Post Visit

Back in the city again!

Two weeks ago I left Porto Novo with my homologue (my counterpart for the organization that requested a environmental PCV to work in Todé). Though I was nervous the morning that we left, my excitement started to build as I climbed on the zemi for the 45 minute ride out of the city and into the village, and everything became less crowded and greener. 

Before departing for site, Peace Corps warned us that conditions in village were not likely to be as luxurious as with our host families in Porto Novo. I was 100% ready to rough it by the time the zemi pulled up outside my host family’s compound in Azowilisse, the large village where I stayed. Azowilisse is the biggest village in the area and I will need to go there to get to a school or market, etc. It is about 3 km from Todé, the village where I will actually work on the farm, and 5 km from Houeda, the village where I will actually live.

As it turns out, my 2 weeks of “roughing it” became a 2 week vacation. My host mom, the sister of my supervisor, is a preschool teacher, but she also runs the closest thing I can imagine to a Beninese bed and breakfast… I was given my own room with a bathroom which included a flushing toilet and a SHOWER! And for the first 2 days of my stay, I shared the guest house with 2 French tourists who had come for a taste of village life. (Family and friends, take note: if you come visit me, I have connections for an excellent place to stay… you will be able to see where I live and work, what village life is like, and also have the luxury of electricity, running water, and a woman who knows how to prepare excellent meals / water for your sensitive American stomachs!). I think at first it actually bothered me a little bit that I wasn’t getting the nitty gritty village experience, but then I realized that I will have 2 years to experience that in my latrine-equipped home, sans running water or electricity. Let the vacation begin!

My mama and my three host brothers (ages 14, 19, and 22) were incredibly welcoming and interested in talking about our different cultures. Admittedly, the first couple days with the brother my age were a bit awkward. General cultural note: Beninese men are extremely forward and macho. It can get exhausting having to ward off romantic advances and flattery: “You are so beautiful; It pleases me when you wear your hair like that; I like the shape of your body; Ma blanche, vient” etc… Pretty much I ignore such comments or just say merci with a straight face and move on. If you giggle or smile, it is considered an invitation to continue. This is difficult for me, to avoid smiling and laughing, not because I’m flattered, but because I find it a little creepy and ridiculous, and that’s my “I feel awkward right now and don’t know what to do” default response. I’m becoming more used to it by now, so it doesn’t bother me much, and it also makes for good conversation about cultural differences. 

Over the course of the two weeks, my brothers paraded me around and helped me complete various tasks to get to know the village. I got to take a gorgeous canoe ride around the large river that goes through the valley that is my village, meet with several authorities and community members, and tour the farm at Todé and my compound at Houeda (I am renting a small house in a concession with 2 other families. I won’t actually live where I work, because the “Peace Corps appropriate housing” is one village over). The stay was very different from training so far, in that I got to make my own schedule and there was a lot of down time. But I really enjoyed the quiet village life and getting away from the city. I basically just did a whole lot of resting and eating and networking, especially with different women’s groups in the area. I walked around a lot to greet people and introduce myself as a volunteer, and like my host family, most people were just really excited to have me there. One group of women even sang for me at the end of our meeting, as an expression of their gratitude for my coming to Benin to learn and work with them! It was a very touching and incredible cultural experience.

After speaking only French during my stay (with the exception of a 20 minute phone chat with my mom!) and living with a family who had a real interest in me and my work, I think I learned more about the language and culture in the 2 weeks I spent with them, than in the past 5 that I’ve spent in training. Now, I am excited for how much more I will learn once I participate in the upcoming technical training and finally move to my site.