Kayla in Benin :)

Almost to the end!

2012-05-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I am coming down to my last three months here in Benin. Here in Lokossa. Today is May 6th, 2012 and I am showered and feeling good. I actually have a show going on in my house. My dogs are jumping around like maniacs, running room to room, bed to bed; it is quite the show. The sun is shining, but not too brightly for me to sweat to death right after taking a cold shower. So, I have to tell you, I have been to the hospital a lot lately; not for me, no. There have been family friends’ who have been really sick with stomach problems and two very important babies being born. The hospital is not the place to be. The people who know me know that I cannot stand the hospitals in America; I practically pass out being there. But, here in Benin, it is awful. Not so clean, let’s say. I can’t count how many times I used hand sanitizer just standing in a hallway not touching anything. The smell could really make you sick. The patients have a little room shared with many others; they bring their own food and water, and wear whatever panya they have come in. It is a very different system.. Needless to say, the family friends turned out just fine. They were able to scrounge the money from their family and friends in order to pay for their medicines, vitamins, syringes, and nights in the hospital. It costs about 4 dollars a night to stay in the hospital, the doctor prescribes medicines and vitamins, syringes, IV’s etc and you or a family member are to go buy them before they can be treated. So, you guessed it-no money, no service. There is not an insurance plan here for the Beninese people. Well, not that I know of. Every time, I just see people scrounging around for money here and there. Okay, back to the very important babies! There was a baby girl born and her name is KAYLA! Well, that is part of her name. She has a village name, plus Kayla Violet (Violet was a French girl who came to Benin and worked in the forests up north for a couple of months). Isn’t that so cool? I was super happy about my name finally being able to stay in Benin! I have been trying and trying to convince that Mama’s to name their child, Kayla. It happened. She is a beauty too! But, she seems to have a belly ache quite often. I asked the Mama if she burps the baby and she had no idea what burping was! It is true; they do not burp their babies here. I have not seen a single baby being burped. Okay, and then there is the second very important baby. A baby born was born on May 4th, 2012. On the French calendar, which Benin uses, there are names next to each date. Guess whose name is next to May 4th? Sylvain’s! So, the baby could be named Sylvain, but instead he was named CURTISS! I do not know the rest of the name, but baby Curtiss it is! Great! My first and last name will be in Benin forever! I feel accomplished! He is super cute too. I hope to go take pictures of him today. Well, now I have to tell you about my experience in the maternity ward for the first time here in Benin. What a crazy place, but really normal for everyone here. It does not faze them one bit. Okay, so when I first was walking up to the maternity “open way” because there is no door so I cannot say “doorway,” the sign said “Bonne Maternite” which mean Good maternity. I bet every woman wants to rip that sign down! They are in labor and they aren’t very happy and they see a sign that is kind of mocking them. I don’t know, I wouldn’t be happy to see the sign. Also, here in Benin, the men stay outside, practically on the curb. They are not to go into the maternity ward until the mother and the baby are taken to another room. They do not get to see the baby for awhile. It is very different. Anyways, during their time waiting, the men have to go to the pharmacy right around the corner to pay for medicine for the wives. So, what if the money wasn’t available? That would be a difficult situation. Okay, now here is a question! How do baby girls pee better than I do? I mean, if I pee outside or in a latrine (because there is no other place to pee) it is an accomplishment to not splash pee on my feet! They are professionals. Find a spot (anywhere because they are baby girls and that is accepted here), pull down the panties (usually all they are wearing), squat, pee, pull up panties (no they do not wipe), and go on their merry way. Can you imagine? Professionals, I tell you! Also, how many flies can land on the table where I am eating before I get angry? I still have not gotten over this disgusting fly problem here. I mean, who could? Gross. I have washed my own table with soap and water many times and the waitresses never get it! There are whole families that come join me for lunch almost every time! Little ones all the way to queen flies. Gross. Ew is right! So, I am glad April is done and May is here. April was a long month. I took one week of vacation and I was in Cotonou for one week sick. All better now. Anyways, May is here and now we have one week of tests. Tomorrow is the last day (Monday) then one day of class, one day with a meeting, and the rest of the week Culture Days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). Friday and Saturday I am going to head to Lobogo to hang with Dione while we do a world map painting at her CEG (school). It should be lots of fun! Can’t wait! And then there is the COS (Completion of Service) conference. We are going to be staying at Hotel du Lac which should be really nice. I hope there is a pool there. I will take my swim suit just in case. At the conference, we are going to choose COS date! How exciting! I am hoping to get a date in August so I can go to Paris and Spain for a couple (2) of weeks. I have a friend who is living in Spain with her husband. I went to college with her and would really love to see her again! Also, during the conference, we are going to be going over all kinds of paperwork that needs to be done before the COS date. I am going to have to go through all of my stuff and return a lot of things to Peace Corps. I am also going to have to give away a lot of my things including my dogs. I will not be able to take care of them in the states, plus my sister is allergic. They will stay with Sylvain. They love him. So, yeah, I am counting down the months even though it is going to be difficult to leave, I have my future to look forward to. I have to get back to school and get back into the swing of things soon. I am not getting any younger you know! Haha! But, for now, I get to enjoy the smells of incents that I bought the other day so my house smells good and eat lots of carbs. I still have Fourth of July to celebrate before I come back to the states. I have my flags, flag plates and napkins, and some decorations to put up. Will give an update later gator!

Oh Benin and your day to day life!

2012-04-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well, today is April 1st 2012 and Benin has a helmet law! Everyone is to wear helmets or they will pay the price, whatever that may be. But what about the babies that are carried on the backs of mothers or little toddlers who have to sit in between the motorcycle driver and parent? Are there helmets for them? Not that I know of! I do not know how long the “law” is going to last, but it’s a start. Okay, so there is a helmet law and all of the vendors are selling helmets or shall we say “something to put on your head.” People are wearing construction hats, fruit shells (like watermelon) with straps on them, old air force helmets/head covering, baseball and softball helmets, anything they can get their hands on. Also, there are people that actually bought decent helmets, but they wear them backwards because the plastic covering bothers their eyes, on their arms instead of their heads, and on their handle bars! Why buy a helmet if you aren’t going to wear it correctly. Now, we come to the problem of people who do not have enough money to buy a helmet. They have to worry about food in their children’s mouths before a helmet. That is the risk they are taking. I went to Cotonou the other day and funny questions run through my head. Why do people yell out “white person?” Do they find pleasure in seeing me turn and look at them? Is it a game to see who sees the “yovo” first like we do with deer in the woods on a hike or car ride? Why must everyone want to know what I eat and how I eat? You know, I am here in Benin, if I don’t eat your food then I would be hungry all of the time! Why don’t the taxi rides smell so bad anymore? Is it because I smell bad now and can’t tell the difference? Can my right arm get any tanner? I mean the sun’s rays beat down so hard on my arm? How long is that baby going to stare at me before his eyes pop out? If every taxi driver carried a trash bag in his car, how much less litter would there be? Everything is thrown out the window. How many times do I have to listen to the same song with the same beat in this taxi? I happened to have the same taxi driver going to AND from Cotonou today and we listened to the same 4 songs up and back! Are you serious? Is my head going to explode? Maybe one day. Well today is Thursday April 5th, 2012 and it is my last day of teaching before the big two week break! I need it! The kids and I are not collaborating very well these last couple of days. Oh CRUD, the President just said that there is to be NO Spring Break! Are you kidding me? Back to school on Tuesday for everyone. OH, the kids are going to be so happy! How are the teachers going to react? Can’t wait to see what is going to happen on Tuesday. That is really I’ve got; live for the drama in Lokossa! :p just kidding. But, the good thing about being an American is that we are allowed to take one week off to rest! God Bless the United States of America! So, the week after next, I am going to take the week off (Monday-Thursday). Today, I had a little Easter egg hunt with the neighbor kids! They were super excited! I put gum and little candies in the eggs. We took pictures with snot and drool running down our noses! EWWW!! So, we shared our candy and gum! It was all gone in 2 seconds! Three slices of gum and candies in the mouth all at once! Yummy right? Wrong! Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. There has been a church get together right outside my house since Friday night (6pm-11pm) Saturday (9am-11pm). They are speaking in French and a local language from Togo! How are people supposed to understand a language from Togo in Benin! Most of the older Beninese people can’t even understand French! Oh Lord, please help them! I guess if they are praising the Lord and saying Hallelujah a million and half times, they will get their prayers across. Until then, I keep my sanity at the radio with internet that is a little faster than at home. I am trying to upload videos again, drinking a Sprite from a glass bottle and some bread with a sauce inside! It is actually pretty delicious. Well, I didn’t get the videos to upload, but I started a movie with all the videos and pictures I have. It is going to take awhile, but it keeps me busy and is kind of fun!  I went to Agame village for Easter. We were all decked out in our “same cloth pattern” outfits while we sat outside of a jam packed church service and then we went to the local CEG (middle school/high school). There, we played cool games like “which box is the hamster going to hide in?” and a game like “pin the tail on the donkey” but it was a blindfolded child who had a pair of scissors in his hand walking towards a clothes line full of presents. His job was to cut the present down. It is not as easy as it sounds. We then sat down and watched some singers and dancers as well as the Zangbeto dancing and doing magic tricks! You see, the Zangbeto spins and dances, but is said to be a spirit and nothing else. So, when we tip the Zangbeto over, there is always a lovely surprise gift for the crowd such as a sacrificed animal, a sculpture with a really large and red male body part, etc. We never know what to expect. Okay, after that long day of excitement, I was able to come home and relax. I started reading a book. Go figure. Monday, there was no school, so I was able to relax some more. It rained Monday, but not too much! It cooled off for about 2 seconds. Bummer. Tuesday, I went to school, but hardly anyone was there, so I went home. Today is Wednesday and I wanted to go visit my post mate who is having a rough time at post at the moment! Ugh. I hate those times! Anyways, he happened to come to Lokossa with another PCV. They were at the BESA (Best English Student Award) award ceremony! I wasn’t invited! But, when I walked in, I was greeted with happy faces and handshakes. Thanks for coming, they said. Okay, so I have learned over the years (I can say that now because it has been years here in Benin for me) people don’t invite, they just assume you will know about it and come and enjoy the festivities. I actually was called up to give a student an award and speak in a microphone. I told the student congratulations and that I was proud of him. The crowds cheered! Oh life as a teacher, white person, female, young lady in Benin can be so entertaining! After a lot of dancing, skits, and singing by BESA students, we all gathered together to sing “We are the World” by Michael Jackson! The teachers were singing! We sang together and waved our hands in the air. It was quite the sight! I had fun. Now, I am home. I checked facebook and my emails on my phone, had a chocolate, protein bar, fed the dogs some fish and pate, read some more and wrote review sheets for my classes. Even though, I am on break for a few more days, I think I will give them the sheets to keep them working. You know no one has any idea when the next test is. Teachers are taking their breaks even though the President said no. The students are exhausted and can’t concentrate. Peace Corps is allowing us to take a week off since we have worked since day one. What to do is the very question? Keep on keeping on is what I hear is best! Haha I am sweating to death even though the sun is not out. It has been pretty gloomy lately-like it wants to rain-but the heat is still lingering, but I do get to enjoy an occasional breeze. Or maybe it is just me. Who knows!?

Roller coaster ride...

