I think pin-tailed whydahs are great squeaky toys, and every cat should have one. With its cute orange-red beak and fluttery long tail feathers, it’d be a lot of fun to play with. Derique doesn’t think so, but I am amused. Derique’s favorite bird is the helmeted guinea fowl; because of this his new name is Derique Havoc (get it? Der-wreak Havoc. It’s my best dad-joke so far.) One morning a few days past, I was home early from work due to rain the night before that made us change plans. After my bath and while sucking on oranges on the [View Full Entry]

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No, that’s not a type-o; the first of May in Athieme was almost cause to send out that message. It actually started the day before. May 1st is the Beninese Labor Day, so to correctly celebrate the holiday, I drank beer the night before. While I was at the buvette with friends, I learned that Elisabeth’s father had died, barely a week after I had seen him to ask permission for Elisabeth to travel with me to Porto Novo. This news unsettled me, to say the least. My first typical-Erika reaction was to think the worst, and that I would never [View Full Entry]

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I am sitting on my porch at the moment, enjoying the breeze and a book, and watching Senegal Fire Finches and Green-Throated Sunbirds. The sunbirds are so glossy, iridescent, and like to fly between the neem trees and the trees I think are called Luceana. The finches’ movements remind me of watching myself dance in a strobe light, how in that fraction of darkness, I miss a part of my dance move. Watching the finches is similar to that; blip, blip, blip, like they are too fast for my eye to catch all of the movement. Doves are trash birds, even [View Full Entry]

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This last trip to Cotonou was much more enjoyable than any previous. I left Athieme the Tuesday before Easter to visit family in Aplahoue until Wednesday, when I went to the All-Volunteer conference in Cotonou. The 24 hours with Family Asse did not do a very good job of filling the space between then and Christmas, but I told them I would be better about going to visit. I figured on two-three hours of travel to get to Cotonou by stop-and-go taxi from Aplahoue, so I planned on leaving by 15h. I anticipated my family’s reaction, so when asked, I said [View Full Entry]

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So, here are descriptions and links to two projects in which I am involved and for which I am politely and ever-so-honorably asking for money: The first one is for the annual Camp GLOW- Girls Leading Our World. The camp will be in July, and will consist of one week of activities and fun things to do with young girls of Benin. I am taking Imelda from next door, Elisabeth because I can’t imagine going without her, and Aichat, a niece of Mathurin’s. All very intelligent and controllable girls, so I can make them behave, but not brainwash them. Elisabeth was [View Full Entry]

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Dear Ms. Kraus’ Class: 1) My dear Jacob- No, I did not eat the snake I found on my porch. What actually happened was that a friend of mine found out that another guy had trapped the snake, so the two of them came to my home, knowing I like animals. Usually I like to see animals alive, but I didn’t mind seeing the puff adder on my porch dead. Much safer to handle that way. At first I really did not want to touch him, but I decided I wanted the picture. I washed my hands really well afterwards. 2) [View Full Entry]

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My biggest worry is that all I will do in Athieme is talk, and not necessarily talk about relevant issues, but just drink beer and sodabi and just shoot the breeze. What if I am a person that likes to study, talk, and write, but not actually do any work? I guess if that is the truth, I will satisfy two of the Peace Corps goals, those of culture-exchange. I will learn all about Beninese beer and the palm-wine distillation process, and the Beninese will learn that even Americans get a beer belly when they drink too much. I will learn [View Full Entry]

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My grandma wrote me a letter asking two important questions: one, do I actually do any work? Or just show good will of Americans? And two, what the heck are couscous, telibo, akassa, ablo, pate noire, and pate rouge? Obviously, the more important question to answer is food. Basics first: la pate. The direct translation is “dough.” Yum. Pate is made from corn. The corn is dried, and then ground into flour. This corn flour is what makes pate, with hot water and a lot of stirring. Pate rouge is made with corn flour too, but he water is the seasoned [View Full Entry]

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1) Look through cook books for inspiration: A. Fannie Farmer B. Joy of Cooking C. Cookin’ in Benin Settle on Fannie Farmers’ Cream of Tomato soup. 2) Make shopping list, close up shop, check bike tire that seems to get low quickly (remind self, again, to fix it later), head to marché. 3) Say hello to everyone along the way, and laugh at the mayor’s secretary’s “joke” of following you to the marché, just to spend time with you. Ugh. Continue to marché. 4) Stop at friendly woman’s stand to buy tomatoes, onions, ginger, bay leaf, chicken bo [View Full Entry]

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In Philadelphia, just before all the pink-cheeked Benin Volunteers of 2005 left for that country, a previous volunteer told us to remove the blue-tinted glasses to observe and learn about the culture we would be entering. No matter what color the tint of the shades were, the idea was that I am not to judge a culture while standing in my own. Every culture has positives and negatives, but I don’t want to compare to find which culture is “better.” With that in mind, I write this not as objectively as I should: To be a Beninese woman. I find it [View Full Entry]

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