-I hate ants. I have bleached everything, wiped down my walls and
tables, put all food items in plastic, and sprayed my life down with
insecticide. And yet, the tiny little ants still reign in my house.
-There are purple ducks! I went on a couple of walks this week, and
among the more entertaining things I saw was a family of bright purple
ducks. I was really excited about it (Mr. Spreng's 11th grade
bird-watching class came back to me in a rush), until someone told me
that the family that owned them had dyed them to identify them.
That's right, they dunked their ducks in a vat of violet dye.
-Walks. I went on a couple of walks this week down the road in the
direction I don't normally go in leisure time. And you know what? It
was tough to convince myself to go conquer new territory, but it was
totally worth it. I made a bunch of new friends, discovered soy
cheese and saw purple ducks, got fed, and convinced lots of little
kids to call me something other than "yovo." I also found the house
of the village chief, which I was supposed to find but couldn't for
the last 4 months. Score!
-I Went Tissu Shopping. Again. I know, I know, it's an addiction…
this time I bought a lot of pieces for volunteer birthday gifts,
though, so I at least feel a little less selfish and extravagant.
-My Hair = Not Falling Out. I started taking vitamins and eating a
more varied diet. It's working, I'm not bald!
-Culinary Indulgences. This week I have been a vrai Peace Corps chef.
It's a combination of things, really: I went shopping for veggies in
Porto Novo, I got Uncle Phil and Aunt Dana's amazing cooking package
full of fun spices to play with, and I was bored of beans and rice.
Oh, and I discovered soy cheese in village! This is huge – it's like
tofu, so it's super easy to mix into dishes and is an amazing protein
source. Yay! Headline dishes this week were chickpea fajitas with
real sautéed green peppers and onions (homemade tortillas), roasted
eggplant/tomato/onion pasta, and spicy peanut stir fry with soy cheese
and cabbage. My stomach is confused about all of the non-rice things
going through it, and my tastebuds are throwing a party.
-Three Cheers for Six Months! Saturday is our six-month anniversary of
being in-country, and I have to say that I am really, really impressed
with everything my group has done so far. We've had a bajillion
scrape-ups and hilarious culture-oops moments, learned one or more new
languages, conquered new jobs, survived without our friends and
families, and somehow learned to live in a place that is so not
America. Cheers, PSL23. We've made it to now.
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