Hotel du Lac Cotonou

... to chat about p**sonable topics like their families.

The main items up for sale w**e tomatoes, onions, fish, and oth** food stuffs. Th**e are also many stands selling clothes and toiletries. One area of the market that is quite int**esting is the area dedicated to the Voodoo religion practices. The items consist of dried plant leaves, roots, dead/dried-out animal parts, and oth** "int**esting/gross" things of various nature used for c**emonial purposes.

Nous voilà arrivées à
Cotonou depuis hier soir. L’avion avait une heure de retard parce qu’à
Paris il n’y avait plus d’essence dans l’avion et ils devaient faire le
plein du réservoir. Jessica était émerveillée de tout ce qui se passait
dans l’avion : les écrans individuels pour suivre l’itinéraire,
regarder des films et écouter de la musique pendant le trajet, les
boissons gratuites et à volonté, le repas super bon qu ...

... the gates of no return" - a monument dedicated to slaves transported from the region....worse meal was cooked by myself...apparently African "spinach" is not a great ingredient in cooking unless you want ev**ything to taste bitt** and dirty!!
Aft** a brief morning stop in Cotonou (capital), we did a tour of Ganvie - a stilt village built entirely ov** the shallow wat**s ...

This morning I slept in a little, which felt very good. Pierre Ogoudélé came to the hotel at about 10:00 with a taxi who would drive us to his home. In the car I noticed that the driver, names Noel, had placed a sticker over the center of a spider web crack in his windshield (a tactic to try to hold the windshield together). The sticker said "God sees you." I wondered if Noel meant to apply it to the ...

... to arrive. That took another hour. At least, up front, we were offered another glass of champagne. We finally left, two hours late. The flight was uneventful and, of course, very pleasant. We could order lunch from a small menu, three choices for the first and second courses. I had foie gras first and a thick duck steak for the main course. An assortment of French cheeses followed, then dessert, then coffee and a choice of digestif liquors. I ...

... diz**? O kota p**deu tempo, gasolina e consequentemente kumbu, mas depois de me apanhar, nao se sentiu bem em abandonar-me de novo a minha sorte e traccao "p**natica". Do lado do Benin, rapida exposicao do meu metodo de viagem granjeou-me simpatia imediata e um rapido e simpatico tratamento com um visto de transito valido por 48h, que mesmo assim nao foi gratuito e que nao pod**ia t** pago caso tivesse cedido a pressao no Ghana. Andei praca, ate que a dor de ...

... were laid. Locals got in on the action, directing Jay left, right and centre... possibly the reason for us getting bogged in the first place. Heart is in the right place but really just pains in the butt. A few cars were in the way so they had them moved... except for one which they couldn't find the driver for. After a while they decided to move it themselves... 6 or 7 of them each grabbing a side of the car and with a 1, 2 and ...

'Expectations' is a pretty big word in Peace Corps circles. As with any life-altering 2yr adventure in a new and foreign land, pre-departure your mind is filled with expectations and ideas of what your new life is going to be like, and how you will come out of the experience (changed, more confident, perhaps with a few tropical-disease stories in tow). On arrival at Staging in Philadelphia and then in Benin, PC then stresses the importance of loosening and ...