I’m back at site. This week has been pretty uneventful, which has honestly been refreshing. It’s nice to be a bit bored and study language and go on walks around the community. I even made some new friends.
Update on the mice chronicles: I have a cat now! I’ve named him Goose. His favorite activity is hiding from me. I think it will take some time to build up trust, as he’s already an adult cat. This suits me well because it means he already knows how to mouse. I would share a photo, but he wouldn’t like that, and I read some websites that told me I should just leave him alone. He’ll come to me in his own time.I knew owning a pet would mean new lessons, but I wasn’t expecting my first lesson to be patience. If any of my pet owner friends, particularly cat owners, have suggestions for me, I’d love to hear them.
Today is the last day of Congé de Détente, and I’m excited to be back in the classroom. Today is a voudoun festival in my community, so there will be a lot of music and dancing this evening.
I’m approaching nine months of living in Benin. The days and weeks are long, but the months are short. I’m changed because of this experience, but I’m also still surprised every day.
Things I’m grateful for:
The return of rainy season
Audiobooks
Flash cards
Unexpected empathy
Tomato paste
With love and unabashed hope,
Lena
The content of this blog post is mine alone and does not reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the Benin Government.
