http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2269121&l=e7a97&id=13602253
love Katie
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Hannukah in Cotonou
Hello!
First of all, Merry Cristmas and Happy New Year! Here there doesn't seem to be a big differentiation between the two... It's just 'les fêtes' and everyone simply says 'joyeux fêtes.' It's one GIANT party, which is funny.
I thought I would share some funniness from the Hannukah party Sarah and I had on Sunday night. She's half Jewish and seems to do the same sort of food-based religiousness as we do (ie Ukrainian Christmas), and we decided that we would invite people over for Hannukah dinner. Part of the motivation was that our lovely upstairs neighbours had us over for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Day breakfast, and then to hang out on Christmas Day evening - they're really quite awesome.
Sarah's usually not much of a cook, but we managed to get instructions on how to make Latkes and Kugel, and then we made some carrots and cookies to balance things out a bit. The cooking was actually a success! I think I've only made Latkes once in Grade 6 so I wasn't much help, but they were super tasty. The kugel was also awesome - it's kind of like casserole that's salty and sweet. We actually made the cheese to put into it, which was perhaps the most exciting part of the whole cooking process (heat 2L of milk, add ~1/4 cup of vinegar, let cook some more til it separates, then strain and mix in salt). I had absolutely no idea that making something resembling ricotta cheese was so easy!
So we managed to cook successfully, but that wasn't the entertaining part of the evening. Our list of invitees was quite random and thankfully a few couldn't come (we only have 7 plates and at one point nearly 15 people were supposed to come, and the neighbours weren't home at this point to borrow from). Sarah's colleague and colleague's boyfriend came, and they were really nice. They're both from Cotonou and had NEVER seen anything that resembled Latkes or Kugel, but they were game and at least tried. The boyfriend didn't eat his Latke so we rescued it in the kitchen (because Latkes are so tasty it's a shame to waste). They were young and funny - her work environment seems really different than mine, where everyone is older, serious, and stressed. The sadly had to leave early to get back home, which was far away, so they didn't overlap with many other people.
After they left the lovely neighbours and others finally showed up (2 1/2 hours late). We ate and drank and then Sarah decided we should light a candle and say the Hannukah prayer. We sadly didn't have a menorah so we used the little candle we use during blackouts (this is apparently bad luck since it's actually a candle that's specially made for putting on graves in Germany or something). Sarah said the prayer in three languages - Hebrew, English, and French - and then started to explain the story of Hannukah. I don't think I ever really knew the story, or if I did I definitely don't remember it now, so it was nice to hear. We then got into a discussion about religion, since we had a very mixed dinner crowd (the 8 people at the table represented 7 different countries!). It was surprising that most people really didn't know anything about Judaism! I don't know much, but I think I was better informed than most... Sarah's comment regarding the French and German people was "Well, they killed all their Jews which is why they've never met any." It was said lightheartedly and it was pretty funny :)
By far the best comment of the night, though, was our neighbour. We were talking about how Sarah's father is Protestant and her mother is Jewish, and he was saying that he just didn't understand that. When everyone asked why, he said "You're Jewish, right, but aren't you still Catholic?" It doesn't sound as funny here as it was at the table... He's from Mali and I bet there isn't a large Jewish population there.
Anyway, it was the first and probably last party we'll have. We definitely don't have enough furniture/dishes, and Eva (the woman who actually rents the apartment) is coming back in a couple of weeks - she's quite quiet and doesn't like big groups. It was fun, though!
And now I'm back at work... But tomorrow is a half-day, and then Thursday and Friday are holidays! Very exciting.
I hope everyone's having hice holidays!
love Katie
First of all, Merry Cristmas and Happy New Year! Here there doesn't seem to be a big differentiation between the two... It's just 'les fêtes' and everyone simply says 'joyeux fêtes.' It's one GIANT party, which is funny.
I thought I would share some funniness from the Hannukah party Sarah and I had on Sunday night. She's half Jewish and seems to do the same sort of food-based religiousness as we do (ie Ukrainian Christmas), and we decided that we would invite people over for Hannukah dinner. Part of the motivation was that our lovely upstairs neighbours had us over for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Day breakfast, and then to hang out on Christmas Day evening - they're really quite awesome.
Sarah's usually not much of a cook, but we managed to get instructions on how to make Latkes and Kugel, and then we made some carrots and cookies to balance things out a bit. The cooking was actually a success! I think I've only made Latkes once in Grade 6 so I wasn't much help, but they were super tasty. The kugel was also awesome - it's kind of like casserole that's salty and sweet. We actually made the cheese to put into it, which was perhaps the most exciting part of the whole cooking process (heat 2L of milk, add ~1/4 cup of vinegar, let cook some more til it separates, then strain and mix in salt). I had absolutely no idea that making something resembling ricotta cheese was so easy!
So we managed to cook successfully, but that wasn't the entertaining part of the evening. Our list of invitees was quite random and thankfully a few couldn't come (we only have 7 plates and at one point nearly 15 people were supposed to come, and the neighbours weren't home at this point to borrow from). Sarah's colleague and colleague's boyfriend came, and they were really nice. They're both from Cotonou and had NEVER seen anything that resembled Latkes or Kugel, but they were game and at least tried. The boyfriend didn't eat his Latke so we rescued it in the kitchen (because Latkes are so tasty it's a shame to waste). They were young and funny - her work environment seems really different than mine, where everyone is older, serious, and stressed. The sadly had to leave early to get back home, which was far away, so they didn't overlap with many other people.
