Cat Poop, Gas Prices, and Teacher's Strike

I just realized that there have been several things I wrote about -- mysteries, minor crises, etc. -- and then forgot to follow up on. Let me know if I'm missing anything.

- The Mystery of My School Director's Need For Cat Poop: I told a story this past summer about how my director asked that I please give him a bag of "two to three days' worth" of my cat's droppings. I asked him why, and he said it's for...something..." Upon later sneaky research, he still wouldn't tell me. He kept requesting it (every month or so I have to hold Popsicle hostage until he has a bowel movement), and I keep getting more grossed out.

I did finally get him to tell me, though: "It's for a prayer to keep bad spirits away. But don't worry, it's not just the cat's 'caca'. We mix other things in too. And you know that candle you brought us from America? We use that too!". It's a Glade scented candle, which is maybe a good thing.

I'm now trying to get out of being his full-time kitty poop supplier, but so far telling him that it'll take a long time and that it makes my house smell have not worked. Today I tried a new strategy: offering to let him borrow my cat for a week. No go. Turns out he wants nothing to do with the actual animal, and everything to do with the poo. He's the opposite of 7th grade me. Sigh... What do cats eat that contains a lot of fiber?

- The Nigerian Gas Crisis: A month or two ago, Nigeria's government suddenly removed all of the really substantial subsidies they had on gas. Benin's gas is almost entirely from Nigeria (legally or illegally), so gas prices here shot up from 275 a liter to 800 a liter overnight, sometimes even more. Obviously, things got a little crazy: transportation costs were insanely high and inconsistent, anything imported basically doubled in price, and everyone went a little crazy. Several volunteers had to deal with zemidjan drivers who were clearly at the very end of their ropes stress-wise.

Nigerian oil workers, of whom there are lots, went on strike. Nigerians in general started riots and protests. The government decided to backtrack a little.

Now, the subsidies are reinstated. They're slightly less than before (gas is about 400 a liter now), but transport costs are back to normal (don't ask me how that works) and the new plan is to reduce subsidies slowly over a much longer period of time. People in West Africa do not like having their Band-Aids ripped off. We'll just take it nice and slow, thank you very much.

- Teachers' Strike: I can't remember if I blogged about this or just told my parents, so here's some background. Most of the permanent teachers (the tenured ones, kind of) are on strike, including a good chunk of my school profs and almost all of the primary school's. Why? Because of the government, according to them. What my teacher friends have told me is that even though their permanent status is supposed to get them a solid contract with a higher salary, the recently hired permanents were never actually given a contract by the government. No contract means no proof, so they've been getting paid just a fraction of what they say thru should be getting. I've only heard their side, so I have no idea what the other point of view is.

Anyway, so they're mad and they're striking (PCVs do not strike, so I'm still teaching). Entertainingly, they're only striking Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They work Monday and Friday so that they can say they worked that "week". Don't ask me how that makes sense. I haven't heard much about a resolution, and in the meantime the students are missing weeks and weeks of classes, which sucks. They might extend the school year to make up those classes, but they might now, and so far, the strike's got no end in sight.

- Other Things: Library's hit a snag with the book donation organization, but we'll work through it. Carpenter's working on shelves (still) and as soon as I have those I'll start organizing and labeling. I'm healthy (not counting my stomach pets), my girls' club rocks, and the president of Benin, YAYI Boni, is now the president of the Afrocan Union, too.

That's all I've got, folks. Did I miss anything?

Updates 2.17: Everything Breaks, but Safari!

