Finally! 2011 sees a blog entry!

(Written March 18, 2011)

Oh m’goodness. Remember that time that I didn’t update my blog for something like five months? Me too. Whew, I’m glad that’s over!

We’ve got plenty to catch up on. I think it’s most appropriate at this juncture to proceed chronologically. So that’s what I’ll do, though I’ll have to backtrack a little since my last entry dealt solely with a critter theme. So let’s get to it!

In September, I hosted a married couple for two weeks while they waited for a new post. At this point six months later, and given the amount of sharing I’ll be doing in this update, the specifics of their story are rendered a tad immaterial; in brief, their original post basically misled Peace Corps about enough details that it became an unfit place for volunteers. Bah. Despite this crummy start to their service, we had a good time while they hung around my neck of the woods. In fact, it was with them when I faced the “pillowcase python” in the marche. I was also biking with them when we got caught in a torrential downpour and subsequent floodwaters.

We were on the outskirts of town when we took cover to avoid the wrath of some pretty ominous clouds. The worst seemed to be over, so we took off again toward home. Sometimes things seem a certain way when they’re really another way. This was one of those times. We rode right back into some crazy storm with 25 minutes to go until we reached my house. And we pedaled on. Onward against winds aplenty and newly formed rivers of marche gunk, trying more desperately than ever to avoid death on the road. We found refuge once again, this time at the home of my new postmates (also a married couple: Craig & Heather. [My previous postmate has returned stateside. Benin was not for him, evidently.]) The storm died out within a few hours, for real this time, and we left to continue the last leg of the journey home. Who knew it would be so agonizing?

Still basically soaking wet, we began the ride home. And the “riding” was pretty much finished as soon as it began. Oh, there was no “riding” to be done! Thanks to the flash flood, we had a lengthy walk home. We pushed our bikes through the always shin-and-sometimes-knee-deep water…or should I say “liquid fright” because it did not resemble water and I was convinced that I was contracting some horrible water-borne disease the whole way back. At this point, there is no evidence to substantiate that hunch. Let’s hope it stays that way. Close to two hours later, though, we arrived home and all was well. Oy vey.

September also presented me with the chance for a mid-service medical exam, woo! The solitary thing my doctor noted? Very clean ears. No amoebas or parasites or other striking stomach-dwelling horrors… Or water-borne illnesses as a result of spending a prolonged period of time wading through watery West African muck. Good marks all around!

Although my mid-service exam was far from remarkable, I have suffered through two crippling bacterial infections and, as a result, am quite confident that my stomach could endure just about anything that life tosses my way in the future. I have also never been so glad that the gift of a flush toilet was granted to me. And while it is not awesome that I have to go outside and walk down a corridor to get to it, I’ll take that any day over a hole in the ground. Feeling like death while hovering above a latrine- no thank you.

And while we’re on the topic of being incapacitated, I will mention here that the month of October saw me fall and sprain my foot. It had just rained and the ground was all slippery-like, and I stepped off the bus, across the poorly-constructed sidewalk, and slipped off the crooked curb and landed right on my tush. And for a few moments life was twisted in all sorts of weird ways… and then just got to hurting. So the doctors kept me in the medical unit for two weeks while I regained use of my foot. In those two weeks I also learned that I am decidedly horrible at using crutches.

And since I have been fully mobile, I have been doing oodles of traveling! I did some PSN (Peer Support Network) visits in middle of the country for new volunteers and those were just great. At one volunteer’s post, I even took a ram for a walk the day before he was slaughtered for Tabaski! What a sight that must have been! I can’t deny that it was a highlight, although I am sorry that he had to die. But who gets to say things like that? I also saw some more cool animals… when I went on safari at Parc Pendjari in the way northeast!

With three other gals, I saw some elephants, hippos, crocs, baboons, warthogs, two civets, and something like looked like a bear from the side as it lumbered along but like a cow in the face! Whatever that was- cool! There were a bajillion beautiful birds of all shapes and sizes and deer- and antelope-like creatures, again of varying shapes and sizes but we were reduced to calling them all “Deer!” because that’s essentially what they all looked like. And they were everywhere. No lion sightings while we were around, but that’s okay. Oh and we saw baby everythings- the little families were adorable. Especially the warthogs. They were just funny to watch… those little tails in the air.

I spent a lot of the safari on top of the ancient SUV as we drove through the park, soaking up the most dust that has ever been on my body and in my hair. In the morning, it was freezing on top of the car. And then by 9am it was sweltering. Talk about needing to layer-up! And I absolutely had “The Lion King” soundtrack on repeat in my mind the whole time. I know, I know- that movie was inspired by the landscapes and animals in East Africa. But look, I don’t know that I’ll be safari-ing a whole lot in my time, so I wasn’t getting too particular with the music in my head. Forgive me.

After visiting Parc Pendjari, we visited a popular waterfall site on the route back. Little did I know, it was necessary to climb UP to get to the biggest waterfall… which meant climbing THROUGH rushing, potentially Schistosomiasis-ridden waters to get there. Flashback to Thanksgiving 2009, anyone? I survived, as I tend to, and it was really neat. Thanks to the entrance fee, we were afforded helpers. And I had one on each side. Actually, they’re probably the only reasons how I managed not to break my face.

I stayed in Natitingou for a few days after the safari to experience the calm of the north. Survived another nearby waterfall experience and ate some good northern food. I took a day trip to what may be the most beautiful place in Benin: a little slice of heaven called Bokoumbe. I also took the most harrowing zem ride of my life to get there, but the driver maneuvered the razor-sharp switchbacks of the mountains like a pro. And I maintain that an hour is my max here on a moto. It’s rough on the rear.

