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Showing posts with label host family. Show all posts

Having Younger Siblings (Now with Contest)

Posted by Gaurav On Friday, June 24, 2011 0 comments

As the baby child in a family of six, I’ve never really understood what it meant to have younger or baby siblings. It’s something I’ll never experience fully, but living in a host family with 3 younger kids is the closest I think I’ll ever get to it. Forgive me if this is a bit of a boring post, but the dynamics of having younger siblings is so unique and interesting to me that I had to spend some time talking about this.

I get to observe how the baby always gets his way (now I understand why I was resented by my sisters), all the sibling infighting, and daily ups and downs first hand. Sometimes the patience of Yannick and Melissa when dealing with Aristotle amazes me – they will endure random abuse, hair pulling, and spitting as if it is nothing. Aristotle cries about everything and I often get so annoyed by him, but the next moment he will do something so adorable that all is forgotten.

So much is always expected out of Yannick and Melissa as well, and they seem to handle being pulled away from what they’re doing to go help their mom so well. Melissa a bit less, but to be fair she is younger than Yannick at 12 by about 3 years, at 8. Their relationship is so entertaining to observe. Yannick is a little too cool for Melissa, and is always jokingly asserting himself as the clear superior, which often results in hilarity when Melissa outdoes him. It is so interesting to note how much he changes when 17 year old Alberique is at home, to be in his favour!

Being young - caption contest in the comments... winner gets a small souvenir!

Melissa and Yannick chase each other around the house, always playfully – I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen them fight. Aristotle no doubt joins in, never wanting to miss out on the fun. Right now Yannick is using the classic “run circles around a central object” method to avoid Melissa’s chase. I was a student of that style myself about 8 years ago, on the other side of the world... some things are universal. It makes me feel so nostalgic!

Melissa and Yannick will have their moments where they team up to tease Aristotle as much as they can without making him cry – their method of exacting revenge on him always getting his way. I’m not gonna lie, it looks pretty fun. But it’s all in good spirits and all is forgiven by the time dinner rolls around... only to start again the next day!

I can write so much on this subject, but I guess the point of it is that I miss being a kid. However, I have many memories of my own that I cherish and being able to life it again vicariously through this host family is satisfying enough for me, at least for now. Please leave comments! What’s your favourite childhood memory?

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10 Things I Learned this Week, Edition 3

Posted by Gaurav On Thursday, June 16, 2011 1 comments

So, I am aware that this edition is late, and that I haven’t posted on my blog in over a week. Let me assure you that this is not because I have given up on the blog. I`ve been shown so much support that every day that passed without me posting, I felt extremely guilty. Although I`ve just been busy in general, I also have been preparing a long post about dealing with failure. Hopefully I will get my act together and have it up tomorrow. But for now, here are the 10 things I learned this week:

A vendor at the market in Porto Novo.

1. TV here is really diverse. On the same channel, I`m watching a kung-fu movie from the 70s before I leave for the day, and watching CBC and Nollywood (Nigerian) movies by the time I’m home.

2. Papaya has the consistency of avocado.

3. Aristotle will stop at nothing to injure himself. Last week he swallowed a 10 FCFA coin. I saw the x-rays, and its hanging around in his stomach – the poor kid might need surgery.

4. Friends are actually really easy to make here, and if you hang around somewhere long enough people will ask for your number to hang out sometime later.

5. So that’s what salt water tastes like... and feels like in your cuts.

6. Don’t play in the sand if you’re wearing double layered track pants with a hole in one layer (L)

7. It’s possible to have more coconut milk than you can handle, with this realization coming halfway through only my second coconut.

8. The legal age for driving a moto is how long it takes you to grow tall enough for your feet to reach the pedals. Yannick is 12 and he drives like a veteran.

9. I’m lucky I didn’t do my schooling in Benin, because the biology exams here are all long answer. I don’t envision myself writing any “Long Answer Strategies” posts anytime soon.

10. The orphanage I’m working with is actually very well off in comparison to many orphanages in this country. Some of the kids even have family that takes them in when they are done the school year. Of course, the issue now is that the orphanage needs constant funding to remain at this level, and that’s why I’m helping look for funding to start a sustainable project at the orphanage.

