ET update, or Acronym City

I said in my last post that the PC administration doesn't make it difficult to early terminate. Well, after finishing up a couple days of processing down in the capital, I'm realizing that they don't exactly make it easy either.

The ET manual closely resembles the Close of Service (COS) one and because I have spent so much time here, most of my process resembles a COS more than it does an ET for someone who has only been in country a few months or never made it to their post or something. I must meet with almost every PC administration person, get many forms filled out and there is a master checklist that I must get signed before I meet with the administrative officer (AO). I have written a Description of Service (DOS, which I'll post here in a follow-up post), and filled out my official resignation form, and had my close of service medical exam (although I still have to talk with the PCMO about my smoking and get my TB test read...fun stuff haha). I have officially turned in all my Peace Corps stuff (mattress, gas cans, etc) and assigned books (Where There Is No Doctor, Helping Health Workers Learn and many many others), and I need to also go to the bank headquarters and close out my account (which involves a letter and basically taking out all the money left in the account). Essentially most of the things remaining that I have to do are administrative things and talking to the Country Director (CD) and the AO and having my final language interview (scheduled for the morning). I have a couple other errands I need to run in Cotonou and a few loose ends to tie up, but for the most part, I've gotten the majority of the necessary procedures finished.

Right now I'm also waiting on confirmation of my Air France flight information, but if all goes according to plan (and really, how likely is THAT going to be haha), I could theoretically be leaving Benin in the evening on Thursday, the 24th. Which, of course, is THANKSGIVING. I'll be able to have a last meal here with a few other volunteers and say some goodbyes and get a couple photos. I'm planning on wearing my nice bazin tissue, the red marbled pants and top that I wore for the new stage swear-in in September. I'm gonna be cute! Peace Corps will provide a ride to the airport with all my things and if all goes well (meaning no horrible two day delay in Paris grrrr), I could be back in Kansas City by the evening on Friday, the 25th. I won't make it for Thanksgiving, but I'll be home in time for leftovers! Woo hoo!

Ok, that's all I can think of for right now, I'll update with my DOS later on today when I think of it. I was pleasantly surprised after finishing it up. I've felt for a long time that I didn't really do that much work-wise, but then I finished writing the DOS and realized that I may have had more of an impact than I thought. Which is a lovely feeling to have as I'm leaving. Ok, talk to you later!

~Elaina

I'll be home for Christmas

Well, it's official! I am leaving the Peace Corps a few months early to go home, help my family out, and make some money before medical school. The decision was definitely a tough one and one I analyzed for a long time before calling the Peace Corps to set it up, but ultimately it's the best thing for me and my family right now. Essentially it came down to the fact that I was going to have to ET anyway, probably in April, and why should I wait around for five months, get back into a routine, and be frustrated and miserable when I could make it home for the holidays? The Peace Corps does not make it difficult to early terminate and once it comes down to a need to ET for grad school, a few extra months seem superfluous in the long run. Sure, I feel a little guilty about leaving my projects and work partners behind (and I am close to traumatized about leaving Zaari), but everyone has been very understanding, especially of the fact that in reality, it's only a few months earlier than expected.

The next couple weeks will be spend filling out pages and pages of forms, figuring out packing and getting Zaari to her new home. She will be going to the home of a PC homologue who has many kids who love animals. I will be able to get updates on her through my Djougou post-mate and in the end, staying here is what is best for her (even if it makes me cry at night haha).

The last year and a half has been completely life altering and amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It had its ups and downs, but doesn't life? Overall, I was happy and feel like I've both done some amazing work here and made many lasting friendships (cue cheesy music now). I'll miss a lot of people, but I would have been saying good-bye in a few months anyway, so I guess it's just ripping off the bandaid early.

All that sad stuff said, I am so incredibly excited to be going home! I'm looking for jobs in tutoring, being a nanny or long-term babysitter, or working as a receptionist at a medical office. I've already applied to over 20 jobs and hopefully I'll start to hear back soon. Apparently moving is sort of expensive...as is getting married and starting a household...(who knew? haha) so I'll be trying to save up as much as possible in the next few months before the wedding and med school.

I also just want to say that there have many times when I've wanted to leave, usually for very emotional reasons not backed by real logical ones. I've missed America and my family and Colt, but I've held out because I'm strong and determined and have never been someone to quit something just because it was hard. While ETing now does indeed solve some of those feelings (completely normal feelings that almost every PCV deals with on occasion), me leaving now is not due to emotional reasons. Right now it's about logic and finances and being a part of my family. Once I reached this point of clarity in thinking about my options, it actually wasn't that stressful of a decision. Ultimately, I'm not upset or struggling with the choice because I've put in enough time for me, personally, to feel accomplished and satisfied with my work and life here. Before I was always worried about regretting the choice later in life, which was a major deterrent to leaving. But now, at this point, with only a few months left, I know that I will have no regrets, only good memories! It helps that everyone I've talked to is supportive and in no way do I feel like a quitter. I loved it here and feel like I'm ending things on a good note at a good time for me.