- Africa Hates Technology. Ever since I've arrived in Benin, Africa has seemed somewhat angry about all the gadgets I brought. It puts up with my flashlights and (so far) my iPod, but had a hissy fit when I found my headlamp and thus destroyed it. It's also murdered a handheld fan, many pairs of headphones, a cell phone, and now, two more things. Ladies and gentlemen, it pains me to announce the death of my room fan and the third and final passing of my Mac. The fan, of course, died suspiciously close to hot season, which leads me to believe that this continent is now annoyed with me personally. Mac, a close personal friend  who shared many memories and important documents, lived his last two months in the comfort and constant air conditioning of the Cotonou workstation, but was unable to fend off the evil spirits Africa sent his way. Both Fanny and Mac are survived by a resigned Peace Corps volunteer, several young flashlights, and an absolutely desolate iPod touch.

- It's almost avocado season! And I can see the mangoes in the schoolyard in front of my house-- they're getting heavier and heavier, hanging from the tree branches. Still a month or two to go before mangoes, but avocados in a few weeks!

- Skillz. Spent a good chunk of Wed translating American rap phrases into Gun for no good reason. Rapping in gun, I feel, will be a marketable skill when I start job searching in October.

- Report Cards. Spent the majority of last week and this week calculating grades for my three classes, then entering them into all of the different books with the appropriate colors of ink. Yes, the ink matters. Last year I had to retrace the graded for an entire class because I wrote in blue instead of red.  The verdict: predictably dismal, but I now have solid proof that the kids I had last year are doing better in English than kids that had the other prof (my last years' classes had between 39 and 49% pass, whereas the class that had him last year has 28% passing). This is comforting- I am at least a little bit effective. In other happy news, the girls I took to Camp GLOW last year who are still in my class this year have generally awesome grades in English, and I think overall, too. Yay!

- Girl's Club: just to keep y'all up to date on what we're doing, the last two lessons have been about how to save money to buy school supplies (saving money is not really a thing here for cultural reasons), and how to set and reach goals. That was this week, and I had each of the girls set a goal and make a step-by-step plan to get there. Hope they do-- if so, we're going to have a lot of female lawyers here in 10 years!

- Safari! Having finished the first semester, we now get a full week off of school. I'm organizing a trip for 6 of us to go to the wildlife park up north (Pendjari), and I'm really excited. Can't wait to see monkeys and elephants! Will post pictures ASAP. Cross your fingers for lions!

SHAMELESS!!! (plug)

Hello all!  My awesome volunteer friend Caroline (in Ukraine, where it is insanely cold right now) is raising money for a really cool camp.  I'm going to let her speak for herself (kid's a fantastic writer), but if you have a couple of extra bucks, please donate!
________________

