Porto Novo

Yesterday we moved from Cotonou (the largest city), to the capital of Benin- Porto Novo. It is a smaller city about an hour away- towards Nigeria- and even though it is the official capital all of the government buildings, Embassys, etc. are found in Cotonou. It is nice to get out of the big city- Cotonou was really overwhelming!

We moved in with our host families last night. Our family is very well-to-do; they both work in Cotonou for the Benin Government. We are the 1st Americans that they have hosted; no pressure, right? We have a very nice room and our own bathroom with running water, so I'm not sure how this is going to help prepare us for the next 2 years that we are going to live in an African village, but we'll enjoy it while we have it! We had dinner with the family last night: fish, fried potatoes, salad, and pineapple. The food here is great- just very oily and very starchy. I'm loving all of the fresh pineapple, though! So, all in all, we are doing great!

Our whole training group before everyone departed for their host families.

A cool billboard for a cell phone company we passed on the way to Porto-Novo.

1st Few Days in Benin

Just a quick update while we have a few minutes here in the Peace Corps office. We are doing well! We have been staying at a monastery in Cotonou since we arrived here Friday. There isn't much to report because we have been very "sheltered"- it almost feels like we are at summer camp. We have had a lot of introductory sessions on a variety of topics, medical interviews, language interviews, etc. We don't leave the compound except in a van to come to the Peace Corps office- so we don't have too many stories to share! Except yesterday I got to escape with a few other people to a "buvette" down the street with a current volunteer and some other trainees. We had a soda and after about an hour of being stared at by the people working at the bar, they came over and asked us for our picture before we left. We were like- OK- and then they all got in the picture with us. It was really funny because the volunteer that we were with said that they had never had this happened to them before.
We leave on Wednesday for our host family stays in Porto Novo and this is also when the real training classes begin. We're excited to get everything started, begin to experience the culture, and begin to feel like we live here!

A picture of traffic in Cotonou from the van window- note all the Zemidjans (moto taxis)! We got to ride one for the 1st time today near the Peace Corps office to practice. I was terrified, but it actually was really fun!!! (No worries, we have massive helmets we wear!)

Are you there?

Yes! We are here! We made it! Will write when we have a chance!

US Farewell Tour: Part Five

The last week of our time in the US has been spent in Knoxville/Jefferson City- where Miranna grew up. We've spent a lot of time doing last minute preps for our trip, but we've also had time to visit friends and family:

Miranna, Mom, and Noel- Douglas Dam in Jefferson City

Alison and daughter Kenzie, and Miranna- Gettysburg friends out to lunch.

Stacey and daughter Lauren, Miranna and Mom- catching up with long lost Camp Tanasi friends!

We also took a day trip to the mountians, which was important for our trip preparation so that we could practice using an outhouse!
Wow! Time has flown by! I can't believe our farewell tour has come to an end! It was great visiting with all of our friends and family and sorry we missed some of you! We leave for Philadelphia tomorrow morning where we will meet the other 54 members of the Peace Corps group going to Benin. After a day of orientation, we will all board the plane on Thursday and arrive in Benin Friday night! We're not nervous or sad about leaving- we're anxious to go and "get this party started"!

The Things We Brought...

Everyone wants to know- "What are you taking with you?" We have packed and repacked our bags many times trying to meet the weight requirements: 80 lbs each!

The final weigh-in!

We told Cori that she weighed too much to make the cut!

As you can see, we have a lot of stuff- but come on, for 2 years, its really not that much stuff!
So what is all of this? Here is a sample list of what we are bringing:
Clothes & shoes
Rain jackets
Shortwave Radio
Camera (digital & polaroid)
The Golden Girls Seasons 1-3 (I'm not kidding)
Nalgene bottles
Solar shower
Duck tape, ziploc bags, tupperware
Hammock
Cooking spices
School supplies
Public health books
Hand sanitizer
2 flashlights & 2 headlights
Waterproof matches
Photo albums
2lbs popcorn (Again, I'm not kidding)
Garden seeds
Kickball (thanks, Missy- the kids will love it!)
And much more...

The final pack-up!

US Farewell Tour: Part Four

While we were in Chattanooga, we took a weekend trip to visit some friends in Atlanta. We had a great time! Thanks Jason and Erin for hosting!

Post-brunch pic at the Essary's: Rob, Lindsay, Jillian and Callaway Lockery, Jason and Erin Essary, Miranna and Charlie Darr.