Benin, it's been real. Stay classy,

Elaina

PS. I'll probably be back on to give a few ET updates for interested people and I may update again once I'm permanently back in the states. I can't believe this blog is ending! It's been such a big thing in my life for a long time now and it's going to be weird. I'll link my new, med school blog here and again in my final post. Yay, for turning the page!

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.

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!

back to the blogosphere

I don't really like that word "blogosphere," but I suppose that's what this world is, a little sphere. I know that right now, while I'm specifically blogging about Peace Corps life, is the time when I will probably have the most followers, the most people who regularly read my thoughts about life. It's interesting to know that the scope of this blog has gotten pretty wide. In a lot of ways, that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted to share my experiences with the rest of the world. In other ways, though, it's a bit nerve wracking. Clearly, the powers that be ARE paying attention to what we write, and the idea of censorship just makes me feel pretty icky all over. Because I'm applying to med school right now, I don't want to mess with it, though. Part of me definitely feels that if the Peace Corps thinks something on my blog is inappropriate, med schools would probably agree, and so ultimately it's only a good thing that I am censoring myself, even if it came about through third party censorship. So really, in the long run, no harm done.

And the point of all that was to say: I'm not going anywhere! I'll stop the cursing and maybe think twice about posting negative thoughts, but other than that, I'm sticking around. I still have a lot of time left and a lot of things still to say about the Peace Corps, about Africa, about Benin, and about my life. And I know y'all are still listening, so thank you.

I'm updating my wish list to include more vegan, gluten-free items (more on that later...with a recipe and pictures!), and I'll be posting a few entries today and working on med school applications all day. I'm in Cotonou, just living it up. I live in Africa, man. And life is good.

whoa

I was just asked to remove blog content. Ironically, it was nothing political, but profanity. I am very upset that anyone would think me unprofessional and apologize to anyone I offended by posting my unedited thoughts. I assure you all that I am nothing but professional in practice in my work here and all frustrations are, of course, handled in appropriate ways.

I highly doubt I will be posting often during the second year of my service. I have been effectively scared off. It's unfortunate; I really did consider my blog to be one of the best ways of fulfilling the third goal. I'll be on every now and again with very generic updates, but i doubt the blog will be as free in the future. I'm also deleting my twitter. I have never considered anything I've posted there to be off putting, but I didn't think anything here was, either. I have too much on the line right now to risk it.

So I hope you've enjoyed the blog! I can't believe it's been a year.

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.

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

Happy New Year!

January 09, 2011
8:42pm

I have finally gotten back to my place after what has been a month of travels and holidays. Colt has been and gone, we’ve rung in the new year, my three month integration period is officially over, and in less than a week, my stage will have been in country for half a year. Before I delve too much into that whole passage of time thing, I thought I’d let everyone know that this Friday, the 14th, 20/20 is supposed to be airing the special on Kate Puzey’s death. Please tune in and someone send me a copy!

Colt was here for almost 15 days and it feels like we built a little life for us here during his time. Christmas morning was a blur of travel to Djougou and we basically showered and crashed into bed for several hours. I think he had been traveling for like 40 hours or something by that point. We woke up on the 26th and did our Christmas morning then. We took lots of ridiculously adorable photos and made dinner…tacos! Then we basically spent the rest of the week eating local food and watching an insane amount of 30 Rock and Inception (I almost convinced him to let me watch it a third time, but he convinced me to watch some Californication instead). We enjoyed each other’s company and fell into a lovely sort of routine that involved meeting up with some of my friends here, eating too much, and seeing my village. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. New Years’ was rung in with card games, cake, and champagne. Colt read Ender’s Game while I continued to gavage myself with 30 Rock and we started to get a little sick of each other. I think the constant cold showers started to get to him…no hot water and it is damn cold in the mornings here during Harmattan. We smoked some hookah on my roof the last day we were in Djougou and got yam pilee once more with cold cokes and then watched Pineapple Express and giggled like dorks while we cuddled. Ahhh. Then we stayed two nights in Cotonou where we just ate out at all the nice places I can never afford (Chinese, Thai, Lebanese, etc) and his last day we spent at the workstation while I was sick and throwing up for several hours (good timing!). He held me, though, and although we ended up not getting to go out to Indian food that night like we’d planned, it was nice to just spend those last hours alone and close. I did feel sort of guilty though…but I guess I shouldn’t have tried to be so macho and drink the shower water. That’s what I get haha. His flight left on the 7th late at night and he has safely arrived back home and had Christmas with his family. I sent a bunch of random African gifts for him to disperse to various people, just little trinkets and stuff, nothing fancy (I am so broke right now!). It was a wonderful visit, we took lots of pictures and videos, and hopefully the next 8 months and 3 weeks will pass by without hardly any notice at all! Yeah, we’ll see about that. =(

Hmm, let’s see…what else? Big projects are starting to get going now that I’m allowed to really jump into work…several girls and boys camp meetings are going on this month and I am going to get back into going to the health center regularly in addition to my time at the office. I need to get some scrubs made for the maternity so I can help with births, but until then I am going to help out a midwife nurse when she inserts IUDs and Norplant birth control. The Peace Corps has restructured some of its goals so that now what was my primary project (sexual health and family planning) is now technically a secondary project…so I also need to try to get more involved with the maternal health side and do more prenatal consultations and stuff with the midwives. In a really bullshit red tape move, the Peace Corps noticed that volunteers weren’t meeting family planning goals, so instead of giving us more training or directive, they just decided to abolish that program as a major source of focus, thereby making the stats look better, but not fixing the underlying issue. That’s just one example in a growing list of examples about Peace Corps administrative bureaucracy that seriously hinders volunteers’ ability to effectively work abroad. Sigh. Onto more pleasant things…

Er…yeah, I got nothing. Oh! Next month I’m going to Pendjari, the national park, with Andrew and Krista, Eric, and a couple other people. I had originally planned on going with Colt when he was here…but well, that didn’t work out. So too bad for him, I guess I’ll just send him a picture of the awesome lions I’ll see!