New post on not all who wander are aimless SHAMELESS!!!!!!!!!!!! (plug)  by carowhack Here's a shameless plug for a camp I'm working at this summer. It's called Camp M.A.K.E. (multi-culturalism, action, knowledge, empowerment) and it will be in the east of Ukraine this July. I am VERY excited to be working for/with this camp. We'll be teaching Ukrainian youngsters about multi-culturalism and generally exposing them to people and ways of life that they don't come into contact with a lot. So here's where you come in - we need money!! I (along with the rest of the camp staff) have been working hard these past few weeks to send out donation letters begging people back in the US for money to fund our camp. I'll post the formal letter below so you can get more information but when you're reading it just remember how much you love me and want to donate to MY project. To donate: go to the camp website - campmake.wordpress.com OR just go directly to the donation website at https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=343-295 Every amount of money helps. $5/$10/$1 ANYTHING YOU CAN GIVE. SERIOUSLY. You are all amazing. If you've already decided to donate, then you don't have to keep reading. If you still need convincing, then read on. Also - SHARE THIS WITH OTHERS. Spam facebook, your blogs, email lists etc with the donation links from above. x's and o's you know i love you, Caroline SUPER FORMAL DONOR LETTER - Dear Potential Donor,             I'm writing to your organization for assistance funding a Peace Corps Partnership Project grant. I'm a PCV in Ukraine, and my assignment is Teaching English as a Foreign Language. This project is in collaboration with volunteers from around the country to conduct a summer camp in East Ukraine. Our goal is to develop homegrown Ukrainian leaders by teaching youth about project management, teamwork, and multiculturalism. Camp MAKE motivates, encourages, and opens the minds of youth to new ideas and new ways of doing things.   At first glance, Ukraine is not a country you would expect the Peace Corps to be in.There are signs of what looks like a country’s development — among other things, there are roads, schools, and power stations. But, there’s a catch: the roads fall apart and aren’t repaired, the schools have no heat in winter, and the power stations occasionally blow up. Beneath the veneer of development, deep cultural attitudes and a legacy of Soviet leadership chip away at the ability of the people to organize themselves and improve their country. In a society where individuality was openly discouraged, few people are creative enough to come up with solutions to problems.  In a country where all the native leadership was systematically destroyed for the better part of the last two centuries, too few Ukrainians are equipped with the skills to change and develop their country. So, that’s where we — and hopefully, you — come in. As Americans, we’ve been raised to take charge, make things happen and change something if we’re unhappy with it. We question why something is the way it is, and we don’t stop at “no.” We fund raise, volunteer, work together, lead, follow and progress. We’ve been given a unique perspective at life that doesn’t agree with Ukrainians’ motto that they survive, not live. So, while we preach to our students about English grammar in front of classrooms every day, we’re also representing something else — we’re living, breathing examples of something different. Camp is a breath of fresh air in a toxic smoke cloud. Camp is hearing a 14-year-old boy, raised in a culture that sells its women to the West say, “In a marriage, it’s not important who’s the bread-winner or who stays at home, just that both people contribute.” Camp is hearing a 16-year-old girl, raised in a culture that still refers to Black people by the N-word say “It doesn’t matter what you look like, as long as you are nice and care about other people.” Camp is listening to a group of Ukrainian teens who have just spent three days renovating a local community center discussing how a better action plan and communication would have improved their project. Camp is seeing meaningful changes in attitudes and actions. Ukraine needs of lot of things to meet the challenges of the 21st century: clean water, medication, safe and reliable transportation, etc. Our project is designed to correct the underlying challenges that keep Ukrainians from solving their own problems: a wholesale lack of native leadership and innovation. Camp MAKE aims to create a generation of curious, creative, compassionate Ukrainian leaders. Camp MAKE focuses on the potential of Ukraine to do for herself sustainably. MAKE stands for multiculturalism, action, knowledge, and empowerment, but it means much more. Camp makes change. Camp makes waves. Camp makes a difference. To read more and consider helping our cause, please visit our website at:campmake.wordpress.com, or go directly to the Peace Corps donation website at:https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=343-295 We sincerely appreciate any help you can give. Donating to Camp MAKE 2012 will help make the possibility for a better future a reality for our promising Ukrainian youth. Thank you. Sincerely, Caroline Turner, Camp MAKE Staff

Weekly Update (2.1.12): Ant Nest! And Other Minor Disasters

• Ant Nest!  So I was sitting on my floor reading a book when I noticed a line of teensy little ants.  This was suspicious.  I followed the line and found a whole pile of ant eggs, with dutiful little ant nannies tending to them.  Ew.  To the dismay of Buddhists everywhere, I sprayed them with a solid layer of bug spray, then reorganized the whole thing.  In the process, I...
  
• Found 3 Eggs!  Like miniature chicken eggs, each about the size of a Milk Dud.  One broke, and was a little unidentifiable, fetus-y blog with black pinpoint eyes.  I was convinced and worried that they were from mice, and then I realized that mice don't lay eggs.  It is unlikely that I have miniature invisible platypuses running around the house at night, so I'm currently unsure of their origin.  Except, well, the whole lizard thing.  Cross your fingers for lizards.
  
• Exams (again).  Spent this week overseeing exams.  It was boring.  Highlight: during the 6eme math exam, someone thought it'd be a great idea to burn a giant pile of trash right next to the classroom.  We all smelled like a barbecue afterward.  The end.
  