After they left the lovely neighbours and others finally showed up (2 1/2 hours late). We ate and drank and then Sarah decided we should light a candle and say the Hannukah prayer. We sadly didn't have a menorah so we used the little candle we use during blackouts (this is apparently bad luck since it's actually a candle that's specially made for putting on graves in Germany or something). Sarah said the prayer in three languages - Hebrew, English, and French - and then started to explain the story of Hannukah. I don't think I ever really knew the story, or if I did I definitely don't remember it now, so it was nice to hear. We then got into a discussion about religion, since we had a very mixed dinner crowd (the 8 people at the table represented 7 different countries!). It was surprising that most people really didn't know anything about Judaism! I don't know much, but I think I was better informed than most... Sarah's comment regarding the French and German people was "Well, they killed all their Jews which is why they've never met any." It was said lightheartedly and it was pretty funny :)
By far the best comment of the night, though, was our neighbour. We were talking about how Sarah's father is Protestant and her mother is Jewish, and he was saying that he just didn't understand that. When everyone asked why, he said "You're Jewish, right, but aren't you still Catholic?" It doesn't sound as funny here as it was at the table... He's from Mali and I bet there isn't a large Jewish population there.
Anyway, it was the first and probably last party we'll have. We definitely don't have enough furniture/dishes, and Eva (the woman who actually rents the apartment) is coming back in a couple of weeks - she's quite quiet and doesn't like big groups. It was fun, though!
And now I'm back at work... But tomorrow is a half-day, and then Thursday and Friday are holidays! Very exciting.
I hope everyone's having hice holidays!
love Katie
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Long bus rides
Hello!
One and a half hours til I'm free for Christmas! I'm really not being very productive at work today... But it's Christmas, so what can people expect?
I got back from the wedding in Ouaga yesterday morning, and I figure I should write about it before I get to lazy/preoccupied with Christmas things.
First of all, here are some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2273703&l=add84&id=13602253 I'm going to try to get Cédric's too - he took a bunch of things that I missed. He actually gets teased for being 'le japonais' because he takes so many pictures :)
In general it was pretty fun! We left Wednesday night at 8pm on a big, nice, air-conditioned bus (although sadly no toilets on the bus). The driver seemed ok at first, but we realised a few hours in that he wasn't quite on top of things... First he hit some huge pot-holes and the front of the bus actually lifted off the ground, and then around midnight we realised that he'd gotten lost! He took the road to Parakou (going towards Niger) instead of the road to Natitingou (Burkina). While trying to turn around, he managed to back the bus up off the highway and it got stuck - the wheels weren't touching the ground because there was a big drop off the side of the road. So we sat in some teeny town by the side of the road from 12:30am until 7am, when the driver and some helpful passengers managed to shove enough rocks, boards, logs, etc, under the back wheels so that the bus could move. I slept for a while on the road on my scarf, and then sitting in a chair in the little shop that finally opened around 3am (the police who came woke the shop-keeper up and she fed us boiled eggs). Around 7 we finally got going again and made it (without incident) to Ouaga around 9pm. It was an INCREDIBLY long day!
It had originally been planned that the UNHCR people (me, Florence, Cédric, and Yves) would stay in a hotel, but when we got to Ouaga it was decided that we would stay with Mme. Asse (also from UNHCR and mother of the bride)'s brother, Bébé, who lives in Ouaga 2000. Yes, his name is actually Bébé, even though he's probably 45 or 50. And the other brother's name is Doudou. We finally got to Bébé's around 10pm with all of our stuff, and my work people decided they were going to go out! I opted to go to bed as I could barely hold my head up. And it was a good decision - they stayed out til 4am!
Friday morning was spent just hanging around and planning things, and in the afternoon we went to this weird crocodile place. There are lots of pictures of it. It was vaguely amusing, but kind of odd at the same time. And I felt really bad for the poor chicken that was used as crocodile bait... Friday night we went out to eat roasted chicken and then went out for drinks. It was actually really fun! I think I managed to prove to my colleagues that I'm not lame (they thought I was very lame for going to bed the night before), and everyone had a good time :)
Saturday was wedding time, which was fun. In the early afternoon there was the church service part, which was pretty standard, and later there was the civil ceremony at City Hall. Both were un-eventful although fun. After there was a giant reception, although we didn't stay very long because we had to go back home and start cooking for the reception Mme. Asse was hosting Sunday afternoon. We chopped and prepared from maybe 7:30 til 11:30, and then some started again Sunday morning at 4am (no one woke me up so I only got up to start cooking at 8am...). I actually have blisters from cutting so much! The second reception went well, though, and I think everyone was very happy.
Sunday night we watched some weird French movie and then I went to bed pretty early in order to get up at 3:30am to take the bus home again Monday morning. Sadly, even though we got there on time at 4:30am the bus didn't leave til 6:30... Boo. And we got back to Cotonou around 1am.
Now I'm ridiculously tired, even though I didn't come into work yesterday morning (although I worked while lying in bed because I felt guilty)... But one hour til I can go home! And I'll nap and then prepare food for the Christmas dinner I'm going to tonight.
I should go do at least something in my last hour... I hope everyone has a good Christmas! I really miss Christmas at home - it's just not the same here without snow and family. Sigh.
love Katie
One and a half hours til I'm free for Christmas! I'm really not being very productive at work today... But it's Christmas, so what can people expect?
I got back from the wedding in Ouaga yesterday morning, and I figure I should write about it before I get to lazy/preoccupied with Christmas things.
First of all, here are some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2273703&l=add84&id=13602253 I'm going to try to get Cédric's too - he took a bunch of things that I missed. He actually gets teased for being 'le japonais' because he takes so many pictures :)
In general it was pretty fun! We left Wednesday night at 8pm on a big, nice, air-conditioned bus (although sadly no toilets on the bus). The driver seemed ok at first, but we realised a few hours in that he wasn't quite on top of things... First he hit some huge pot-holes and the front of the bus actually lifted off the ground, and then around midnight we realised that he'd gotten lost! He took the road to Parakou (going towards Niger) instead of the road to Natitingou (Burkina). While trying to turn around, he managed to back the bus up off the highway and it got stuck - the wheels weren't touching the ground because there was a big drop off the side of the road. So we sat in some teeny town by the side of the road from 12:30am until 7am, when the driver and some helpful passengers managed to shove enough rocks, boards, logs, etc, under the back wheels so that the bus could move. I slept for a while on the road on my scarf, and then sitting in a chair in the little shop that finally opened around 3am (the police who came woke the shop-keeper up and she fed us boiled eggs). Around 7 we finally got going again and made it (without incident) to Ouaga around 9pm. It was an INCREDIBLY long day!