2012-03-31T02:35:00.000-07:00

The days are just passing by so quickly. I sleep a little because I can’t sleep until around midnight and get up at 6:30-7am. It is either too hot or I have bizarre insomnia. I have had pretty good luck with the kids coming to school this past week and a half. The strike is still going on over 2 months later. The kids were doing everything possible to get the non-government paid teachers out of the class because if there is a strike-everyone is supposed to strike-I don’t know! So, anyways, they didn’t come to school for a couple days for me! But, now they come for the most part and we are almost done with the 6eme book. I checked where the other teachers are in the book and we are all on the same track! So, no worries there. The worry I have is the strike not being over. The President called upon all the ministers, teachers, students’ parents, etc to the palace in Cotonou for a meeting today at 4pm. If they can’t come to an agreement, the year is white! The students will not have any more school, they will have to redo the school year that have already done, repay the tuition/contribution, and no grades will be calculated! Can you imagine paying for a school year, all the supplies, uniforms, etc and then having to do the year all over again. There will be no tests for the kids to take to move up to the next level. Even all of the private schools will be told to stop school until next year! It is a political mess! If there is no school, there is no work for me and no house for me because the school pays my housing! So, I am hoping and praying all works out today in the Presidents Palace as I only have a couple months to go and want to finish up! In the mean time, I have been working on a couple of secondary projects. I am working with the 4eme girls for “Take Your Daughters to Work Day” and I donated a hand washing station for my school. I was able to do a hand washing activity with my classes thanks to my closemate! She helped me with a song: Lave Lave Lave les mains….like row row row your boat! Maybe I will sing it one day for you, yes you! I am trying to get all my paperwork done before I go to Cotonou on Friday morning. That is a pain in itself, but I am doing the best I can! Today is March 22, 2012 and it is 12:33 in the afternoon. Kea is on my left and Timone is at my feet chilling in front of the fan with me on my bed. They have just been fed so all is quiet. My tapioca with sugared milk is cooling on the shelf (made it because it is too darn hot to stay in the kitchen)and have a cut off sleeve on my head with a wet head because I just took a shower shorts and a t-shirt that says “Go Buckeyes!” on the back! But guess what I am still sweating to death and I have to say it “IN A MOOD!” Actually, I have been in this mood for about 3 days now. I do not know how to explain it well, but I will try. I guess this is going to be my “get it all out” blog because I need to get it off of my mind! I am tired of Benin; I just want to wash my clothes in a washer and dry them in a dryer and smell the fresh scent of a dryer sheet! I want to have the option of taking a bath or a shower, not just a maybe cold or maybe hot shower because the pipes are hot! I want the option to choose! I am tired of being sick every time I eat! No, it does not matter if I cook at home or eat out! I boil and filter my water! I am always sick in the stomach! It is a pain I can hardly explain-ouch! Comes and goes as it pleases I should say. If I see one more huge fly flying around my house and close to my ear to mock me I will SCREAM! I think they know and they call their friends! Yes, the flies call their friends, I know it! I want my car to go back and forth to school. It is too hot, my skin in melting! Lotion only helps to a point because the skin just sucks all the moisture out and dries up again within the hour! My legs/belly are pasty white while my feet, arms, a little piece of my shoulders and chest and back are brown! I scare myself in the mirror sometimes! That’s it! I will get rid of the mirror! Great idea! Oh what about sleep? Of course NOT, Kayla! What is sleep? Let’s have bad dreams instead because of the medicine you are taking for malaria, or maybe stress from the “wonderful well-behaved” students that I have! I am waking up in another room; walking in my sleep at age 24! Are you kidding me? No one has the answers! There probably isn’t an answer! And for the strike..is there an end? No idea! Teachers are coming to school, but are they working is the question. They don’t have the love of teaching anymore-their minds are not on school-it is on the government and its strike. I hope it ends soon. So, sorry for the above, I just had to get it out! I know tomorrow will be a better day-maybe this mood will go away. I have had some successes in the past couple of days. I have tutored some girls in English, sang some ABC’s and have not gotten burnt! Sunscreen in my third best friend after the fan and the toilet! Without them, I would definitely be the crazy swamp woman! :P! Everything is going to be all right! Just a roller coaster ride of emotions! I love my job and most of the people here around me. I am almost ready to come home and feel normal again. Well I made it through my Thursday classes! I have four which equals 8 hours of class in one day! Yea, it is normal in the states, but not here! Anyways, the kids were actually ready to learn today...most of them were calm and quiet while copying notes. But, then I came home and had no power for the second day in a ROW!!! which means no fan-until 11pm. I can deal with no lights, but no fan UGH! It is super hot lately with the weather wanting to rain but just being humid instead. So, I slept on a mat in the living room for awhile until the power came back. Friday morning is here and I am up at 6am because I am sweating to death! No power again! Are you serious?! Took a shower, let the dogs out and got ready to go to the bank by 7:30am. I got there at 7:45am and guess what!?! It doesn’t open until 8am. So, I went and had an omelet sandwich and some tea for breakfast with Sylvain before he went to work. So, I went back to the bank by 8:15am and wait in line for about 20 minutes. I finally get to the desk to cash my check from Scholarship Girls Program (25,000cfa) and you know what happened!? The signature (another PCV who signed the check) is not acceptable. It has to be verified by Cotonou’s bank. So, I waited there for about 2 hours-clerks telling me to be patient and how women should not get angry, etc. I guess I looked really mad. But really, come on! So, I finally get up to the counter again and the clerk calls Cotonou-asks me if I can come back-and I say no I want my money, the signature is a good signature! Nope, so he says okay, wait for a FEW more minutes…I sit down and NOW every one of the clerks is going in for a meeting! And we all know meetings can a million years here in Benin, so I am home. I will go back later today after “repo.” I washed my underwear; it is hanging out to dry, swept the floors, fed the dogs, and took a nice long shower, shaved my legs and washed my hair up nice! It is deeply conditioned! My hands are shiverly, but everyone deserves a long relaxing shower every now and then! Right? Well those crazy days are over for awhile because I found a pool in Lokossa! I went there the first day I had a chance! Two days after it opened! It costs 2,000cfa (about 4 dollars) to swim! It was a nice pool, warm, but not too warm and pretty big. Might need it to be cold some days though! I went with 2 other PCV’s! I have to say it helped my morale a little bit. I am ready for another week. Last weekend, I went to the beach and that certainly helped me get through last week. Haha. I guess something is telling me to live close to a beach or have a pool in America! Sounds right! Sounds perfect! I have one more week of school in April and then there is a 2 WEEK break for Easter! What am I going to do with 2 weeksss???? I am going to read a lot of books and go back to the pool of course! I already did my spring cleaning and gave a bunch of things (Christmas decorations, seasonings, candles and such) to a post mate because I certainly will not use them anymore! I only have less than 6 months to go! Yipee! The closer I get to the end of service, the more I think about how tough it is going to be to leave. But, I am certainly tough enough to get through it just as I did to leave the states for 2 years to Benin and struggle to get by/live there. I could really use a good cleaning at the dentist for sure! I have a COS conference in May and there all the PCV’s who came in 2010 will decide the dates for finishing service and get a bunch of paperwork, I am sure. So, until then, all I can say is August (preferred ending time) or mid September. Smile, be happy and have a good day everyone! Always dreaming about that slice of pizza and a cream stick donut! Haha! Xoxo see you soon!

Maybe it is okay to go off the path...sometimes..

2012-02-25T03:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it back from safari! We left Sunday morning and got to Nati but 5pm. It was a long, hot trip on the bus. I slept some, but the roads get the better of me. After we got to Nati, I was able to meet up with the other volunteers who were going on safari with Sylvain and I at the workstation. We decided on going to eat smooshed yams and wagashi cheese/meat for dinner. During that time, I was able to purchase a handmade airplane and yam bowl and smoosher….that is the best I can describe it to you…haha. There was a man who was selling them as he walked by; he made them himself, I am sure. And we only paid 2 dollars! Can you imagine working so hard and only making 2 dollars? Man, I start thinking..how did he eat today? Was he able to take a shower with soap? He didn’t smell bad, but really if we have to choose between eating or bathing, I would choose eating. The following morning at 5:30am I was up and ready for our trip for safari! We brought plantains, apples, peanut butter, bread, peanuts, crackers, and lots of water. We were set, but probably going to be a little hungry during the trip. We heard that the meals were going to be 12 bucks a meal! Are you serious? I guess that is how they make their big bucks! I mean, the people who do not bring anything to eat are forced to either go hungry or buy some food. The drink prices were outrageous as well. So, we were on our way in the back of a truck. We had a cushion seat with a roof in the back with no seat belts of course. Who needs those, right? We were on the road for a couple hours bumping all the way to a town called Batia. We saw village life at its best with mud huts, people building mud huts, and lots of people, children and adults, waving with a smile on their faces. Some didn’t have any teeth, but the smile was beautiful! I am telling you we take too much for granted in the states. I have a new respect for beauty and kindness. We went from pavement to red, dirt roads. My body was not too happy with me traveling in the back of the truck, but I made it just fine despite the semi trucks and skeletons of vehicles that were on the side of the road from previous accidents. We made it to the entrance to the park after 75km of dirt road. The foreigners had to pay 10,000cfa (20$) and Sylvain got to pay 5,000cfa because he was a host country national; from Benin. We took pictures and got a trash bag from the front desk. There was to be NO littering in the park! Thank goodness. It was a rare scene to see no trash in the park though. I was not used to it because everywhere else in Benin was dirty with trash. The first animal we saw was a huge baboon! Sylvain spotted it right away. He had eagle eyes. I think that is why I brought him along-haha-just kidding! The rest of the morning we saw lions, wart hogs, antelope, gazelle, some birds, and more baboons. Most of these animals were at a watering hole with lots of crocoldiles. They were just peeking their heads out of the water because of the heat, but don’t put your toe in-it will get chopped off along with your leg! It was amazing being that close to the animals. I took some video and lots of pictures. The videos take forever to load here in Benin, so I will show them when I get back, but enjoy the pictures on facebook. After the morning session, we had “repo” from 1pm-4pm. I saw so many WHITE people! I saw so many people wearing short shorts, tanks with no straps, and speaking French that I am not used to. The proper French, you know. Everyone slept except for me. I was just super excited and sweaty. Yes, we were in the north and in the dry season. It was HOT! No other words about it. Right after “repo” we came across two elephants, so we thought! They were really close to a watering hole and we heard a HUGE SPLASH! So, of course, having the great driver and guide, we went off the path on foot. We walked to the watering hole and took pictures of 5, yes 5 elephants. They were huge! Their tusks were outstanding and there might have been a lion watching me from behind. Who knows? I took that chance and am okay today. No worries. For the rest of the afternoon, the sun was shining and the storms were rolling in. We had the option to get down from the back of the truck and get into some shelter, but I waited until the last minute and enjoyed every minute of the wind and tiny drops of rain. But when the rain started (which is rare for Feb. in the north) it STARTED! It was muddy in the snap of a finger. We were driving on “ice.” Thank goodness we had a good driver. We didn’t get stuck on the first day. Mission accomplished. He was used to the weather after many years of driving foreigners around to see the animals. He knew all the spots where we could see the animals. What times the animals would pass through and all. It was great. We were lucky we saw the things we did. There are groups who see absolutely nothing. After the adventure, we took showers in the outside areas (there were doors) and ate a nice meal of pig and potatoes. I splurged on one meal! ;) Sylvain had some noodles and chicken for dinner. We drank some boxed wine (one glass) mixed with fizzy cocktail and went to bed in our bungalow. It was so hot in there. I tried not to drink so much water before I went to sleep because I didn’t want to have to go outside in the dark to urinate. Yes, I said urinate. You know there are baboons plus out there. Let your imagination wonder…I didn’t want to get tasted or eaten by the curious WILD animals. Okay, so on to the next day! Woke up at 5:45am to wash, brush my teeth, put on some clothes and go looking for LIONS! I ate some bread with cheese spread and a plantain. I was set to go. We didn’t see any lions, but we saw water buffalo. It was scary because the sun was not up yet, and all we saw big black things in the distance. What is that? Oh my..we need a picture!” is what we were saying! It was great! The sun didn’t shine very much on the second day because of the rainy skies and there were a lot of clouds. I can actually say I was kind of chilly even though it was probably 65 degrees. I stuck it out though. There was no time to think about the cold. The girls (Jenny, Claire, Sam, and Lissa) were drinking some boxed wine during the safari. The talking gradually got louder and louder! The driver dropped them off at the hotel at 11:15am and Sylvain and I continued on after a pit stop at the toilets. We went to a hippo watering hole and Burkina Faso for a minute without a visa. We saw monkeys who were very shy by the way! Again, we got off the path and I toughed it out. I am a changed person. Haha. After “repo” we saw some more antelope and wart hogs. There were so many antelopes! Too many! The lions eat well, I am sure. Probably to make sure that they do not eat us humans! The girls wanted to go in the “log” to see the hippos up close today, but the guide forgot! So, they did it on Wednesday (day three). Sylvain and I stayed on land and got really close to them (three hippos) who kept popping their heads up from the water. We got some good pictures and videos. I was not too fond of the idea, but Sylvain was the adventurous one and the guide kept telling me that the hippos will not come on land until nighttime. Let’s just say I had a lot of confidence for some reason. Maybe an error on my part, but I am here-safe and sound!-After the hippos, we left the park and traveled to the waterfalls in Tangueita. They were beautiful. I jumped in the water in my jeans and shirt. I was soaked, but if I didn’t do it, I would have regretted it for sure. I changed my clothes and we headed back to Nati and got a hotel for the night. I was so worn out from the sun and lack of nutritional foods. I was tired of bread, but thank goodness we had fruit and peanuts! You can never go wrong with bringing food along. It is better for the budget and health. Now, we made it back to Lokossa and I got the pictures up yesterday. I spent around 4 hours putting them up and I hope everyone enjoys them! It was a great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Now, I have to give Kea and Timone a bath and clean the house. Hope all is well at home. I will be there within the next 7 months or so. Take care. Love you all! Xoxox BISOU!!!

to be continued....