• Crime and Punishment, even though it tricked me, was really good!  First half's a little wallow-y, because the guy is basically going crazy, but the end is exciting and interesting.  Score one for Russian literature.
  
• Three Products I'm Loving:  I brought these things back from Amurrica, and in the off-chance you're looking for a new energy bar, sunscreen or soap, I suggest these.  They're awesome!

  

  Neutrogena UltraSheer Sunscreen and LemonZest
  Luna Bars!

  

  Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap: Peppermint!

  
    
• That's all for this week, next update: Parakou!

Biweekly Update (1.27.12)

- The Struggles of a Wednesday. I went to Porto-Novo to work on getting the books for our library, but ran into several little annoying problems. First, the application to request books wasn't actually ready like my project partner told me, so we couldn't order books like I thought we were. Next, the organization's catalogue now doesn't have a bunch of the books I wanted (no worries, I have multiple backup plans). A drunk man got in my face to demand money, and no one in the very packed cyber decided to help me fend him off for a full 3 min. of him rubbing my arm and demanding my money. The bank took $80 extra out of my account for the shipping costs. And finally, the woman at the bookstore overcharged me for school books for my scholarship girl. Sigh. Having been here for a year and a half, though, I now have a solid list of calm-down-breathe-in strategies. I bought vegetables, made fresh mint tea, and listened to Adele. Stress: solved.


- The State of the Library: the room is now separated (!) from the informatique classroom, and the furniture is being built as I write. It looks good so far! Working through the pile of paperwork to get the books from France. Am hoping to order them in a week or two, which would be they'd be here in late February I think. As soon as that request's in, I'll start trying to find a librarian!


- Crime and Punishment. Someone (whoever printed this edition of the book) tricked me. After years of being intimidated by Russian literature, I finally looked at Dostoyevsky in our library and discovered that C&P was actually kind of a small book. Maybe 300 pages by the size of the book. I got it home and started reading, and then found out that The Modern Library just prints on super thin paper. It's like tracing paper, and now I have to read 550 pages. Cheaters.


- At School: we have our 2nd round of exams next week, so I've been hauling my very chatty classes through review lessons to make sure they've seen all the types of activities that'll be on the test. Ho hum. I also promised each of them an American pen if they can get a 15/20... 75% is a really good score here.


- Girl's Club Begins! Yes, I was supposed to start this in October. Thanks to projects and classroom availability, though it just started last week... It's pretty awesome. :)  Only 6 girls have showed up, but 4 were girls I took to Camp GLOW last year, and the others were shy girls from my classes, who I'm excited to work with. I kind of love them.  We sit in a circle (I am maybe the only teacher that will ever sit at a desk and just chat with them) and talk about things like how to study and what they want to be when they grow up.  They make fun of each other (and me), we play games, everyone laughs... it's amazing.  It's exactly what I want to be doing with my time.  And soon we're going to get into sex ed and setting goals and women's rights, which are, I think, the most important things I could possibly teach them.

- A quick note on Camp GLOW: It might just be in my classes, but you can really tell which girls came to GLOW. They speak up, they don't take crap from the boys next to them, they ask questions and engage with the lesson... They care about getting everything they can out of school. Feel lucky to have been a part of getting them to this point.

Happy Update: Camp GLOW is Funded!

Just heard the news that we've got all of the donations necessary for our girls' camp!  Thank you all so much!  

That means that all I've got left to fundraise for is the boys' camp (Camp BLOW) -- please keep talking that up, since we've still got $4,566.79 to go on that one.  Almost done with this round of fundraising!  And thanks for being amazing. :)

1/10: Pictures of National Traditional Religions Day

...that would be, Benin Stops for Giant Voodoo Party Day!  More pictures here: Photos October to March

This man, wearing a hoop skirt and jumping around like
crazy, is a voodoo fetish (spirit).

The lady in the middle is a voodoo priestess, and she is
awesome -- you should have seen her dance moves.

