Parakou, Benin Travel Blogs

Happy Holidays
Dec 23, 2004

... years! I still continue to be surprised in Africa. It's amazing to see the ways in which things are developing here in Parakou. For instance, I am now sitting at a brand new internet place that is probably one of the nicest internet places I have ever ...

Back to School and Girl's Camp
Jan 18, 2004

... , we will be able to find the money to get them down there. It will be much more expensive than a trip down to Parakou. Cecile and I had our second girls club meetings this week, as well. It was not necessarily easy, but we are plugging on hoping ...

Elephants, Oro, and school strikes: a packed entry
Feb 1, 2005

... left, and the guests were taking their tired eyes back home to rest. Sarah and Jeremy spent the last week visiting Parakou, watching me teach a couple of classes, meeting all my friends, seeing the sites of Ouidah, and shopping for souvenirs. All ...

Backtrack: Voodoo
Sep 27, 2003

... how to play Spades, and now we play it all the time. Some people already knew how; it is actually a popular game in Benin. Who knew? School was supposed to start on October 2 (with people really showing up on Oct 6), but it has been pushed back due ...

Saying Goodbye
Jul 23, 2005 (3 photos)

... with for the past two years, not knowing when I will be able to see them again. This is my last weekend in Parakou. I am having a couple of different goodbye gatherings. I return to N'Dali on Monday morning. I will spend the next three days cleaning ...

Random Photos
Oct 26, 2003 (2 photos)

... for him. Once again, I lucked out. Classes have also been going as smooth as butta. This weekend I came down to Parakou to get some things for my scholarship girls. With the help of Women In Development (WID), Peace Corps runs a scholarship ...

Harmitan, Ramadan, a folk tale and School
Nov 30, 2003 (2 photos)

... what everyone else does). Instead, I went inside to get some cherished apples I had bought a while back on a trip down to Parakou. Apples, I must note, are actually quite expensive here and a rare treat, so I thought I was being quite nice and generous ...

More Photos
Mar 19, 2004 (9 photos)

Hello Everyone, I have added some more pictures to the entry about the Peuhl marriage, but it is taking forever to upload them. I wondered if it might be shorter if I uploaded them to a different entry, one that doesn't have any pictures yet. These ...

scorpion story as promised
Oct 16, 2003

Excerpt (slightly modified) from my journal on October 02, 2003 I saw a really scary thing last night. I was almost asleep in bed when I heard Victoire banging on my door and calling, "Suzanne! Suzanne!" I answered the door, and she asked me for ...

The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love
Mar 5, 2004 (1 photos)

... will move in. Yesterday, Johnny, a fellow stagiaire and volunteer in Lokossa with his wife, came up for the afternoon (he was in Parakou doing some HIV stuff) to see N'Dali and the Peuhl camp. We headed over to the camp to deliver some of the photos ...

check out photos
Oct 17, 2003

... is just north of N'Dali. Some of the photos she has on this site are probably very similar to ones I have taken (ex. trip to Ouidah). Anyway, the site is http://www.mbaypreps.com/charline/benin.htm . Go check them out and tell me about them. Enjoy!

Girls Club, Theatre and Ghana
Dec 18, 2003

... is pretty funny. The next day I left Parakou to come to Cotonou to get a Ghanaian visa. (I began this letter in Parakou.) Tomorrow afternoon I am off to Ghana! In other news, I checked my Free Will Astrology horoscope this week and found out ...

Volunteer in N'Dali at last (new address included)
Sep 16, 2003 (2 photos)

... know that I will be going to the cinema so often. But, you never know...Crouching Tiger's not so bad. Now, I am in Parakou. I came down to take care of some business, and tonight some other volunteers and I are going to make pizza. YUM! I have ...

New contact info , Wish List, and more
Nov 9, 2003

... All is well in N'Dali. School is moving along at a brisk pace. I have to turn in my first exams tomorrow! Came down to Parakou to type them up and do some other things. The exam period isn't for a few more weeks, but of course, there is no photocopier ...

