A short paragraph on what I've been up to:

My work partner’s fiance had a baby. He’s asked me to give him a good American name in addition to the traditional Beninese name he has already given the boy; I started teaching again. This is my second year at the same middle school, but almost all the teachers who were there for my first year are no longer there. But the director and all the students know who I am, so I seem to have some street cred; I’ve been named the homeroom teacher for one of my classes. All this really means is that I have control over their seating assignments and have to help them calculate their overall semester grades, but I had almost all of the kids in the class in my English class year, so I would say it’s the group of students I know best. And vice versa; It’s hot again. Can’t-sleep-at-night hot. I’m backing to contemplating jumping in the well and consuming water at an all-time high rate; I’ve started training for the (half? full?) marathon again. Time will tell on the answer to those questions; I’ve been handing out presents my parents brought me for my students and community since I got back in village. As much as I talk about being sick of people asking me for things, it’s been fun to play Santa Claus; I’m starting to think a lot about what I’ll be doing in 9-10 months. This means I’ve spent a lot of time re-editing blog posts. It’s weird to be back where I was 17 months ago.

On the occasion of Stage 26 swearing in as Peace Corps volunteers

It was this time last year that I first went to the ambassador’s house. It was this time last year that I was with the 56 other trainees in my group anxiously waiting to swear-in as volunteers. It was this time last year that I didn’t yet understand what my life would be here.

This year was about the same thing. The ambassador gave pretty much the same speech. The embassy served pretty much the same mini cheese pizzas. The group of new volunteers seemed pretty much as excited and naive as I was last year.

I could write another post about time passing. Another post about the cyclical nature of the Peace Corps and how, when there have been volunteers in the country in which you are currently serving for the past 55 years, it doesn’t always seem that you’ll be able to make much of a difference. 

Because time does, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. Because it won’t slow down it I acknowledge how fast the past 15 months have passed. Because no matter what I write, I have less than 12 months left.

Around this time next year, I will no longer be here.

Been there, done that.

I spent last week in one of those questionable states that lead me to continually forget that I lived in western Africa. It was Yam Fete in Savalou, and I spent the week leading my friends from up north around the annual party held to receive a blessing from the ancestors for this year’s yam harvest. (which, along with cashews, makes up most of the agricultural economy in my area)

What was weird was that I was doing this all for a second time.

Many of the days here seems to feel like they will last forever (and lead you to do things like paint your house for no apparent reason beyond the simple fact that you can), but then suddenly, you are stuck with moments when you look back at all the time that has already past and you wonder where it went.

I’ve had my second Benin Independence Day and my second Yam Fete, all of which will now be soon followed by my second swear-in ceremony, school year and spring break.

I know now which restaurants have the best yam pile, where the MTN stage will be set up during the festival (and how to win free t-shirts) and which bar has the coldest and cheapest beers.

It’s just that it only feels like yesterday I was doing this all for the first time.