Speaking of dancing... see the dust flying?  Yep, that
continued.

The scarring here is part of the initiation ritual for girls
who will later become voodoo priestesses.  I think
they go through the ritual between ages 10 and 13ish,
but don't quote me on that.  These will eventually fade and
flatten until they're just flat, shiny designs on her skin.

Future voodoo priest, dancing.

As you can see from this spirit/man's face, most
people in the parade were very, very drunk.
And very happy!

...And Back to Benin (Updates: 1.12)

• First of all, jet lag.  It's not fun.  Also, it's hot.  Mmmm, sweat, I forgot what you smelled like.
  
  
• Playing Santa Claus. K, so one of the things I was most dreading (seriously, this caused no small amount of stress) was the people-asking-me-for-gifts thing.  I did bring gifts for people I'm close to or work with -- it'd be supremely culturally inappropriate to not do so --  but I didn't and couldn't buy gifts for everyone.
  
  I gave the ones I had as quickly as I could so I wouldn't have to hear "What'd you bring me?" and "Where's my gift??"  There were still quite a few people who searched me out to ask for their present, one of whom sent his mistress to demand his gift from me, but in general, people were pretty chill.  Only one showed up at my house, and almost everyone laughed it off if I said I brought them "good health" instead of a cadeau.  On the flip side, those people that I did bring gifts to were SO excited and thrilled to get presents, especially if there were photos involved.  Beninese people LOVE photos.
  
  So.  I think we're done with that.  Sigh of relief, and moving on.
  
  
• Say My Name, Say My Name. While trying to think of gifts for all of my bajillion neighbors, I stumbled upon my old CD case from 8th grade.  Obviously, I raided it.  Now, my construction worker neighbors and founder-of-a-private-school-head-honcho neighbor have been singing falsetto gibberish to Destiny's Child "Survivor" and the Charlie's Angels soundtrack for about a week.  Win!
  
  
• My two favorite compliments from the past week (hahahhaha): 
• "You have gotten fat!  You must have been drinking lots of your mother's milk!" -- GbloGblo  
• "My, you have changed in only 12 days! You are so fat now, and your skin has lost its color!  So, so fat!" -- GbloGblo's husband
  
  
• Nigerian Gas Prices Skyrocket, Everyone Freaks Out. Nigeria's government removed the subsidies on gasoline a week or so ago, freeing up something like $7.3 billion a year in government spending.  (If that money manages to actually go to something good, like education or health improvements, that would be great for the country.  It remains to be seen, though.)  A liter of gas was at 65 naira, and as of January 2nd, it was at 130 or 140 naira.  More info here.
  
  Since most of Benin's gas comes illegally from Nigeria, the price change is having a huge effect on everything here.  Transport costs are now way more expensive (sometimes close to double the earlier price), and anything imported (loooooots of things) is pricier too. Lines to get gas are four hours long, and everyone running a taxi or a zem is really on edge.  In Nigeria, there are riots in different parts of the country, and two of the three unions of Nigerian oil workers are now on strike.
  
  We're waiting it out.  I'm totally safe, and all we have to deal with right now are higher transportation costs and people telling us, "You know, gas is really expensive right now! The price is higher now!" all the time.
  
• Tuesday: National Voodoo Day!  Post to follow. :)

Weekly Update: Christmas Break

I went to a sparkly magical place for Christmas -- America!  It was an awesome, much-needed trip, and even though I'm supremely jet-lagged right now, I think it's important to list some highlights before I go back to village.  Thus, my list (in no particular order):

• Seeing The Differences.  It had been a year and a half since I'd been in my home country, and it was kind of surreal to be back.  I stopped quite a few times just to double-check and make sure I was actually there.  It was especially interesting to see the differences in American people and African people now that I'm kind of settled in in my village:  Americans seemed weirdly obsessed with things like TV characters, new things, weight loss, and parenting.  On the flip side, it was incredibly comforting to remember that men actually treat you like an equal in America -- I knew that wasn't something I just made up!  
  
