It's Official: Benin!

It finally, finally came -- almost a full year after I started the application, I finally got my invite...!!!!  I'm assigned to Benin (info/map here) as a secondary TEFL teacher, which means that I'll be teaching English classes for 7th-12th graders.  I'm so excited that I think I just emailed everyone in my address book, and I'm still brainstorming to think of more people to tell.  Happy doesn't even begin to cover it.

So now I have to prepare, in three main areas:
1.  Complete the 8,000 lb. packet of paperwork that the Peace Corps just sent me.
2.  Learn French (or at least start to).
3.  Shop for important Benin-friendly things like deodorant, a solar charger, and knee-covering skirts.  To quote a particularly fantastic Facebook group post, in Benin, "knees are like boobs.  Keep them covered."

I think I'll probably knock the paperwork out within the next week or so, because the application for a Peace Corps Passport (different than a normal one) has to go in ASAP.  Learning French is... well, I've started.  All of the French books I can find use only examples about France, which means that my conversation starters in Benin will all have to do with the Champs-Elysees or baguettes.  Oh well, the Beninese eat too, right?  So I'm trying to study a little every day -- the faster I get to intermediate competency en francais, the faster I get to learn a tribal language.

And then there's shopping.  Making a shopping list for two years in a developing country is intimidating.  Thus, I'm copy and pasting from other websites, hoping to somehow build a magical master list that will preemptively solve all of my cravings and needs.  It won't happen, but it's a nice goal.  I'll post it after this -- feel free to suggest other important items (remembering that I can only take 80 lbs. of luggage total).

That's it for now... *&#^$(*Q&#^0598 SO EXCITED!

 - L

Working Shopping List

Clothes:
Current volunteers say to bring the basics and have a lot of clothing made there, because it's cheap and more culturally appropriate.  So that's what I'll be doing.
 - lots and lots of underwear
 - hiking (ugly) sandals
 - 2 long skirts (below the knee)
 - 3 pairs of pants, at least two nice ones for teaching
 - 4 t-shirts
 - 2-3 thick-strapped tank tops
 - one-piece bathing suit
 - hat or bandana thing for shade
 - better sunglasses

Toiletries:
 - Toothbrushes for two years
 - Toothpaste for six months
 - Lots of conditioner (hard to find there)
 - Tampons and chapstick for two years
 - Lots of deodorant
 - Razors for two years
 - Bottle of Claritin
 - A cycle of antibiotics, just in case
 - Multivitamins

Kitchen:
 - Can opener
 - Good pair of scissors
 - Zip-lock bags, maybe small Tupperware containers
 - Measuring cups
 - Spices (cinnamon, chili pepper, etc.)
 - Tea.  I need tea to live.

Misc.
 - Duct tape, and lots of it
 - Swiss Army knife
 - Satellite short-wave radio?
 - A watch with 24-hour time
 - Solar charger (Solis, probably)
 - Rechargeable batteries (+ charger)
 - Head lamp
 - Sticky tack and classroom craft supplies
 - Transformer
 - Cash in fresh-looking bills (or they won't exchange them, apparently)