Brace Yourselves, It's a biggie
Feb 19, 2004 (8 photos)

... Parakou. They had been to the hospital in N'Dali, and the doctor there said he could do nothing and referred them to Parakou. Another passenger and I yelled at the chauffeur to get into the car and get going. This was an emergency. This boy was dying. ...

School Strikes
Nov 22, 2004

... In fact, life in Benin has been going well. In N'Dali, I have been enjoying my neighbors and my colleagues. In Parakou, I have really been enjoying spending time with my friends. Yesterday, Julie, the volunteer in Parakou, and I had a luncheon party ...

Alive in Africa
Jan 15, 2005

... , this stuffy, stinky voyage from N'Dali to Parakou. We were all alive journeying in Benin, West Africa, somewhere between N'Dali and Parakou, and tuning out of that particular journey was pretty difficult. Now that I have sufficiently ...

On Safari in Parc Pendjari
Apr 23, 2004 (9 photos)

... It is a camp that first started with Peace Corps volunteers in Romania. Now, we will be having one in Benin. Horray! It will be for five days in Parakou. Fifty-six girls from all over the Bourgou region will be invited. The goals of the camp are to ...

African Christian Wedding
Jun 25, 2005

... Hospital at Bembéréké, which, if I haven't mentioned already, is one of SIM's missions and the major hospital in northern Benin, officially named by the government as an AIDS patient treatment center. Thank God for his abundant grace in using his children for ...

A day in the life of
Jun 9, 2005

Just so you know it's not all uproarious conversations with dashing and gregarious Béninois who propose marriage on the first meeting and hold out hope despite my anxiously-awaiting nearly betrothed (true story), I thought I'd share a couple less than ...

Sleepless Nights
Jun 14, 2005

The cool breeze from the fan flutters the mosquito net in graceful wisps as the squeaking of the bats lulls me to a desire for the sleep that's recently eluded me. I roll over to face away from the small gleam of the porch light that sneaks through the ...

Baturé!
Jul 16, 2005

(The following entry should be read in my usual laughing, sarcastic tone and not as a serious comment on any society or the current state of race relations in any nation or internationally. It is simply a random anecdote from no particular day of my ...

Causer avec les gens (Chatting with people)
Jun 8, 2005 (1 photos)

... talked about languages...in two months I probably won't learn any Fon, Fulani or Baruba, the dominate languages here in Parakou (disclaimer: don't trust my spelling of those or anything!). As usual, he commented on the bizarreness of an American speaking ...

Not Even Squirming
Jul 16, 2005

... hadn't known I was sick whose reply was, "Ah! It's like a wind of malaria. A gust of malaria and typhoid. All over Parakou." So you see. Secondly, there are three bits of good news. One, since it's so common, it's also totally treatable with a wide ...

Last entry from Benin
Jul 29, 2005

... worried patients when they don't speak the same language. I've gotten to be part of forging a stronger relationship between the churches of Benin and the mission as they minister to the needs of the people. I've gotten to clash with the best of them in my ...

Bonne arrivee!
Jun 2, 2005

... wheel with all her might to weave between pedestrians, motos and potholes. The SIM guesthouses in Cotonou where I arrived and Parakou where I live are quite western. Aside from the cement floors and walls and the brightly colored, patterned fabrics on ...

Trying to Digest
Jul 23, 2005

... that I'm trying to come up with about the past two months. There are a lot of things I really, really love about Benin. I love these things because they are different than home, admirable, challenging, interesting, funny. This is what I will miss and ...

Sunday "Out"
Jun 19, 2005

... casual, it'll-start-when-we're-all-there stroll. I clanged through the green metal gate into the openness of Sunday morning Parakou. The paved street wasn't especially busy so my three or four glances were enough to make sure I wouldn't be run over by a ...

Chauves souris
Jun 5, 2005

The sound of fruit bats fills the air like the music of a thousand squeaky toys being jumped on in sporadic harmony. When I first saw them I thought, "That looked like a bat, but it was way too big." Indeed. They fill the sky even in the day. As much as I ...

Le Grand Marché
Jun 4, 2005

Every second I learn or experience something new. One thing I hope to learn is posture! Every African from the moment they stand has such a proud, straight back and high-held head. No wonder the women manage to carry such heavy things on their perfectly ...