2012-02-17T12:34:00.000-08:00

So, safari is coming up pretty soon. Less than a week! We are going to spend about 75,000cfa-80,000cfa plus transportation to Nati which is about…well I will have to get back to you on that because gas is super high because of Nigeria and their problems. We get our gas from Nigeria. Sylvain and I are going to ride his motorcycle to Bohicon and leave it with a friend and then we are going to take a bus to Nati because busses leave at 10-10:30am in the morning for Nati. We will not be able to make it on time if we take two-three taxis to Bohicon. Plus, it is cheaper, but my bum will be a little sore from the motorcycle. But, it is okay-I do not mind suffering a little for the sake of seeing lions and elephants and maybe a giraffe! Priceless. Anyways, I am getting super excited. Sylvain and I are going together with Jenny, Lissa, Claire and Sam, our PCVL in Cotonou. It should be so much fun! Hopefully, we can see the lions, some elephants, monkeys, etc! I am not going to see hippos-I think I might pass. You know they can eat our little boat that has little holes in it—we will have people pouring the water out with plates….I have heard stories. I think I will just take pictures of the “brave” ones as they leave on their journey of hippo hunting. I did it once and almost peed in my pants and didn’t see a single one but if I actually see one or three I might lure them in to bite my boat in half and have a good meal. You know animals can sense fear! So, no hard feelings, I am going to live another day hippo free. Anyways, I am super pumped. This is the one thing I have wanted to do since day one. I went to Cotonou last weekend to see if I had any packages with goodies in them and do some paperwork for Peace Corps. I got the paperwork done, watched the “Poop in a Hole” YouTube video with slow internet in the bureau (it was a funny, yet sadly true video), and ate out at an Indian restaurant. I also spent probably too much on a couple shirts and some things made out of fabric (2 purses, 2 oven mitts, a wallet, and 2 bracelets). We call it the “pink store” because it is a small store on a side road that was painted PINK! There is also another little boutique where artwork is sold. It is called “Hakuna Matata!” Go figure! I didn’t get any packages; actually hardly anyone did! The mail system is not working so well here again. I mean it is never good, but now it is terrible. I hope it shapes up because I have books coming from the states to give to the orphanage. You see I signed up for the “Books On Board” thing for PCV’s who have a need for books during their service. I was one of the lucky ones who were sent books. They should come within 2 weeks until 2 months! Cross your fingers for me pretty please. I know the kids will love the books! I am sitting in bed because I have been sick for a day or so. Hopefully, it is just a 24 hour bug. More like a million bugs in 24 hours, but hey who is counting? The dogs, Kea and Timone, are playing and being goofy. They get so riled up sometimes, they run through the house like crazy dogs. I have a single bed in the living room and a big bed in the bedroom. They run from bed to bed! The floors are slippery, so it is quite the show! Let’s just say it keeps my spirits up on days like today. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, but I do not think anything major is going to happen. Here in Lokossa, there are not any flower stores, heart candy boxes, etc. But, we shall see. Maybe I will get rid of this bug. That would be a great relief! Ok, hold on I will be right back, thank God for a toilet…..:S ugh. Okay, I am back. I just don’t understand, I ate nothing last night from about 3pm-this morning at 8:30 am. I had porridge (Bouille-bwee) and some bread. You think there would be nothing else inside of me?! I guess I just start pooping out my brains. Sorry, I said pooping-it is normal word around here and I use it quite often. Well, I have nothing else to say at the moment…I will write some more this week to let you know how I am feeling/how the strike is going (too long) and my packing list for safari! You know I bought some cool shades and going to get LOTS and LOTS of batteries because I don’t want to miss a beat! Okay byes going to play family feud and some yahtzee on the computer! My life consists of Skip-Bo, UNO, computer games and KINDLE reading in my spare time. RIP Whitney Houston! <3
Well, one more full day at post and then I am off to travel to safari! I am super excited and am getting my packing done now! I will write after the trip…..xoxo

It's been awhile...life goes on. Period.

2012-02-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

My way back to Benin!
Hung out with my parents for a few hours, sat down after a worked said, “would you like to rest your weary bones?” haha priceless! I went through security, a full body x-ray and made it through fine even though there was a lady worker yelling orders left and right. I guess you have to in order to keep the order. Get it? Ha ha anyways, I went to my gate and of course no one let me know that they changed the gate to one down and around the corner. Good thing another lady went and asked about it. I was super confused. It all worked out though. I got some burnt chicken fingers and ranch sauce and ate up. I got on my small plane; two seats on each side. I was ready to go. I flew Cleveland to Detroit which was only 25 minutes long and got to see a nice sunset. I took a picture and the guy I was sitting next to me had no idea. He was sleeping by the window. There was not much turbulence on the way but a little on the descending –got my stomach pretty good! Yikes! I got off the plane and the Detroit airport is huge! There is a train and escalators everywhere. I had to walk a long way to gate A60 and I saw that my flight is on-time, so I went and bought a cherry pepsi. I have no idea why a pepsi, but it sounded good. I tried internet, but I would have to pay out “the you know what” for just a couple hours. So, I am going to sit here and watch tv on the big screen and get on my plane when the time comes. It is going to be a long flight. Hopefully, everything goes as planned and on-time!
So, today is my 24th birthday and I feel good. I have been to the states, had our second round of testing for the school year, already have a strike going on in the school systems, and am actually used to sweating my booty off in Benin, West Africa. It is kind of a relief to be able to say, I am doing okay for all that has happened. Let me start off right before I left for the states in December. Thanksgiving was coming up and I was ready to kill a rooster, cook some sweet potatoes and have a good meal. I did all of that, no problem. It was the second Thanksgiving away from home and that meant the last. I will be able to have an ALL AMERICAN Thanksgiving from now on; unless you know I travel again…haha. Anyways, that was all good and dandy, then there was about two weeks left in my countdown for The United States of America! I was dreaming of pizza, chicken wings, cream sticks, and some 1% milk. Yes, MILK! I was planning on having a Worlds AIDS Day at my school as well. I had everything planned-female and male condoms, posters, translators, teachers and students combined. It was going to be a great day! Then, the unexpected happened. My grandmother passed away. I went to Cotonou and stayed with my PCVL for a couple of days and I had to change my ticket and get a flight home a little earlier. Peace Corps was very understanding and helpful throughout the whole process. The doctors were great as well. I really have to send a special thanks to Sam! She was with me through it all! Thanks Dione as well! You were there when I needed to talk! Love you girls! Good thing we are so close and live in the same STATE! O-H-I-O! I say this because I am very lucky to be a part of Peace Corps Benin as we are like a family! Seriously, every time I am in the office, I stop and greet as many people as I can. I love to see their smiling faces. They are very grateful of us, the volunteers. Anyways, I got a flight home and went from 100 degrees to about 10 or below degrees. I was freezing getting off the plane. I almost can’t explain how cold I was getting off the plane! I mean, seriously, Frosty the Snowman was playing in the airport! Can you believe it? No lies. Then, I saw Papa and Dad. It was such a relief to be able to hug them! Papa had a cream stick donut for me! It was perfect! Got all my luggage successfully once again. I have had the best luck with luggage, but I won’t say that too too loud. I don’t want to jinx anything. So, I got to the van shivering, brain was going to explode and put on some sneakers, a sweatshirt and cranked up that heat! We were on our way to Ashtabula! It was just a little rainy and organized highway systems. I haven’t seen one of those in 16 months. It kind of made me nervous though as everyone was using their turn signals, going to speed limit, and had all their lights working in their vehicles. We made it home and Mom had an American flag and Peace Corps Flag up on the house! It was great! So festive for my homecoming! Thank you!  I saw Mom and she just hugged and hugged me! No crying allowed. Yea right!?! I showed the parents the things I brought back from Benin and jumped in the bath! It was amazing! I was so tired. I went to bed around 8pm that night and woke up at 5am. Jet lag really stinks. But, I got used to the time change pretty quickly because I was super busy helping out the family and getting things organized. We celebrated Christmas and New Years and a little of bit of snow came while I was home. I was able to go visit a 2nd grade class and talk to the children about Beninese students and their schools. They were so interested and had great questions. I enjoyed my day with the kids. They asked, “why do the students have to shave their heads? Why isn’t your head shaved? What do they do for fun? What animals do you see in Africa? Do you miss your Mommy and Daddy? “ I could go on and on. Being with the 2nd graders made me realize how much fun it is to teach about new cultures and how much we, as Americans, are well-off compared to Benin. I have chalk and a chalkboard offered to me and then that is all for the teaching tools. It is up to me to supply visual aids, colored chalk, etc for teaching the students. That is one of my responsibilities in Benin; I help the teachers to use visual aids, more Student Talking Time, etc because every student learns differently. I train teachers to see the options and use them instead of just talking at the students and writing lots of words on the board. My Mom also organized a get-together for family and friends to come and see “me” and talk about Benin as well as see artwork, listen to music, and view pictures and videos. It was a great time. Everyone who came brought a toy for the orphanage. I had a suitcase FULL of toys for the orphans. Thank you everyone once again. You have no idea how happy the kids are to have those toys. Some of them just stared at the toys, not even knowing how to use them. It was a very special day for them and I appreciate everyone who helped out from the bottom of my heart. At the get-together I wanted to show everyone my dance moves I learned in Benin, but time flew by. After all the business of the vacation, I was able to decorate the Christmas tree with my sister. It was a good time and great to be able to decorate a little for the holiday because it is my favorite holiday of the year. We enjoyed cinnamon rolls Christmas morning made by me this year of course and opened some presents. YAY! Now, 2012 has come around and I am ready for a new year! Out with the old, in with the new they say! I made it back to Benin all right! Super jet lagged of course. I had a lot of luck as I was able to travel from Paris to Benin with another volunteer so we were able to get our luggage in a taxi and drive over to the office for the night. Lucky lucky! I made it back to post the next day and my house was a mess. For anyone who knows me, I HAD to clean it right then and there. I had to, but you know what I did? I went and ate some PATE and passed out in my bed with a hard mattress and not so comfy pillows and woke up the next morning and cleaned the whole house. Not that it is big, it is just not easy getting on your hands and knees and scrubbing, killing bugs, chasing after my puppies, and getting used to the HEAT once again. But, you know I would prefer the heat over being cold any day and Mom would agree. ;) After all the cleaning, I went back to school the following Monday. I was able to enjoy the herds of goats that would run through the school fields and lizards coming from every which was chasing bugs and bat droppings all over the place. I was happy to be back. The kids were so surprised I was back. They thought I was never coming back. Maybe because I told them when I was mad that if they didn’t shape up, I was going back to the states. They take things to heart you know. Everyone was happy to see me as I was them. I graded tests for hours and hours and finally got on a little bit of a normal schedule. But then, the strike started. It has been going on for a couple of weeks now. The teachers work Monday and Friday. That is all. They are not getting the correct pay or something. It is not fair for the students or the teachers. I wish they would figure something out and soon because I am going to be ahead in my classes while the others are going to be behind. How are we going to have a 3rd test when everyone is everywhere in the books? Ugh. Anyways, things will work themselves out eventually; they always do. I just think about when the school year will end. Are we going to go until July or August? Oh Lord, I hope not! Oh before I forget! When volunteers go back to the states, they usually gain a lot of weight and come back a little heavier to Benin. Well, I guess I lost weight because everyone here tells me that I have lost a lot. It is like I am the neighborhood talk, all the zems, mama’s, and even students are like “Madame, you’ve lost weight!? Are you eating? You need to eat!” I have been working out more, getting up earlier in the mornings, and have been really busy these last couple of weeks! Who knows?! Can’t please them all, right? Sometimes, friends come over and cook for me! I am so full after those days! I am super spoiled sometimes! Okay, so today I am not having a really huge thing for my birthday. I am getting old, I know it! Haha. I think I am just going to watch a soccer match at a friend’s house and drink a Sprite. I have no school today, so it all works out for the best. Thanks again for all of the support and wish everyone a happy new year. I will be going to the COS conference in May and will find out the exact date I will be coming home for sure (August/September). See you then. Love you all. Until then, enjoy the famous photo shoots that happen in Benin. I will keep the pictures posted! xoxo

A penny to you is nothing-a penny to me is worth a million smiles!

