Well..
this week was pretty crazy!
After
the swear in ceremony last Friday we had some time to check out
Cotonou and go to Erevan (which is a giant target like store where
you can buy most anything American.. if you have the money.. except
for apparently hot sauce) it smelled like America.. and I might have
cried a little upon walking though the automatic door. Then we went
back home to pack our bags and to move out of Porto Novo. A year
later I arrived here.. just in time to write this post!!
Saturday
morning I loaded all of my things into a peace corps vehicle.. and
then my bags were taken away from me a put into the top secret peace
corps storage area. I held onto my newly acquired Erevan pillow... my
little red airplane blanket (that I currently consider the best
purchase I have ever made in my life)... 1 “clean” shirt.. and
all of the things I didn't want to hand over to the peace corps for
fear of never seeing my luggage again (my photo book and
electronics). I was going to Kloukanme (with another volunteer who
couldn't move in yet) to visit a volunteer and to experience the work
that environmental volunteers do (things are starting to feel
redundant here)... and I would be back in Porto Novo to get my stuff
and move in to my new home on Tuesday!! (We had a lot of fun in
Kloukanme... the volunteer who hosted us was amazing.. and we learned
how to bake cakes using the pot that PC gave us for boiling our
water!!)
Come
Thursday morning.. I still hadn't moved into my house (or changed my
clothes). Because of a taxi strike... I didn't leave Kloukanme until
Wednesday and then stayed in Cotonou until Thursday morning. When I
got here to Misserete I unloaded all of my things.. only to find out
my house had not been paid for and if the money wasn't given to them
that day that I would be loading my stuff back into a taxi and
searching for a new house. AT THIS POINT IT IS NECESSARY TO THANK MY
AMAZING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR FINDING THE MONEY AND HAVING SOMEONE
DRIVE OVER WITH IT FROM COTONOU ASAP THAT AFTERNOON. I was able to
take a nap in my house.. but I waited to start unpacking until the
papers were signed.. because you never know. Luckily the money showed
up and I was able to settle in.
It
is a really huge relief to finally be able to unpack all of my things
and set up my house... I was given a lot of furniture and kitchen
supplies by the volunteer who I am replacing and another volunteer
who lived near by.. for which I am very grateful!! However my lovely
predecessor left the commune today.. and it really is a shock to
finally be on my own.. away from all of the people I trained with...
and not having someone to ask questions to all the time.. I still
don't have this culture completely figured out... and I have a lot of
trouble communicating (even when my french is correct). I also know
that this is a really bizarre thing to complain about but my
absolutely gorgeous house is way too big for me.. and it is making me
feel extra lonely.. and its a little hard to feel integrated when you
feel so fancy.
I
spent my weekend walking around my neighborhood (I only got really
lost once!)... setting up my house... transporting furniture.. and
going to the Marche... on Sunday I made a trip to visit my host
family in Porto Novo and to go the the grocery store since it is near
their house anyway. It is nice to have something familiar so close
by... its strange to think that not even three months ago that their
house was so alien to me.
Tomorrow
is a meeting at the CeRPA office.. and then I am going to sit down
and plan out a schedule at least for the next few weeks. I have so
much to do!! The trick is figuring out who is supposed to be taking
me where and working with me on what :-/ at least for the start I
need someone to go to the groupments with me especially since I am
going to need a translator for a lot of the work (preferably one who
can understand my horrible french).
Z
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