantastic. I'll be recreating this delicacy Djougou style in the future. With all of that we added Monocos...beer with grenadine and sprite...and continued gavaging ourselves in the amazingness.

Food gavage session number 3 took place for lunch the next day. We did this insane American breakfast feast with hashbrowns (headed up by moi), scrambled eggs with a bit of the soja cheese, fresh pineapples, freshly squeezed orange juice created by hand from one of the trainees, drop biscuits done dutch oven style with jelly, avec ketchup and there was even gravy for the biscuit eating non vegetarians present. That night we went over to Charlie's homologue's place for traditional Beninese cooking and in true Beninese fashion didn't actually eat dinner until nearly midnight! We had pate rouge and sauce de legumes with soja cheese and chicken. They kept all meat separate, too, which was nice. I watched one young kid defeather and gut the chicken while we discussed the names of the internal organs in French and English. It was pretty awesome. The pate rouge was amazing, probably my favorite form of pate. With the meal (eaten and prepared communally with the right hand) we all had some shots of sodabe (SODA-BEE). It is quite simply, moonshine. It tastes like most hard liquors...disgusting, but is rumored to be super bad for you...if you imbibe too frequently, it is possible to go blind...or so the rumors go. I did a half shot (NOT an AFRICAN half shot...which is really just a full shot filled to the brim so it's dripping over haha) and was pretty out of it for a while. It was a good night...

UNTIL... (Commencing the not so awesome part of this tech visit) we were all robbed. During the party time at Charlie's homologue's, someone swipped the key to the Darr's house and must have snuck over there while we were all busy cooking and talking outside. It was dark and later when we were looking for the key, it wasn't where we'd left it. After spending a while searching with lanterns and torches, Miranna found it in a totally random, hidden spot as if someone had dropped it surrepticiously. When we arrived at the house, we found missing things: a camera, an ipod, a clock, and for me...30,000cfa had been taken out of my wallet which was in my backpack. Well, naturally we all sort of freaked and told the homologue and he rounded up his people and no one knew anything. After a frustrating few hours (it was basically 3 am by the time we ended up going to sleep), we headed back and decided to go to the gendarmes in the morning. Ce matin, we told the police about it, called the peace corps, filed a report, and then returned back to the house to find one of the homologue's kids there with the stuff that he had found for us that morning from one or two of the older teenage boys from the party. No names were given, but the camera and ipod and clock were returned...along with 3,000cfa of mine. That's really it, at this point. They're trying to figure out who did it (apparently the gendarmes have 3 of the guys at the station now and to get the rest of my money back because at least 25,000cfa is still missing.

So I have a lot of thoughts about this. One, it's always wrong to steal things and in this culture especially it is seen as really low. I'm sad because I'm worried about the relationship now between the Darrs and their town, although they called and said that everyone knew about it and were really sorry about it. It sucks because the way they see people could be different now; they'll worry about locking their door and where the key is, whereas before it was just something they had to do. More than the things and money stolen, there has been a loss of comfort and of community. I would gladly give up that money to have them feel secure and connected with their village again, but at the same time I am really frustrated that everyone got back their stuff, but me! I'm not surprised though...they probably went out and bought several rounds of Sodebe in Dogbo with that money. Whatever. I'll either get it back or I won't, but either way I've definitely experienced a quintessential Peace Corps event and I know I'll be guarding my Djougou house key closer than perhaps I would have otherwise. TIA, man. TIA.

Sunday, August 15th , 6:03am CST, 12:03 Benin

My camera has also been decently working, so I think I'll wait before officially asking for a new one. I took lots of pictures during tech visit and got a lot of the mural we painted at Charlie's health center. I headed up the main picture of a woman breast feeding her baby and we added in french a message that said it is important to breast feed exclusively until the baby is 6 months old. It looks really good and I'll try to post some pictures of the visit soon. I think my picture plans are just to get some up on the blog when I can and then make facebook albums whenever I'm in a workstation and can take as much time as necessary to upload them.

I am so hungry right now and I have to wait until my family makes me lunch! I am SO READY to have my own house and cook my own food. Tech visit really just solidified that desire. I just feel like such a child now. I go to school, have my meals prepared for me, ask for permission to go out and speak as if I were twelve years old, I am starting to feel like I actually am! Akon is having a concert in Cotonou next week and the tickets are like $10, but none of the trainees are allowed to go because we'll be there after dark, but the volunteers who've been here for a year are totally going and getting a hotel room afterward. I am wicked jealous. But, I guess that's life as a twelve year old for ya.

Our language re-evaluation is on Friday, so this week I'll be studying French like mad to try and score high enough to not have to stress out anymore. If I can get intermediate high I can start learning a local language, but I doubt I'm at that point quite yet. Honestly I feel like I can follow a conversation better, but that I need a lot of work still in order to effectively express myself.

Well, Sunday is laundry day, so I'd better start thinking about that. UGH.

E