Ok! That’s all for this week. I see that I kind of went on a bit of a rant on the last point there but oh well. Check back soon because I’m going to start making up for my week of missed posts!

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Extreme Makeover: Benin Edition

Posted by Gaurav On Friday, May 20, 2011 1 comments

When you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up. But I can’t help but think I’ve gotten a hold of a blimp or something, because now I’m soaring.

What did it take to break me out of my funk? It seems it was just a contemplative ride back from Cotonou, and 850 francs (about $1.85).

On my way back from Cotonou on Wednesday, after a day of visiting embassies, Benin’s sole superstore, and a street-side restaurant with authentic Cote D’Ivoire cuisine, I sat silently in the back seat, watching as our common taxi drove past streets busy with motos, street vendors, and always, someone yelling. It's called a common taxi because the driver doesn't leave the station until they have packed 2 people in the passenger seat and 4 in the back. Jules paid for the 4th spot at the back so we could have some space. Him and Jennifer, the other volunteer who arrived Tuesday night, were fast asleep.

I was at peace. It had been a good day. And then it hit me – I’m in Benin. When you experience culture shock, climate shock, and most other types of shock, the magnitude of this statement may evade you. It had evaded me, until that moment. I was experiencing something few people have a chance to live, and my visit here might be my only time in Benin, ever. Then slowly, it all began to soak in, truly, for the first time. The sights, the sounds, the colours. The people. And I began to warm up to my stay here.

On the way home I decided to pick up a small bamboo carpet for my room, because I had grown tired of the unwelcoming concrete. When I got home, my spirit carried over with me: I obtained a broom and swept my room. Then I laid out the carpet and rearranged the desk and chair. Finally, I removed my suitcase from my bed (under the sanctuary of the bug net), and unpacked my clothes, officially moving in.

It felt so good to make the room more homely. It was just a few minor changes, but it was a major paradigm shift. It made me look forward to coming home, a difference from the past week. I made do with what I had and honestly embraced it for le premiere fois. The extreme makeover was complete.

I promised pictures with this post, and here they are. I forgot to take a picture of my room after the "renovation" but truthfully, the bamboo rug doesn't really change much visually, so I've included photos from my room that I took last week.

Just click on the photos to see them at their true resolution!

My room from the courtyard

The bed with blue bug net above :)

The shower

The Toilet

The picture shows the interior of the common taxi's hatchback, and how the road from Cotonou to Ouidah is littered with "motos", known in North America as scooters.

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The Farm

Posted by Gaurav On Saturday, May 14, 2011 2 comments

My second post from Benin. I will put up the post on multiple choice tomorrow, so stay tuned!

I have not yet started my volunteer program; that will begin on Monday. In the meantime, I have been running around Cotonou and Ouidah looking for a cell phone (which I still haven’t obtained) and resting for a large portion of the day.

When you are in a new country and you don’t know the language or area you are in, it is difficult to do much other than rest. The heat makes this option especially attractive. This is why I cannot wait to start my volunteering at the orphanage: I didn’t just fly all this way to rest. I met the people at the orphanage yesterday, they children all swarmed me and bowed, politely welcoming me. It really was something to have forty something kids run up to you all at the same time.

Jules said he will give me the details of my tasks there tomorrow, but I will be spending less time with the kids and more time looking for funding for the orphanage right off the bat, which sounds great to me. He said I would be more useful in applying for grants because I can help them access money from English speaking donors. They plan to build a school exclusively for the orphanage children so that they can avoid paying the school fees that they do now.

It is difficult adjusting to the life here – we take many things for granted back home. However, I’m trying to keep an open mind about everything and live like the locals. I think this will result in the best experience, maybe not in terms of being comfortable – but in terms of being realistic, which is what I wanted anyways

Today I moved in with my host family. They are very nice people and they are definitely going out of their way to make feel at home. Today we visited the farm that they own just north of Ouidah, I took many pictures! This is the first time I pulled out my camera here and I have to say I am afraid to use it! But there’s no use in allowing it to collect dust, right? Unfortunately, my computer isn’t identifying the camera, so they will be up as soon as I get it working.

Back to the farm – they own around a thousand chickens! But the father says it is not much. I will take more pictures and some of my room in the coming days to share with everyone. Once again, thanks for following, and please leave comments!

EDIT: below are some pictures of my host family and their farm. Enjoy!