It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for 6 months already. Time has really flown by it seems and yet it feels like I’ve been here for soooo long. For some reason I can feel like I just boarded the plane from Kansas City a couple weeks ago and also feel like I’ve been here for years simultaneously. I guess it was the same thing in college; day to day felt insanely drawn out, but by the time I graduated, I felt like I’d just blinked and it was over. I do wish I would have savored my time at Wellesley a little more, but I think I did okay. Similarly, I think I’ll do fine here in my looking toward the future and yet relishing my moments in the present. I suppose there will a time when I look back on my service and wish that I would have just been more involved in the day to day small things and knowing that keeps me a little more grounded even though I just want it to be a year from now so badly. The time will come, though, and probably sooner than I think I’ll be saying goodbye.

And when I do…I’ll be a vegetarian again. Because right now…well, I’m not. Not exactly. I’ve decided to be an Afri-tarian. I only eat meat while I’m here in Africa. I’m just so protein deficient especially if I want to avoid palm oil fried wagasi. I’m also basically a vegetarian for economic reasons stemming from the commercial meat industry in the United States, which clearly does not exist here. So I’m eating fish and poultry which I haven’t eaten since 2004. The chickens here are all free range and crustaceans are basically just big bugs anyway. I’m actually sort of grabbing onto meat eating with gusto. I was calling myself a ‘meatatarian’ for a while, especially while gnawing the bones of a particularly tasty guinea fowl when colt was here. I’m planning on enjoying it while I can and reverting back when I finish up here, although there is something to be said about spending my money on free range meat in the United States as it adds an even more forceful economic incentive for companies to use humane treatment of their livestock. I’m not sure, we’ll see.

Moving on…Medical school packets for the advisory committee are due in a couple weeks so I need to really get cracking on that. Hopefully that will keep me busy enough to not count down the days until I see Colt again. I need to have an awesome application so I can go home to interview!

And speaking of that, I wanted to publicly declare that Colt and I are clenched into a competitive battle to lose weight. Whoever reaches their goal weight first gets to decide the number of children we’ll have in the future. This is not a decision he will get to make. Thus I must win. So please, no one send me pasta or sugar. If it’s in my house I’ll eat it, but if it’s not, then I will be the champion. Send Colt, however, lots and lots of goodies. I’ll update my wish list to include canned or packaged tuna and mints instead of chocolate and velveeta cheese…as much as that pains me.

I guess that’s it for now…things should start to get back to a semblance of routine, or at least as routine as is possible in Benin. For example, tomorrow is a voodoo national holiday and I don’t have to go in to work. Hello, Lord of the Rings marathon! My life is sort of awesome, yeah?

See ya when I see ya,

Elaina

IST

Interservice Training has been super boring and also awesome. We've been able to all see each other and hang out with dance parties on the roof of Songhai and Israelis, moto crashes, project designing tools, local language practice, practice sensibilizations, and very couth evenings of johnny walker red and coke. I must say it's been practical and interesting and amusing. Imorou is definitely the homologue who walks the walk and talks the talk which is not always as awesome as it sounds.

I had forgotten how muggy and humid it is in the south. it sucks. i had also forgotten how to discuter zem prices and deal with the super aggressiveness of the fon people. i miss djougou and my bed and shower although we are sleeping in air conditioning now.

i saw the host family and had more conversation with them than i did in like the 9 weeks i actually lived with them. i think my french has definitely improved ou bien i am just less terrified of speaking now and making crazy mistakes.

So I'd like to type more about this bountiful week but all i can think about is the fact that colt is on a plane right now getting ready to land in new york...and then he'll be IN BENIN with MEEEEE in like a day and a half (ok, it's precisely 31 and a half hours not like I'm counting down or anything).

We are going on safari, and rocking it in djougou and having soooo much...FUN!

So, yeah, I probably won't update or be on facebook or talk to another human being until 2011. So, sorry in advance and HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

love and miss you all, please send letters and chocolate,
xoxo
e

A bar watchi wei-tachi et wagasi waranka

I've been learning a lot of Dendi lately; the title is something I ordered for lunch today. Local language is not really necessary for me because I live in a big city where everyone speaks french, but I really enjoy learning it. Sofia and I (the German volunteer in Djougou who, who in highschool, spent a year abroad in Wichita freaking Kansas--damn it's a small world) are planning on taking Dendi lessons together. Whenever she and I hang out we speak this cool combination of french, english, quasi-german (i know a few phrases), and now some dendi. it's pretty trippy.

