Almost Fourth of July Post

It's been a long time since I posted. I'll try to make it a good one.

My parents came to visit for about a week, which was a lot of fun. It's hard to fit everything in with just a week, but we managed pretty well. Their first day, we went to Ganxie marche, which is an open air market in Cotonou, and we bout some tissue to get clothes made. Meme tish, as we say here.

Then we went to the artisans marche to buy masks and bracelets and jewelry. That was a good time but really difficult because I had to negotiate for a ridiculous amount of items and it's tough to get a good price on things that way. But we got it done in the end.

I had to go through a two-day training session, so they took it upon themselves to go out on a hotel tour to Ouiddah and Ganvie on the same day. Ouiddah is the former slave port of Benin and also where one can find "the door of no return." Ganvie is the stilt village, which features some of the worst poverty you'll find anywhere. I guarantee.

Once my training was done we went up to my village, Klouekanme, to meet my Maman in village and see my school, etc, etc...Then the next day we had a chance to meet the village chief and drink sodabi under his tree and have lunch. That was a lot of fun, and a very unique experience, even by Peace Corps Volunteer standards. I regularly make trips with volunteers who want to meet him, Mr. Fagla.

Then it was back to Cotonou, where, after village, poverty doesn't seem quite so bad. They flew out the next day. We rode lots of zemidjans and took bush taxis. I don't think they'll tell you that I babied them, but I may have a little...they did really great though, it certainly isn't easy to deal with the stress of Benin when so much gets squeezed into a week.

Other than that, I just finished my first year of school. I am a little surprised that I survived at all. It was certainly a challenge. If anyone tells you that teaching English to people while using another language as a reference point that neither party understands is easy, they are not you're friend, and you are being lied to. Everyone says that the second year of teaching is easier, and I think that's true. I think that's true mainly because you realize everything you've done wrong over the course of your first year.

We are all already talking about strategies for effective teaching next year, which I think is great.

We also have our new volunteers arriving in a little over two weeks, which everyone is excited about. It'll be weird being top dog, but we'll all be second year volunteers, playing the role of friend and teacher to new volunteers. That's always a tough line to walk, because no one wants to come off as pretentious or arrogant, but we're a fun-loving group of people, so it should all work out.

I guess that's all the news on this front. Any one interested in visiting Benin should speak to my folks, and they will make you want to come more.