It had originally been planned that the UNHCR people (me, Florence, Cédric, and Yves) would stay in a hotel, but when we got to Ouaga it was decided that we would stay with Mme. Asse (also from UNHCR and mother of the bride)'s brother, Bébé, who lives in Ouaga 2000. Yes, his name is actually Bébé, even though he's probably 45 or 50. And the other brother's name is Doudou. We finally got to Bébé's around 10pm with all of our stuff, and my work people decided they were going to go out! I opted to go to bed as I could barely hold my head up. And it was a good decision - they stayed out til 4am!
Friday morning was spent just hanging around and planning things, and in the afternoon we went to this weird crocodile place. There are lots of pictures of it. It was vaguely amusing, but kind of odd at the same time. And I felt really bad for the poor chicken that was used as crocodile bait... Friday night we went out to eat roasted chicken and then went out for drinks. It was actually really fun! I think I managed to prove to my colleagues that I'm not lame (they thought I was very lame for going to bed the night before), and everyone had a good time :)
Saturday was wedding time, which was fun. In the early afternoon there was the church service part, which was pretty standard, and later there was the civil ceremony at City Hall. Both were un-eventful although fun. After there was a giant reception, although we didn't stay very long because we had to go back home and start cooking for the reception Mme. Asse was hosting Sunday afternoon. We chopped and prepared from maybe 7:30 til 11:30, and then some started again Sunday morning at 4am (no one woke me up so I only got up to start cooking at 8am...). I actually have blisters from cutting so much! The second reception went well, though, and I think everyone was very happy.
Sunday night we watched some weird French movie and then I went to bed pretty early in order to get up at 3:30am to take the bus home again Monday morning. Sadly, even though we got there on time at 4:30am the bus didn't leave til 6:30... Boo. And we got back to Cotonou around 1am.
Now I'm ridiculously tired, even though I didn't come into work yesterday morning (although I worked while lying in bed because I felt guilty)... But one hour til I can go home! And I'll nap and then prepare food for the Christmas dinner I'm going to tonight.
I should go do at least something in my last hour... I hope everyone has a good Christmas! I really miss Christmas at home - it's just not the same here without snow and family. Sigh.
love Katie
Monday, December 15, 2008
Katie is lazy...
It seems I'm not a very good blog updater... It's been more than a week! Maybe in reality it's a good thing, though - it means I'm actually busy at work! And my sketchy internet at home doesn't work anymore (which is less good).
First of all, I put up a few more pictures. Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2269121&l=e7a97&id=13602253
I guess I'll start with what went on last week... The weekend was lovely - Katharine had a bbq on her roof and we ate super tasty hamburgers. Monday was a holiday (Tabaski, where you celebrate sheep I think) which was great. Sarah, Yikee, and I went to the beach and then when we came home our downstairs neighbour was having a Tabaski party in the courtyard. She fed us some rice with mutton in it and gave us a bottle of wine!
Tuesday was back to work, which was a bit sad after such a lovely weekend. I went to Agame (one of the camps) with a colleague since they were supposed to be having a celebration for World AIDS Day and the 16 Days to Combat Gender-Based Violence. Unfortunately when we got there we found out there'd been a problem at the camp over the weekend. A non-refugee had come in and started cutting down palm trees on the site, saying that he had rights to them and they were old and were going to fall down anyway. This was true, but he didn't tell anyone he was doing this and camp structures ended up being damaged. Everyone was really angry. So angry, in fact, that they decided that they would boycott the event and demanded that the country rep come out and talk to them. So my colleage and I sat there for four hours waiting for the rep to come...
She finally made it out there around 4pm and had a meeting with camp residents. They essentially used the meeting to demand resettlement in Europe/North America/Australia, which was kind of frustrating. In the end both the country rep and the camp residents got pretty frustrated with the whole thing and things got a little 'chauffé'. So we left pretty quickly.
The rest of the week was much less eventful :) I did a lot of running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get little things done before this week - all of our funds for 2008 have to be used by this Wednesday! I think it'll all work out, which is good.
My other exciting news of last week is that I'm taking two weeks holiday in January to go to Mali and Burkina Faso! I'm really excited. I wasn't sure I could ask since things here always seem to be really busy, but I figured it was worth the awkward conversation - it's much easier/more pleasant to travel with someone else (in this case Sabine, who works for the German development service) as opposed to alone. I think we're going to plan it all out next week, which will be fun. Sarah (the new/temporary roommate) might come along for the first week too, which will be fun!
This past weekend was also pretty good! I practiced my moto driving (and drove myself to work today!), played softball and got a sunburn, went for dinner at my boss' house, and went to a full moon beach party at this reggae bar thingy (it was really fun and I met the other Canadian intern! she wasn't very exciting...). But now I have a cold :( Not cool. I'm hoping it goes away before I go to this wedding on Wednesday!
Anyway, I should get back to work. Things are a little more calm this week, which is nice, but it means I should do the things I keep putting off (like my budget that I STILL haven't started). Sigh.
love Katie
First of all, I put up a few more pictures. Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2269121&l=e7a97&id=13602253
I guess I'll start with what went on last week... The weekend was lovely - Katharine had a bbq on her roof and we ate super tasty hamburgers. Monday was a holiday (Tabaski, where you celebrate sheep I think) which was great. Sarah, Yikee, and I went to the beach and then when we came home our downstairs neighbour was having a Tabaski party in the courtyard. She fed us some rice with mutton in it and gave us a bottle of wine!