2011-11-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

Planning my life in Benin is quite a relay race! Always something to do; always another turn to take. I feel like I am in the best shape of my life and out of breath at the same time! I just finished my application process for the Scholarship Girls program. The program consists of paying of tuition, uniform, notebooks, pens, along with anything else is needed for one girl in Lokossa, Benin (my post). The Peace Corps volunteers can choose to do this project and I wanted to, no I needed to do this for a girl. If, I could I would try to get all of the girls in Benin the scholarship, but sadly there are only 20 scholarships for Benin. We (PCVs) work hard every year with GAD (Gender and Development) projects to earn money for the girls and women of Benin. Slowly, but surely, every girl will have the help and support to at least go to school. The girl that succeeded in the application process at my school is a 9th-10th grader. She lost her father due to an illness that included urine in the blood. Her mother just works out the house and earns very little. The girl is named Gisele and she works really hard during the summer vacations just to pay for school for a year. It is only 15,000 cFa which is about 30$ in US dollars. Can you imagine? 30$ is only a couple hours of work for us.  Anyways, she is very happy, her mother was almost in tears. She didn’t speak French, but I could understand everything just from her happiness and facial expressions. I almost cried, but I was strong for my Scholarship Girl-Gisele! I am now going to have the time to work with an English Club at my school. We are going to write letters to America and work on English grammar and such. ALSO!! We are going to take pictures for the “Where’s Matt?” from The Today Show. We are going to make signs that say, “Bonjour America” and “Matt is in Lokossa, Benin!” I give all the props to my mom though. She is the one who sent me the link to “Flat Matt.” I hope we can get on TV or something. I think the kids will just have a good time with the taking of pictures. Just to see them smile makes my service worthwhile. I am still teaching for the UNHCR in Cotonou once in awhile. Teaching the refugees is always a treat! I have been to two days of teaching the beginners, intermediates, and advanced children and adults and one day of conversation hour. Another project that I am GOING to do is a hand-washing station or two at my school. The kids use the WC (latrine), pee, eat, drink water, etc and DO NOT wash their hands. It drives me crazy! And then there is me with my hand sanitizer and the kids going EWWW that stinks! I say OK-but my hands are clean. Another problem or may I say misunderstanding?... is that people say they wash their hands; but it is only with water! NO SOAP! So, I am going to do a sensitization (talking to a group of parents and kids) on how to wash your hands properly with soap and water in both French and English and maybe, just maybe local language from a translator! Haha! I am not that good in local language! ;)

My second year has been going pretty smoothly. I have started my classes with no problems, had a couple of days off due to downpour of rain, All Saints Day, and “Tabaski” holiday for the Muslim religion. But I have seen two rainbows I believe, interesting, yet scary cloud formations, and unbearable sunshine along the way. I keep telling the locals that I am not made of sugar and I will not melt because you know everyone and anyone is afraid of the rain. But, I think they have that right. There was someone who got washed up in the rainstorm-fell off his motorcycle and into a ditch and passed away. We have to think-the roads are sand and dirt. When we mix it with water it is a huge mud pit! Quite dangerous to walk in, drive in, etc. So, normally we just stay indoors and play Skip-Bo, UNO and watch movies! Oh yea and I have read so many books! If you don’t love reading-it is going to be a long service in Peace Corps. I have a book with me when I travel in the taxi, stop at the mechanic for the motorcycle problems, at the radio station, at school meetings that don’t start on-time, when I have insomnia…umm probably could go on and on. It is not that we have free-time, it’s that we work at a slower pace here. I just kind of get used to it. Who knows how my time in the states will be after my two-year service here. But, I always remember, the “turtle won the race!” and that is all that matters.

I am counting down the days until I get to see SNOW!! Who would of ever thought I would say that! Okay, I probably do not have a choice in seeing snow, I can’t wait to see family and friends! It is going to be a great time. We are going to have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all in the 19 day period I am going to be home. Is it possible? Oh yes it is! I know I am going to gain a lot of weight from being at home, but so be it! My pants are falling off of me here-maybe because of hand washing or the food and water. Who knows? Cream sticks at the airport, Cracker Barrel right after along with whatever else comes along…I won’t refuse anything…will do my some good. Also, I will be able to see the Steelers vs Browns game on Christmas Eve! Go Steelers! I think a couple of my family and friend members might come to Benin and choke me for saying that! I have been working on getting presents for the family from Benin. Let me tell you how hard it is to find things that people are actually going to use in the USA. The clothes, shoes, everything is different here. The style is so different in the states. But, I have been quite imaginative and creative! You WILL see! It is a secret.
Let me end this blog on a weird malaria medicine dream that I had. Yes, my medication gives me weird dreams-sometime s hallucinations and nightmares, but it is all right. This particular dream that I had was so interesting that I still remember it one week later. There were a lot of PCVs who were losing teeth here in Benin. I was one of them. I lost one of my molars-root and all and I could not find any milk to put it in. So, instead a nurse (old lady) who I do not know took my tooth and put mayonnaise on it and wrapped it in a napkin. So, after this, the PCVs and I were running around everywhere with a certain doctor/dentist-again I don’t know him-to get the teeth put back into our mouths. He had to call in and get the building opened. During this time, my tooth was turning into a moldy carrot because of course it was covered in mayonnaise. I NEEDED MILK! Evidently, this problem was normal for Benin. Anyways, we finally go into the office and I got my tooth back in my mouth. I was showing everyone around that I was finally cured of my missing tooth. There was no mold and such-I think I forgot that part of the dream-anyways-I woke up feeling all my teeth! All were there. Okay, so you ask why I had that dream. I asked myself the same thing and I came up with something. Here in Benin, the water does not have fluoride like it does in the states. So, our teeth do not get proper care and I am always worried. But, we never know why we have the weird dreams. I always blame the malaria medicine. But then I thank the medication for saving me from MALARIA!

See you all soon! Love you!

P.S. Thank you for the post card from Holland! That was very thoughtful of you. It made my day!

Little life of randomness

2011-10-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well today I had my first little bout of culture shock in Benin-culture shock like coming back to America shock. I went to the American embassy. We, 2 volunteers, walked into another world-air conditioning, metal detectors, and escorts to wherever we need to go with visitor passes. Yes, there was a health fair there and I heard of a nice cafeteria where I can buy cheeseburgers and good stuff like that. While there, waiting for my food, I was just drinking some warm water-normal-hearing everyone around me speaking great English with accents then all of a sudden I was paying for my meal and three American military men came walking in. I really haven’t noticed how huge our men are-we feed our military service men a lot more I believe. The Beninese military men aren’t even close to the size of our men! They were really nice, tall, and handsome…lol. And you would think I was just wearing a panya and my Mercyhurst green shirt from Carli! I was like I am underdressed but normal for Benin. Yeah I was shell-shocked. I didn't know what to say. I just shook hands with all the men and told them my name. They were interested to know why we were in Benin. I think they are in Benin training other military men. I really have no idea. It was just weird for me. Then when I was leaving…the heat just HIT me-back to normal!

I am at a point in my service where I am constantly thinking “what next?” What am I going to do after service? Am I going to go back to school, get a job…what? It is so hard to think about it-you would not think it would be so hard, but after being in the Benin for so long and living in the slow-paced day to day life, it is hard. But you know what? I think I can handle a little thinking outside of the box for a minute or two out of my French, Cotafon speaking, loud kids, unbearable sun and heat, and farm animals gallivanting about day. Every once in awhile I help a Mama kill little snakes, rangle pregnant goats with papas on motos, and teach kids how to say a new phrase in English on the way home from school. But ya know what? I get more headaches here than I have ever had in life. But, I would not trade my life for the world today. I am having a great time. Life is good, my kids (hundreds) are doing well, and holidays are coming up very soon. Time is going to fly by and I will not know what hit me when the first snow flake hits my nose. No matter how much I complain, I love my job; just do not know if I could do it forever.
I am getting a mole removed tomorrow morning! I guess it grew a little and is super squishy now…hmmm ANYWAYS… I hear the doctor is a pro lol….I have to admit I am kinda scared but people have gone through much worse so I shall not complain or be scared!!! I will let everyone knows how it goes. In other news, I am getting a new puppy. Yes, I am sorry to say I am a puppy woman in Lokossa. I had a hard time liking dogs in the states and now they are my best friends!! Haha funny how life changes and it is interesting how people (ME) get through my days…I get greeted everytime I get home from school or just from throwing the trash out in the big trash can about 100 feet away from my door. I get kisses and we play basketball all the time now! Yes, she bounces the ball with her paw! I laugh so hard. I am sure you can ONLY imagine! Well, that is enough randomness for the day….welcome to my life haha! Love ya! Miss ya! See ya soon! :)

dum dum dum....

2011-09-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I just feel like writing today and thought I would talk a little bit about my last couple weeks at post before school starts again. It has been quite the couple weeks, let me tell you. Like I said before, I wanted to start my playground project this Friday. I came the morning of and there were a million bricks in my plot of land. That was a problem. So, I said I will be back on Wednesday (because of mid-service appt) to start the playground. Michel and the kids said that they would have the ground all level and ready to go! Okay, so they promised me. Maybe promises are true. Just maybe. Well, today is Wednesday! Let’s see if the ground is ready. Are the bricks all gone-relocated? Hmm. What do you think? A BIG NO! I stayed with the kids-put bricks on their heads, and they hauled them to another location. I have the scratches and dirty hands to prove it. These kids work like machines! Yes, they carried the bricks on their heads. Two at a time sometimes. Intense. Little baby mice and mommy mice were found. The kids are so determined to kill them as well as any lizards that came pooping out of the bricks. They move like Speedy Gonzalez and get the job done-but then they have to show me. Yea, nice huh? Anyways, we moved bricks in the rain. Okay, now Thursday is here. We have started the playground. The kids surprised me and went out working on the land once again starting at 6:30am. I was so happy! They made it all nice and pretty. The kids and I put 15 tires in the ground-one is actually used as a trampoline. Check the pictures out ;) I have to go to Cotonou once again to see a special doctor. I guess I have a weird looking mole on my side. Better safe than sorry-just do not like traveling back and forth to Cotonou all the time. This will be the 4th time in one month-not cool. Anyways, it feels kind of nice to have a sore back, calves, and battle wounds on my hands and feet. Work hard; it will pay off eventually. Saturday, we are going to start on the balance beam and stairs with the tires and hopefully be done for the time being. Hope it turns out okay. The kids seem to enjoy it this far. It was nice to see them laughing and enjoying themselves. They were being so imaginative-pretending to be driving a car, motorcycle and even tunnel crawling. It is so fun!

Fall is coming in America-THE SUN is coming back in Benin!

