TravelStream™ news feed for member rhiancwy on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/rhiancwy en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:12:42 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1195632000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1195632000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1195632000/tpod.html Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:12:42 -0500 Beninois Adventures with Canada World Youth!

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Lokossa, Benin

Hey everyone!

So this is going to be my last quick blog for the trip, as I leave tomorrow for my second host community and will be without internet!

It has been such an incredible 3 months here in Lokossa and I'm having very mixed feelings about leaving. I have thoroughly enjoyed living in this city, with my family, and working at my work placement. I really love walking through the city and seeing people I know everywhere now and I know I'll miss that in the first few weeks in Sakete. Even though I feel really great about Lokossa and am a little sad to be leaving, it's a good time to be moving on and I really am excited for new challenges and experiences. I realized yesterday that I don't really have any challenges in Lokossa anymore, it's really become my life that I am accustomed to. This is a good feeling, but I'm looking for challenge now. I let a big spider live that was on my wall yesterday instead of shrieking and killing it like I would usually do. This was probably my biggest challenge in quite some time!

I have been told that my host family in Sakete is muslim, which is really going to be an interesting experience. I'm hoping to still have the freedoms that I have been used to here, but I am expecting changes in that area none the less. Sakete is supposedly a very small town with one single paved road and no more Zemidgan moto taxis. I'm excited to walk a lot still and see a smaller community with less luxuries.

I don't have time for much more right now as I need to get home to finish packing and spend time with my host family! Wish me luck in Sakete and talk to you all in January!

Anechenwe kaka,
Rhian
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1193408160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1193408160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1193408160/tpod.html Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:59:38 -0400 Beninois Adventures with Canada World Youth!

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Lokossa, Benin

Hey folks!

So today marks two months now that we've been in Lokossa and just over two months in Benin. So, I figured an updated was needed!

This past weekend we had a mid project get away in a tourist town called Grand Popo, (hilarious, I know). I was part of the group in charge of planning the weekend so I had quite a busy couple of weeks leading up to the weekend and wasn't sure it was going to be as relaxing as I was hoping! We had a bunch of sessions on how all the aspects of the program have been going and what improvements could be needed. It was all necessary to talk about, but for the most part, we just wanted time to explore the ocean and the sights. We saw some of the most gorgeous views while we were there and got to have a bonfire on the beach on Saturday night which was probably the highlight of the weekend. We also got to go swimming in a pool that was available at a local hotel. As much as swimming in a pool was the freshest and most relaxed I've felt in 2 months, I didn't feel very good being at this hotel. It had a really rich ambiance and seemed so incredibly out of place in the Benin that I've been discovering. I felt uneasy being there and didn't want to be seen as another rich white tourist staying in this sheltered version of Africa. After we enjoyed the swim, we went back to our group and enjoyed the rest of the weekend.

When we got back to Lokossa on Sunday, a few of us were realizing we had sighs of relief at being "home". I realized how settled I feel in Lokossa, with my family and the life I'm living. It was a nice feeling to become aware of and made me really content with where I am in life right now. With this sense of familiarity, though, also comes the realization that I'm leaving my Lokossa family in just over 3 weeks, which is so fast approaching. I'm really looking forward to Sakete for a bit more of a challenge than what I've come to be comfortable with here, but also sad to be leaving my family and life here.

I've also been a lot more settled with my work placement since my last entry! The supervisors did in fact find us a new placement and it's been really fantastic. We're at a centre for bracing and rehabilitation for children with disabilities. It's an amazing place, run by a husband and wife team - the husband does all the casting, bracing and technical work and the wife does the rehabilitation. All of the work they do is done without surgery and yet the results we've seen are incredible. We often get to help in the rehabilitation room either playing with children while they wait their turn, or doing exercises and stretching the limbs with the doctor. In the afternoon we do a visit to all of the dormitories where the 90 some children stay. I'm really enjoying this new placement and feel that I am contributing and learning so much more than at our last placement.

As for my relationship with my counterpart, I feel that it's been getting better and better. The longer we live together, the easier it's becoming to understand each other and our actions. I'm still finding it challenging that she isn't as direct with problems and isn't always open to my questions, but I'm learning what works for her and how to adapt to that. We're laughing more together and have little talks about our lives once in a while, which is such a nice improvement!

I'm still doing well with my health. I've just had one episode of being fairly ill but I figured out what I did to make that happen and I will no longer be eating bouillie on the street anymore! ha! Apparently even my host family says they don't eat that on the street. They're still trying to get me to eat pate, and I make the effort once in a while, but mostly I like to stick with my cous cous and pate rouge. I can't wait for stir fry and butter chicken.

So, that's about it for my last couple weeks in Lokossa! I'm really looking forward to making the best of the last few weeks with my host family and getting ready for a new challenge in Sakete!

Aisanai!
Rhian
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1190366100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1190366100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/cwy-_benin/1190366100/tpod.html Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:31:51 -0400 Beninois Adventures with Canada World Youth!

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Lokossa, Benin

Hi everyone!

I'm doing pretty well here in Lokossa! I have now been here for 3 weeks and am really starting to settle in. I have a really great host family who have been really kind and adaptable. They're fairly well off for this area so I lucked out with a flush toilet and a shower head! I share a bed with my counterpart, but we have our own room. The family is pretty big; I have 4 sisters and two brothers along with my mom and dad. It's interesting for me to have all these people around and sometimes even more children from the neighbourhood, too!