A "noche" out in the ATL after our non-tubing adventure!

Finally- Tubin' the Chattahoochee!

Who knew 50 degrees could feel so good!? After braving the cold waters of the Chattahoochee and those crazy Class I's we have our victory pose. Don't worry, no wastewater discharges on this run of the river.

1 Week Away

Believe it or not, we leave one week from today! We are very busy doing last minute shopping, packing and visiting family and friends. There hasn't been much down time, but we want to make sure we're packed and ready to go! While we probably should be apprehensive, we're actually really excited and ready to start our adventure!

Here is our address for all of those that want to begin to send us letters or packages (they take about a month to arrive):
Charlie and Miranna Darr, Peace Corps Volunteers
Corps de la Paix
01 B.P. 971
Cotonou, Benin
Afrique de l'Ouest (West Africa)

Mailing guidelines from the Peace Corps:

• Write "Air Mail" and "Par Avion" on all envelopes.
  
• Number your letters and packages (as to know what arrives and in what order).
  
• If sending packages, "bubble envelopes" work best.
• If sending any food items, put them inside a ziplock bag.
  
• Packages should be sent via air, not surface mail.
  
• The sender should clearly and honestly mark the contents on the outside of the package, but a general description of the contents is sufficient: "clothing and candy."

We will really appreciate everyone's support while we are gone! It will be great to get news and pictures from home!

US Farewell Tour: Part Three

We just had a wonderful week in Chattanooga, TN on stop #3 of our farewell tour. We spent a lot of time with Charlie's family, including his Grandmother that just turned 95!

The Darr Family: Charlie and Miranna, Paul and Emily, Luz and Charles and Grandmother

Tourists in Chatty: Emily, Paul, Charlie, and Miranna visiting the Delta Queen River Boat
Tourists in Chatty: Abby, Mark, and Miranna overlooking the river downtown

We were lucky to have a whole crew of friends from Washington, DC and Gettysburg visit us as in Chattanooga! We visited many sites- including the Chattanooga Choo Choo!
Thanks, Dennis, Billy, Matt, Cora, Siri and Jimmy for celebrating our last American holiday with us in Chattanooga!

Our patriotic 4th of July outfits- cute, I know! I made my "liberty" shirt for a play in the 5th grade- I'm not kidding.

Happy Birthday, America! Next year we'll be celebrating in Benin, but I don't know that the shirts will make the cut in our 80 pound luggage limit!

Most importantly, our kitty Cori found a great new home in Chattanooga with Charlie's parents! She is a very content kitty- thanks Momma and Daddy Darr!

US Farewell Tour: Part Two

After we left DC we headed to Bradenton, FL for stop #2 of our farewell tour. We spent a week in Florida with my Dad, Stepmother, Lydia, and Rosey just relaxing after a hectic week of moving and goodbye parties in DC.
We love to visit the area- especially because this is where we got married last year! We celebrated our 1st Anniversary at the beach and visited Snooty the Manatee at our reception site.

Snooty, the oldest living manatee in captivity, turns 61 this month!

US Farewell Tour: Part One

We started our farewell tour in May: Stop #1 California

My brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces met us in CA and it was great to see them before we left! We're going to miss you guys!Charlie had to go home early, but I had a great time with the girls during the week playing at the park, picking strawberries, and visiting Shamau and Snooty at SeaWorld!



Yes, her shirt says "If you think I'm cute, You should see my Aunt"- I can't believe Uncle Charlie would pick out something so sweet!

Au Revoir DC

We've been very busy in the past two months- sorry for the delay in posting!

We moved out of 1833 19th Street at the end of April as we prepared to close up our lives in DC. It was a sad day because we loved that apartment and had many fun times there! Thanks to everyone for helping us pack and move!

Part of the moving crew- Matt and Billy (Richard not pictured).

One of our last activities in DC was a tour of the White House- thanks Scott! Too bad we didn't run into Obama to wish us well in Benin- but that is OK, we're sure he is going to come visit us!
We had a going away party our last weekend in DC and were thrilled to see all our friends that came to wish us well! (Sorry we couldn't post all the pics- check facebook for all of them)

The Gettysburg Crew- Sarah and Ryan Gottschall, Kat and David Adams

The Party Planners: Allison, Cora and Dennis- Thanks, guys!

It's hard to believe that we had been in DC for 7 years! We had so made so many great friends and shared so many memories there, it was very hard to say goodbye! Maybe we'll call DC home again one day! Au revoir DC...for now!