A good friend of mine from college is joining me in the Peace Corps world of West Africa and will be in Mali at the end of January. I know I was already getting ready to plan a Mali trip for next summer, so it works out pretty spectacularly. I'm glad someone from home will be able to commiserate now haha

So this is really just an update post...Thanksgiving is coming up and a lot of us are going to Nati. I am going to try to bake an apple pie. I am now officially helping my office here with learning english...at 7am three times a week, ugh. i have started getting ready for the med school application season as i have officially received my wellesley college admissions committee packet. I am considering adding like three more random Chicago schools since I really want to go to school there. Naturally, my top choice is Northwestern followed closely by the University of Chicago, but honestly I'd be pretty stoked to go to Rush or Loyola or where ever as long as it's in the Windy City, you know? Hmm, what else? Ah, I learned a new french phrase that perfectly sums up what i am supposed to be doing here: faire faire. It basically means that I am to make others do things, to facilitate behavior change, to help the Beninese help themselves. Faire faire.

I can't remember if I mentioned it, but last week was the Muslim holiday, Tabaski, or Eid ul-Adha, a three day holiday that commemorates Abraham’s (Ibrahim’s) submission to the command of Allah in sacrificing his son, Ishmael. The Koran describes Abraham in the following passage:"Surely Abraham was an example, obedient to Allah, by nature upright, and he was not of the polytheists. He was grateful for Our bounties. We chose him and guided him unto a right path. We gave him good in this world, and in the next he will most surely be among the righteous" (Koran 16:120-121). Before Abraham was able to sacrifice Ishmael, Allah intervened and communicated that his devotion was evident through his willingness to obey the word of Allah, thus his sacrifice fulfilled. Allah gave Abraham a ram to sacrifice instead. The people celebrate the holiday by attending mosque services and praying and then sacrificing insane numbers of goats. Some families save up for an entire year to buy a goat so that they can have a good Tabaski. I myself went to the nearest mosque and prayed with my friend, Affissa. She came by my house and we performed our ablutions, ritual washing of our faces, hands, and feet. We then went to the mosque where she handed me prayer beads and I pulled my headscarf over my hair so that my body was almost completely covered. The room I was in had only women and anyone under the age of 15 was definitely more preoccupied with me than their prayers...oops, haha. Afterward I went back to my house and ended up missing the goat slaughterings. Oh, darn, maybe next year. We ate good wagasi and yam pilée and drank cold cokes, though, and it was the life. Later, we met up with some friends at a buvette. The entire city was partying for three days straight, even at like midnight, when usually the city is quiet.

Well, that's that for now!

I actually have something super important to talk about, but it deserves it's own entry, so stay tuned for next time,

Elaina

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

Porto Novo

July 20th, 10:25pm Beninese time/4:25pm CST, Contonou

So first thing's first: I bought a phone! And 3000cfa worth of minutes! And then used up 2000cfa talking to mom less than an hour ago! I also called Colt's fam, looking for a number to get in touch with him...but, rather unsurprisingly, they didn't know either. Bad puppy! Dad was also unavailable. Geez, people.

I'm sitting here now in the hotel room in Cotonou, listening to many of the other stagaiers (pronounced in a french-y sort of way like "staahh-gee-airs" meaning "trainees") outside on the patio drinking and enjoying our last night all together. Tomorrow we're off to meet our new host families in Porto Novo where we'll be until September 17th. They are supposed to provide us food and shelter and help us figure out how to do laundry and get to our classes as well as communicate with us in french and help us learn about Beninois culture. The kids of the family are supposed to actually walk us to school on the first day! We got photos of our families and there are 11 people in mine and it looks like 5 of them are teenage girls! Maybe they like Twilight lol. There is a papa with two wives and two smaller kids like age 10 or 11 with another older woman who might be a grandma or aunt. I seriously can't wait to meet them and get to work remembering their names.

Training will be at a primary school in Porto Novo, walking or biking distance from our family's house. The Rural Communicty Health (RCH) and the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) people are all together on one side of the city at one school and the Environmental Action (EA) and the Small Business Development (SED) people are on the other. My married couple friends, Krista and Andrew, are in different schools (Krista is RCH and Andrew is EA), but will live somewhere in the middle of Porto Novo with their host family and will spend most of the day apart. I like them because they are both awesome. Today, the guard of the hotel (who is hilarious, btw and speaks about as much English as I do French) confused me with Krista and asked me if Andrew was sleeping in our room. After a couple really confused moments I just burst into laugher and re-introduced myself. He thought that was pretty funny when I explained and later when Andrew came down, we all joked that he had two blonde wives. Ah, good stuff.

I am really excited to meet my family and nervous about my ability to communicate effectively en francais with them. There are a lot of simple things I really just don't remember how to say and my vocabulary is ridiculously bad. For the most part I remember a lot of verbs and basic conjugation, but that was always my strong suit. Ask me how to say "window" or "monkey" in french and I will be lost.

