The holidays are infectious...

Happy 2009 to you all, I hope those of you back home and those overseas all had wonderful holidays! Mine went somethine like this...

Christelle and Evangaline, the two daughters in my host family, came home for the holidays, and it was really great to get to know them. I will hopefully have time to go visit them in Cotonou before my time here is up. Still, this was probably my first case of accute homesickness, as I thought longingly of friends and family back home, and Christmas trees and turkey dinners. I kept my spirits up by teaching English Christmas carols to my students during the last few days of school, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a few phone calls on my "portable" from friends and family back home. I also had a little taste of raditional Christmas when I went to Bill and Julie's for Christmas Eve dinner. No turkey available but pork chops and potatoes followed by chocolate pudding and FanMilk (the closest thing to ice-cream around here) was a little taste of heaven. And I was more than happy to help Bill wrap some presents for Julie, he even took pictures of them under tree afterwards he was so impressed with my handywork. I went to midnight mass wearing my new African outfit, which was fairly interesting even though some of the mass was in Mina, the local language. The only thing really bothering me at this point was my foot, which was hurting due to an over-scratched mosquito bite. I showed the nicely redened (and increasingly painful) patch on my ankle to a few people, and was assured I could see a doctor the next day if I needed it.

On Christmas day I placed under the leafy green tropical Christmas tree some cotton-ball Christmas ornamants I had made from a kit, along with a few small gifts for my host family - though I have to say I was most proud of the ornaments. In the morning I talked to and got to see some of my family and even my cat via Skype, which they had to stay up past midnight to do because of the time difference. The big meal on Christmas day way served in the afternoon, and included "pate rouge", a variation on the regular pate (i think my spelling is off, but it is pronounced 'pat'), and a variety of cold bottled beverages, which was a real treat since usually it is only water with meals.

The only problem was despite the good food and company, my foot was getting redder and more painful, so I eventually went to the doctor. I was instructed to keep cleaning it and layering on the polysporin, but after another day or two it was apparent that this was not going to siffice, so back to the doctor I went. (It was all very nice to have several people tell me "ça va aller" (it will go/get better) and even that they were praying for me, though I really wanted to be sure). I was only half jolking when I told the doctor that I wouldn't mind leaving my heart in Africa but I'd really rather not leave my foot. Fortunately the topical and oral antibiotics I was perscribed worked, my foot is now a normal size and colour, I will not have to compete in the AWAD category in future triathlons after all, and I will have a nice little scar as a souvenir of my first Christmas in Africa.

Despite the foot issue, I did manage to get around a bit. I got to some small villages which I visited with a friend of the D'almeidas, who is a vetranarian. I realized my health issues were probably relatively minor when I saw a boy with his leg in a fairly basic-looking cast and extremely swollen knee, especially since it is easy for me to afford the relatively cheap medication I needed, where he likely couldn't afford simple pain killers. Also the sanitary conditions in the villages, while not deplorable were certainly not the best. I found it quite interesting to see the smaller villages and the people living there, though I did not exactly enjoy the feeling of having a large, flashing arrow pointing at me with the word FOREIGNER written on it in capital letters.

I also saw some more touristy areas, including the coastal town of Grand Popo. I went there by 'moto' with Deou, a freind of the family's I met at the track one morning. We got on quite well, and had a few good converstaions over the holidays, (it helped that he has been living in Nigeria where he has perfectd his English). It was incedibily nice to see the sea at Grand Popo, not to mention swim in it, since it is something that I miss every time I am away from it for too long. Also, I got to visit Cotonou, the economic capital of the country (it is Benin's largest city but not the official capital, which is Porto Novo) when we went to drop off Christelle and Evengeline. We had two flat tires, but since the first was near a lake-side resord where we waited by the water sipping soft drinks, and the second was right near a repair stand, we were never in serious trouble. I only saw a little of Cotonou since we just stayed for a few hours, but I should get a chance to go back.

I also saw some interesting entertainment... at Christmas children come around in the hope of earning a little money performing dances. The one or two dancers wear masks and dace to the beat of the songs sung by their friends and pounded out on random pots and containers.

So with one thing and another - visiting other towns and villages, recuperating from a lovely foot infection, and the random holiday hours on internet cafes - this is the first time I've been on the computer since before Christmas (minus one brief email check). I also used some of my spare recovery time to work on a cover letter... yes, while I still have three months left in African, I have begun job hunting for Australia. I happened to find an event planning company on the net that interests me greatly, and it's the first time I've heard about a company and immediately thought 'I really want to work there!' so I wanted to get going on it right away.

Fianlly, for those who are wondering about my long term schedule (which I realized I never really explained) here is the general plan: I am here in Lokossa till the end of February, then I will spend one month volunteering in Lomé, Togo. I leave Africa in early April, and then I will head to Thailand for a few weeks of R&R. I got to Australia at the beginning of May, and will spend the following several months working there and in New Zealand, the exact time period to be determined, well, later. :)

I hope I have caught you all up a little, and one of these days I will actually get around to what happened during the rest of my time in Europe, which has never quite made it up here.
I am terribly sorry but I am simply to tired to spell check today. Wishing anyone reading this the best life can offer in the year 2009.
Cheers!

Carla