Hey everyone, hope all is well. Sorry I havent written in a couple of weeks, I havent been able to get to a cyber to do that. I do have lots to talk about though. So two weeks ago I got to visit my post in Djidja. It is a small village about 30 minutes away from the tourist town of Abomey. To get their I had to ride in a taxi for 3 hours and then on a mototaxi for 45 minutes. It was quite interesting. First of all the taxis here look like cars from the 80's and every bump you hit makes the car shake and moan and most of the time you think the car will fall apart right under your feet. And that is not ther worst part because this is all happenin will you are barrelling down the goudron and god knows what speed praying you dont wreck or hit something.
Eventually though I made it to my village safe and sound. I stayed in my village for two nights and three days. I was fed so much food that I though at any minute I would burst. They would give me giant plates of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I swear I dont know how people eat this much. I stayed at one of the chiefs of the villages house. My bed was in a room that looked like it was a workshop, and the roof was tin so when it rained, which it did every night, I felt like I was going deaf. I had better get used to that though I suspect because my house only has a tin roof also. How lucky I am.
At my villag I went around and met all the important people, such as the mayor, the police chief, and all the chiefs of the village. I was pretty busy the whole time. My town is fairly small with only one main road that goes through it. On that road are few little bars and restaurants. There is a small market in my town every 5 days where I will be able to get most of what I need, and it I cant I can go to a market in Togo, another country, which is 15 km away or I can run in two Abomey or Bohicon the two large towns about 45 minutes from me. All in all I think I am going to like my town. It is going to be a big change but I think I can do it, hopefully.
On an even better note I passed my french exam so that I can swear in and officially become a peacecoprs volunteer. That was a giant weight off my shoulders because if you dont pâss you either have to take the test again or you dont get to swear in for a while.
Also this passed Saturday we all got to go to a really nice beach that was like 3 hours away from us. It was very fun and relaxing. I had a few drinks which was nice and also got to go in the water. The water here in Africa is very dangerous though. Something about the way are area is positioned makes the waves insanely huge and the undertow extremely powerful. So basically you can only go in up to your knees. Which really isnt far because you could be standing in what you think is just the sand close to the ocean, and boom you are suddenly in water up to you waist that is pulling you towards the ocean If you only do that though you are pretty safe becaue the water wont pull you that far. You should watch out however for people around you because if you fall you get swept backwards and an take people out and them bring them back down with you into the ocean. It was actually really fun it you were safe about it and I thought it was hilarious when I actually took some people down with me.
So next week is going to be pretty easy going. We pretty much just have wrap up stuff to do. We also have two days to go shopping for stuff for our houses. Then on Friday we have our swear in, a big dinner/party with the President of Benin, and then we get to stay at a hotel in Cotonou. It is going to be very fun and I am know I am very excited. Also each sector; health, Environment, Business, and Teaching; all got the same fabric for swear in and we all got to take it to a tailor to get what ever we want made to wear. I took a photo from a jcrew catalogue and am getting a very cute dress made.
Well once again I wish every th e best and I will write again soon. Oh and I almost forgot, next Sunday I am moving to my post officially how exciting. Oh and daddy I love you too, sorry I didnt put a pic up of you because i dont have any on my camera, but if I did there we would be several of you on here too. Love you and Mom
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment