Post Visit

This week is going to be an exiting one - all of the volunteers are visiting their posts. We leave tomorrow bright and early, some of us so early that it's not even so bright. For me, I have to be ready to go at 5:30am, and have a "9 hour bus ride" to my village. Of course "9 hour bus ride" is a literal translation from west african french into english. In reality, when a beninese says "9 hour bus ride" it actually means a 17 hour sauna on wheels, which is usually stuffed to twice the capacity and going half the speed limit. This is a loose translation, mind you. Nevertheless, I will come armed with my ipod and half-functioning headphones (the left ear speaker is busted. See: Wish List - UPDATE for new headphones) and will be ready to nap.

Every volunteer has different plans, because what each person's schedule is during the post visit is completely up to the "homologue" that is responsible for showing us around, translating from french -> local language(s), introducing us to important people, discussing prices and getting the carpenters started with furnishings for our new home, finding us food, etc. That said, this is our time to figure out exactly what our villages have to offer, so that we know what to prepare for and what to buy in Cotonou before we more there permanently (to spare us from any unnecessary "9 hour bus rides" just to shop for essentials).

We only have 3 assignments to be completed when we show up for training back in Porto Novo Next monday:

- Begin making a map of the village

-Keep a daily journal of activities (in French, for French class)

-note and report any sub-standard issues with my future house

So it's ambiguous at this point whether the rest of this week will be equally/more stressful than the usual training process, or a much needed relaxation session. Obviously, I hope it's the latter, but I don't want to sit around doing nothing all day either.

On Saturday, I have been tentatively planning on organizing some transport for me and some other volunteers posted around me to meet up in Djougou (the big village/town that's closest to us, where we will be going to buy things other than food and basics, and where we will be going to use internet and other priveledged things of the sort).

From Djougou, we are also hoping to ride up to Natitangou, which is our official "work station," which means there is a library for volunteers, beds, showers, and medical supplies. The plan is to spend the night in Natitangou (the cool kids call it Nati for short) and catch the bus out of there Sunday morning, so that we can get back down to the South by Sunday evening.

This sort of traveling is not really encouraged or common for volunteers to do during a post visit - the admin mostly wants us to just stay in our villages the whole time - but I feel like it would be more useful to see what kinds of things I can buy in the nearby markets, and what to expect of the work station before moving up there, rather than spending a 4th day in my soon-to-be-village.

Pictures of the trek will come soon. I hear the intire area is very picturesque, so fingers crossed I will have some good shots by the time I return.