Tuesday was back to work, which was a bit sad after such a lovely weekend. I went to Agame (one of the camps) with a colleague since they were supposed to be having a celebration for World AIDS Day and the 16 Days to Combat Gender-Based Violence. Unfortunately when we got there we found out there'd been a problem at the camp over the weekend. A non-refugee had come in and started cutting down palm trees on the site, saying that he had rights to them and they were old and were going to fall down anyway. This was true, but he didn't tell anyone he was doing this and camp structures ended up being damaged. Everyone was really angry. So angry, in fact, that they decided that they would boycott the event and demanded that the country rep come out and talk to them. So my colleage and I sat there for four hours waiting for the rep to come...
She finally made it out there around 4pm and had a meeting with camp residents. They essentially used the meeting to demand resettlement in Europe/North America/Australia, which was kind of frustrating. In the end both the country rep and the camp residents got pretty frustrated with the whole thing and things got a little 'chauffé'. So we left pretty quickly.
The rest of the week was much less eventful :) I did a lot of running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get little things done before this week - all of our funds for 2008 have to be used by this Wednesday! I think it'll all work out, which is good.
My other exciting news of last week is that I'm taking two weeks holiday in January to go to Mali and Burkina Faso! I'm really excited. I wasn't sure I could ask since things here always seem to be really busy, but I figured it was worth the awkward conversation - it's much easier/more pleasant to travel with someone else (in this case Sabine, who works for the German development service) as opposed to alone. I think we're going to plan it all out next week, which will be fun. Sarah (the new/temporary roommate) might come along for the first week too, which will be fun!
This past weekend was also pretty good! I practiced my moto driving (and drove myself to work today!), played softball and got a sunburn, went for dinner at my boss' house, and went to a full moon beach party at this reggae bar thingy (it was really fun and I met the other Canadian intern! she wasn't very exciting...). But now I have a cold :( Not cool. I'm hoping it goes away before I go to this wedding on Wednesday!
Anyway, I should get back to work. Things are a little more calm this week, which is nice, but it means I should do the things I keep putting off (like my budget that I STILL haven't started). Sigh.
love Katie
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Moto lesson #1
Hi guys,
I can't believe it's december... There's now a Christmas Village thingy near my office, but there's really nothing Christmas-y about Benin! Making Christmas cookies on Sunday with the wind blowing through the palm trees was definitely a little weird. I miss snow.
My exciting news for today is that I finally had my first moto-driving lesson last night! It was quite exciting. I drove around the sand in my courtyard and managed to only tip over my moto once right at the beginning (it got stuck in the sand, and I forgot how heavy it is...) So all and all quite successful! Zemle, my instructor/neighbour, said that I was better than the last girl he taught, which was very nice to hear. Tonight we're supposed to drive around the neighbourhood, but I'm not sure that'll happen because I have to go to a going-away party for a colleague who is moving to Mauritania on Saturday. So we'll see. I'm very excited to be able to get around on my own, though! Hopefully by next week I'll be able to at least get myself to work and back - it's not far, don't worry - and then by the week after I should be competent enough to go a little further afield. Woo! It's very nice to have some independence.
The other exciting thing is that I'm going to a wedding in Burkina Faso in two weeks! A colleague's daughter is getting married. It should be super fun, but I have eighty million things to do first. A visa, some clothes to wear (apparently at the traditional ceremony on Sunday everyone wears the traditional outfit - big shirt thingy, wrap skirt, and a 'booboo' on your head), a wedding gift, etc. If anyone has any ideas on Burkinabe weddings, I'd love to hear them. My project for today is to go to the tailor near here and see what he can do for me between now and then. I think I'll get two dresses that I can wear while there, but I'll see if he can make them so that they might be something I'd wear at home too... We'll see. I will report back :)
Work is also going well. Lots of things are going on this week! Monday I finished captions for this photo exhibit and met with an artist for a brochure, Tuesday I read about logical frameworks, and yesterday I went to Camp to meet with my group. Today there are lots of small things with the brochure to finish up, as well as working out the last details for our World AIDS Day event on Saturday. This will make the third Saturday out of six that I've worked here! Yuck. I might try to take a day off next week just so that I can go to town and do some grocery shopping, etc. I don't mind working a lot, but I don't have a cook/maid/house "girl" so it's hard to get everything done in the evenings/Sundays. My boss was quite amazed that I do my own laundry and cooking, and told me that I just HAD to hire someone to help. I politely explained that since they don't pay me here, I don't have enough money to hire someone. Urgh.
Anyway, I should go work on my logical framework. I find it confusing and it's much more complicated that mine will end up being (since I'm planning very simple things). Sigh.
I hope everything is going well at home! I'll put up more pictures soon, because I've actually been taking them :)
love Katie
I can't believe it's december... There's now a Christmas Village thingy near my office, but there's really nothing Christmas-y about Benin! Making Christmas cookies on Sunday with the wind blowing through the palm trees was definitely a little weird. I miss snow.
My exciting news for today is that I finally had my first moto-driving lesson last night! It was quite exciting. I drove around the sand in my courtyard and managed to only tip over my moto once right at the beginning (it got stuck in the sand, and I forgot how heavy it is...) So all and all quite successful! Zemle, my instructor/neighbour, said that I was better than the last girl he taught, which was very nice to hear. Tonight we're supposed to drive around the neighbourhood, but I'm not sure that'll happen because I have to go to a going-away party for a colleague who is moving to Mauritania on Saturday. So we'll see. I'm very excited to be able to get around on my own, though! Hopefully by next week I'll be able to at least get myself to work and back - it's not far, don't worry - and then by the week after I should be competent enough to go a little further afield. Woo! It's very nice to have some independence.
