NO PREREQS

So yeah, work has been going slow. There were a couple days when I got up, got to the orphanage, and then was sent home because the director couldn’t work that day and the kids were off at school. As far as accomplishing stuff, I’ve laid out the framework for some of the proposal (but keep getting held up because I’m lacking details), and same thing for the website (which is really just a blog because I decided that learning web design is not the best way to use my time here).

The good news is that I’m doing the impossible – adjusting to the climate. Now, this is not really a fair statement because I’ve been blessed with rain 5 out of 7 days this week, but I’m starting to notice the humidity a lot less. That has made for an all around pretty happy Gaurav. The only downside to this is that I’ve heard that when the rainy seasons sets in, you see a lot less of the animals at the national parks in the north of Benin – one of the places I really wanted to visit.

I can’t believe that I’ve already been here for half a month now! Time really does fly and it’s making me nervous because I don’t want to leave here feeling like I didn’t do enough for the orphanage. The conflict is this: although I know some of the work I am doing has the potential to help the orphanage in the future, results are what matters. Mr. Agbo (the director) had to call up his friend to ask to borrow money to buy food for the kids for THIS week. Yeah, it’s that urgent. So I’m torn between wanting to get money fast, and wanting to set up a sustainable model for the future, and I know if I try to do both at the same time, I’ll accomplish nothing.

I haven’t really been places this week as I’ve been caught up in my work and French lessons. By the way, it now only takes me 25 minutes to construct a paragraph the size of the one above in French. Progress! But I don’t think my first full post in French will be coming until sometime next week. When faced with speaking it, I still freeze up faster than Milhouse’s brain on a Super Squishy. Yes, I’ve been watching The Simpsons with my host family too.  

Finally, the title of this blog is a thumbs-up to the rainy weather of the past week, and is in fact inspired by “Drop the World”. I’m an avid hip hop fan and I’m picking up on some of the French hip hop here, mostly coming out of France and Cote D’Ivoire.