NO PREREQS

10 And so it begins… the beginning of the end. I thought of this new feature, “Top 10 Pictures” while keeping in mind that my time in Benin is slowly drawing to a close. For the next 10 days, I will (do my best to) post the countdown from #10 to #1 of what I believe are the top 10 pictures from my time here in Benin. By the end of this series, my time in Benin will pretty much have come to an end.  I have taken more than 3600 photos during...

                Although I did spend the majority of my time being sick last weekend, I did also get a chance to head out to the city of Lokossa and Lake Possotomè on a day trip with my host dad, Melissa, and Aristotle. It was surprisingly fun despite not feeling so well. On our way to Lokossa, we stopped by Comè to visit a friend of my host father who works for the government....

Boy, have things ever flown by fast eh? Here we are in the middle of July, halfway through my 10th week in Benin and already the 8th edition of this post. For things I learned points 70 – 80, I was as not as stretched to find as you might think, there always seems to be something new to learn. So here is my collection from the past week: 1. Although locals might find it cute when you say hello in Fon, make sure you also know the term “I don’t speak...

So, as some of you might already know, there’s been a combination of reasons why I haven’t posted a blog in more than a week now. Firstly, the internet connection has been down in Ouidah since that big storm about two weeks ago that I mentioned in my previous TTILTW post. The internet only returned yesterday. In the meantime, I had to make do with my cellphone internet, which is only reliable enough to use facebook and google (my previous posts I put up during a trip to Cotonou). Secondly, that...

This week, I had to think hard about what to include and what not to include. It was a week full of travel and sightseeing, new experiences and lessons. I am now more than halfway through my trip to Benin. I hope you enjoy this edition! 1. How the dread feels when you eat a delicious mango, only to inspect the plate and see tens of tiny white worms wriggling around the inside of the peel. 2. Zangbeto, the Voodun god of the skies and thunder, has...

The veil of opaque water trembled as our guide’s paddle made contact with its static surface. I watched in silence as the ripples began to augment, soon lapping at the side of our wooden canoe and rocking it ever so slightly. Above us, the tattered cloth tied to a wooden pole that served as our makeshift sail also did its part to carry us ever so closer to what has been called the Venice of West Africa: Ganvié, the Beninois village of about 30,000...

The endless blaring of horns. Fumes from a moto that just barely missed your arm as it whizzed by. Claustrophobia as you realize you can’t step aside for the girl with a basket of fish on her head because the man holding wooden statues in his hands to your right is backed up by a group of children selling cookies and a woman bartering with a merchant in front. Squinting to avoid getting the dust that perpetually blows through the market in your...

I gripped the chalk, a grain about half the size of the nail on my pinkie finger, and about as thick – tightly between my thumb and forefinger. My hand trembled slightly as I raised my hand up to the smooth wooden chalkboard. It leaned against the wall behind me and rested perilously upon a wooden bench opposing another one of the same, upon which sat my first ever class of students. Eight pairs of eyes stared up at me eagerly: some familiar, some not, and all clearly waiting upon my next words...