The other exciting thing is that I'm going to a wedding in Burkina Faso in two weeks! A colleague's daughter is getting married. It should be super fun, but I have eighty million things to do first. A visa, some clothes to wear (apparently at the traditional ceremony on Sunday everyone wears the traditional outfit - big shirt thingy, wrap skirt, and a 'booboo' on your head), a wedding gift, etc. If anyone has any ideas on Burkinabe weddings, I'd love to hear them. My project for today is to go to the tailor near here and see what he can do for me between now and then. I think I'll get two dresses that I can wear while there, but I'll see if he can make them so that they might be something I'd wear at home too... We'll see. I will report back :)
Work is also going well. Lots of things are going on this week! Monday I finished captions for this photo exhibit and met with an artist for a brochure, Tuesday I read about logical frameworks, and yesterday I went to Camp to meet with my group. Today there are lots of small things with the brochure to finish up, as well as working out the last details for our World AIDS Day event on Saturday. This will make the third Saturday out of six that I've worked here! Yuck. I might try to take a day off next week just so that I can go to town and do some grocery shopping, etc. I don't mind working a lot, but I don't have a cook/maid/house "girl" so it's hard to get everything done in the evenings/Sundays. My boss was quite amazed that I do my own laundry and cooking, and told me that I just HAD to hire someone to help. I politely explained that since they don't pay me here, I don't have enough money to hire someone. Urgh.
Anyway, I should go work on my logical framework. I find it confusing and it's much more complicated that mine will end up being (since I'm planning very simple things). Sigh.
I hope everything is going well at home! I'll put up more pictures soon, because I've actually been taking them :)
love Katie
Friday, November 28, 2008
Pictures!
Ok, I'm hoping this works this time... So far I haven't found internet that's fast enough to upload!
Hmm, ok, nope. This blog seems to reeeeeally not like pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2269121&l=e7a97&id=13602253
I've put them on facebook instead, and I think everyone can look. I've taken more pictures since, but I haven't put them on my computer yet. But soon, I promise!
What else should I update you on? Work is picking up quite nicely, which is awesome. I have about 50 million things to do next week, including writing a proposal for a good chunk of money and figuring out what a Logical Framework is (any ideas?). And my weekend is looking good too! Tonight my neighbours are coming for dinner again - there's some plan to cook a German dish that sounds something like 'kanoooooodle'. I"m skeptical, but I'll try anything! Tomorrow I have to work, as we have a gender-based violence event, and then there's softball in the afternoon. In the evening I'm going to a concert by this very popular Congolese artist, and I'm ridiculously excited! Sunday I'll probably have to work from home a bit, and then we're making German Christmas cookies and then yoga. Many things!
And last night I went to this huge and awesome American Thanksgiving Dinner. I ate a ridiculous amount of food, but it was wonderful! I don't know where they found orange sweet potatoes here, or broccoli, but it was quite exciting. And cheesecake! I've never seen cream cheese either...
So that's what's going on here. I'm hugely hungry now so I think it's time to go home and eat dinner... Weird German dinner. Please send emails - I love reading about what's going on at home!
love Katie
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Some pictures (I hope)
Hi all!
I've finally taken some pictures of Cotonou, and I'm hoping I'll be able to put them up on here. It'll be my mission for today at the office!
Things here are going pretty well. Work is still slow, but maybe picking up. I'm trying to make up my own projects, but it's difficult because there's not much budget and everyone here doesn't really have time to think about new things. I guess we'll see how things work out... Right now I'm reading about the Project Planning Cycle because I have to make a proposal for the projects I want to do next year!
And I've moved! I don't know if I already wrote about this... Probably. My roommate is very nice, though, and the house is pretty comfortable. The only problem with it is that there are fairly frequent water shortages... Yesterday it'd been 3 days with no water and all of our buckets were empty so I went to a freind's to take a shower. Benin is just to hot not to have running water!
I don't know what else to report on... I'll try to figure out how to put up pictures I think.
Hmm, no luck on the pictures. The internet isn't good enough here. I'll try on the weekend!
Love Katie
I've finally taken some pictures of Cotonou, and I'm hoping I'll be able to put them up on here. It'll be my mission for today at the office!
Things here are going pretty well. Work is still slow, but maybe picking up. I'm trying to make up my own projects, but it's difficult because there's not much budget and everyone here doesn't really have time to think about new things. I guess we'll see how things work out... Right now I'm reading about the Project Planning Cycle because I have to make a proposal for the projects I want to do next year!
And I've moved! I don't know if I already wrote about this... Probably. My roommate is very nice, though, and the house is pretty comfortable. The only problem with it is that there are fairly frequent water shortages... Yesterday it'd been 3 days with no water and all of our buckets were empty so I went to a freind's to take a shower. Benin is just to hot not to have running water!
I don't know what else to report on... I'll try to figure out how to put up pictures I think.
Hmm, no luck on the pictures. The internet isn't good enough here. I'll try on the weekend!
Love Katie
Monday, November 17, 2008
A(nother) new home
So I've finally found a permanent home! A German woman has an apartement with an extra room, and she's willing to rent it out to me! It's not too expensive, and not too far from work either. The two not-so-great things are that a) she'll be in Germany for December and January so I'll be there by myself, and b) to get to the second bedroom you have to walk through the first. She seems very quiet and serious, so I think I'll try to take the first bedroom so that I don't bother her too much. Not that there's really anything to do at night in Cotonou, so I probably won't be out late very often, but I'm the one imposing myself on her...
What other news do I have? Last week was a pretty good week. On Thursday I went to one of the two refugee camps here (Agamé) to try to start up my support group for people living with HIV. Unfortunately my boss was sick so I had to go alone (I wasn't so worried about this but the other UNHCR people thought I wouldn't be very well received, and they were probably right). The meeting went ok but I found it a little frustrating because it seems that what people want most is money, and I don't think I can help them with that. I was thinking more along the lines of dealing with stigma/discrimination and education, but they seem to want to keep the group a secret and just be given a little extra money. I guess we'll see how it goes!
