when it rains, it pours...

today has been the worst day of all...

there are days when you wake you and know what kind of day it will be...either you should try you luck at the mall or just stay home...but i didn't get the warning when i woke up...i didn't get any clue on how the day was to play out...as usual i rode the " kilometers to cocotier...my ride to school is not particularly stressful except for the sand pits along the dirt roads that grab onto my tires and turn eover as i try to ride through them...sometimes random children will yell "yovo, yovo, bon soir, ça va bien, merci" (whitey, whitey, good evening, everything's good, thank you"-even at 7.30 in the morning) or run after me...i arrived this morning as i do every morning sweaty...the only thing different was that i arrived extra early after making a promise to my language facilitator cause i was super late the friday before...with the extra time i sat on the steps outside my classroom and stared at the coconut trees as i caught my breath...still no sensation...not even a tingling in my stomach, a little warning telling me i should have stayed home...class started and we were off: qu'est ce-que tu as mangè ce matin? (what have you eaten this morning); comment ça va? (how are you); comment tu as passè le weekend? (how was your weekend)...and it went all downhill from there...my brain refused to learn french which is not cool especially since i understand di-da-li-squat...so i spent 2 painful hours struggling and forcing myself through french class...at one point i asked my classmate how was flying through everything what time it was (hoping that it was 10.00) but it was only 9.15...damn, not a good start for a monday...what made things worse was that i had the best day ever they day before...

early sunday morning at around 9.00 my host brother emmanuel took me to the tailor to get my first beninese outfit made...the tailor wasn't in so he took me around town...he showed me the neighborhoods around our house, the university, the police academy, the new hotels being built and the supermarket...we even found one of the four city cemeteries which was totally awesome...we walked, and walked, and walked...on our way back home we passed by the tailors house who had finally arrived...he showed me some magazines and i picked out an outfit for him to make with the fabric that i had just bought the week before at the bazaar...he took my measurements and told me he would bring it by on saturday...he was going to discuss with my host mom about the price...

by the time we got home it was 12.00...i didn't realize that we had been walking for that long...it was great cause i had the chance to expand my comfort zone a bit more...after lunch i went over to the RCH house which is where the RCH volunteers live while they work training...since i was the only trainee there and on a fabric buying spree we took zemidjans to the grand bazaar...we walked around looking for new fabric...i ended up buying 6 meters of one pattern which is enough to make a traditional outfit called a "bomba" and 2 meters for a pagne (a sarong)...i spent 7.300 francs CFA which is about 15 bucks...i'm in love with the fabric here in benin...most people do not wear western style clothes even though you can find them everywhere...just imagine the engagement ceremony scene in the movie "Coming to America" with all those huge hats and vibrant colors...

i loved looking at the fabrics, barginning for the real price, talking my choppy french and just being out and about...not having to worry about being somewhere, like french class...i even had the "oh my, i'm really in africa" moment which is an incredible feeling that always puts a smile on my face...after spending more than enough money on fabric, we headed over to the Java Pit, a local bar and restaurant...even though the food looked amazing, i only had a drink because my host mom expected me home for dinner...i stuck to my favorite soda from benin: cocktail de fruits by youki...after the restaurant we went outside to flag down zemis...a guy came over to me on his motto...now i was ready to bargin the price which is a necessity, especially if you are a foreigner cause there is always a special price for you...i tell him where i'm going and ask how much...i was ready for it: my special price and ready to negotiate...he immediately said 200...i was shocked cause that is the price from where i was to my house...without another word, i hopped on the zemi and we were off...since i have only been in town for a week my french is pretty bad so when we passed my house i panicked and couldn't tell him that so at the traffic circle he stops and i proceed to try to explain that we passed it and tell him i'll walk the rest...instead he insists on taking me back and directly to my doorstep...i was impressed cause i could barely speak french at that point...and he still only charged me the 200 CFA...i was feeling proud of myself for accomplishing a lot in french that day...i went from knowing nothing to telling a zemidjan driver how to get to my house...i was feeling great but then i woke up the next day to the worse day so far...

just like the rain here, great days are truly glorious and bad one are days i point my fingers to my head and pretend to pull the trigger...i know that the bad days will become less frequent but until then i have to face them...i don't know when they will cease but i'm hoping soon cause i don't know how much longer i can take days like today...