2011-09-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

September is finally here! The last month of school vacation, but trust me it has not felt like a vacation. This month alone I have been gathering tires and organizing my playground project with the orphanage. I explain and go over the logistics with Michel, the orphanage caretaker. Everything was ready, the spot I was going to use was cleared for flattening out and starting the playground and guess what?! The next day there were three huge piles of sand in the spot! Are you kidding me? Now, I have to get the orphanage to clear that out of the way. I went this morning to get started on clearing the spot and putting the tires; monster truck and tiny tires; under the mango tree at the orphanage. But you guessed it; he is nowhere to be found! He knew I was coming this morning. When he arrives, I have a child coming to get me at my house and am going to be “beeped” on my cell phone. He is a nice guy, but he is hard to get a hold of for sure. So, yeah I have to stay home all day waiting and praying for someone to let me know they are ready. I feel like I am aging quite quickly these days lol. YAY I got word that Michel is at the orphanage. Gotta run! Well, that was a great experience. The kids worked hard, even the babies. They were picking up big rocks and relocating them away from the plot of land we are using. They were very protective of their rocks. Some were stealing rocks just to have the “most” in the bowl. What really touched me is that there were kids with braces on their legs who were working so hard. They were not thinking about their disability; they were there to help Madame Kay. The lesson for me here is: No matter how tired I may be or how much I think no one cares about my playground, just know they care! Every single one of those kids worked hard, in the sun, with the supplies we were able to find. We had one hoe, one rake, a MTN sign, two shovels, and a couple of big bowls and some plastic lids that we used to clear the land. It looks nice and ready for building. Tomorrow, I am going to go back in the morning and show some examples of how we are going to arrange the tires. I have to go to Cotonou Wednesday so I will be coming back Thursday to get the tires out and ready for building. Hopefully, we can get the playground up within these next 2-3 weeks. I told the kids that I would give them gifts for helping me; for working in the heat. I will be giving them notebooks, pencils, pens and whatever else I can find for school supplies. (have tons thanks to MOM!) Yes, it is a big gift for the kids. Every year they have trouble finding the money for notebooks and such. I really hope this project turns out to be a success! God willing everything will work out as planned. Yesterday was September 11, 2011. It marked the 10th year of the terrorism attack on the USA. Here in Benin, the people would ask me if I enjoyed my day, if I partied well, why I was so quiet and calm and I do not think anyone can explain how hard the day is for the world. I had to explain, we do not celebrate this day; we remember the people who lost their lives, the firefighters, the police, the military; anyone who wanted to help. We thank our troops have been fighting for ten years. We will never forget . The second plane hitting the World Trade Center will never leave my head. I was in 8th grade in Advanced English class. I cried. God Bless America. So, I will be traveling to Cotonou three times this month. I already went once to teach UNHCR-the refugees-English. I actually taught with Julia; PCV for the environment. There were refugees from Togo, Burkina Faso, Congo, and the Ivory Coast. I taught Intermediate and Advanced levels. At the Intermediate level, I taught the difference between Simple Present tense and Present Continuous and at the Advanced level I taught/debated global warming. I will be teaching only once every couple months. There are many other PCV’s who will come teach English as well. It is a great program. The refugees were very nice and very interested in learning and speaking English. I will heading to Cotonou again this week for a Volunteer Allegation training. Next week is my mid-service physical. That is going to be an experience in itself I believe. Three mif-kits, blood work, etc. I really hope I do not need to stay there too long. But, you know life goes on. Have to take it one day at a time. We should not sweat the things we can’t control too much here in Benin. But, wish me luck! ;) P.S. I am starting to sweat just looking outside...lol ;)

Training and a little bit of that! :)

2011-08-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

Week 5-6 Training the newbies
Back in Porto-Novo after a very long time. I forgot how much I do not miss it. It is just not my neck of the woods. The little children need to get back to school is all I am saying. One day I will be saying that about my kids. Funny what age and experience with children does to you. Anyways, the reason Porto- Novo and I do not get along is the men always cat-calling me, hissing at me, just annoying men. And the children literally hang all over me as I am just walking down the road. I have to pry them off. It is just really sad, but their parents just laugh and sing the yovo song along with their kids. Also, you might see a little girl or boy and absolutely no one; no parents, no big sister, no one to watch the girl. What if she gets hurt, abducted, lost? Coming from Lokossa, my part of the woods, it can be difficult to handle and accept. Also, there are a lot of so called “fools” here. Most of the time they will not bother you as they really have no idea where they are at in the world. On my ride over to the market to buy some fabric to make some new clothes, I saw a man probably around 20 years old just running around in a big circle in the middle of traffic. What do you do? Mom and I were talking about these kinds of things on the phone the other night and it just shows how much we take advantage of in the states. No matter how much money you make, you can get into see the doctor in the states; people are just not left on the streets with nothing. There are shelters. There are places for the mentally ill. Here in Benin. There is nothing like that. It is super hard to watch that go on here and go about my daily life watching the people. It is something I am used to seeing, but I will never be used to it.
Well, I have hung out with the trainees for one day and they seem pretty outgoing, afraid of the water, eating and getting sick. Sounds normal to me. This week, I am going to be teaching about CBA-Competency Based Approach, Giving and Receiving Feedback, GAD panel questions and answers based on my experiences thus far, teaching a model lesson on greetings and introductions, lesson plan writing, talking about post visit anxiety, and cooking in Benin. Yea, glad I will be with other volunteers because believe it or not…dum dum dum I can’t cook! Haha I think everyone knows that. Anyways, I taught the trainees what CBA was with a power point and an example text comparing effective and ineffective teachers. Here in Benin, they have an old system and new system of teaching. The government is training the teachers to lesson teacher talking time and increase student talking time, include more activities such as group work, pair work, individual work, role play, and write lesson plans which include a warm-up, presentation, practice, evaluation and an assessment for each class period. This proves to be difficult for many teachers as they were taught with just lecture and being talked at all of the time or supplies are expensive or hard to come by or the skills are just not there to teach in that way. So, our volunteers will help a lot of villages to train the teachers and help build the education system up. It is USAID that is helping/providing money to run the program for Benin and other countries around how world. It was a boring session for me last year, so it might have been boring this year as well, but it is good to understand what exactly CBA is and the history behind it. I now see the importance of the CBA session. I believe I was able to make it quick, yet informative.
Victoria and I are staying in a house together for RCH-Health and TEFL-teaching. It is an okay house that I can handle for a week or so. It lacks supplies for living such as bowls, rags for cleaning, etc. I am sure it will all come together soon enough…by next year’s training at least. We went looking for food today and we went to a place where they have schwarma which is a big sandwich with veggies, meat and such inside heated up. They are amazing in Cotonou, but you know what? The waitress was like we do not have those today. We said okay, what do you have? She said we have some eggs. And then she said at 18h (6pm) we will have your food. I said okay, please write that down somewhere on your sign so people know next time. She said it is…I asked where? She said oh right here in this small print at the bottom of the paper. All you can do is laugh and find another solution. Live and learn.
Oh, how I have missed so much in the States this week. For one it is shark week and another, I missed Fatima’s baby shower through webcam. She is going to have her baby very soon. I bet he is going to be a cutie!!  Celebrating my 2nd Independence Day here in Benin. It has been 51 years of Independence for Benin. Good for them. Bon fete!
Finished my first week of training. It was fun being at the front of the room explaining the technical sessions instead of being the one in desks learning. I feel like the MAMA and then next year I will be the GRANDMAMA. Haha To end the week, we had a cooking session where we and the trainees prepared chili with wagashi cheese, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. It was super delicious thanks to the other trainers who are excellent cooks unlike me! We also prepared a salad where we had to bleach the veggies and salad dressing was made. (vinegarette I believe!) Everything was eaten. The trainees in TEFL have a two day seminar with their supervisors and then they get to see their posts! Post announcements went well for the most part, I believe. I hope TEFL has a good time as well as a stress-free trip. The northern sites might have to take a two day trip to get to their posts because the roads and such are not up to par. Bonne chance! (Good luck)

The last days of summer vacation for Benin. There are volunteers who are leaving and more who are coming in. Puppies are being born and leaving the house soon. The rain is going away and the sun is coming out slowly then quickly. The cool nights are ending and the sweating nights are coming. The months are quickly passing me by. Four months and I will be home for a three week vacation. Starting new projects for the orphanage and going to work with PSI by handing out free condoms to those in need. Going to try and get every sector in my Peace Corps experience; Education, Health, Environment, and Small Enterprise. I will have a post mate that will help me with the Small Enterprise stuff I hope. People from home often ask me, “How ya doing? “ My answer as of now is, “I am doing great! I am very happy and motivated to do well in my projects.” It is true after the first year, everything seems to come together one way or another. I hope it stays on the positive track. For all those who want to know-Sylvain and I have been together for 5 months now. Doesn’t sound like a long time, but seeing how we come from totally different cultures and share different points of view, it is going great. He is a great guy and would do anything for me. He has helped me with a lot of projects along the way. I can’t wait to get the tire playground set up for the kids. It is a long process. For example, we need tires. Tires are just lying around all over town. We all know this. That is not the problem. The problem is if I go asking for these tires, they are all of a sudden going to cost a fortune! Even though they are free and just lying around! Ugh. So, I have to do some talking and asking around to get this done. Baby steps.

Just a little chit chat :)

2011-07-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Just sitting here at the radio and enjoying another great book. It is vacation here for me and things can get pretty boring around here. No school, kids are in the fields and I read books. Lots of books and shed a few tears once in awhile because of the books… No worries. Things are going really well for me. Nice and smooth. Cool and calm literally. It is the rainy season. I have now reached my one year mark and have moved up in the ranks of grandma. The new trainees are here and it is now time for me to answer those random questions, share my experiences, and breathe oh so well. Despite the constant air pollution from passing dump trucks, motorcycles, mini scooters. You know the people can buy gas like we do in the USA but most of the time it is better for the pocketbook to buy from the side of the road. Yes, they sell the gas from Nigeria in plastic and glass bottles. Just imagine the giant Kool-Aid plastic containers used as gas holders here in Benin. You know if a little flame comes close to the gas area, everyone around could hurt; there could be an explosion. That is just a little chance people take to save a lot of bucks $$! I have been to village and attended many funerals during my vacation. I really enjoyed CAMP GLOW and the Spelling Bee as I said before. I believe I am going to do more camps next year. We shall see. As the days pass, I find time to reflect on the past school year and how I am going to change it for the better. I have many ideas of using less French in the classroom and more visual aids. I believe that the visual aids can really help the students better understand. It is so hard to believe that I am half way done! Goodness gracious. This coming up weekend, I am going to be travelling to work with the trainees for a couple of weeks. I am going to be teaching a model lesson, lesson planning, and trying to get the trainees through another week of STAGE! Been there done that. Glad it is over. HAHA. Once STAGE is over, I am going to Savalou for the yam festival that happens once a year. I will have to take a taxi and a bus to get there. But it is not too far away, but it will be a traveling day for sure. I mean what day of voyage isn’t? You never know if there is going to be a problem: accident, flat tire, slow driver, lost items, etc. I mean, that may sound rough, but I am really used to it. I laugh at the difficult things a lot of the time because if you don’t, you will cry. In other news, I am going to be handing out tourism brochures at one of the many tables that the PCV’s will have. Other tables will include, but not limited to moringa, shea butter, and health and nutrition. It should be a fun time right before school starts back up. It will be nice to have another activity to put on my resume of Peace Corps Benin 2010-2012! Before school starts, I am going to attend a wedding, get some more clothes made and get my hair done, maybe. I kind of enjoy being able to wash my hair in the shower with some smell good shampoo and conditioner from home and not have an itchy head from the braids. LOL!  By new clothes, I mean MORE BUMBAS! They are easy to put on and absorb a lot of the sweat for the walk to and from school, classroom time, and afternoon sun. Yikes, you guys thought you had a hot July in the states. Just kidding, I am sure you guys wanted to do absolutely nothing but sit and sweat to death. I am really sorry you have to suffer through the heat that I sent from Africa. Hahahaha….just wanted some rain for a few months. Okay, I think I have said all I need to say for now. Thank you for the packages and letters! Very nice, thank you! Love you all! Miss you and see you in a few months. December is a great month for me! I can’t wait to see everyone and see all the babies who are growing up so fast. Bye for now. See you soon.

There goes one year...one more to go!

2011-06-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

I have made it to the 11 month mark and I can’t seem to believe it. I have finished my first year of teaching in Benin and boy let me tell ya I kind of like the whole being a teacher thing and getting my summers off. But, really I do not get a break. I am taking two kids to Nati for the National Spelling Bee June 24th-26th and then taking three girls to CAMP GLOW in Porto-Novo for a week. Should be a lot of fun! I, personally, have not been further than Parakou so I am pumped as well. I am going to meet with the parents today and Monday before taking their kids all the way north. I went to Cotonou and got the money for travel to Nati. And I struggled to get the money from the mayor for CAMP GLOW travel for the girls. Everyone/thing moves so slowly here or is it that we move way too fast in the states? Hmm good question. Anyways, got all the money I need for the kids and we are off and running to catch the taxi, the bus and maybe a moto here and there. It is so funny, Benin is the size of PA and we have to take so many means of travel just to get up north. The roads can be atrocious, but I guess it would not be quite the voyage otherwise. Thank you to all those who made the trip possible and donated!!! The kids really appreciate it! 

Saw a lunar eclipse here in Africa the other night. It was so neat. I guess the villagers chant and scream at the sun to leave the moon alone for hours and hours until the sun moves away from the moon. Haha I think that is so interesting, but I can’t see myself doing that….all in the name of culture/village life. I have been super busy…tried to get some new chalkboards up in my school because the others were falling down on teachers, including me, hard to read/write on, and teeny tiny. BUT you know what they were like how about in October and you will pay for it-it will be a present from you and we will put your name on it and everything…and maybe throw in some English books for the kids. You know why I am here—to help the school to organize ways to make their school better so when I leave they can DO IT on their own…so no I am not paying for it. It will cost maybe 40$. They said yea yea we will get around to it..the amount it costs is not enough to get a grant from Peace Corps and it is such an easy project….I will keep on them because they promised me that the chalkboards will be up by October. I just want the kids to have a decent/safe learning environment for goodness sake. Sorry for the rant. The Directrice is not longer at our school anymore due to a strike during Cultural Days at CEG3. Now, the Censaur is the Director and we have a Philosophy teacher from CEG1 who is the Censaur. I am going to have to get used to him now for my last year teaching here in Benin. When I went to do the averages and report card, he was being very pushy and asking me/over my shoulder to make sure I was doing everything right. I have only done it a million times, no one else had a problem with what I was doing. I spent 4 hours on a Friday to finish all the grades..had a headache. C’est la vie ici au Benin! Tomorrow is always a new day….keep looking ahead-never look back!

