Sorry it’s been so long since my last update. Life may be different here and hard to handle sometimes, but it is never dull or empty. There has been a lot going on here, so I’ll try to cover it all.
First is the very good news that the folks in Washington, DC have approved our business plan, albeit grudgingly. The message was basically, “There seems to be a framework here for moving forward, but we’re still not convinced that the folks there really understand the job ahead of them.” Duh. This is all entirely new territory here. It’s a completely different paradigm of development and the people I’m working with here are having to come to grips with an elevated set of expectations that they’ve never dealt with before. That’s why it required multiple drafts and the help of an American volunteer before they got the business plan squared away. Nevertheless, we can now move forward with ourreal work; hiring, training and employing arbitrators and mediators to take some pressure off of the court system. For that opportunity, I am thankful. Stay tuned.
All of that happened while I was in the northern town of Natitingou – Nati, for short – for our Early Service Conference. Where the southern part of Benin is lush and humid and mostly green, the north is more arid and dominated by shades of brown. The area around Nati is especially beautiful, being surrounded by rough hills and river valleys. Mind you, what I call hills pass for mountains here in Benin. None of them are over a couple thousand feet high (the highest point in the country is only 600 meters). But they are very rough and angular, not like the nice rounded slopes of the Cascades and their foothills. And the pace is much more laid back than down south, especially Cotonou. It was a really nice break, for which I am also thankful. The conference itself was…well it was fine, except that because I have the least Peace Corps-like job in all of Peace Corps not much of it applied to me. All the other SED volunteers are working with artisans, or women’s groups, or microfinance institutions – all at the grassroots. Me, I’m dealing with bureaucrats – both here and in Washington – and trying to help plan out a national marketing strategy for the Arbitration Center. It’s great for my Masters program, but light years from the “typical” Peace Corps experience.
I have settled into my house a little more, which feels good and for which I am also thankful. I completely rearranged things so now guests can sleep in the spare room and the bathroom door closes. Then I moved the kitchen inside so I don’t have to traipse out back to check on my dinner. All of which is good because, of course, last week was Thanksgiving. I have spent many Thanksgivings away from family and friends over the years. None of them was like this one, however. I actually hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my home for the very first time. There were five of us, myself and four other volunteers (see photo), and we all pitched in and made dinner. It was a little difficult finding all the necessary ingredients, but we made do. We had turkey wings (the only turkey we could find that wasn’t frozen so
lid…or still alive), stuffing (thank you mother for Gerry’s recipe), green beans and carrots, fried potatoes with cheese (REAL cheese!) and apple crisp for dessert (see other photo). I even downloaded a football game on Wednesday so we could watch football after dinner – ‘cause that’s what you do on Thanksgiving. Though it sounds very pedestrian, it was really very special. They talk a lot about Peace Corps being a family, and it sure was this week. For that, I give much thanks!
But that was only the half of it. On Saturday, I ventured out to the town of Ketou (K2) where there was “another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat” (thank you, Arlo). There were at least 25 people and everyone brought or made something. There are two volunteers serving in Ketou and we needed both stoves to get everything done in time. This time there was a full bird (killed and plucked for the occasion), two kinds of stuffing (I made Gerry’s recipe again and it was even better the second time because I found sage – called ‘herbs de Provence’ here – while I was shopping on Saturday morning.), mashed potatoes and gravy, au gratin potatoes, green beans, green salad, macaroni salad, rolls, and four or five desserts including pumpkin pie, cherry pie, brownies and coconut cake. A good time, and a good meal, was had by all! And many thanks were given.
Now, if that sounds like a typical T-day weekend, think again. Even here in Cotonou, lots of that stuff is pretty hard to find. Real cheese, for instance, is both uncommon and expensive. And don’t even try to find pasteurized milk. Vegetables are plentiful, although somewhat unpredictable. As you might have picked up on, spices are pretty hit-and-miss, too. You can get Nescafe at just about any store, but trying to find ground coffee is damn near impossible. On Thursday we went looking for oats to make the topping for the apple crisp…nada. We ended up using crumbled up butter cookies. (Much better, by the way!) And getting back and forth is always an adventure, especially if you’re going beyond Cotonou. The road from Pobé to Ketou, which was about the last hour of the 3½ hour trip from Cotonou, is not much more than a glorified dirt road. By the time we got there we were covered in a red-brown dust. But after all, what did you expect? …C’est l’Afrique.
