Christmas, New Years, a trip to Kenya, and a two-week training

(Me on the Indian Ocean...yes I have lost some weight)

(This is a picture of a little girl carrying little rocks in a basin on her head to a dump truck. This is how most people in my village make money; breaking rocks by hand and selling them by the basin. I talked about it in another post, but it probably took her and her family 2-3hrs to fill that basin and they will receive the equivalent of 25 cents.)

(This is me, Brigitte (another PCV), and two Beninese teenagers at the top of the hills behind my village)



Hello everyone,

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I went on a trip to Kenya for the holidays and then returned to Benin for a two-week training with all of the Environment and Health volunteers. This blog post will not include any interesting anecdotes but just a brief summary of the past month.

So I left post before Christmas to catch my flight to Nairobi, Kenya to visit Karissa. She was studying abroad there for the first semester and I wanted to visit her and see Kenya...we dated before I left, kept dating, and its complicated so I will just leave it at that. Anyways, I did not fly out of Cotonou, Benin since their 'international' airport resembles more of a bus station. Instead I traveled to Accra, Ghana, two countries to the west of Benin. Basically that consisted of standing on the side of the road with my hand out and a huge bag until a guy pulled over and said he was going to Lome, Togo. The only thing that was missing was the "Free Candy" sign on the side of his car. I got in the back seat of a compact car (normally sits 5 right) with 7 other Beninese folks (3 in the front and 4 in the back) and headed off toward Togo. After crossing the border without any problems, I then found another taxi to Accra, Ghana. Ohh, I forgot to mention that in the taxi I met a guy who spoke English who used to live in Accra. He became a huge help later one. So after another taxi ride, which consisted of several naps, annoying border guards and police with big guns who like to give people a hard time, and claustrophobia-inducing company I made it to Accra. The strangest thing about the trip was nearly every African person had to pay a small bribe to the guard in the sketchy way of shaking hands with money or putting it conviently in their passport. They left me alone though.

I went to Accra without any hotel rooms and my only plan was to find a taxi and tell him to take me to a cheap hotel for the night. But, that guy I met on the taxi ride hooked me up with a hotel room, invited me over to his friends house for dinner and beer, and then gave me a tour of the area. He did this for the only reason that I am an American, which you can thank Obama for. Everyone in Africa loves him and I just want to say that had McCain and that thing of a running mate won in 2008, it would be less safe for me to travel across West Africa. Think about that next time you want to vote Republican! :P

I spent the night in Accra, walked around a bit where a 4 year old tried and failed to pickpocket me. I caught her 'red handed'...with her hand in my pocket. The next day I got on a plane and headed to Nairobi, Kenya. I met Karissa at the airport, which started the most amazing vacation ever. Nairobi was a cool city, the slum is huge (but we didnt get to see much of it), and the people don't freak out for seeing an American. I ate cheeseburgers, pizzas, and all other kinds of food I havent seen since I left the US of A. Then we got on an overnight train straight out of Harry Potter for Mombasa. I loved the city of Mombasa. I didn't realize how much I missed diversity until I was there since Mombasa has an Indian influence, Middle Eastern influence, and of course African influence. Benin is pretty homogenous. We stayed in these cabin hotel rooms on the Indian Ocean. Yes, it was gorgeous. It was my first time in the Indian Ocean and now all I have to do is go swimming in the Arctic and I can say I have swam in every major ocean. I rang in the new year with a bottle of champagne, sitting on the beach on the Indian Ocean, looking at the stars, and sitting with awesome company. I was asleep by 12:30. Then after a vacation that was entirely too short I traveled back to Benin for a two-week training.

I wont bore you with those details but I am pretty sure I ate raw chicken on the street yesterday. Damn street food. Don't worry I am paying for it now. I am headed back to post tomorrow morning, which as of right now is bitter sweet. I am looking forward to going back to everyone I know there and sleeping in my bed but in Kenya and somewhat during the training I got a taste of everything that I have been missing. It will take some readjusting, but I will manage.

Ok, now you are all caught up on my life. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are freezing your butt off.