During my long and very expensive (haha, mom, I love you) conversation with my mom, I mentioned that I had like a million mosquito bites and she expressed surprise since I had written earlier here that I had yet to see a mosquito. Well, just to clarify, I still haven't SEEN one, but I have seriously 23 bites on my lower limbs (none above the ankle yet though...). The little suckers are tiny and for some weird reason I really haven't actually caught one in the act yet, even though it feels like I am getting attacked pretty hardcore right now. I don't know how they get under the mosquito net at night! Ah!

I started my mefloquine today (that's the one that is supposed to give us crazy dreams) to prevent malaria. Not to alarm anyone, but apparently I missed one of my doxycycline doses this week. I have one extra pill in my case that I shouldn't. Oh well. I told the doctor during my medical interview this morning and she said that since I am doubling up today with the doxy and the mefloquine that I should be protected. Malaria is a truly interesting disease. One that I do not want, but sort of do in a strange masochistic way. But don't worry, that one doxy miss was a one time deal; I'll be taking the mef once a week on schedule like a good girl. The most common malaria strain here also happens to be the most deadly and I'd rather not risk it, call me crazy.

Things I want to buy in Porto Novo: multiple traditional skirts and full African outfits, a big purse/bag for all my shit bc I don't like carrying around my backpack all the time, a wallet/change purse for my money and la petite monaie (coin change...basically anything less than 1000 francs is a coin), and my kickass, awesome, will-be-planning-it-every-time-I-see-a-place-to-buy-tissue wedding dress. I'm SURE I will think of other things to purchase with my HUGE Peace Corps salary*. I love SHOPPING!

I shorted out my surge protector by trying to plug it into the universal adaptor I brought that I had plugged into the wall here. There was a big spark and then smoke started coming out of it. I'm sort of confused because it says that it works for up to 330 V and the voltage here is 220 V...compared to the United States of 120V....so whatever. I can just buy a universal power strip for like 300 francs. I don't understand this technology stuff. But fuck, I love my netbook. It is really portable and light, small and convenient. Almost as cool as me.

I am going for another run tomorrow morning with K and A and a couple other people. It is really funny to see the look of surprise on people's faces when they see all the yovos running in unison down the street at 6:30 in the morning. I'm sure running in PN or village will be much more fun because it's even more unusual there. Score!

AH. Traditional Beninese food was today. The food we've been having is a sort of Americanized toned down version with couscous or rice or pasta with some sort of tomato and onion based sauce with a meat or cheese side and white, french baguette bread. That is not necessarily the stuff that the Beninois eat. What they have is pate with sauce. It's pronounced "pot" and it is made from some grain that I can't remember that they boil until it's sticky and solid. They use that to pick up the sauce with the right hand (the left hand is taboo in Beninois society). The sauces I've had are the tomato which I like, the vegetable legume one which is delicious, and the okra one...which is like snot in color and consistancy and disgusting. The pate has no flavor itself and can come in either blanc or noir or rouge, but I've only tried the first two and only liked the white one. They also have a kimchi like fermented pate blanc and that was pretty gross, too. The cheese is okay if it is fresh (I can't remember what it's called), but if it's a few hours old it is waaay too sour and I can't really choke it down. The salads I've had here are awesome; just lettuce, tomato, and onion with egg halves and some sort of really light mayonnaise sauce. It's tasty! And they also had some fried potatoes today that were delicious and the best fucking croissants I've ever had are served during our coffee and tea breaks here at the hotel but I'm not sure if they're a staple item. They don't really do dessert here, which is a bummer, but I had an oreo today from another volunteer who brought them with him. Tres delicieux. I'm really curious about what my host family will be cooking for me tomorrow night. They know I'm a vegetarian and apparently it's not a big deal to let them know what I like and dislike. Well, I think I can say that in French. Je l'aime or je ne l'aime pas.

I can't remember if I mentioned it, but the ipod is in working order, thanks to monsieur Colt S. Sellens. Merci, mon amour. <3 Speaking of all that, there is one other engaged person here, a guy named Scott, who has only been dating his lady since March! So...whoa. I know a few people are in long term, committed relationships, too, but besides the married folk, I am pretty sure mine takes the cake. When people find out they immediately express their support if I decide to ET (early terminate). Those comments would annoy me if they weren't so close to the truth of how I've been feeling sometimes!

But come on! I bought a cell phone! Tres cool, non? I just WISH WISH WISH my babyluv had a way for me to get in touch with him...Since it will probably be several days before I even get a chance to post this. Ahhh, nothing is reliable here or easy to plan around.

But hell, TIA, man, TIA.

Elaina

PS. TIA means "this is Africa" for all of you who have not seen Blood Diamond or anything else related to foreigners in Africa...

PPS. It is actually like that here. You should watch M. DiCaprio in that if you want to see where I am. That's in Liberia which is a bit northeast of here, but it's basically a good depiction of West Africa.

PPPS. I have not yet lost the African gamble. Google it. That's all I have to say about that.

PPPPS. If you want my phone number in l'Afrique just message me on facebook or email me. Don't post on my wall something you really want me to read and respond to, bc I'll only have time to do that in extreme situations of free internet time. So let me know and I'll get you the digits or you can get them easily enough from ma mere if you can get in touch with her sooner than I'll be able to check online again! I love and miss you all and thanks for reading =D

E

*I don't have a huge salary. I was being sarcastic. I make 94,000cfa a month which is a bit less than $200...which will still be one of the highest paid in my village, but is definitely not enough for Cotonou or Porto Novo shopping sprees. Oh well.

July 22^nd, 22:34pm Benin time, 4:34pm CST, Porto Novo, Benin

This is the second night I’ve stayed at my host family, the Hounzounkou family. They are all really nice and want to help me with my french, which is painfully bad when put into a situation where the only thing I can speak is the language. There is a mama, a papa, a big brother, a younger brother, a big sister, and a younger sister who all live in the same house with me, but there is another mama and at least one or two other youngish girls who all live in the same family compound in a different area I think. My host maman who I see the most is really nice and speaks English, but she said she wasn’t going to let me use it at all and I heard her telling the kids to go talk to me in french, haha. The older sister, Amelie, is also nice, but very direct. She doesn’t smile unless you are having a conversation with her. She is 17. Ricardo is 12 and he is my favorite so far. Genevieve is 13 and she is also really nice. The papa said in English last night when he came home from work “you will pass a good time with us!” so that made me laugh. I only talked to him for a little bit because I am really tired pretty early and I don’t think he always stays in this maison. I think it’s a little like Big Love, lol.

Tonight after dinner (a huge salad with beets and lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, and eggs on top of spaghetti with a mustard viniagrette sauce. Actually not too bad, but definitely weird lol. But there were pineapple pieces on the side that were the best freaking pineapple I’d ever had like ever. Like actually it might have been the best fruit I’ve ever had. And since I really like fruit, that means it was like one of the best tasting pieces of food of my life. SO GOOD.)....so after dinner, both mamans and Ricardo, Amelie, Genevieve, and another sister who maybe doesn’t live here, but maybe does, but I think she might be the daughter of the other maman, Estelle, hung out in the huge livingroom with a chandelier and watched an Argentinian soap opera that is dubbed in French. I sort of tried to study my french, but mostly listened and tried to catch stuff.

Basically if someone speaks slowly and directly to me, I can understand like half of what they are saying. The rest of the time I am primarily lost.

Amelie walked me to the school where I have my lessons this morning. I studied French all day pretty much and got some rice and beans with tomato and onion sauce for lunch from an apparently reputable vendor. It was fine, but I really need to lay off the carbs. Whew.

Tomorrow I have school at the big compound place called Songhai that is really nice. It is far away from my house and I am like 90% sure I have to take a zemi to get there which will be...interesting. But I have my helmet! J’ai un cas!

Ok, I am exhausted and SO HOT. There is no air in my bedroom. I REALLY need a fan. Or I am going to die. NEED AIR!

I am attempting to boil and filter my water tomorrow. So far, I’ve lasted on three huge water bottles from the hotel, but that is running out and it is time to get down to business.

Oh, I guess I should say that I have electricity, but no running water. There is a well where I get my shower and toliet water from and I bring it inside and then use the plumbing like normal, but pour the water in. Sort of like dad’s house when the water would get shut off lol. I took a bucket bath today and actually found it surprisingly pleasant; I was very conscious of each drop of water that I was using and really felt intellectually stimulated by the process. We’ll see if it gets old.

Oh! Also, the YOVO YOVO song business has started. I LOVE it and think it’s adorable, but other people really hate it and get annoyed. It’s just little kids, but whenever they see us, they start chanting in a sing song voice, “yovo, yovo, bonsoir. Ca va bien, merci.” And it was totally stuck in my head all day. It’s pretty cute. They get these huge smiles on their faces and start clapping and jumping up and down and grab their friends, calling out the words. They just seem so happy to see us! I don’t think my own mother is ever that happy to see me! Haha

Ok, I like it here, c’est tout! Je suis fatiguee!

Elaina Hope

Friday, porto Novo, 7:16CST, 1:16 Benin

I MISS COLT and this internet SUCKS. waaaaaaa

C'est tout =(

E

Staging Update!

'Allo tout de monde! I apologize in advance for the length of this one! It includes both Saturday and Sunday and a bit on Monday!

Saturday: July 17th
I am right now charging my netbook by using an African converter attached to my computer's adaptor in my tiny hotel room in Cotonou. By the way, my computer's name is Madnessinlove which makes me happy everytime I log on.

So I'd like to finish updating about my experiences so far since I was cut off at the bureau yesterday.

Cotonou is awesome. It honestly looks like every African city that I've ever seen on cinema. The roads are sandy and broken, the traffic is crazy, there are low brick buildings surrounded by all sorts of tropical looking plants and trees. There's an element of poverty, although I get the feeling that this city is one of the wealthier areas of the country. Apparently we're near a quasi-swanky locale where all the expats live in the nicest Beninois maisons around.