First is the very good news that the folks in Washington, DC have approved our business plan, albeit grudgingly. The message was basically, “There seems to be a framework here for moving forward, but we’re still not convinced that the folks there really understand the job ahead of them.” Duh. This is all entirely new territory here. It’s a completely different paradigm of development and the people I’m working with here are having to come to grips with an elevated set of expectations that they’ve never dealt with before. That’s why it required multiple drafts and the help of an American volunteer before they got the business plan squared away. Nevertheless, we can now move forward with ourreal work; hiring, training and employing arbitrators and mediators to take some pressure off of the court system. For that opportunity, I am thankful. Stay tuned.
All of that happened while I was in the northern town of Natitingou – Nati, for short – for our Early Service Conference. Where the southern part of Benin is lush and humid and mostly green, the north is more arid and dominated by shades of brown. The area around Nati is especially beautiful, being surrounded by rough hills and river valleys. Mind you, what I call hills pass for mountains here in Benin. None of them are over a couple thousand feet high (the highest point in the country is only 600 meters). But they are very rough and angular, not like the nice rounded slopes of the Cascades and their foothills. And the pace is much more laid back than down south, especially Cotonou. It was a really nice break, for which I am also thankful. The conference itself was…well it was fine, except that because I have the least Peace Corps-like job in all of Peace Corps not much of it applied to me. All the other SED volunteers are working with artisans, or women’s groups, or microfinance institutions – all at the grassroots. Me, I’m dealing with bureaucrats – both here and in Washington – and trying to help plan out a national marketing strategy for the Arbitration Center. It’s great for my Masters program, but light years from the “typical” Peace Corps experience.
I have settled into my house a little more, which feels good and for which I am also thankful. I completely rearranged things so now guests can sleep in the spare room and the bathroom door closes. Then I moved the kitchen inside so I don’t have to traipse out back to check on my dinner. All of which is good because, of course, last week was Thanksgiving. I have spent many Thanksgivings away from family and friends over the years. None of them was like this one, however. I actually hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my home for the very first time. There were five of us, myself and four other volunteers (see photo), and we all pitched in and made dinner. It was a little difficult finding all the necessary ingredients, but we made do. We had turkey wings (the only turkey we could find that wasn’t frozen so
lid…or still alive), stuffing (thank you mother for Gerry’s recipe), green beans and carrots, fried potatoes with cheese (REAL cheese!) and apple crisp for dessert (see other photo). I even downloaded a football game on Wednesday so we could watch football after dinner – ‘cause that’s what you do on Thanksgiving. Though it sounds very pedestrian, it was really very special. They talk a lot about Peace Corps being a family, and it sure was this week. For that, I give much thanks!But that was only the half of it. On Saturday, I ventured out to the town of Ketou (K2) where there was “another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat” (thank you, Arlo). There were at least 25 people and everyone brought or made something. There are two volunteers serving in Ketou and we needed both stoves to get everything done in time. This time there was a full bird (killed and plucked for the occasion), two kinds of stuffing (I made Gerry’s recipe again and it was even better the second time because I found sage – called ‘herbs de Provence’ here – while I was shopping on Saturday morning.), mashed potatoes and gravy, au gratin potatoes, green beans, green salad, macaroni salad, rolls, and four or five desserts including pumpkin pie, cherry pie, brownies and coconut cake. A good time, and a good meal, was had by all! And many thanks were given.
Now, if that sounds like a typical T-day weekend, think again. Even here in Cotonou, lots of that stuff is pretty hard to find. Real cheese, for instance, is both uncommon and expensive. And don’t even try to find pasteurized milk. Vegetables are plentiful, although somewhat unpredictable. As you might have picked up on, spices are pretty hit-and-miss, too. You can get Nescafe at just about any store, but trying to find ground coffee is damn near impossible. On Thursday we went looking for oats to make the topping for the apple crisp…nada. We ended up using crumbled up butter cookies. (Much better, by the way!) And getting back and forth is always an adventure, especially if you’re going beyond Cotonou. The road from Pobé to Ketou, which was about the last hour of the 3½ hour trip from Cotonou, is not much more than a glorified dirt road. By the time we got there we were covered in a red-brown dust. But after all, what did you expect? …C’est l’Afrique.
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