I also had a really good weekend! An Italian girl was staying at the German house (she works in Abomey and comes here for the weekend sometimes) so I spent a lot of time with her, and I went to church twice! On Saturday I had to go with work people to Djeffe, which is a town outside of Cotonou, to go to a mass that was in celebration of the 50th birthday of one of our partner organisations. It was long and hot, but definitely much more interesting than church in Canada! On Sunday my Italian friend was going to church with a Beninois girl she knows, so I decided to tag along (I wanted to meet this Beninois friend since I don't actually really know anyone from here yet). It was again long and hot :) But the friend was really nice, and I've been invited to go travelling with them in January! I'll have to see if I can get a couple of weeks off work, but it would be really fun. They're planning on going to Burkina Faso and Niger. I'd love to go to Mali too, but we'll have to see. I'm super happy I met both of them - I can go visit the Italian in Abomey, and I have a friend in Cotonou now!
Also, I promise I won't come back Catholic. There really is nothing else to do on Sundays, though...
This week of work looks like it's going to be pretty dull... I had worked out a work-plan with my boss which was to be submitted to the Regional Rep, and she decided that there was too much in it! So now I have even less to do! I asked if it could stay the same, since I much prefer to be busy as opposed to bored, but apparently what the Regional Rep says goes. Urgh. Maybe I'll see if I can go talk to her and explain that I have nothing to do? Otherwise I think I'll go crazy!! I think I already am going crazy... Our internet at the office stopped working for a while this morning and I nearly died.
Anyway, things here are essentially good. I'm very happy about the house, although a little nervous, but frustrated with work. The project that got cancelled was the one where I actually had scope to be creative and do my own thing! I might see if I can talk to the Rep and convince her that I work better when busy...
One last thing - I have a mailing address! So if you want to send me things, please do. It is:
UNHCR Cotonou
08 BP 1066
Patte d'Oie
Cotonou, Bénin
Apparently mail is pretty reliable, so I'll most likely get whatever you send.
I hope you're all doing well! I've gotten a number of requests for pictures, but so far I think I've taken two... I"ll work on that this week and hopefully post them this weekend.
love Katie
What other news do I have? Last week was a pretty good week. On Thursday I went to one of the two refugee camps here (Agamé) to try to start up my support group for people living with HIV. Unfortunately my boss was sick so I had to go alone (I wasn't so worried about this but the other UNHCR people thought I wouldn't be very well received, and they were probably right). The meeting went ok but I found it a little frustrating because it seems that what people want most is money, and I don't think I can help them with that. I was thinking more along the lines of dealing with stigma/discrimination and education, but they seem to want to keep the group a secret and just be given a little extra money. I guess we'll see how it goes!
I also had a really good weekend! An Italian girl was staying at the German house (she works in Abomey and comes here for the weekend sometimes) so I spent a lot of time with her, and I went to church twice! On Saturday I had to go with work people to Djeffe, which is a town outside of Cotonou, to go to a mass that was in celebration of the 50th birthday of one of our partner organisations. It was long and hot, but definitely much more interesting than church in Canada! On Sunday my Italian friend was going to church with a Beninois girl she knows, so I decided to tag along (I wanted to meet this Beninois friend since I don't actually really know anyone from here yet). It was again long and hot :) But the friend was really nice, and I've been invited to go travelling with them in January! I'll have to see if I can get a couple of weeks off work, but it would be really fun. They're planning on going to Burkina Faso and Niger. I'd love to go to Mali too, but we'll have to see. I'm super happy I met both of them - I can go visit the Italian in Abomey, and I have a friend in Cotonou now!
Also, I promise I won't come back Catholic. There really is nothing else to do on Sundays, though...
This week of work looks like it's going to be pretty dull... I had worked out a work-plan with my boss which was to be submitted to the Regional Rep, and she decided that there was too much in it! So now I have even less to do! I asked if it could stay the same, since I much prefer to be busy as opposed to bored, but apparently what the Regional Rep says goes. Urgh. Maybe I'll see if I can go talk to her and explain that I have nothing to do? Otherwise I think I'll go crazy!! I think I already am going crazy... Our internet at the office stopped working for a while this morning and I nearly died.
Anyway, things here are essentially good. I'm very happy about the house, although a little nervous, but frustrated with work. The project that got cancelled was the one where I actually had scope to be creative and do my own thing! I might see if I can talk to the Rep and convince her that I work better when busy...
One last thing - I have a mailing address! So if you want to send me things, please do. It is:
UNHCR Cotonou
08 BP 1066
Patte d'Oie
Cotonou, Bénin
Apparently mail is pretty reliable, so I'll most likely get whatever you send.
I hope you're all doing well! I've gotten a number of requests for pictures, but so far I think I've taken two... I"ll work on that this week and hopefully post them this weekend.
love Katie
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Work is...
Work is frustrating! I'm having a hard time finding the balance between pushiness and push-over-ness - I don't want to push my own agenda too much, as I'm sure there are things here I could be working on that need immediate attention, but at the same time no one seems to be giving me very much direction. Urgh. Tomorrow some women are coming to discuss gender-based violence activities for the White Ribbon Campaign, so maybe that'll give me something to start with? I have all of these very broad subjects I'm supposed to be working on (ie HIV, gender-based violence, income-generating activities, etc.), but nowhere to start on anything!
There's my complaining for the week.
My other project of the week is to find a new home. My German friend is leaving the German house soon, and it has made me realize that I need to find somewhere permanent. There are two women I met on the weekend that I'll ask (even though I feel very awkward asking outright), and then I don't know... Someone at work suggested I live with a man who works here, but I'm not sure it's the best idea. I don't really know him and while he seems very nice, I think it would just be a little awkward. So I think I'll try these two girls, and then ask this German girl I met the other day about her neighbourhood. She lives in La Cité Houeyiho, which is about a 10 minute drive from the office and more middle-class than where I live now.
