http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2291766&id=13602253&l=94c7c
love Katie
Friday, March 13, 2009
And more pictures
I'm sorry, I've lost my enthusiasm for blogging. But here's at least some more pictures of the last couple of months...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
It's been a while
I think I'm not a natural blogger... I seem to have fallen out of the habit and now it's been a really long time and many things have happened. So for today I'll just post the link for pictures from Mali (which I've finally put up), and on the weekend i'll do a full recap of January. Or at least I'll try to...
Here are pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2282193&id=13602253&l=ec6a4
I hope everything is well and happy at home! Things are good here, just stupidly busy.
love Katie
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Mali is awesome
Hi guys!
Just a quick update, since Sabine is waiting to take the computer when I'm done...
Mali is awesome! Sometimes hugely frustrating, but in general really good so far.
Frustrating:
- It took us 2 days to go 350km.
- We had to cancel going to Timbuktu because of the lengthiness and unreliability of transportation (our bus driver today went on strike, for example).
- It's really cold at night (like really really), and we weren't quite prepared.
- Mali is expensive.
Awesome:
- We actually made it here!
- We spent 2 days hiking in Pays dogon (please google this - it's cool) with our guide Samba.
- People are much nicer than in Benin.
- Mali is quite safe! Due to the bus strike, we actually had to hitch a ride for the last 15km into town - we weren't happy with this, but a nice French man helped us and explained that it's really not sketchy. And the people were nice! They dropped us right downtown in Mopti and wouldn't let us pay them.
- You can sleep on the roof of most hotels for 5-10$.
- We bought our visas for Mali in a tent. And the border people were nice.
- We took a bus ride that was soooooo dusty I actually changed colours! And then had to throw the shirt I had worn away because I couldn't clean it (it started to disintegrate because I rubbed it so hard while washing).
That's a quick summary. I hope you're all doing well!
love Katie
Just a quick update, since Sabine is waiting to take the computer when I'm done...
Mali is awesome! Sometimes hugely frustrating, but in general really good so far.
Frustrating:
- It took us 2 days to go 350km.
- We had to cancel going to Timbuktu because of the lengthiness and unreliability of transportation (our bus driver today went on strike, for example).
- It's really cold at night (like really really), and we weren't quite prepared.
- Mali is expensive.
Awesome:
- We actually made it here!
- We spent 2 days hiking in Pays dogon (please google this - it's cool) with our guide Samba.
- People are much nicer than in Benin.
- Mali is quite safe! Due to the bus strike, we actually had to hitch a ride for the last 15km into town - we weren't happy with this, but a nice French man helped us and explained that it's really not sketchy. And the people were nice! They dropped us right downtown in Mopti and wouldn't let us pay them.
- You can sleep on the roof of most hotels for 5-10$.
- We bought our visas for Mali in a tent. And the border people were nice.
- We took a bus ride that was soooooo dusty I actually changed colours! And then had to throw the shirt I had worn away because I couldn't clean it (it started to disintegrate because I rubbed it so hard while washing).
That's a quick summary. I hope you're all doing well!
love Katie
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
More pictures
Here are more pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2269121&l=e7a97&id=13602253
love Katie
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
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