So I have certainly spent a lot of time blabbing about myself in this blog, and then when I am not, I am talking about my family back home. While I guess both of those points are excusable do to the fact that this is a personal blog and also because my family is just so cool (I don’t actually know why I waste type on myself...I could do a whole hilarious blog just about them... potentially coming soon to a computer near you...), I have also met a lot of amazing people here who certainly deserve some blog space.
First, there is Brownie, my 70-something year old country manager for Humanity Exchange. When I try to come up with a good descriptor for Brownie, “bad ass” is really all I can come up, so I apologize for the profanity. She is a former Peace Corps volunteer and was most recently working as the Benin PC director until she retired a couple of years ago, only to get bored and take a job with Humanity Exchange. When I asked her how long she had been with Peace Corps, she responded “Oh, just since 1962.” A quick history lesson: the Peace Corps started in 1962. Since then Brownie has worked in I believe over 7 different countries in Africa as well as a 10 year stint in Jamaica, teaching English. Now, she takes care of all of us volunteers with THEX, doing everything from taking us to Cotonou for money/airplanes/etc to giving tours of Ouidah to hosting fabulous Sunday lunches that I will miss almost as much as her when I leave.
Next is Christian, my friend and French professor. We have spent nearly 40 hours of French lessons together in the past month, but our time has been defined by so much more than just French. Our shared Catholic faith has led to some incredible field trips to the seminary here in Ouidah, to the tomb of Cardinal Bernadin Gantin (look him up, very cool guy, probably would have been pope if he hadn’t been ailing when JPII died), and to a center for people with leprosy run by nuns. He even invited me and my roommates to his wedding!
And those roommates! We certainly have a full house right now, with Rob from Texas, Alice from England, Sue and Lisa from DC, and the Yeringtons-father/daughter duo-from Michigan. We cook, we laugh, we talk and talk and talk, and we have all had a great time learning from each other how to get around this awesome city of Ouidah. For example, if you are feeling confident enough in your French to try and get angry while haggling for the price of eggs, make sure you don’t mix up your nouns and verbs, otherwise, instead of telling someone to kiss your butt, you might be telling them to do something else to it. Thanks Rob for taking that bullet for us all on that one.
I have spoken a lot about the kiddos at L’Espoir des Enfants, but they definitely fall into the category of awesome people in Ouidah. Whether we are doing laundry, making pâte, sweeping the courtyard, playing ruleless checkers, or just chilling out together, I have loved all of my time with these guys.
My work at CIAMO started officially this week, but I have had the opportunity to spend plenty of time with the director John Mark and his two boys Jacob and Adrian because of Sunday lunches at Brownie’s as well as Friday night dinners at their favorite marquis. John Mark is former Peace Corps like Brownie and has been in Benin since 2008. He works his butt off to keep CIAMO running and continuing to offer the opportunity of arts and creativity education; he has been example of work ethic, cultural awareness, and business management that I hope put into practice at home. Jacob and Adrian are from the northern part of the country and have been a riot to practice French with, or just to watch dance to the fabulous Nigerian music videos that are so popular here. The rest of the staff at CIAMO, especially Sim, the guitar teacher that I am assisting, have been very welcoming and forgiving of the butchered French conversations we have had. And yet magically, things still work out, so either my French is better than I think, or they are just really good at figuring out what I am trying to say.
Maybe you picked up on this, but I have missed home a lot. I have missed my family. I have missed 115 degree temperatures. I have missed my church, which apparently had pews installed while I was away. But in all that mess of missing, these are the people who have made it easier to be so far away from the people who have gotten me to the point in my life where I could be writing a blog from half way around the world, sharing my experiences as a wet-behind-the-ears voyager. To all of these people--and everyone else who may not have been mentioned, but were certainly not overlooked-- I say merci beaucoup.
For the honor and glory.
(pictures of all these people eventually...)
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