Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A Beninese Family Photo
We thought everyone would enjoy a recent family photo. The matching tissue (or cloth) that we are wearing is called the the official "Family Tissue"- which is represented by the chickens and their baby chicks! So it was only a matter of time before we bought some, and we had to give KoKo some to wear as well since she is our official Beninese baby!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Chillin' in Sunny Benin
After about 8 months in country, we finally had time to take our first real vacation in Benin during Miranna's Easter break! We went to a beach resort area near the border of Benin/Togo called Grand Popo. It is really beautiful, and despite the fact that you can't swim in the ocean we had a really great and relaxing time! Now that we know it is only about 3 hours from Lalo, we know we will be returning!
A few pics from our trip (maybe these will tempt some of you to come visit us!):
One of the buildings at the hotel we stayed at- an old colonial plantation.
Every morning, the fishermen pull in the MASSIVE fisihing nets from the night before. It takes lots of men, women, and children for this job- Charlie and I helped too!
Taking a break to pose for a pic on the beach- note the net in the background- it is an all morning process to bring in the net.
A group of boys carrying the fisihing net back down the beach.
Charlie on our tour of the Mono River.
Enjoying a fresh cut coconut after a boat tour on the river!
Relaxing on the beach just before sunset!
A few pics from our trip (maybe these will tempt some of you to come visit us!):
One of the buildings at the hotel we stayed at- an old colonial plantation.
Every morning, the fishermen pull in the MASSIVE fisihing nets from the night before. It takes lots of men, women, and children for this job- Charlie and I helped too!
Taking a break to pose for a pic on the beach- note the net in the background- it is an all morning process to bring in the net.
A group of boys carrying the fisihing net back down the beach.
Charlie on our tour of the Mono River.
Enjoying a fresh cut coconut after a boat tour on the river!
Relaxing on the beach just before sunset!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wearing the flag for charity
Last weekend we went to Parakou for a Peace Corps Benin fundraising event. All the volunteers come together for a dinner and auction to raise money for the 'Gender and Development' (GAD) program funds. These are funds that are available for volunteers to use in their communities to carry out activities that address issues of gender and development. There are multiple examples of events that qualify for these funds, but typically they help raise the awareness of girls and women's roles in Benin.
For example, on International Women's Day we held an event in Lalo for all of the girls at Miranna's school. We applied for the Gender and Development funds to pay for this event, which allowed us to carry it out without paying out of our own pockets. We invited prominent women from the community to come speak on three topics: staying in school, women's rights, and sexual health. We had about 250 girls turn (about half of the girls in school) out for the event! It was a huge success and the girls still contiunue to talk about it! We plan on doing this again next year as well.
International Women's Day event in Lalo- a great turnout!
Miranna and Charlie dressed as the Benin flag for the GAD dinner. Our outfits were a hit!
For example, on International Women's Day we held an event in Lalo for all of the girls at Miranna's school. We applied for the Gender and Development funds to pay for this event, which allowed us to carry it out without paying out of our own pockets. We invited prominent women from the community to come speak on three topics: staying in school, women's rights, and sexual health. We had about 250 girls turn (about half of the girls in school) out for the event! It was a huge success and the girls still contiunue to talk about it! We plan on doing this again next year as well.
International Women's Day event in Lalo- a great turnout!
Miranna and Charlie dressed as the Benin flag for the GAD dinner. Our outfits were a hit!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Ins and Outs of Daily Life
Just a few glimpses into our daily life here...
Miranna and her neighbor, Inez, carrying water from the nearby pump to the house. Note the girl half M's size, yet with a water basin twice as big. The girls (and women) here are so strong- and can carry anything(!) on their heads! M is still a novice water porter and does so on rare occasions- but it is a lot of entertainment for our neighbors when it happens! Typically all the neighborhood girls or boys get water for us about every other day.
We pay about 25cents for 3 of the large basins of water- and that lasts us for about 2 days. this includes showering, cooking, and drinking. Laundry requires a bit more....see below:
Miranna doing laundry in back of our house. The 3 bucket system is way more work than just putting the clothes in the washer and pusing a button! However, it is typically so hot clothes do dry in about an hour. We have yet to make the water as suddsy as they do here and the girls all laugh at our feeble scrubbing attempts, but we make it work!
Miranna and her neighbor, Inez, carrying water from the nearby pump to the house. Note the girl half M's size, yet with a water basin twice as big. The girls (and women) here are so strong- and can carry anything(!) on their heads! M is still a novice water porter and does so on rare occasions- but it is a lot of entertainment for our neighbors when it happens! Typically all the neighborhood girls or boys get water for us about every other day.
We pay about 25cents for 3 of the large basins of water- and that lasts us for about 2 days. this includes showering, cooking, and drinking. Laundry requires a bit more....see below:
Miranna doing laundry in back of our house. The 3 bucket system is way more work than just putting the clothes in the washer and pusing a button! However, it is typically so hot clothes do dry in about an hour. We have yet to make the water as suddsy as they do here and the girls all laugh at our feeble scrubbing attempts, but we make it work!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Some Recent Pictures & Events
A Beninese funeral procession in Lalo. Funerals in Benin are a BIG deal- they are like a big party. Unlike in the US, people do not dress and black and you never see anyone crying. A huge procession of people and a band walk around town with a large picture of the deceased. They go from neighborhood to neighborhood, dancing, singing, drinking and visiting.
