Bein' in Benin

Hi everyone! Sorry about the delayed post, but it not been easy getting myself to an internet café in the past couple of weeks. Peace Corps Benin has kept the new volunteers (54 of us!) quite busy with information sessions, vaccinations, a meeting with the American ambassador, and most recently, language classes. We stayed in Cotonou, the largest city, for the first six days and now I am living with a quite wonderful Beninese family in the capital city of Porto Novo. Porto Novo definitely beats the wild traffic of Cotonou, where the zemidjans (motorcycle taxis) make American city drivers look amazingly tame. Undoubtedly, Frogger’s inception came about after its makers tried to cross a Beninese street.

About a week and a half ago we were all driven to the suburbs of Porto Novo, where we are living with host families for the next three months. Every day but Sunday, we undergo fairly intensive training in French language and, in my case, gardening techniques (yay!). I haven't yet told them that I can't keep my jade plant alive. Anyway, someone was telling us that the Peace Corps used to require a physical training regimen back in the day (think military style!) so I am quite grateful to be chatting with Beninese and tending to gardens from 8 to 4:30 everyday instead.

Thus far though, my family has been quite grand. They have put up with my ridiculous French for the past week or so, seemingly unperturbed, even as I walk around the house saying random French words or as I haltingly utter sentences during which a person could easily take an entire nap through. At least they smile and nod. They also feed me really great food. A lot. Really - expect me to weigh an extra couple hundred pounds when I return in two years. This has even been the stated goal of my maman, and I bet that the French fries I was served for breakfast this morning was part of that plot. Oh dear. Besides eating a lot and butchering French, I’ve begun to train the children in my family the finer points of Frisbee, and (Seth, you will be proud!) I have also been named the reigning champion of Tekken 4 on the family’s Playstation 2. Those horrible combat games are clearly my life calling. Also, you’ve probably gained a better idea of my family’s socioeconomic status from that Playstation 2 reference. All of us have been placed in homestays which are in the upper echelons of Beninese income and I definitely will be living quite comfortably in the coming months.

One very important thing which I discovered last week: women in Benin are never allowed to whistle! Of all the countries which I could have been placed in, I am in one where whistling is prohibited among women.  I’m missing a part of my soul already…

Anyways, although it is nothing too exciting or exotic, my experience has nonetheless been wonderful thus far. Indeed, it definitely makes the transition to our final posts (where I won’t have electricity or running water) quite a bit easier. I’ll update more in the coming months about my life as a Beninese Peace Corps trainee. A bientot!