Feels Like Home

Settling in. Day 13. At the moment I'm eating delicious homemade lemon cake with some PCVs at Peace Corps office in Cotonou. Had to come back from Porto Novo because I chipped one of my front teeth on a peanut-cluster thing during lunch today. PCMOs are going to try to get me into the dentist tomorrow- cross your


fingers! Moved in with my host family almost a week ago, but seems both longer and shorter than that. Longer in the sense that it already feels like home and I am settled there, in a manner of speaking, but shorter in the sense that I am still out of sync with the rhythms of the household (for example, they usually eat dinner at 10 p.m., I never know who's going to be home and when, I wake up to Catholic chants on TV) and the language barrier, of course, continues to be an issue. But they speak English! This is both good and bad: I'm able to communicate, but not learning French as quickly as I probably should be.
My manan is a schoolteacher and I'm still not sure what my papa does. I have three sisters and two brothers, ranging from late teens to early twenties. I'm particularly close to the eldest sister. We sit and talk with our English-French dictionaries in hand, and when we can't understand eachother, we pass notes or draw pictures. Mama was going to teach me how to cook "soy cheese with groundnut sauce" tonight but then I ended up having to come here. I have class every day from 8 until about 5. Taking tutoring opportunities beginning this week: 2 or 3 hours of 1:1 time in addition to the 10-12 hours of language instruction we get (small groups- I'm in a class of 5). I have an awesome mountain bike but I don't get to ride it much since our family lives just 2 blocks from the school. It feels so good to be stimulated and challenged again, and it's amazing how many books I'm going to be able to read while I'm here. Already finished a novel and a lot of technical reading. Dad, one's about the Moringa tree, have you heard of it?
There's so much to tell already. Every day is full from beginning to end with learning- it doesn't stop when I leave school, just shifts. Independence day was Saturday. We watcheda military parade on TV and then I went to the hairdresser's with Maman and played with the stylist's baby while Manan had her hair done. I went back with my sis the next day and it was fun- spent several hours there. Ate sugar cane- you chew it and get the sweet stuff out, then spit out the rest. Yum! Tonight we went out for dinner in Cotonou, and I got some falafel- it rocked. We took the Zemijans (motorcycle taxis) and rode double- so three people on each bike. It was totaly exhilirating rushing around at night and since there either aren't traffic laws or there are unenforced traffic laws, you never really know what's going to happen (don't worry thought, it's safe- the Zem drivers don't want to die!) I've been eating better since living with my host family, but for protein one of the staples I eat is hardboiled eggs. I have to mash them up and hide them in things like bread or salads (which are rare but so appreciated) and reward myself with non-egg bites in between the eggy ones. It's not bad though and I'm feeling good energywise.
There are fleeting moments when I miss home with such intensity that I want to sprint toward the airport with whatever's on my back and rush home to Cedar Falls on the next plane. These moments last for mere nanoseconds though and occur only every few days, when a scent, a phrase, or an idea takes me back to my American life and the people who shaped me before I left. Thank you for giving me what I miss. The majority of my time now, however, is full of wonder: "I'm in AFRICA!" is the first thing that crosses my mind in the mornings. I am so thankful to have been given this opportunity and am full to the brim! Every second is a new adventure and I'm utterly exhausted. I love every second of it. More soon. : )