• Also: we are SO rich.  The amount of stuff we have is craaaazy compared to the bare-walls-and-two-chairs thing most of my neighbors have going on.  My trip to Target was kind of stressful as a result -- how do you choose between 5 types of pretty much the same thing? And why do we need that many??
  
• I'm Not All The Way Normal.  I think I did a really good job of being normal while home, but there were a couple of little accidents.  On several occasions, I accidentally said sarcastic things in Peace Corps-brand French, which would have been hilarious if I had been with other volunteers.  As it was, I just sounded like a snob.  My best moment, though, might have been when I yelled "Ko ko ko!" (what we do instead of knocking) and then just walked into my sister's room, where she was half-dressed and NOT pleased.  Oops. Guess I should have waited for the "Mé mé mé."
  
• Gained 7 lbs!  Greatly added by Mom and Lauren following me around with snacks and cake pops, I'm proud to say that I gained a whole 7 lbs. while home.  Take that, amoebas.
  
• MY PROJECT IS FUNDED!  This one was a huge moment -- I was so excited to find out that I'd gotten all of the donations needed to start my library project.  Thank you thank you thank you for all of your donations and advertising help!  Best part? We over-raised by several hundred dollars, so I get to donate some money to the camps, too!
  
• Saw Some Favorite People. Miraculously, all four of my best friends from high school (including one who was a Bolivian exchange student -- hey Dani!) were in town at the same time this year, so we got to have a real reunion! We all got together to go wedding dress shopping with Lauren, who will be getting married in July 2013.  We're all bridesmaids, and it was wonderful to be together and making fun of each other just like we used to do.  :)  Also got to see a couple of old friends from high school and skype most of my friends from Rice.  Glad to see yall's faces!
  
• Other Favorite Activities: Chai tea tasting with Mandee, who bought me 7 different types for Christmas. :)  Shopping with Mom, and mani/pedi-getting with Lauren.  Snow inner tubing with cousins. Fashion help from Katiebelle, and breakfast with my Dad.  Eating.  Just being home for a little while.
  
• All in all, a fantastic trip.  Was it hard to come back?  Yeah, kinda.  But I'm so glad I went, and now, I'm calm and recharged for these last few months.  Bring on the projects, I'm ready!

Notes From The Flight(s) Home

- Accidentally got a little, uh, tipsy, at the JFK airport. I ordered a single margarita at Chili's, thinking that I should probably have one before I went back to the Land of No Tequila. What arrived in front of me was a shaker approximately the size of an Octoberfest beer; that is, barely smaller than a bathtub. As a half-Texan AND very tough Peace Corps volunteer, I felt that it was my duty to finish the thing. It filled my martini glass 7 times (well, okay, I think it was 7... Counting may not be my strong suit at this very moment), and I drank it all. I am therefore maybe a little drunksies. Related: just got on a plane that might be going to Barcelona. Will find out when I get there.

- (Later) Upon boarding the plane, immediately passed out. Like before we even started taxiing. Apparently my sister's tendency to drool is hereditary. Luckily, the window doesn't seem to care.


 - 6-Hour Layover in Paris was made less awful by the arrival of my fellow volunteer and closemate Kalyn, who spent Christmas in France.  We traded fun stories of all the weird things we accidentally did/said while in the West, then ate everything we could find before boarding.  The flight was easy, we landed on time, and despite literally falling on my butt over my giant mass of duffle bags, we made it to the workstation alive.  


 - Now: To Village! Anticipate some stress this week as everyone I know asks me to give them things from America, but am also excited to get going on some projects.  Stay tuned for updates on my scholarship girl project, the beginnings of the library (i.e. nagging my director until he starts moving on room separation), and surviving hot season.  Was so glad to see everyone this trip!  Now, onto the next 9 months. :)