Miranna with some local women at the funeral reception. After the procession, everyone gathers at one location for the reception- more food, singing, and dancing. Note the hat: this is a typical hat women wear for special events here.
Lunch at our neighbor's house last weekend.
This family is super nice and we have enjoyed getting to know them. The dad is a primary school director at a neighboring village and the mom makes and sells food. They have one boy and two girls at home with them and then two older girls who live in Cotonou. Believe it or not, five children is actually a reasonable size family for Benin! The two girls that live there- Andrea and Inez- are always at our house playing with Koko, coloring, or just watching us do whatever we are up to at the moment. The girl in the front of the picture, Andrea, is in the same grade as I teach (but not in my class) so I often help her with English as well.
Charlie, KoKo and a student name Prosper. Look at the size of the papaya that he brought us! It was bigger than the cat!
Not a great picture, but Miranna teaching "Parts of the Body." It was a really fun lesson followed by a revised version of the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."
KoKo waiting in Miranna's bag- ready to go to school with her.
Miranna with her school director's youngest children at New Years. In Benin, families often wear matching fabric for important events, such as funerals, holidays, or weddings. The two girls are twins. They were so cute in their matching outfits, we couldn't resist taking a picture!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Life is Full of Surprises
We woke up one Sunday morning to find a mouse swimming in our sink! Miranna screamed for Charlie, who then put Ko Ko to work...
In the end, Charlie had to drown the mouse...
Mouse Kill Count:
Charlie: 2
Ko Ko: 0
However, she is very skilled at catching cockroaches (and keeping us company!). Hey, we're not all perfect, right?
In the end, Charlie had to drown the mouse...
Mouse Kill Count:
Charlie: 2
Ko Ko: 0
However, she is very skilled at catching cockroaches (and keeping us company!). Hey, we're not all perfect, right?
Friday, February 5, 2010
Random Updates
Wow, it’s February! We’ve just hit our 6 month mark in country!
What is cooking in our side of the world?...
Charlie is currently in the northern part of Benin (look for Kandi on the map) on a HIV/AIDS education bicycle tour with other volunteers. Miranna could not go because she had to teach. However, if all goes well there, we hope to do a similar tour in our region in the near future.
Miranna just finished her first semester of school this week- calculating semester averages for 160+ students should be fun! This week she has been teaching family vocabulary and the possessive case which was a lot of fun. She used all the fun magazines that friends have sent to make up an imaginary family tree. Did you know that John Travolta and his wife are parents to Renee Zelwiger, the Olsen twins, and Patrick Swazye? Who knew they were all related! Of course my students didn’t know who any of these people were (the just loved looking at the pictures) so only I found the humor in it.
A few weeks ago we started learning Fon- the local language in Lalo. We have lessons for 2 hours on Monday afternoons between Miranna's classes. It isn’t easy! It’s not really a written language- it is very phonetic, which is fine if you’ve studied phonetics (which the Beninese do). But, the locals of Lalo love it when we bust out a greeting in Fon!
Because everybody is dying to know: Our kitty’s name is “KoKo.” This is taken from the local saying “KoKoKo,” which is what you say when you go to visit someone at their house. She is always at the door to welcome us, so we thought it was appropriate.
We’ve now had one week with no power- so no lights and no fan have given us the taste of the “real” Peace Corps experience. Man, do we miss our fan! There is a bit of a dispute with the electricity bill with the 30 or so houses that are on our block (and on the same bill) so we’re not actually sure when we will get power back. I won’t even try to explain how it works here because it is incredibly nonsensical, but, we’re coping!
So, all in all, life is good!
What is cooking in our side of the world?...
Charlie is currently in the northern part of Benin (look for Kandi on the map) on a HIV/AIDS education bicycle tour with other volunteers. Miranna could not go because she had to teach. However, if all goes well there, we hope to do a similar tour in our region in the near future.
Miranna just finished her first semester of school this week- calculating semester averages for 160+ students should be fun! This week she has been teaching family vocabulary and the possessive case which was a lot of fun. She used all the fun magazines that friends have sent to make up an imaginary family tree. Did you know that John Travolta and his wife are parents to Renee Zelwiger, the Olsen twins, and Patrick Swazye? Who knew they were all related! Of course my students didn’t know who any of these people were (the just loved looking at the pictures) so only I found the humor in it.
A few weeks ago we started learning Fon- the local language in Lalo. We have lessons for 2 hours on Monday afternoons between Miranna's classes. It isn’t easy! It’s not really a written language- it is very phonetic, which is fine if you’ve studied phonetics (which the Beninese do). But, the locals of Lalo love it when we bust out a greeting in Fon!
Because everybody is dying to know: Our kitty’s name is “KoKo.” This is taken from the local saying “KoKoKo,” which is what you say when you go to visit someone at their house. She is always at the door to welcome us, so we thought it was appropriate.
We’ve now had one week with no power- so no lights and no fan have given us the taste of the “real” Peace Corps experience. Man, do we miss our fan! There is a bit of a dispute with the electricity bill with the 30 or so houses that are on our block (and on the same bill) so we’re not actually sure when we will get power back. I won’t even try to explain how it works here because it is incredibly nonsensical, but, we’re coping!
So, all in all, life is good!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
