Ode to Secret Clinical Strength

I'd like to take a minute to sing the praises of the wonder that is Secret Clincal Strength Deoderant. That stuff is AMAZING. I mean, really...every single inch of your body can be sweating profusely but your arms are good to go. If I come back for a visit next year I would consider filling a suitcase with it for the return trip so I could slather it on all over...haha...that might not be a good idea though.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes...i am DEFINTELY feeling better though we have a few people in the med Unit right now with amoebas and what i had seems to have gone around for a lmot of trainees. Glad thats over...for now. So the pictures at the cyber are not working out (sorry U. mike...and A. Annie...i know YOU would have wanted to see the spider picture too, wink wink) and I have to find another way to get some up...maybe when I get back to headquarters. We went to the marché today to do some price checking as a group and that was a really interesting experience. I had already gone a few time but not really gotten to see some of the stuff I saw today--it is a BIG marché. So we went over to the meat section and saw this big slab of meat hanging from a hook (it smells really bad there) and all of a sudden i notice on the floor next to me half in half out of this big metal bowl is the entire skin in one giant piece of the cow that is hanging up...It's hooves were attached and everything. I honestly have never seen ANYthing like it and it turned my stomach a little to see it. I mean the meat looked okay but seeing that was just unexpected. The vendor had his money sitting out on a pile of intestines which really makes me wonder about how dirty the money that i have is. The piles and piles of chickens sitting out in the marche are interesting too. They are all so sad looking and tied together. I don't feel THAT bad about the chickens though...they are the most delicious thing in Benin so far. If i eat any more unidentified fish pulled from a dirty river I might freak out...but sundays chez moi so far appears to be chicken day and it is the most delicious day of the week. I don't know how Ill be able to keep that up at post because you cant really buy and store chicken without a fridge. Its expenisive in supermarchés to buy chicken like how we have it in the US and to buy a chicken in the market and have them kill it for you means you have to eat the thing that day pretty much. Plus there ARE no supermarchés in Dogbo because they are so a yovo thing and are mostly in the big cities. I guess I will find out. They also have little puppies and kittens in the marché for a little over 1,000CFA and I definitely plan on getting a kitten--they are good for eating lizards and bugs in your house and I would be saving it from being dinner since they eat cats,dogs, and bushrat here. I haven't eaten any of that yet...Though i hear that bushrat is actually really good.

My family here actually does have a frig and freezer which is really unusual and they make ice and sell it to people all the time for 25CFA (about 400CFA per US dollar and dropping daily, as you know better than I, I am sure...how much is gas in NY now?). And yeah...its pretty normal for us to call our host families "mama" and "papa" and "mama" is a general sign of respect here. Like any volunteer who comes to my house calls my "mama" that and that is how you greet women in the marché too.

This is an entirely random observation that I forgot to mention earlier...belly buttons. Kids belly buttons here are often very deformed and in discussing it with volunteers it seems unsure why, though possibly having to do with innapropriate cutting of the umbilical chord at birth. It seems more common out in au village, but the other day this kid pulled his shirt up and it literally looked like a baseball was attached to his stomach it was so big.

Second random observation: Cement. The value of cement here is really interesting...it is a huge symbol of status...Like to have a cement floor is pretty amazing. So often times, people will not invest their money in the bank but will instead invest money in cement, buying bags and or bricks of it. THey store it in their yards for when they have enough to build something or add onto their house. THere are so many unfinished buildings here because they start them, money runs out, and then they wait for more to continue. It's really kind of fascinating. On ly tech visit last week before I got sick we drove by the cement factory and the driver of the bus was pointing it out with A LOT of pride and it turns out that it manufactures ALL of the cement for the area and is tres important because of that fact.

C'est tout pour maintenant, je pense. (that's all for now, I think). But i will try to come back some time early next week when there is some stuff to report. There is a bday fete for a trainee on sunday which should be fun. There is also a trainee here who extended her 2 years of service with Peace COrps in Ukraine who just turned 30 so we already had a little partay for her too. Its a nice bit of normalcy every now and then to have it. I am pretty spoiled with internet in Porto Novo, because I will definitely not be able to post this much (probably only 2-3 times a month) when i get to Dogbo. THAT will be interesting.

Im sad about the tums too though I still have some for now...i think I might finally win aganist the ants...sneaky little insects...I devised a plan. I have this little pack of crackers double wrapped in ziplock bags and put in a plastic bag suspended midair from my mosquito net. I'd like to see those ants figure THAT out...though with my luck I'll get home now and there will be ants all over my crackers...(sigh).

I am IMPRESSED by the research A. Loretta. Yes i DID make a wish at the tree, lol. I wish I could get my pics up from Ouidah...I have to figure something out with that. I can't wait to go to Grand Popo.

Hope all is well with you...yeah...Aidan is a saint compared to my little brother here, aunt beth. lol. he just swings open the door and starts slamming it or throws himself on the ground screaming. Sorry the mail was très chère, but I promise I'll appreciate it more than you know (exclamation point), lol. Miss you all a lot and am steadily working on my letter writing.