I recently went to Nikki, in the northwest, for an annual festival called “Gaani Fete.” It’s a gathering of all the Bariba kings riding around on horseback and participating in a few ceremonies that I didn’t actually get to see. There were at least as many people there as there are deer- and antelope-like creatures in Parc Pendjari. It was hard to see anything, really. But it was neat and I was glad to check out other cultural aspects of Benin that I don’t have exposure to where I live in the south.

In other random events, the rainy season is upon us again. It returned early and with a vengeance. Last month, I tried to make it home from town before an impending downpour. Preceding the rains, however, was an apocalyptic sandstorm that compelled my zem driver to drop me off on the fringes of the marche with a half-hearted, “Sorry, Yovo. I can’t do it.” So, I ran for cover in a random boutique and the maman took me in, gave me a snack and a drink and told me that I could spend the night if the rains didn’t clear up. Because by that time, the skies began hemorrhaging water. We sat and watched the road fill with water; people try to drive through the flood waters and consequently fall and almost lose their motos to the rushing watery gunk; baskets and other random items float on by…and I sat in secret horror, evaluating my chance of survival if the water kept rising (which seemed likely), mapping out how I could get to higher ground and berating myself for never having watched one of those “How to Survive if…” shows that I know air on the Discovery Channel or TLC or something! Oh my God! And the maman kept telling me to eat and I just couldn’t because I was so nervous. That’s right- so nervous that I couldn’t eat a snack! And I love snacks! But, eventually (two hours later), the rain stopped and after another hour the water had receded enough that I zemmed home. I never wanted that to happen again!

…and then it did, two weeks later. This time, I was trapped at the cyber. It sounds like fun with all that internet; but it got old, fast. I waited for more than an hour and then just made a run for it. I darted down the street, trying not to fall down holes in the sidewalk, to my tailor friend’s shop. While she hailed a zem for me, I suited up in a borrowed piece of tarp and I’m pretty sure I saw a kid eat a zipper. Then I hopped on the zem for a little deja-vu. It was another very wet and muddy ride home, in spite of my plastic sheet. Ah well! C’est la vie.

There’s really no way to transition to and from the next pieces very easily. So, a list it is!

1) A bus that I rode recently hit and killed a pedestrian. While I was onboard. It was just a plain awful, burned-on-your-brain scenario.

2) A little girl called me “maman” as she greeted me. Now, this should just be a sign of respect- that I’m her elder, perhaps, or that I look like I should or could have children. Or that she thought I was a very large lady. One way or another, though, I gotta tell ya- I really don’t prefer it. I’d much rather hear the equivalent of “big sister” or “auntie.” Makes me feel younger…and thinner.

3) The dog next door died. And then my heart broke. No, but seriously, this dog was the closest thing I had to a pet and provided me regular pet therapy. RIP.

4) The mango tree by the high school got cut down. A perfectly good lunch spot: demolished. Some of the same ladies sell nearby, but it’s just not the same. Shade during outdoor mealtime is a necessity. So I’ve moved on to other rice and beans.

5) The bus gare moved! That’s right! This institution of Bohicon has been relocated to… to far away! In fact, all large vehicles have been re-routed so that they don’t come directly through town. This is good news if I want to ride my bike on the main road, but bad news when I need to get to or from the bus gare because it costs twice as much! Cutting down trees, moving gares- oh, the changes! Good thing I’m super adaptable and awesome at rolling with the punches, as they say.

6) My water was out for two weeks. Oh. My. Goodness. I was always thankful for my running water. That just reinforced it. Whew.

7) Four volunteers from Mali passed through last week. One of them was actually in my original Madagascar group that was cancelled, so I met him two years ago in Philadelphia! It was fun to host them and give them information for the next leg of their trip south. I so enjoy being helpful!

8) I’ve been hosting another displaced volunteer for three weeks! She’s waiting on a new post. There’s really not a whole lot to say, actually, because it’s been working out just fine. I’m glad I can help her out.

9) We are in the midst of election season! The first round of the presidential election was put off for three weeks, but finally happened last week. There’s usually a second round that pits the top two (of fourteen or so) candidates against each other, but the incumbent president got more than 50% of the votes so, in theory, that’s it! But the opposition is not too pleased and claiming that all sorts of cheating took place. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that regardless of these results, honesty is not at the top of the list of qualifiers for this (or any) election. This year holds legislative elections, too; those will take place toward the end of April. (Presidential elections are every five years and legislative elections are every four; every 20, they overlap.)

This has all been doubly interesting because my concession is owned by a representative in the National Assembly. He ran for president this year. He was ridiculously unsuccessful. He didn’t even win the majority in his own neighborhood. And now he’ll go out again for the National Assembly since he lost. So it’s been a very fascinating glimpse into the political world. It’s been very loud, too. Oodles of people come to see this guy when he’s actually here; and for the presidential election, two of his songs blared from sound systems atop trucks that circulated around the neighborhood from the early morning until way after my bedtime. I will not be sad when all of this election business is over and done with.

Well, that’s that! I cannot say “in a nutshell.” More like, “in a pumpkin patch.” You know, since a pumpkin patch is way bigger than a nutshell.

I’ve been at post for five weeks straight and it’s been really nice; traveling is exhausting and terrifying so I’m glad to have had a break. But I head to Cotonou this week for heaps of meetings and stuff. And I’ll never have another five consecutive weeks at post again. Time is quickly drawing to a close here and I’m not going to lie, it’s freaking me out a little.

Well, Happy Spring in America! The weather here feels like it always does so no updates there. So-enjoy! And expect to hear from me soon. In less than five months :o)