Are you there?

A common Beninese thing to say, particularly when one person is returning to the house and someone is already there; is Tu es là? meaning Are you there? To which the answer, of course, is yes! I am there. And indeed, here I am in Benin.

After spending several days in Cotonou, doing basic orientation and living summer camp style, we have moved to Porto Novo for training. Porto Novo seems to be calmer and reputedly safer than Cotonou. I am living with a host family (Mom, Dad, and three kids) in a nice house (sturdy cement with an outer wall, tile floors, and limited indoor plumbing and electricity). The PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who are helping with training have made it clear that we shouldn't get used to such nice accommodations!

What I have seen of Benin is, in short, very different from other places I have been. Even in the biggest cities, most of the roads, except for the biggest ones, are rutted dirt. It is also not uncommon to see unfinished cement block buildings or in some areas, rows of wood and corrugated tin shacks. These are sometimes next to, even leaning against, very nice, elaborate buildings. Although Western dress is not just for yovos (foreigners), traditional Beninese clothes are more common, especially for women. In general these clothes are made of multicolored, patterned cotton in a style that seems to be common throughout the region. I am getting my first Beninese outfit soon, so more details will follow...

One thing that was surprising to me and probably shouldn't have been is that the women here actually do balance things on their heads as the preferred method of carrying basically anything short of babies (which they strap to their backs). They steady their burden with a hand, but I have seen some impressive no-handed balancing. My general favorite is when a woman has a tray of food or other stuff to sell topped with a wooden stool that she can set down as a stand for the tray when making a sale.

The most widely used means of transport (at least in urban areas) are motos, basically like dirtbikes/small motorcycles with a small engine that are made to seat 2 people (think banana seat). There are moto taxis, called Zemidjans - which is the word for hurry up in a local language - and then regular personally owned ones. My host papa has one and I ride with him whenever we go somewhere. Motos are so much more common than cars (there are like a billion of them here) and more convenient in traffic or on small rutted roads that most car taxis will only take you to the edge of a city, not drive you around in it. So motos are often the only choice for getting around. So all PCTs in Benin get a super spiffy moto helmet (complete with visor) and a moto training session, during which a group of highly amused Zemis were paid to pretend to haggle over the price with each of us, then drive us around the block. It was terrifying at first but I'm getting used to it, though I still hang on for dear life. One good thing is, given the size of the engine, most motos can't go all that fast. Not so comforting is the fact that Benin is reportedly the only country where all PCVs are allowed to ride motos - since apparently only here does the necessity outweigh the risk.... I myself am able to ride my sweet mountain bike to school every day, which isn't bad once you get used to all the motos zooming past.

I am still working on getting used to the extra work involved in some basic things here, mostly because I am far from mastering the necessary skills. Laundry, for instance, is all done in basins, which entails a long process of soaping, wringing, re-soaping, rinsing, wringing, rinsing, and wringing a second and third time, then hanging everything to dry. I have washed clothes once so far and now marvel that anyone is ever clean here. (Although the Beninese are generally impeccably cleaned and pressed for work or events, something that seems to befuddle even experienced volunteers.) Showers, also, are a little more work since you're usually working with a bucket of cold water, but you get used to that pretty quickly. One extra thing for foreigners is filtering and then boiling water, which takes some foresight if you're going to avoid buying water (because filtering takes like 2 days for a big bucketful of water) and engenders an appreciation for what must be in the water to need so much treatment. My latest revelation about that is that, when filtering and boiling is not possible, you can add a few drops of bleach to a liter of water to treat it. Um, bleach? The stuff with the big skull and crossbones on the bottle?

In general, I have been pleased with my PC experience so far. They have given us tons of materials and supplies, and training seems pretty well organized and comprehensive. I feel like it is very possible that I will be prepared for post. So for now, I'm just trying not to burn out with a packed schedule of classes while taking in as much of my new home as I can.

Pictures will come soon I hope! Internet is not so available here, so be patient. And sorry about the typos! Beninese keyboards are different... [Editor's Note: Those typos have been fixed... hopefully]