I attended two GAD (Gender and Development) dinners. They were very successful. Because of GAD and its supporters, the girls of Benin are able to attend school and learn how to be successful women in the future. The girls got to go to work with a MAMA and learn about her job and how she makes a difference in the world. The girls said they would like to be nurses, doctors, lawyers, and even teachers. I was very proud of them. I can’t wait until CAMP GLOW when we get to hang out with tons of girls for a week! It is going to be so much fun. We are going to talk about health, play games, independence, technology, etc…yay! Thanks to all those who have donated! 

Life in Lokossa has been great. The day I have to leave is going to be a hard one for sure. I have suffered through one hot season and now I am loving the rainy season. But, sometimes it can still be unbearably hot here for me. The sun just takes over. The cockroaches tend to come out more at night, so I have my cockroach sandal that I use and kill them. Then of course the giant ants come and eat them up and leave no trace…maybe a wing or two but that is it. Gives me hope to never see them again, then night comes. Since school is done for a few months, I find myself super borrreeeed!!! I read books, clean my house, listen to music, go for walks, went and took pics of Lokossa the other day so everyone can see a little bit of my town, and play with Kea, my dog. She is expecting to have some babies soon. I feed her and then she gets sick…prego for sure! Now, that should be interesting with a bunch of puppies around. Yikes! Haven’t been sick like before—seem to be used to the food and water or something. Who knows—just count my blessings. I still get the normal weirdo rash on my body—right now it is on my lower back and left forearm..weirdo for sure. Don’t worry, I have powder coming out my you know what, medicine for the itch…etc.

Well I just came from CEG3 because I had parents come to me and say they talked to the administration guy who deals with the money for the school and he has no idea/clue about CAMP GLOW and what I am doing with the girls….why didn’t I come to the admin first etc with my ideas…that is absolutely crazy-everyone knows about it. I talked to the Directrice a million years ago/Director, Surveillant, Secretaries…everyone…so I do not know what he is talking about and he was not available to talk to me today…he is never available…just wanted to clear the whole “situation” up. He doesn’t have a say in the situation anyways since Peace Corps family and friends have donated and the mayor has paid for transportation. OMG! I have done everything to get these girls interested, money from the mayor, and permission from the parents-tout-. The parents are fine with them going and it’s all paid for so….no one communicates here-erks me to no end. Anyways, everything is fine. I just can’t stand the communication issue here. I communicate with everyone-everyone says wow that is a cool idea—thanks Kayla that is nice of you. Whatever. We are going to have a great time and that is it! So enough of my jabbering/anger talk. LOL :P

I named a baby Jayden. It means “thankful.” He is super cute and his is very light skinned for an African baby. They called him Yovo at first. Now, he wakes up about every hour to eat. I hear him cry. Yea, Mama Mayo wakes up every hour to feed him. Here, sometimes the babies are force fed/when they breast feed sometimes it is not long enough. Water is also given to the baby…not good. I try to talk to the Mamas around Lokossa and in village that it is good to breast feed until about 2 years old for the nutrition factor and water should not be given…etc. I have also talked to families to try to get them to put Moringa in the foods that they give their children for added vitamins. We can put moringa in the sauce, boille (bwee), grind it to make a powder. The idea has made a lot of eyes open a little wider because it is not difficult to find moringa. They can just pick it off a tree. Some people can even use it for income if they have moringa trees close to their homes. People will come buy it. Also, peanuts are very important for protein that we can eat with boille (bwee) or tapica which btw is amazing here. Never thought I would say that. The secretary just had a baby boy on Tuesday. She now has four boys. Boys, boys, boys, we need some baby girls around here.

List of things I miss from the states:
1. Pizza
2. Chicken Wings
3. Cream Sticks
4. Washer/Dryer
5. Snow
6. My car/any vehicle
7. Hair Straightener
8. Fast internet
9. Sleeping in on Sundays (too many drums!!!!)
10. YMCA/GYM
11. Margaritas
12. Wii
13. Applebees
14. Apple Pie/any pie
15. My bed
16. Vacuum
17. No bugs in the winter
18. Holidays
19. English language
20. Reeses/Candy Bars-so expensive in Cotonou
21. Traffic Laws
22. Watching Basketball on TV
23. Eyebrow Waxing at Wal-Mart every couple of weeks
24. Wal-Mart
25. Save-a-lot
26. Walgreens
27. Shaving my legs regularly

Could probably go on and on….respect from men…etc….

I will be home in 6 months for a couple of weeks. How exciting! Can’t wait to spend Christmas and New Years with the familia! Yes, I miss speaking Spanish sooo sooo much! Well that is all for now! Everything is going as good as it can go! I am going to be quite busy with Spelling Bee, Camp GLOW and training with the new volunteers. I can’t wait to meet everyone! Bon voyage!
Miss and love you all! See you soon!!! Check facebook out for pics...

9 month comin' up!

2011-04-01T04:31:00.000-07:00

Life in Benin is coming along after a few potholes in the red, sandy paths. I am presently watching “Bambi” 1942 edition! Yes, please believe it! I have actually been watching quite a few movies lately. They help me fall asleep. I think the meds I take to prevent malaria give me insomnia or something. Have weird dreams, I can tell ya that! Anyways, I had the local Spelling Bee in Lokossa and have my two winners. That was def. a struggle because most of my kids got stage fright or something. One of my girls actually was shaking so much, I had to hold her hand. The more ya think about it, the more you see the kids are all the same in 7th and 8th grade all over the world. Kids will be kids. I remember being that young, now I feel like I am getting old, but always young at heart. We are going to travel to Nati in June for the National Spelling Bee. Should be interesting. Now, I am going to pick my girls for Camp GLOW. I plan to get some good chalkboards for my outside classrooms soon. Just having trouble talking with my director. She wants a new classroom and she will not let up. I tell her all the time, that is not what my first priorities are. The kids need chalkboards in the classrooms they do have now. They need lights that actually work, FIRST. She is constantly comparing me to previous volunteers; that sometimes erks me. But hey, everything happens for a reason. I am going to do the best I can and hopefully I can help many people; especially my kids! So, things are coming along as good as “good” can be here. Love it. The food is really loving me for the most part…we eat a lot of things with peppers…the kind of peppers that make your lips numb and your bum…well ya know. Haha I eat a special sauce with la pate called “Kling Kling” which is slimy, yet satisfying…Hakuna Matata! On another note---OMGoodness it is SOOO HOT HERE! Showers don’t help much either as my pipes usually make the water warm!!!! NEED cold WATER!! And maybe a towel to wipe the sweat off my face, neck and back during the walk to school and during class time! Never will say I am hot again in the USA haha! It has a rained a few times, but that doesn’t last very long…but I sure do sleep well when it falls. Actually had to go to school one day and it was pouring..but I was loving every minute of it. I had my poncho and I was set to go. All the zems refused to take me to school, but I got lucky and found one on his way. Yes, he went through the biggest mud puddle on the huge road and yes, he laughed the whole time. I was like BE CAREFUL- but I laughed all the way to school! And get this! I get there and my vice principal was like why didn’t you stay home? HUH!!!!!! Learning my share of local language--love greeting and talking a little here and there. I cant stress how nice people are here. They keep saying that I should live here forever and have at least 6 kids…oh boy not 6 kids! This year is the election year and boy has it been a roller coaster ride for the Beninese people here. The Presidential election date was changed several times and many people are not happy. But, life goes on. There is a lot of fighting going on in the countries surrounding Benin, such as Burkina Faso, Niger, Cote de Ivore. Libya, and in Egypyt before. But do not worry, Benin is actually pretty calm for the time being. I feel safe and sound in Lokossa, so please don’t worry. I would come home the first second there was danger! ;) Great news, I am coming home in December for a couple of weeks! I am going to spend Christmas and New Years in the STATES!!! I am so happy! It will def. be a good break to come back and finish off my service in Benin in Aug. or Sept. 2012 (at the latest). I spend a lot of my nights watching the shooting stars up in the sky! They are just so beautiful. I believe I also see the bright satelites that are up in space. It is a fun game to try and count all the stars…that will def. get you a little tired! I wish I could share the same experience of the stars here with my whole family and all my friends! It is so amazing! Miss and love you all! I appreciate all the support from family, friends, and teachers from home! Xoxoxoxoxoxo See ya in 8 months or so! Haha J Bisou Bisou!

Chuga Chuga Choooo Choooo...umm yea! ;)

2011-03-09T03:34:00.000-08:00

My roller coaster ride is still going strong at full speed ahead. I have been through a lot since my last blog post and I would just like to tell you a little about my journey. People are really nice here, but you have to be careful. Always be cautious; pick your friends wisely. Keep your ATM card hidden away from any other eyes or sticky fingers! That is all I am going to say on that! Trust me--fingers are like glue around here. But then again, that is def. everywhere in the world. There are good, trustworthy people and then there are the bad, sneaky people. Period. As far as school is going, the kids are driving me clear up a mountain side (rather than the wall). We are coming up on our 3rd test out of 4 for the year. Time is really flying by! I am pretty much at the same level as the other teachers…just a little ahead…and classes go pretty smooth otherwise. Imagine one day at school with me: Good morning Madame, give me 25 cfa, Madame, Good afternoon, I am thirsty….I am hungry….Do we have class today? Are we going to have a quiz? Madame! I am sick, I want to go home. Madame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How are you? In a whisper from the girls? Speak up I say…you are intelligent…Madame Kay--He stole my pen, he hit me..she hit me..I need to poop…please Madame…etc…etc…etc…you are beautiful madame! Madame…I am coming over to your house and we are going to prepare la pate….what are you going to prepare for me? Here is some chalk…a present for you! Please do not leave us…stay in Benin! If you cant follow my mummble jumble….welcome to my life! It is a giant mummmmbbbllleee jummmble! Hahaha I go to bed and wake up with a headache…there are times where I dream my kids came over and I wake up and there is noone there. They are def. stuck to me like glue. I am never alone…and they see everything…when I have a pimple…they are like don’t you sleep with a mosquito net?! I was like yea…the sun and sweat does this to my face! That is so funny…the idea of a pimple is not normal around here….just everything is from the mosquito…hmmm. Now, to the life in the USA. Is everyone having a baby or what? My neighbor here is actually going to have a baby soon! Tis the season for babies, I guess. It is super hot here right now! Heat rash on the hands does not seem to want to go away…but sometimes I do think it gets better…it has rained here a couple of times like Noah should bring his Arc for me to float on! My puppy is no longer a puppy anymore…someone cut off her tail….she loves to chase the chickens and goats around…she is my little shadow, but she does like to travel around the neighborhood a lot…she is probably Prego or going to be soon! So, she will join the club of babies--yikes! Coming on 8 months now in Benin…going to be busy with Spelling Bee, BESA which is a test for the top students from each school district around here, Camp Glow, GAD Dinner (Gender and Development) tutoring, and English Club (where I have to explain that Antartica and North and South America are all continents). They are taught that North and South America are just America (one continent) and where is Antartica? Huh? What? Oh south…end of the world…down there…la bas?! When do I sleep? On Wednesday mornings until about 10am. I have been eating pretty well…noone will let me even be a little hungry…I am always about to EXPLODE with constipation sometimes! Too many carbs! Very thankful for great friends around here. Got some more clothes made! I love wearing the traditional clothes here…but then there are days where I just need to wear my good jeans and a nice shirt! I miss everything from the USA….but I know it will be there when I come home! I will be coming home December for three weeks! Yes!!!!!! Oh one last thing…if you have a store or an outside bar (buvet) then you should always include God in the title! Ex: “God is good.” “God is here with us.” “Thank you God.” “God will do it.” They use these names rather than “WalMart, “7/11”, “Sheetz” etc….haha and one of the gas stations I saw was called “Bonjour!” Miss and love you all….still hangin in there…doing the best I can..that is all anyone can ask for…until next time! xoxoxo

Walk with me...