The group is getting along pretty well. I get along great with all the Canadians and also with the Beninois men, but the Beninois girls are a little more challenging. All the Canadian girls are having a tough time with their counterparts and finding ways to relate and connect with them. We definitely live fairly different lives and have really different interests and values, for the most part. It's definitely a big challenge for the group, but it's not like there are fights or anything, it's more just a lack of connection between the girls.

My work project is kind of non-existant at the moment; which is why I'm at an internet cafe instead of at work! My friend Jon and I were placed in the maternity ward of the health centre here, which we were both happy with. But, we go there for 9am only to sit around and be told to wait when we ask how we can help. Then we're told at about 11 that we can head home. It's been two weeks of this and we're really feeling a bit frustrated and slightly useless. Our supervisors are trying to find us an alternative, but it seems to be taking quite a while.

Even with these little bumps in the road, though, I really am enjoying my time here and we really make use of our time. We've visited a local orphanage, which was probably my favourite experience so far. It's one of the most beautiful places I've seen to this point, too. It has an amazing view of the valley as you're walking down the hill to the orphanage. There's about 20 children there and they were all SO excited to see us and have us come to visit. We're going back this Sunday to see a performance they're putting on for us.

On the weekends, the whole group seems to be making a tradition of going to a local buvette, which is the kind of bar they have here. They're these little straw huts with tiki torches and such all that kind of stuff - pretty cute! We tend to attract a lot of attention from locals when we go out at night, so I am really happy to always have the Beninois guys in the group insist on walking the girls home!

The Beninois guys in our group have really helped with how safe I have felt here so far. They really look out for us when we're all together and make us feel quite comfortable. I walk on my own quite a bit, as well, and for the most part haven't had a problem. I definitely get a few marriage proposals, which really aren't proposals here. They're actually more like "I'm going to marry you", so more of a statement. I've learned that it's not really something to take offensively or be frightened of. You just have to know how much information to give out and when to make up an excuse to get away. I haven't been able to be witty enough on the spot to joke with them like some of the girls do, but maybe it'll come!

The children are all very interested in us and are constantly trying to get our attention. They have a song they all sing to us when we pass and they call us "Yovos" which means white people in the local language. It's really funny when we see some children who just get really giggly and excited to see someone so different. A lot of the young babies actually cry when they see us because they've never seen someone who looks completely different from what they're used to. At times it's interesting to attract so much attention, and other times I really which I could be inconspicuous again.

There are so many new and incredible things all the time; it's hard to remember everything! I'm really trying to write it all down and remember the details. It's crazy when I think I've already been gone from home for 5 weeks! It's definitely going by quite quickly!

A bientot!
Rhian
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/europe_-_2004/1176947220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/europe_-_2004/1176947220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/europe_-_2004/1176947220/tpod.html Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:50:37 -0400 Europe trip with my Grandma.

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Amsterdam, Netherlands

Here, we spent 5 days, mostly in Amsterdam but also in little towns around it.

Most powerful and memorable was seeing Anne Frank's house. I'll never forget the goose bumps I had going through there and how real it all felt.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/europe_-_2004/1176947040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/europe_-_2004/1176947040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/europe_-_2004/1176947040/tpod.html Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:46:53 -0400 Europe trip with my Grandma.

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Waterloo, Belgium

Waterloo is where the majority of my Grandmaman's and my Belgian family lives, and where my Grandmaman lived for most of her life.

We arrived here first and stayed with my great aunt and uncle at their home which was so neat. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of family I had never met before and see my new little cousins and second cousins. It was just a great family trip.

We also spent time on the ocean, in Brussels and in Bruges. All of those places being absolutely beautiful and unique.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/nicaragua-2005/1176946260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/nicaragua-2005/1176946260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/nicaragua-2005/1176946260/tpod.html Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:34:46 -0400 Nicaragua and Costa Rica

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Cahuita, Costa Rica

So a short recap of this portion of the trip...

after a good long trip throughout Nicaragua, we came back to Costa Rica and travelled around the eastern coast and back into San Jose to fly out home to Canada.

My favourite part of Costa Rica was probably the little towns like Cahuita and Tortuguero, which were so neat and funky.

Tortuguero had some amazing wildlife and people! We got to see great big turtles laying eggs at night on the beach, which was amazing! They waddle all the way up the beach to the highest point, dig a giant hole, sit over top, and lay a couple hundred eggs and then proceed to waddle all the way back to hte water!

Back in San Jose, it was definitely the most developed, commercialized place we'd seen to that point. But I have to say, of all the places we went, somehow, i had the best mango yet from a fruit vendor in San Jose - it was huge and soo juicy!!

great end to a great trip!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/nicaragua-2005/1176937500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/nicaragua-2005/1176937500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhiancwy/nicaragua-2005/1176937500/tpod.html Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:09:50 -0400 Nicaragua and Costa Rica

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Esteli, Nicaragua

So, this trip was almost 2 years ago, now. But I wanted to have all of my travels on here, past and present and future!

During the month of July, 2005, I spent the entire month with my friend Kindie and her Mom, Glennis, in Nicaragua and somewhat in Costa Rica. We spent just over 3 weeks in Nicaragua and the last 5 days of the month in Costa Rica.

My absolute favourite part of the entire experience was our weekend stay in a mountain community called Miraflor, just outside of Esteli, Nicaragua. We stayed in the home of an amazingly warm and welcoming family and experienced was rural life was truly like for Nicaraguans.

This was an amazing first experience of the third-world for me and has only furthered my wanderlust.
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