Back in Benin

So after two weeks in America and a week hanging out in various areas of the country I am back in Malanville for a few days. America was amazing, I ate so muc delicious food and it was wonderful to see so many friends and so much of my family. I even cried a little bit when I saw my mom waiting for me outside the baggage claim at logan. My cousin's wedding was beautiful and I am so glad that I was able to go. I also went to a red sox game, a street party in central square and Truro for a few days to sit on the beach. The weather was warm and sunny the entire time and I was so lucky to be able to enjoy those two weeks at home.

I loved being home, but in some ways I missed Benin. Here I am used to saying hello to random people on the street and having converstions with strangers. I am like a mini celebrity here, when I walk around, everyone looks at me and wants to talk to me. Some days it really sucks but most of the time I do not mind it and in America I felt invisible. It was really strange. I also missed my host family in Malanville and all of my Peace Corps friends. I sometimes found it hard to talk about my experiencse with friends and family in the United States because they have no concept of what life in an African village is like. It is also hard to convey my feelings about living here because Benin sucks but I am really enjoying my experience. One of my friends asked me to tell a positive story about my experience after hearing lots of stories about Peace Corps parties and horrific traffic accidents. I had trouble coming up with a positive story because what I like about living here are the small things like the children in my concession running to hug me every time I get home from a trip.

America!

So after my trip home I spent a couple of days in Cotonou before heading up to Djougou in the Northwest for a USA volunteers vs Germany volunteers soccer/football match. It took place Fourth of July weekend and it was really, really fun. We had jerseys made that said 'American Blitzkrieg' (we checked with the Germans first to ensure that they would not be offended) and played soccer one day and American football the next. When I told my friends at home about the upcoming match they all said that the Germans were going to kill us but that was not the case at all. The match ended tied 0-0 and because the sun was going down we did 10 penalty kicks each. The Germans took an early lead in PKs but then we scored several in a row, including a goal by me which was the highlight of my weekend for sure. After ten each the Germans said it was a tie but we are pretty sure they won and were just being nice, or they are bad at counting. The next day we played football with mixed teams and again it was a tie.

After the games a group of us headed up to Nattitingou where Johnny (another volunteer) was having an American style cookout. The food was incredible, there was even cherry pie. We lit sparklers and a couple of the children in his concession really loved them. The next day I took the Peace Corps shuttle to Kandi and hung at at the Kandi girls camp for a few days.

Fourth of July!

So it took me a while to get back to Malanville and I will be leaving again within the next few days because a new stage is coming in on the 16th! We only have one stage a year so it is really exciting to get to meet a new group of people. I am almost at my one year anniversary of living in Benin so look out for a blog post reflecting on my first year of service. Until next time!