'Til I Reach the Highest Ground

The disparities between my life this year and last year are too numerous and too comprehensive to adequately impart in a blog entry. Suffice it to say, my amenities and responsibilities have undergone an exponential increase, but my community contacts have kind of taken a precipitous tumble. That being said, life is good because I can take showers without sacrificing drinking water and I can listen to music without worrying about my MP3 player dying. Doesn't seem like much, does it?

So with what do I fill my days? I have a phone that all volunteers can call if they have any inquiries. I can typically call them back free of charge, but I seem to always run out of credit well before the end of the month and end up fielding calls with my personal phone. The duty phone has been described as the "One Ring" from Lord of the Rings - it brings a lot of freedom and power, but it's also a bit of a daunting responsibility. But what isn't? I field questions, send out security updates (i.e. Travel to Niger is restricted between such and such a date), coordinate the regional shuttle, communicate with local officials, etc. etc. all with this little mobile.

It's kind of fun to work with Beninese carpenters, tailors, masons, and electricians to fix things/make improvements around the workstation. There's a new basketball hoop, a new satellite, new light fixtures, curtains, and broken glass for the perimeter "on the way." All of this is supposed to be completed within the next week or so, but I'll call it a success if two of these objectives are completed. As always, one must exercise patience in order to maintain sanity.

While the workstation takes most of my time, there's also a wealth of opportunity outside these walls. My family is supporting a couple of my best students from Kemon going to school up here in Parakou, and I've been working a lot with Ibrahim, an enterprising university student who's the head of the Beninese Volunteer Corps. We're working on expanding the program, planning this year's Borgou Bike Tour (biggest ever?), working on the big Gender and Development fundraising weekend that's coming in February, among other ventures. He's been showing me around the local branches of UN entities, as well as getting me in to see local government reps. He really is a diamond here, and I'm thankful to have him. He also has considerable ping-pong skills.

So I'm off to do some post visits of regional volunteers, but I'm also slipping in a visit to an annual Whipping Fete going on a few hours from here. As far as I know, this is the only fete of this kind, and I'll give you my appreciations in a few days. Gearing up for Halloween, too. I can't disclose what Mark and I are going as, but here's a little snippit of the conversation with the taylor.

Me: So, we want to do something a little strange. Give a brief description of what we want to do.

Taylor: You want... what? I don't understand.

Me: Here, look at this. I draw a picture of what we're trying to do.

Taylor: I need to reflect a bit. At this point he deals with two other clients while we wait patiently for his reaction.

Taylor: Ok, I'll need some time for this. I'll do one step and we'll see how you feel after that. Ok?

Seriously, Mark and I couldn't stop from laughing throughout this entire experience. Can't wait to fill all of you in next week!

-D