I am writing this lying on the bed in our room in the Parakou Guesthouse, under the mosquito net and by candlelight! This is the first power cut of any length we've had since getting here, and tonight will be a bit of a challenge if the power remains off, as it is so hot and sticky that we have had the ceiling fan going in our room every night since we got here. Yesterday it was 29°C by breakfast, and 35°C later in the day.
We have been extremely well welcomed by the missionaries here. Especially Grace, Don and Erin, who we will eventually be working with up in the North of Benin. Don came all the way down to Cotonou, 6 hours drive from Parakou and 9 altogether from where they live, just so he could meet us at the airport and drive us up to Parakou.
We saw our Parakou house today, which we will be living in for the next few months. We'll be in the guesthouse for a little longer though - the advantages being that meals are provided and there is a washing machine we can use. The disadvantage is that there is no point unpacking properly, so we are living out of our seven suitcases and four bags, which of course means lots of potential for losing things!
The biggest difference I have noticed in the country since I was last here in 2003 are all the adverts for mobile phones and internet providers. We bought a SIM card today and just need to get our handset unblocked now. Internet is dial-up, so I don't think we'll be using it much. When you are used to broadband it is so frustrating to wait a minute or so for every page to appear!
Today another missionary took Erin and me shopping with her. They both had shopping to do, and I went along to find out what can be bought where. No supermarkets here! Parakou is quite confusing too, but I expect I'll find my way around with experience.
Overall the boys are doing well. The heat has been a bit of a shock to their systems, and both of them have got prickly heat rashes (especially Benjy). We have also been bitten by mosquitos as soon as we forgot to put insect repellent on (or in places we didn't think to put it, like fingers and ears!).
There are lots of unknowns at the moment. We are hoping to get a car in the not-too-distant future, though there is a car we can borrow some of the time in the meantime. We don't have a very precise idea of when we'll move into our house, but it is reassuring to have been told that the two rooms we have in the guesthouse are ours as long as we need them. I feel ok about things being uncertain, but am looking forward to having a proper house and settling in, even if we know it will only be for a few months.
One encouraging thing is that there may be someone down here in Parakou who could give us some starter lessons in Monkolé. That is really good news - apart from anything else it will give us at least one definite focus during our time here.
We have been extremely well welcomed by the missionaries here. Especially Grace, Don and Erin, who we will eventually be working with up in the North of Benin. Don came all the way down to Cotonou, 6 hours drive from Parakou and 9 altogether from where they live, just so he could meet us at the airport and drive us up to Parakou.
We saw our Parakou house today, which we will be living in for the next few months. We'll be in the guesthouse for a little longer though - the advantages being that meals are provided and there is a washing machine we can use. The disadvantage is that there is no point unpacking properly, so we are living out of our seven suitcases and four bags, which of course means lots of potential for losing things!
The biggest difference I have noticed in the country since I was last here in 2003 are all the adverts for mobile phones and internet providers. We bought a SIM card today and just need to get our handset unblocked now. Internet is dial-up, so I don't think we'll be using it much. When you are used to broadband it is so frustrating to wait a minute or so for every page to appear!
Today another missionary took Erin and me shopping with her. They both had shopping to do, and I went along to find out what can be bought where. No supermarkets here! Parakou is quite confusing too, but I expect I'll find my way around with experience.
Overall the boys are doing well. The heat has been a bit of a shock to their systems, and both of them have got prickly heat rashes (especially Benjy). We have also been bitten by mosquitos as soon as we forgot to put insect repellent on (or in places we didn't think to put it, like fingers and ears!).
There are lots of unknowns at the moment. We are hoping to get a car in the not-too-distant future, though there is a car we can borrow some of the time in the meantime. We don't have a very precise idea of when we'll move into our house, but it is reassuring to have been told that the two rooms we have in the guesthouse are ours as long as we need them. I feel ok about things being uncertain, but am looking forward to having a proper house and settling in, even if we know it will only be for a few months.
One encouraging thing is that there may be someone down here in Parakou who could give us some starter lessons in Monkolé. That is really good news - apart from anything else it will give us at least one definite focus during our time here.
2 comments:
Great to haer from you. I see you've also put it on your facebook page which is great! Thinking of you all. xx
For those of you who want even more news check out Marc's blog in English (should work if you have Internet Explorer v8)http://www.microsofttranslator.com/BV.aspx?ref=Internal#http://france-uk-benin.blogspot.com/
It's great reading about all your exploits, though scary too. I think it's easier for me to imagine it having experienced a little of Africa - and it sounds daunting to me! I hope that the candle wasn't under the mosi net as well! We're back in the land of the mosquito in Malaysia. So far only a few bites on our ankles. There's no place in our hostel for a mosi net which is frustrating. We'll seee how we get on tonight and invent something if we have a problem. Lots of love, Em xxx
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