Before getting to use the internet at the Bureau and talking to Colt (hereby also referred to as either my babyluv, tiger, puppy, Coltibear, or Cranbull...don't ask), I had my FRENCH TEST. That sounds much more intense than it actually was. I went into a tiny little library and chatted with a guy named Habilub. He's one of the language coordinators and he asked me a bunch of questions that I stumbled around with my awful francais. Mostly we talked about my fiance (just because "fiance" is one of the few french words I can remember and I was super glad to be engaged in that moment because I definitely don't remember how to say "boyfriend") and he also asked about my future plans which was fun to talk about. Then I got to ask him about his family; he has two super young daughters that he just lit up about when he answered my question. It was sweet. I sort of wish I didn't do so well because it will be easier to move up a level if I'm placed a little lower than my actual ability than it will be if I am placed right at or slightly above my level. I am predicting either novice high or intermediate low as my initial placement. I will definitely have to reach intermediate high, though before swear in. If we originally place at or below novice mid than we would only have to get to intermediate mid to swear in. So, zut! We'll see.

On my way to purchase credits to use on a current volunteer's cell phone, we decided to stop by Western Union to exchange some dollars. We went with another volunteer who has been in country for a year and she helped us navigate the system. While I was getting the money exchanged, the woman doing the transaction asked (in French) for 50 cfa, which I didn't have and K, the PCV, told her we didn't have it. The woman grumbled about and I asked K what was up. K than explained in English that she probably wanted to keep the extra money for herself and that you have to be super aggressive and just play the game and eventually they'll get frustrated and just make the exchange. That seemed to be the truth because I got my $170 turned into 85,000 cfa a few minutes later ($1= 500cfa). I was totally shocked to hear K talking about this woman right next to her and I realized that she was assuming that the woman did not speak English. So I asked if anyone speaks English and K just laughed and said that sometimes men on the streets know enough to say "I love you, marry me, take me back to America!" It's interesting because I've never been in a situation where people around me don't understand what I am saying; it happens the other way around a lot, though! Especially lately, when so many people are practicing their French around me!

So I was officially called a "yovo," meaning "foreigner" or "white person". And I was called it by another yovo! On the way to Western Union, the few of us pased by a group of white, European tourists who pointed and said "yovo yovo" as we crossed paths. I am sort of excited to hear the song sang by the kids (and, apparently older men to taunt us young women). K sang it as we walked back to the Bureau and it's more of a taunt or chant than a song. I can't remember it very well, but it's something like "yovo yovo, ca va bien merci, donnez moi un cadeau."
In other news, I am soooo happy that I brought my own pillow. The one they gave us at the hotel is lumpy and hard. It seems like a small thing, but trust me. It is nice to be able to almost smell my bed with my babyluv and the fluffy. I'm also glad I brought my own sheets, but I probably won't use them until i get to my homestay family's house in a few days. The hotel ones suck, but i can handle it for a bit.

Our schedule is looking pretty booked solid all the way until...about September. Haha. Until Wednesday afternoon we're here in Cotonou (that's 3 more nights as today is Sunday) doing logistical stuff, learning about the zemijians (the motorbikes that we'll use basically as taxis when in the cities), taking malaria pills (we don't start the mefloquine stuff that gives crazy dreams until homestay), learning about girardhia (it is also sexually transmitted, who knew?), and getting a slow introduction to Beninois food and culture while getting to know each other better. Wenesday we head out to Porto Novo where we will meet our host families and spend the night with them.

I hadn't actually eaten any hardcore Benin food until dinner last night because the two previous meals they'd offered it I had either been asleep or locked in my room. Yeeah, I'll explain. Friday night I fell asleep after we arrived and I cried into my pillow for 20 minutes, breakfast is just tea and croissants (omigosh, though, they're the best croissants I've like EVER had, all soft and crumbly and buttery I've eaten like 7 of them haha), and then for lunch they had traditional food, but yesterday I managed to get locked in our room which locks the inside when you lock the outside and my roommate had left and taken the key and no one heard me call for her to come back haha. So I just wrote in my coltjournal (they're like journal entries, but addressed to colt as a letter and I'll give him the book as a gift when i get back) and hung out in the room until she came back after lunch to let me out. I also had a snack around tea time, but it was just like a buttery, cheesy croissant thing. I have not been very hungry, though. Traveling takes a lot out of me and I'm definitely jet lagged.

But I had lunch today! Yay! It was...interesting.Couscous with sauce and meat on the side with bread. I skipped the meat and had this interesting fried cheese stuff. It’s pretty gross, but I might be able to get used to it if I really need protein. The couscous was good. Dinner was macaroni and a tomato and onion sauce stuff with meat and you guessed it, bread. I think I'll need some getting used to it, but I can live with it. And when we filled out homestay forms, there was an option to check vegetarian, so I think I might get accomodated with my host family. I am super nervous to meet them. I hope they are a good blend of caring and independent. I definitely need my own space, but I want to be able to get support when I need it. I should be able to update soon after I find out about my host family on Wednesday, but I'm not totally sure about access in Porto Novo.

Cotonou, though, is bad ass. The Bureau is so cool. K, the PVC from yesterday, is currently in the process of moving to Cotonou to act as a PCVL (Peace Corps Volunteer Leader). PCVL's run the 4 PC workstations around the country and act as support for PVCs. It sounds pretty sweet, especially considering the regular internet access and cool administrative duties. It's a long way in the future for me at this point in my PC life, but that sounds wicked to me.

