Camp Afrique: Southern Comfort

Our first visitors, Ann and Greg Tichy. This was a big one as their arrival marked just about our half way point in Benin, and for months had been something we spoke about almost in abstract as something that was going to happen in a then-intangible future time. But then the day came and they were here, and merriment was had.



Arriving with bear hugs and thousands of stories from the past year (and of course "Camp Tichy" shirts), we spent the first leg of our trip in and around Cotonou, giving everyone a chance to get settled and allowing us to take hot showers (So Nice!) at Benin's Hotel Marina. Quite honestly, for the first bit of time the priority was spending time together, so if it seems like we didn't do much it is because catching up was happening.

Day one was the tour of Cotonou and dinner in town. Seeing - and smelling - the urban expanse was certainly an experience, but one that allowed for some introspection on the difference between the developed and developing world.

Day two was our trip to Ganvie, the stilt village. Built in the center of a lake by a tribe fleeing enslavement, it is now a popular destination for those looking for a unique twist on traditional village life. Touring gondola-style, we took in the sights, sounds and smells, and as luck would have it there was a funeral celebration that day which meant all sorts of over the top partying was happing on the lake.


Traditional stilt hut
Business installation
We three in the boat. Only time Greg's knuckles left the seat all say.
Taking a break from sitting in the boat


After getting back to the hotel for some more R and R, we prepared ourselves for the next day's journey out to the seaside village of Grand Popo -- with a little surprise in store. But, before the surprise, we took a day trip to visit Ouidah, the former slave port and birthplace of voodoo.

Here we are under the "door of no return"

Sign that We've Been Here For Some Time

And so it was, with all the running around our one year anniversary in country (July 21) came and went without notice on this here blog. However, a few weeks back Steve had a moment that pretty much summed it all up perfectly. In his own words.

“In the Parakou workstation on a Sunday morning and have a couple of hours to kill before going back to post. Decided to pop in a classic Sunday morning on TNT type movie and sadly neither Rocky 4 nor Shawshank Redemption are anywhere to be found. Instead I opted for the 80s romantic comedy classic When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan at their respective bests.

So I’m settled in, going through “Ben Small, of the Coney Island Smalls,” the overly peppered paprikash and the ever popular “So I went to her willage,” finally arriving on the legendary diner scene. You know, the one with Meg Ryan seeming to, um, rather enjoying herself and Rob Reiner’s mother requests “what she’s having” (side note: why is it always “Rob Reiner’s mother” and not “Carl Reiner’s wife” when the story of filming that scene is retold?). So I’m sitting there watching the scene and for the life of me I swear this is my internal monologue:

‘Damn, is that a sandwich? Look at that thing. Betcha its pastrami, or maybe corned beef. New York deli, gotta be one of the two. Oh god, rye bread. Gotta be pastrami, definitely. Man could I go for a hot pastrami sandwich right now. With mustard, meat piled all high, salt and garlic soaked in the meat, little cracked pepper on the edge - I can just taste it.’ young, attractive woman is in the throws of carnal bliss and I’m totally fixated on the idea of a deli sandwich.”

So yeah, one year down, one to go.

Peace Corps Benin: The Next Generation

The new volunteers of PSL 21arrived early in July, marking our (PSL 20) official debut as "seasoned volunteers." Without dwelling too much on the arrivals themselves (you'll hear much more over the coming year about some of them, while others will surely be dropping out of the program and thus our hearts), it is worth noting the impact their arrival has had on us. And no better way to do that than quote Rachel Miller, the soon to be departing (PSL 19) volunteer from nearby Guinigourou.

"It's like Super Mario Bros. - they walk off the plane and you become like Mario eating a mushroom. boopbooPboOPbOOPBOOP. Grown up in an instant."

Exactly. However, we must sadly report that we have no pictures of their arrival, so instead we're posting two pictures of highly amusing PSL21 volunteers Kyle and Dennis looking bewildered.

Porkfest 2008

3 days, 2 pigs and a whole bunch of old fashioned meal preparation. Warning -- for those of weak constitution this post could be a little gruesome, if you skip the post our feelings won
t be hurt. And for those of a more semitic constitution, the post is SUPER traif-y.

Amongst all the things we love about Benin, one of best has to be the time and resources we are afforded to cooking from scratch. And we're not talking about basic processing ahead of the meal, we mean from the very beginning. Still oinking beginning.

In that spirit, Porkfest was planned by a group of current volunteers who had spent much of the past year waxing nostalgic about all the delicious swine-based foodstuffs they missed. The goal was to prepare a variety of different items using the same animal, partly as a demonstration to host country nationals and partly to indulge our own cravings.

Day 1 pig, seen below in transit from the butcher (slaughter and basic cleaning was done by a local retaurant in exchange for samples and savoir faire. By days end this pig had become:
Ham
Cased sausage
Ground sausage breakfast patties (or scrapple if you're from eastern Pennsylvania)
Pork rinds
Lard (then used in pie crusts)
Ribs and spareribs

Sadly, bacon didn't make the cut (no pun intended) as the pig simply wasn't fatty enough. Side dishes included salads and cornbread.





Day two menu was a whole spitfired pig, pit roasted over 10 hours to perfection.

Camp GLOW--June 22-29

June 22-29 was Camp GLOW in Parkaou. Camp GLOW is the annual girls camp hosted by Peace Corps that brings girls out of their small villages and into the big city. It empowers them to be leaders and shows them life outside the village. The week was jam-packed full of activities, field trips and seminars. In brief the PCVs taught girls about goals and motivations, malaria, HIV/AIDS, sport and exercise, computers and much more. The girls were lucky to go on a few outings around town to SONGHI Center, the self-sustaining farm; University at Parakou; and ORTB, the local boacasting studio of the national radio and TV station.

Highlights include playing dizzy-bat; seeing the girls interact with each other and making FanMilk money pouches!

Here are just a few pictures from throughout the week.

The girls paying attention to the Director of SONGHI Center

Lizzy teaching the girls aerobics

The girls playing around on the computers.

For some, it was their first time seeing and using computers.

Group photo