The one exciting thing about all of this is that if I move far away from the office, I might have to buy a used motorcycle! It's the only way to get around here, and taking a motorcycle-taxi everyday to work would be expensive and really suck. I'd also probably be a better driver than many of the zem drivers here... Apparently a lot of them have drinking problems, which makes me nervous!
Back to work now... I'm trying to find contact info for all the groups I'm supposed to talk to/meet with. Somehow no one seems to know who the contacts are!
love Katie
There's my complaining for the week.
My other project of the week is to find a new home. My German friend is leaving the German house soon, and it has made me realize that I need to find somewhere permanent. There are two women I met on the weekend that I'll ask (even though I feel very awkward asking outright), and then I don't know... Someone at work suggested I live with a man who works here, but I'm not sure it's the best idea. I don't really know him and while he seems very nice, I think it would just be a little awkward. So I think I'll try these two girls, and then ask this German girl I met the other day about her neighbourhood. She lives in La Cité Houeyiho, which is about a 10 minute drive from the office and more middle-class than where I live now.
The one exciting thing about all of this is that if I move far away from the office, I might have to buy a used motorcycle! It's the only way to get around here, and taking a motorcycle-taxi everyday to work would be expensive and really suck. I'd also probably be a better driver than many of the zem drivers here... Apparently a lot of them have drinking problems, which makes me nervous!
Back to work now... I'm trying to find contact info for all the groups I'm supposed to talk to/meet with. Somehow no one seems to know who the contacts are!
love Katie
Monday, November 10, 2008
A happy weekend!
Hi guys!
I thought I'd report on my weekend, because it was rather excellent. Friday I stayed late at work to meet these two girls who are in the Peace Corps and will be teaching English classes at the Refugee Community Centre. They were nice, and after their meeting with Florence we adventured to the Community Centre to figure out where it was, what supplies it had, etc. I then went home and did some laundry (which in itself is exciting because everything gets dirty so quickly here). I met up with them again later for dinner, and ate remarkably tasty pad thai! I think it was actually better than I've ever eaten in Canada, or maybe I was just so hungry and bored with food that it seemed particularly good. At any rate it was awesome.
Saturday morning I went back to the Community Centre to help the girls with their class. So many people were there! We only had a small room available to us and it was jam-packed full of people. It made the teaching a bit hard, since there was no space to write properly and everyone was talking over each other, but I think it was a good start! I sadly wasn't very helpful, as I have no idea how to teach English while the other girls do, but it was interesting and fun. I think I"ll be there most Saturday mornings (which sadly means no sleeping in, but that's ok).
After the English class I went to play softball with these people the American girl who used to work at the HCR knows. It was kind of an odd bunch of people, but I met a couple of very nice American women! After a very hot and sweaty game (we played from noon to 2pm with no shade), I went to a market with the two girls and got fun things. The market was kind of awesome. There's one really superly big market in Cotonou called Dantokpa, and then a few smaller ones. This was one of the smaller ones, and was entirely manageable in size while still having lots of fun things. I bought some tomatoes, an eggplant, some tv series on DVD (for $2 each and including the Latin American telenovela we watched daily in Kenya!), and some red hibiscus flowers. The flowers are my favourite purchase - you boil them in lots of water with mint, then add sugar, and you have this awesome dark-purple drink called bissap. It looks very ominous due to its colour, but it's super tasty!
Saturday night I met up with the Peace Corps girls again and went out for dinner (again). Most of them are from very rural areas and so when they come into town they eat all sorts of Western food. So we went to this restaurant called Berlin and ate remarkably tasty pizza! After food we went back to one girl's house and hung around for a bit. They were all going out to a bar at a hotel after, but I decided I'd head home because it was already late. It's quite sketchy to take zems (motorcycle-taxis) late at night, but I went back to the house with my German friend (who came along with all the Peace Corps girls) so it was ok.
Sunday was quiet - it was super hot so all I did was cook (tasty pasta with my tomatoes and eggplant), read, and make my bissap. And no-bake cookies for the office. They turned out super sticky so I had to freeze them, but they were tasty! At night, I went to yoga at some woman's house. While kind of weird (because I only knew (sort of) one of the people), it was quite nice!
So all in all a pretty good weekend!! I think I'm just going to have to keep going to these somewhat weird activities to meet people :) I'm a lot happier here with things to do.
Anyway, I think it's lunchtime. I never know whether there's lunch at work or no... I think today is a no, so I guess I'll eat my peanuts. I'm going to have to start bringing food with me or I'll starve!
love Katie
I thought I'd report on my weekend, because it was rather excellent. Friday I stayed late at work to meet these two girls who are in the Peace Corps and will be teaching English classes at the Refugee Community Centre. They were nice, and after their meeting with Florence we adventured to the Community Centre to figure out where it was, what supplies it had, etc. I then went home and did some laundry (which in itself is exciting because everything gets dirty so quickly here). I met up with them again later for dinner, and ate remarkably tasty pad thai! I think it was actually better than I've ever eaten in Canada, or maybe I was just so hungry and bored with food that it seemed particularly good. At any rate it was awesome.
Saturday morning I went back to the Community Centre to help the girls with their class. So many people were there! We only had a small room available to us and it was jam-packed full of people. It made the teaching a bit hard, since there was no space to write properly and everyone was talking over each other, but I think it was a good start! I sadly wasn't very helpful, as I have no idea how to teach English while the other girls do, but it was interesting and fun. I think I"ll be there most Saturday mornings (which sadly means no sleeping in, but that's ok).