Another thing that seems awesome is serving as a married couple. There are two in country now and two more that just arrived in my stage. They are all so freaking adorable it makes me soooo angry and at the same time I am drawn to them for some reason. I made friends with a couple from Minnesota who actually sort of look like colt and me. It's a little weird actually. It's nice because you've got a built in buddy, a support system in place, someone to bunk with and share the experiences with. It really makes me jealous and I spent about an hour yesterday plotting a way to get Colt to come with me somehow. But alas, it isn't possible. The only way it would happen would be if we go later and I quit now. I'm not a big quitter and things have just started. If I'm miserable for 8 months straight, though...after training and after checking out post for 6 months...and I still am having a really hard time, well, then maybe I'd quit. I just wouldn't leave now unless I was sure I didn't want it, and there's no way to know that until i get to my post site.
So I am having fun now and just going with the flow, day to day. I'm worried the pace of life might be too slow for me. I don't like hanging around with nothing specific to do. i guess I could read or work on my novel. Hmmm, a nap sound pretty nice. Haha, maybe a slow pace will work afterall, lol.

Anyway, I suppose that's all for now. Not much different today than yesterday. Shots and talks! =D Oh, and i have yet to see a mosquito, although everyone is hyper aware of malaria and there is standing water all over the place. I'm sure I will soon enough, especially since one volunteer the first night whispered ominously, "you WILL get malaria." Greeaaat.

With love,
Elaina

Sunday: July 18th

Bonjour! We got our French assignments and I am in the intermediate group as expected. There are 6 groups in my sector (health), and I am in the third one. So I’m definitely not the worst, but I’m certainly not the best speaker. I need to improve a lot and I am not really looking forward to that. Ugh.

I am definitely making friends. I really like the married couple that looks like me and colt.
I was not as sad today as I have been; Africa is like mad cool and takes away some of the missing my family and babyluv feelings. I have been writing a lot in my coltjournal and sharing my feelings with other people to help get out the sad! Haha, it seems to work. We played frisbee a bit today.

Today we talked about Katie, the volunteer who was killed last year. The official people couldn’t really give us any information, but the current volunteers gave us the low down on the events around her death. Since I am responsible for what I put on this blog, I don’t want to talk about an ongoing investigation to the world, but feel free to ask me about it if we’re talking and I’ll relay the info. It was interesting to say the least and I am definitely safe here, so no worries! It was an isolated and very specific instance.

We went a walking today around Cotonou and saw some sights. Bought ice cream (who knew??) and talked a lot in French with the language instructors. I am really trying to not hate this language, but I really just wish I could speak it well enough to get by. Ahhhhh, I hate learning languages! But it’s definitely necessary. Gaahhh.

No cell phone yet, but I borrowed someone’s phone again to talk to Colt for like 8 minutes today. I want to call other people, but it’s so expensive that I really have to wait until I have my own phone and credit to use which HOPEFULLY will be tomorrow. There are a few sympathetic volunteers who said they would try to help us out. I’m seriously going crazy without access to regular conversation with him. Honestly, if they try to put me somewhere without phone service I will probably either refuse to accept that post or quit early once I try it out. I have got to be able to discuter avec mon fiance!

I decided not to drink here. Everyone kind of goes nuts with the alcohol and I am just not sure if I’m using it in the right ways...I don’t want to self medicate, you know? So, no alcohol until I feel secure and happy with everything. Maybe that won’t happen at all, so for now I remain a teetotaler.

Tomorrow should be fun. I hope. We have specific project discussions with the people in our sector (there’s SED/IT, RCH, EA, and TEFL) and that is all morning. After lunch we are heading to the Bureau for APCD interviews where we will give our preferences for posts (I WANT PHONE SERVICE AND ELECTRICITY! AND EASY ACCESS TO INTERNET!) and we will also learn about the zemis. I’ll get my helmets and get fitted for my bike, as well. When we aren’t doing those things, we’ll have a lot of down time, enough so that I can upload this blog entry and get on facebook and stuff. I really want to be able to facebook chat or skype chat with colt or even actually video skype with him, but I hear the connection doesn’t really work very well for that, so hopefully i will get some message to him and my fabulous family. I tried emailing mom and dad; haven’t had time to check for a response.

I guess I should sleep now. I am going for a run tomorrow morning with the married couple and another older volunteer. Whoo! Tomorrow when i put this online, I’ll try to give a quick update as well. I miss you all and hope you’re having fun! Please email me and tell me what you’re up to! elainahope@gmail.com!

I’M IN AFRICA HOLY COW,
Elaina

PS. MY IPOD IS FROZEN. How do I fix it???? It is so sad because I really really really want to listen to music that reminds me of KANSAS and LOVE. PLEASE HELP. FACEBOOK ME or SOMETHING.

Monday

Hey y'all! I'm in the PC Bureau right now updating. The internet makes me nervous so I want to post this huge entry before I update again. If I have time I will do another post, but we're doing trainings and interviews and stuff so I'm not sure. At any rate, I am thinking I won't get a phone today...maybe tomorrow, but my fit throwing isn't really working, so honestly it might not be until Porto Novo. Ugh.

If I don't get to get on here again, I meet my host family on Wednesday night, woo! I'm excited to meet them and hope they have cute kids.

Au revior,

E