2011-01-21T04:37:00.000-08:00

Hello, readers!! Everyday is different here in Benin. I learn a new local language word almost everyday. I practice with the Mama's that live around me. It is fun to be able to meet and greet with another language besides French. Monday-Thursday I walk to school down a dirt path where I meet up with a bunch of my students...even though they arent in my class, they are still my students. The kids are from the ages of 11-23. Yes, very different from the states. Anyways, they are very nice. Some kids actually buy me "bien glace" water and some snacks sometimes. I havent braided my hair in awhile so on the walk, I hear about how the girls want my hair and how we can switch for a day. They can have it...it's so hot on my neck! We also talk about when we are going to go to the market and get the ingredients to make a very popular meal here in Benin (LA PATE) I actually went to the market last Wednesday and bought corn, peppers, salt, klin klin (plant leaves), and a cube of something.....it was delicious. But, you know it's a ton of work. Had to go pay 100cfa to grind the corn and then had to cook the klin klin sauce...then have enough muscle to stir the PATE! Once we were finished cooking it, we ate it up with our right hand! Never the left---dirty hand---. Anyways, it has been kind of chilly on our walks to school and chilly I mean around 65 or so. I love the chilly weather...I am able to sleep well without sweating to death...but I have to take a cold shower in the morning and the shower is in the outside part of my house.....a bit chilly if you know what I mean...haha 6 months later I can finally enjoy it! The warm weather will be coming back in Feb/March....by warm I mean unbearable sunshine! This is Africa! But, back to today...I have my first cold...cant stop coughing...breathing the dry air from the desert...it is getting better no worries.With the "cold temps" there have been quite a few BIG spiders and scorpions...BIG ONES...just have to have shoes on and be prepared to take your shoe off REAL QUICK...I MEAN REAL QUICK and smash him up! The kids come and check on me every once in awhile...they love just to stop by and say hey! I am tutoring a student Weds and Thurs and a brother and sister on Sunday evenings. I am doing the Spelling Bee at my school this year (CEG Lokossa). I will have one girl and one boy winner and we will travel to Natti (north) for the National Spelling Bee! I hope the kids work hard...everyone wants to travel up north! It's beautiful up there! I havent been there yet, so I am looking forward to it as well :) We just had a strike at my school...the week before exams...ugh! The kids will not be prepared for the test....I pray they do okay....I still taught all my classes..."work hard, fly right!" The BIG 23 is coming up! Going to spend my birthday here in Lokossa with some friends! My neighbor is going to make salad and maybe find a choc. cake for me! Cross your fingers for me!! I need some chocolate cake! Yes, Yes I do! haha Well, I think that is all for now...things are going great...getting to know a lot of people, having fun, getting over this cough cold thing I have, and teaching some English here and there...lol English is my life...who would of thought...I can hardly speak English well and here I am teaching it in Africa! Okay, love and miss you all!!!

Holidays in Benin!

2011-01-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

So, I have officially survived two of the biggest holidays, yet hardest holidays to be away from home! :( They were very interesting though....I stayed in Lokossa for Christmas; ate rice, salad, drank Sprite, and one can of beer at the park. I ate with my neighors and friends of that family....really anyone who was hungry stopped their moto or car and joined in on the feast! After we ate we were greeted by a photographer who by the way was taking pictures of me eating or for better words "filling my face!" Haha We took lots of pictures around the park; I took pictures of some kids, got some smiles out becuase here "Benin" they do not like to smile in pictures because it will "ruin" the pictures! ummmm Idk...I showed them the pictures and they were like wow! You didnt ruin the pic with your smile! Yes, I know thanks! haha After the big meal and a lot of guys hitting on me: "Tu sais: tu est belle...give me your phone number!" Umm no sirrreeee!!! haha welcome to my life!!!! Everyday! Doesnt bother me so much unless the guy is old and drunk and annoying! That is when I get a little upset and threaten to smack in local language even though I would never!!! I was super full! Then there was New Years in Porto-Novo. I was hoping to spend some time with the BF but he had to leave quite unexpectily to Parakou...boy was he mad...mais ca va alle! It is going to be okay....so I spent the couple days with his family....they fed me and talked to me....I had a great time...took some pictures..updated the pics on facebook for my readers...haha and then got to come back to Lokossa with the BF's brother and father...his father works in Lokossa and his brother goes to school where I teach...weird how things work out like that! :))) Trying to plan a trip to safari ASAP and of course to Parakou <3!!! Have a good reason now!!! Oh side note--I have been told I got a little fatter since the holidays started..hmmmm.....ppl can notice the slightest weight gain or loss here...it's interesting..Oh, the BF...he is super nice, caring, and has helped me out a ton! Dont worry, he is great!! Miss and love everyone! Happy New Years! Hope the New Year brings you lots of happiness, love, money and good health!

Too Much Sweating Going on…

2010-12-20T04:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been surviving my days here in Benin. I am beginning to like to a lot! I go on strolls with my little friend every once in awhile…she is two and I love her! People ask me if she is my daughter…I say yea, of course!!! Haha Just a little joke we have going here! I am eating lots and lots, but sometimes I just cant find to the appetite…just so dang hot hot hot! I actually was sick with a bacteria for about 2 weeks, but I took some GOOD medicine and I was fine within three days! Christmas is just around the corner and I have my decorations up in the house…battery operated lights that flash on and off, a Santa and Snowman stocking, candy canes and flameless snowman candles…thanks to the family I can see Christmas even though it’s so bloody hot here! I cant stress it enough! But, you know what, I can get my hair done for cheap here and it looks bomb!!!! (not to be like yea my hair looks good--just saying the truth) haha Oh I often go for walks and there tends to be bushes everywhere so you have to be careful because a chicken, goat, lizard or even a COW will come running out….no lions, tigers, or elephants in my part of the country…just gotta watch out for those chickens…we will never run out of eggs here…my main source of protein besides eating the chicken or buying peanut butter in Cotonou or Porto-Novo! These months are really flying by…my kids just completed the first round of exams…now I have to grade them!! Ugh and a half! Spending hours and hours…they just don’t appreciate me enough! Haha Was going to go on safari but plans changed…maybe another time! I really wanna go riding around looking at lions, elephants, giraffes and such…even though I might pee my pants a few times…yikes…life is full of what if’s! Thanks for the packages I have been getting….love them! It’s a great day when packages get to Cotonou and then into my hands….it’s a struggle, but so worth it! <3 you family and friends……mwah

Eat, Sleep, Teach...

2010-11-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

Been super busy these last two months on my own at post. I now have four classes Monday-Thursday…some may say that is not a lot, but believe me it is a lot…It’s almost time for the end of the year test and then Christmas break. I am thinking about going on safari during my time off. That is my top priority for vacations besides coming home X-mas 2011!!!!! Yep, I said it! Believe it! Woop woop! Days have been super hot for me these past couple weeks. It’s hard to sleep even with the fan on. Inside my house is like 20 degrees hotter than outside…no wonder people sleep outside. Sticky, icky, and hot hot hot! Three or more showers a day does the trick! Thank God for my shower…I am blessed.I drink so much water, I pee about every 20 minutes. Cant keep the water in me long enough. Have been able to start cooking on my own-yams, kick butt sauce, rice, beans, plantains….etc…have lots of variety-cant complain because I have an unlimited supply of Sangria! Made the trip to Parakou for PSW training with all the other TEFLers. Going to be here until Friday early morning. Have to take the 8 hour bus ride back to Cotonou then back HOME to Lokossa! Miss it so much there! J We are going to cook some Thanksgiving dinner Thursday at the workstation. I am going to make deviled eggs because I am not able to cook very well. Plus, I would not want anyone getting sick on Kayla’s meal. Hahahahaha I am learning slowly but surely…I can cook spaghetti with mayo, rice, sauce, yams, plantains, and some beans…and of course oatmeal! Yay me! Ha It’s nice to be around the other teachers for the week. We can catch up on all the crazy stories and teaching experiences we have had. Parakou is very beautiful and it is located in the middle of Benin. It’s hilly, green, and there are huge boulders randomly chilling around the town. I believe you can find anything you want in this town, you just have to be patient and know just where to go…lots of fresh air here! It is very dry though and my lips and nose are super dried up! Cant keep chapstick on…pretty much reapply every 30 minutes. C’est la vie! So, I am going to say it--holidays away from home really stinks…but all the way in Africa really is hard. But, I have the support of my family and friends here. Going to have lots of fun being creative with meals, presents, and celebrating! I know I am going to dance a lot! J Makes me happy what can I say? The change in season just does not happen here for me….just a temp of hot and hotter. I cant see the change like the change of leaf color, snow, blizzard, ice, flowers….etc…cant see the change in seasons in the stores…like you see Halloween costumes in your local Wal-Mart, then Christmas ornaments, and fall scarecrows…here we have the same thing everyday…kind of hard, but you know what we can do this! I know I can! When I set my mind to something--I will do it…no matter how hard! Once in a lifetime experience right here, right now! Cant believe how fast time is flying--pretty soon we will be welcoming PSL 24 and saying good-bye to PSL 22 L Wow. Everything is going well, ,have internet, post is great, traveling to where I got to go safe and sound, making friends everywhere I go---must be my great personality--ha--enjoying everyday as much as possible! Love you.

Livin here makes ya wanna...fill in the blank...:)

2010-11-05T11:48:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a long time since I have blogged….super sorry!!! Been dealing with life in Benin! It has its ups and down, but hey I am still here and going strong. I would just like to tell ya about my daily life in Lokossa and my trips to Cotonou…..I teach Monday thru Thursday to 7th and 8th graders. The students are very happy to have my as their teacher, but they can really get me going sometimes. The patience level is def. on a low level some days, but then I think, I can do this! Most of the kids are great though! I can always see their brains thinking super hard and I love those AHHH HAAAA moments!! The kids always like to say “here, ici, Madame, teacher, snap snap…” all for attention because they know the answer. There is no nice hand raising in the schools here, but guess what the students learn quick in Madame Kay’s class because I will not answer them. Haha They are like oh crap Madame Kay sorrry!!! Love it! Actually had a moment where a student was just vomiting under his desk for about 10 minutes…..guess how the students cleaned it up!!! Come on you can do it!!!! They threw some dirt on it and sweeped it up with some sticks! Eww, I had no idea what to do except give stickers to the helpers and pat the boy on the back and say Ca va alle!!!! It’s going to be okay!!!! J My voyages to Cotonou and back…oh well that is a story in itself!! The driver stops and pees on the side of the road about three times a trip one way…vendors shove fish, water, bread….etc in your face until you need to vomit and then there are random traffic jams where men are chasing taxis, ripping doors open and beating the driver….witnessed this…no worries…I just thank God that I always have my helmet…may need it to catch a Zemi or hit someone with it haha But the zemi drivers arent very nice at times either….they like to haggle me for money! ummm yea cause I am American…..go figure lol My day to day walks to school consist of a lot of Good mornings or good afternoons, people are really getting to know who I am through the 5-6 min conversations we have…have to leave 30 minutes early just to make sure I do not offend anyone haha. I find myself taking lots of naps at around 1-2pm everyday…much needed repose…NAP! The French is coming along and the English is slowly flying far away…lol cant speak any language correctly anymore, the animals are reproducing like mad and the stars are beautiful! Actually saw a shooting star two nights ago……….I think….it was super fast….;) Just got a package from Sept and it is not Nov. so yes, I wait and wait…..could be worse….I could get the package a year later even though it was stamped 10 months ago…haha Well, I hope everything is going well at home in the US of A! Miss and love everyone!! Keep me posted on the latest gossip…oh how I ache to hear about life in Ashtabula…BAHAHAHABAHAHAHA ilu xoxoxo Oh, and even if you stay on the path, there is always pooop to be stepped on!!! ewww I know!!! So, that just shows no matter how hard you try to stick to the normal day to day life…you will not be able to find the fun in life! Be adventurous, see the world, explore, find your way! I am def. trying my best!!! Thank you to all those who have stayed in contact and support my throughout my crazy and exciting journeys around the world!

FINALLY arrived @ House Number THREE!