After the English class I went to play softball with these people the American girl who used to work at the HCR knows. It was kind of an odd bunch of people, but I met a couple of very nice American women! After a very hot and sweaty game (we played from noon to 2pm with no shade), I went to a market with the two girls and got fun things. The market was kind of awesome. There's one really superly big market in Cotonou called Dantokpa, and then a few smaller ones. This was one of the smaller ones, and was entirely manageable in size while still having lots of fun things. I bought some tomatoes, an eggplant, some tv series on DVD (for $2 each and including the Latin American telenovela we watched daily in Kenya!), and some red hibiscus flowers. The flowers are my favourite purchase - you boil them in lots of water with mint, then add sugar, and you have this awesome dark-purple drink called bissap. It looks very ominous due to its colour, but it's super tasty!
Saturday night I met up with the Peace Corps girls again and went out for dinner (again). Most of them are from very rural areas and so when they come into town they eat all sorts of Western food. So we went to this restaurant called Berlin and ate remarkably tasty pizza! After food we went back to one girl's house and hung around for a bit. They were all going out to a bar at a hotel after, but I decided I'd head home because it was already late. It's quite sketchy to take zems (motorcycle-taxis) late at night, but I went back to the house with my German friend (who came along with all the Peace Corps girls) so it was ok.
Sunday was quiet - it was super hot so all I did was cook (tasty pasta with my tomatoes and eggplant), read, and make my bissap. And no-bake cookies for the office. They turned out super sticky so I had to freeze them, but they were tasty! At night, I went to yoga at some woman's house. While kind of weird (because I only knew (sort of) one of the people), it was quite nice!
So all in all a pretty good weekend!! I think I'm just going to have to keep going to these somewhat weird activities to meet people :) I'm a lot happier here with things to do.
Anyway, I think it's lunchtime. I never know whether there's lunch at work or no... I think today is a no, so I guess I'll eat my peanuts. I'm going to have to start bringing food with me or I'll starve!
love Katie
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A new home
I have a new home! Yesterday afternoon I moved from my grungy and somewhat-seedy hotel/conference centre to a 'maison de passage' run by the German development service. It's about a five minute walk from work, is full of other foreign people, has a kitchen, and is relatively clean! Very exciting! I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay there, as preference is given to German development workers, but we'll see. So far the other people seem really nice (there's a Belgian boy working for some forestry service and a German student who's trying to work out an exchange with the university here), and I think that overall I'm quite happy to be there! My only complaint is that it's hot, but I think that will be an issue no matter where I am in the area...
I don't really have any other exciting news... My boss (Florence), along with the Representative, went to Togo yesterday to meet with recently-repatriated refugees (I think), so the office has been very quiet. It's a little weird working here because a) I have an incredibly difficult time following office conversations due to the mixture of French/Fon; b) people tease a huge amount, a lot of which is usually directed at me because I can't quite follow; and c) everyone's doors are always closed because of the air conditioning so I mostly sit by myself reading. I'm sure I'll start to follow conversations a little better soon, and that I'll get to know people better, but for now it's a little strange. Oh well. And I don't really know what I'll be working on, and subsequently where to focus my reading, so I feel a little lost. But I've only been here a week so I'm sure things will improve!
And now I should go read more... I'm painfully slow at reading in French!
love Katie
I don't really have any other exciting news... My boss (Florence), along with the Representative, went to Togo yesterday to meet with recently-repatriated refugees (I think), so the office has been very quiet. It's a little weird working here because a) I have an incredibly difficult time following office conversations due to the mixture of French/Fon; b) people tease a huge amount, a lot of which is usually directed at me because I can't quite follow; and c) everyone's doors are always closed because of the air conditioning so I mostly sit by myself reading. I'm sure I'll start to follow conversations a little better soon, and that I'll get to know people better, but for now it's a little strange. Oh well. And I don't really know what I'll be working on, and subsequently where to focus my reading, so I feel a little lost. But I've only been here a week so I'm sure things will improve!
And now I should go read more... I'm painfully slow at reading in French!
love Katie
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The first boring weekend
Hi everyone!
I think I made this for going to Kenya last summer, and then never used it... But I will use it now!
So I'm officially half way through my first weekend here. Sadly, it turns out that yesterday (Saturday) was this national holiday Toussainte, which is where all saints are honoured and everyone goes back to their family cemeteries to put stuff on graves (or something), so there's no work on Monday. While I would normally love a long weekend, I still don't quite know what to do with myself in Cotonou so time is going veeerryyyyy slowly. Oh well.
I had been hoping that the guide book lied when it said Cotonou was horribly boring and ugly, but it didn't. I'm currently staying in la Haie Vie, which is in the west end of the city and is where all of the international people work. There are a few restaurants and shops around, and it's fairly relaxed and pleasant. Downtown is about a 10 minute moto-taxi ride away, and it's very flat, hot, dusty, and confusing. Apparently most streets aren't named, and when they are named they usually don't have signs. And while the ocean would generally be a good indication of direction, it's entirely obscured by a giant port and lots of port-related buildings. I find it very confusing...
And hot. I don't think I've ever been this hot in my life!! It's hard to do anything during the daytime because it's always sunny, humid, and about 33 degrees. I hope I can get used to it, otherwise I'll be doing laundry daily because my clothes get so sweaty... Gross.
Hmm, I'm not sure I have too much else to report right now. Work people are very nice and I think I'll be doing interesting things (HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, and income-generating activities), although I think it'll take me a while to get into things because I find it hard to understand the accent and so spend most of my time trying to figure out what people are saying. I haven't really made any friends yet, other than a number of men who reeeeally want to be my friend (and who I've been somewhat avoiding), but I'm moving from my somewhat-seedy hotel to a German 'Maison de Passage' on Wednesday so hopefully I'll meet some other people there who are doing what I'm doing.
I hope everyone is doing well at home! I miss you all bunches. Please send emails, as they give me something to look forward to (and I should have email at work on Tuesday).
love Katie
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