2010-10-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I worked all day to get my house organized!! It is big so I have lots of room to be creative!! It rained this morning but then just got really hot! It's a little overcast, but dont try to do anything or you will just sweat to death!!! Uploading pictures as we speak and feeling like I have accomplished so much! It is hard to work with the people around here sometimes as time is slow, things matter but they matter "maybe later." Having internet in my house is really keeping me sane and allowing me to have a life outside of this crazy life I am living now! It is great here though! The people are nice and I seem to have a lot of connections now! For example, I got my locks changed in the new house, my bumba finished (very cute outfit) and got some food and going to get a shower soon! It is funny how your life changes and what is really important in life when all there is here is food, little kids running around in underwear or not, goats, pigs, cows, dogs, etc...and random church ceremonies, people singing and dancing and the occasional rain drop that people run from here! Rain is like snow! DANGER! hahaha I just go out and walk in the rain and enjoy the relaxation! The crazy American! lol Need to do webcam times with the family and friends asap! Just let me know a time and I will see if it works for me! You guys are busier than I am!!!! Miss and love you all!!!! Thanks for the letters and goodies! Oh how I love them!! A taste of America is always good on a rainy day! But beware they take forever to get here! I will pray and pray that all of my packages make it safe and sound, but you know those pesky mice get in them sometimes and even the occasional thief! Sorry! Thanks for thinking of me! <3

GOT MY INTERNET KEY!!!!!!!!! LOSING PATIENCE AT TIMES BUT EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!!

2010-10-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a long couple of weeks it has been! I have def. been on an emotional roller coaster, but yet, I am still hanging in there! I refuse to give up and once I get through this training which by the way is coming up really quickly, I will feel a lot better. I will have my own house, worry about what I want to worry about and live life to the fullest! I will be an official volunteer Sept. 17th!! Oh, it is bittersweet….I will miss a lot of my friends because they are going to be posted kind of far away, but hey that will call for a taxi trip up to see them that is all! We are in our last week of model school! I am about ready to be done for sure!! The kids are great, just is super tough to teach, learn French for a million hours a day, then lesson plan for the next day….AND….come home to my host family. This cultural exchange thing is difficult here sometimes because you never know you are offending someone or doing something that is making another Beninese person mad. I have def. learned a lot and will continue to learn more about the Beninese people so I can get through day to day life a little easier. The teachers traveled to Grand Popo--the BEST day in Benin thus far!! I got to run around in the sand, take jumping pictures with friends, and enjoy the crashing waves and breeze that surrounded the beach! We were not allowed to swim in the water because of the strong under toe but hey Kayla is not swimming in the ocean! No, no, and no! There are big sharks out there waiting for me I know it!! Hahaha!!! Next weekend, we are going to travel to Oidah, a slave port from many years ago. Oh FYI the beach and Oidah are really close to my post!!! I have a place to relax every once in awhile! The beach is my relaxation, just wish I could have the family with me to enjoy the beauty! Miss and love you all!!! P.S. I love the letters and packages I am getting!! They are really helping me survive!!! And of course, they make me smile!!! It’s love from America!!! J

I sit here in my room and I try to come to reality that I am really, truly in Benin, Africa. I look back at my last couple of years and I just cant believe how far I come; I mean I have traveled to Africa for goodness sake! Everyday I learn something new about the culture over here. It is way different than what I expected, I mean I knew it was going to be different, but jeez. The number one thing that I am learning on top of French of course is PATIENCE!! You cant have enough patience here; it is always welcome. I am super happy to be at my post, even though it’s not truly my house….moving into another one someday…supposed to be soon…but hey…we shall see. It’s nice to be done with training. I didn’t think it was ever going to end. I achieved Intermediate High, which by the way is a miracle because I continuously speak Spanish, French and English together…it’s a big cluster in my brain for sure..hahahaha! I am def. ready to get to know my town, the kids, families, and get to know my way around town. I have to get the best deals at the markets and know where the best place to buy American food! lol You never know when you will get those cravings!! I miss the USA and my FAMILY a ton, but I will continue to say I am ready for this; I can do it!! It is only going to be a little less than 2 years now!! I have made it a long way thus far!!! I appreciate all of the support and love I am getting from the US of A! Love you all! xoxoxoxoxoxo Oh and p.s. packages take forever to get here, but I will be sure to check all of the time!!!! && I hope to get an internet key so I can have wi-fi at my house….but that also is still in the process….Oh boy, I have two years! Going to be great! It has changed me into a different person already, but def. for the better!!!! <3

Well I have been kinda slacking with my blogs because of the crazy, unorganized things that I have to deal with! Everyday is different, yet the same. I have quit asking why because I believe I just might go crazy. I am going to be moving into my third house in three weeks here in Lokossa. The first one was the previous volunteers, the second was too expensive for the school to pay (why move me there in the first place) and the third, get ready for this is RIGHT ACROSS THE DIRT PATH from the 1st house!!!!!! Yes, if you need to read that sentence again, please feel free to do so!! Anyways, I love Lokossa. It is a great town, everyone is nice even though I have to always be careful with creepers sometimes! That is normal anywhere though, right? I am close enough to other volunteers to go visit or whatever. They come and visit me more because I am the one with the Bank!! I enjoy watching the baby goats, chickens, and little kids dancing. I swear they come out the womb knowing how to bust a move! The way they move their bodies has me in awe! Good thing it is not a bad thing to stare around here. I have met a lot of cool people, older Mama’s and Tata’s. Everyone wants to feed me constantly which is a good and bad thing. I cant seem to get over having to use the bathroom everyday; it just may be the spicy foods that I am not used to yet, or maybe there is a parasite crawling around in me! If it doesn’t get better, I know I can always go to Cotonou for a check-up! It is pretty close; about a 2 hour taxi ride! I started school last week, but didn’t really have to do a thing! I was trying to get my schedule! I went EVERYDAY and they said oh, come back tomorrow! NO SCHEDULE! Going in blind….whatever!!!! A new lifestyle and a new adventure everyday. I am going to a Halloween party on the 30th! Have to get a costume made….hmmmm what should I be!? I have been getting a lot of letters!! I will try to write back to everyone asap! I am planning on getting an internet key so I can talk and use the internet whenever I want! When it rains here, it is super loud and everything is flooded in a blink of an eye!! But, have no worries, the heat comes and sucks all that water into the terrain and there isnt a sign of water anywhere……can you imagine? The skies are so beautiful here at night!! There are so many stars=unbelievable! I could sit outside all night and just relax…but then the mosquitos come out and get ya!!! They sneak up on ya like a raptor from all directions!! I laugh all the time because the Beninese people have a system, they have a cloth that they constantly whip themselves with really fast to keep the little pests away! Or every once in awhile you might hear a big SLAP!!!!! Funny amusement that I deal with on a day to day basis! I have been eating a variety of foods and yes, I am getting enough protein now MOM!!! Finding my way around and getting along with everyone!!! It’s great, I know I can do this!! Now, I just need a schedule so I can plan for vacations to Grand Popo and to a Safari during December or January! Time sure is flying by! Miss and love everyone!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Power is out once again. Whenever there is a big storm there is no power. Everyone takes cover and the women wear shower caps!!! The hair is so important here. You can find a place to do your clothes and hair anywhere! My kind of place lol! Met a really nice friend. He has all of the connections it seems! He found a fridge man for me, a place to buy a internet key, good food, hes a good cook and even helped me with my laundry!! His sister even braided my hair for free!! Went and watched him play soccer as well!! That was quite the experience seeing how there arent many women there! And I stick out like a sore thumb lol!! Used to it kinda! Bien integre slowly but surely!!!! Well, anyways….lol Its 5 oclock and have not heard anything from the school about moving! noone communicates here. my patience is being tested to the limit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ugh!!!!!!!!!!!! One day I will look back on these past three weeks and laugh, just feel like crying now though! I have no control and we just have to do what SHE says! On a positive note, I am still surviving and still standing! I get my puppy soon!!! xoxo Oh, funny thing=I had to correct my homologue on saying that Coca Cola does NOT have cocaine in it!!! and everyone says they speak SMALL SMALL English lol I am like you should say A LITTLE BIT!!! Fun times!

Patience is one thing I am learning! :)

2010-09-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

Days go by...enjoy that breeze!

2010-08-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

Days are just flying by here in Benin! I have heard so many people say life is a roller coaster around here and they are so right! I study everyday for French and try to practice as much as I can at home with my family! Lately, it has been quite interesting, now that I can help around the house and understand what is being said for the most part! There are more laughs and happy times as compared to before where there was frustration and tears..I mean it is still difficult on a daily basis, but there is progress. I have a rough time with doing things the WRONG way! Just different culture, I guess. I have to learn how to do things the RIGHT WAY to fit into the Beninese culture! I have started model school where students come to learn some English during their summer vacation. It is a lot of fun, but a ton of work on top of all the studying I do...oh well life goes on...ONE DAY at a time...sometimes hour by hour! I have enjoyed each day of teaching and have fun with the students for the most part! YAY!!! I am doing all right! I just cant wait to get to my post so I can have my own classes and get with the program there! I take time to enjoy each and every breeze that comes through here and listen to the bugs chirp at night even though there will always be the crazy nightmares that I have about ants and cockroaches in my bed because of the malaria meds. But hey, you just have to take time for yourself--ME TIME!! A wise woman once told me, "all you can do is your best, that has to be good enough, take time to rest your brain, it is a lot to take in...it's like a marathon race, not speed that matters, but endurance!!" Thank YOU MOM! :) Just a couple more weeks of training, I can do this!

Closer and closer :)

2010-08-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well, Benin, Africa is getting better with just a little communication here and there. I am still sweating every drop of water I drink out right after my bike ride to school in the morning. AND YES IT IS THE RAINY SEASON! Haha I hate to say it, but I might miss the snow….oh not yet!! I am making a lot of new friends—we are def. a big family here. We are full of all kinds of excitement and great ideas. We will be model teaching soon which is where the trainees will be practicing teaching with a friend and getting some feedback….I got this covered…haha so I hope! ;p Went and hung out with some of the stagiers today after school. It was tons of fun. I actually had my first beer from Benin. Everyone was like IT IS ABOUT TIME!!  Been a little sick lately in the bathroom situation, but I believe it will get better. I am determined not to get sick….ugh I know I know it will happen. I think I am just going to cut back on the spicy foods and drink MORE WATER if that is even possible! I get to see my post soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Taking it one day at a time….served my mama dinner, did the dishes, brought in my bike from outside, and took out the trash….moving up in the world…I guess tomorrow I am going to be preparing DINNER!! YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think they are in for a  dinner. Haha I will prepare with my sister so no one gets sick…miss everyone!! Xoxox

MY TRIP TO AN FROM LOKOSSA!

The day has come that I have visited my post. It was an amazing experience. I travelled by taxi to Lokossa with my director, three other TEFL volunteers and their directors. Yes, all of us in one taxi. If you could only imagine how sardines feel? Haha It took approx. 3 hours to get to my post. We stopped along the way so our driver could pee behind the car, pay people at various stops for some reason I do not know, and to buy fish, bread, and some other stuff from street vendors. They would just shove the raw fish in my face like I would want it more if I can smell it and see the eyeballs staring back at me saying EAT ME EAT ME!! I was a little woozy! My host family was nice. I had to stay in a room where there was a dead bolt that worked well, but I could not open it back up…It broke constantly…I had to have my little brother come free me from this outside room which by the way was far away from the bathroom (shared with gramps). Interesting having to pass through his room to use the bathroom and shower…I ate pretty well, saw my house—where I will be staying for the next 2 years—went to the market which only happens every four days..there was live crab, yes, more fish, and anything else I will ever need to survive. There are lots of cybers with internet around town and even other Americans. If I need anything, I can go visit the American missionaries that feed my mint choc. Ice cream. I have no idea where they bought it, but they have it! I will learn my way around town pretty quick, I am sure. Sleeping is also kind of hard there. There are baby goats crying all night, roosters and chickens everywhere and I was worried about lions and hippos. I guess I can go see some hippos somewhere close to my post. Heard they like to follow you around. Oh crap, first it was birds, now hippos!!! Haha I might pee my pants and not even care. I mean who cares, people pee wherever they want here anyways. After a couple days at my post, I travelled back to Porto Novo all by myself. The taxi driver actually brought my straight to my house! I must be ok with my French esp. if it a matter of being lost in Africa! I was packed in the taxi like a sardine again and this time there were chickens in a shopping bag just chilling on the floor behind me. Yes, chickens—in the taxi--! I get to have cake again tomorrow bc it’s my host sisters 23rd birthday! Oh, and I had a petit go and buy me a Coca Cola today. It’s great! So, yes, I am surviving and yes I am going to have a ton of stories to tell when I get back—but just know—noone can really understand the life here if you do not live it! Miss and love you all!!! XOXOXOXO p.s. look @ pics on FACEBOOK! 