Beninian Annie

August 18 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Hello all! My grant is finally on line. Tell one and all to check it out. http://peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.volproj Love ya, Annie

July 31st in Misc JoeUser Forums

First things first!!!!! Congrats Laura.....I wish you nothing but the best health and happiness. I am writting right now with a little deja vu as I am using the same internet cafe as when I was a trainee. Things are going well and we have an extremely bright and fun group of new trainees. They ask intellegent questions, well for the part, and are very att

July 23rd, 2005 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Family and Friends.... Drum Roll Please, I got approved from my Benin boss for a Peace Corps Partnership Grant to finish construction on my school's two classroom buildings. So, this could really become a reality, I just need Washington's approval, and then to find the money from outside donors. This is where you come in. Please tell everyone you see, pas

July 23rd, 2005 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back, This song was not greeting me upon arrival back into Benin, but instead a straight faced custom agent who wanted to stamp my passport to go back into Togo and not return. Oh well, I couldn't really tell if it was my inability to speak French after two weeks or her lack of want to do anything in under twenty minutes,

July 9th, 2005 in Misc JoeUser Forums

So, they have come into country. It was a bit weird to think I will swap stories, laugh, cry, and fight with these people in the same way as I do with my volunteer friends now. It just was such am overpowerfulling comcrete example of how far I have come. They arrived from the airport in our PC cars. There were about thirty of us who greeted then with che

July 7, 2005 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Howdy, I have realized that I need to start putting the year in the headline title because it has been a year now that I have been posting on this site. I guess this is the first time I have really sat down and thought, wow, time has flown by. To make the realization even worse the new batch of volunteers is on a plan as I am writting this post.

July 3rd in Misc JoeUser Forums

Happy Fourth of July! I was trying to remember what I did last year at this time. I believe I was in Greencastle with Alyson and Amanda Link watching the fireworks done by the Grable family. Then, we got ready for Alyssa's wedding. My how things change in a year. Not in the level of "fun" of course, just in what I am doing and where I am in my life.

March 28 in Humor JoeUser Forums

Hello all. Training is going quite well! I just posted pictures from the end of school and from a big cultural even from Nikki called Ghani. Check them out, they are pretty cool. yorkphoto.com

June 25th in Humor JoeUser Forums

Hello, hello! I am officially on vacation. School ended with a blister of loose ends to tie up. Mainly because I will be gone for a month and a half. This meant finding someone to feed the cat, finishing our mural of the world, entering all the grades of my students, finishing up work for three PC projects: a teacher training session I am doing in October

May 17th in Misc JoeUser Forums

So I apologize, I have been a bad friend, daughter, niece, granddaughter, and sister of late. Pretty much because I have isolated myself for the past two months - not emailing, writing, or getting phone calls. But, not without good reason as I have been a post for the majority of the time. Seriously, I cannot believe I am writing this, but I am finished w

April 21 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Funny story: So I wake up today with a bit of a stretch. Not perfect sleep, not completely refreshed. Well, I do some last minute planning for class, throw on an African dress and call it a morning. I walk to class and in hindsight see no students, get to school and it is not open. I am in a bit of panic, but then see three other students who si

April 10 in Misc JoeUser Forums

I am three days away from my eighth month anniversary and the end of the school year is getting closer. I am in the midst of an interesting paradox between becoming settled and simply wanting to move on to the next thing that comes along. School went well this past month. Tests are next week and I see the light bulbs illuminating the classroom more thann

March 28 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Well, well I am going back to my village today after a week of vacation, which most was spend getting to and participating in a PC training conference. As conferences go, this one was fairly informative and I feel we made realy progress is identifying problems and then beginning to find solutions. This particular conference was to greet our new country dire

March 12 in Misc JoeUser Forums

As the subject says my lovely brother turned 21 yesterday. Mike is obviously a year older and now wiser and I wish I could be there! I have been at post for about two weeks since the last time that I posted. Classes are kindof starting again as the teachers are taking their sweet time calculating the final grades of students. It is all done by hand and let

February 24 in Misc JoeUser Forums

You all have photos to look at right now. Yipee!!!! I found this really fast cyber cafe and cheap too, so enjoy. The site again is yorkphoto.com You must login and the info if you forgot it is email [email protected] and the password is schmackles. The only downside is the cafe equipment would not let me name them. So, I will try to give some explanations a

February 21 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Hello all and happy valentines day a week late. I am here in Parakou for a week for the In Service Training all Peace Corps Volunteers go through three months after they swear in. So, I will hopefully be in touch will all of you soon. Tests went well this week. My second year classes did especially well and all but ten kids passed. I graded all of my 225

February 13 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Hello all, This is an unexpected visit. For those of you following West African news, Togo s president died and the military inserted his son as the president rewritting the constitution. African leaders are calling this a military coup. So, yeah, all of this happened lqst weekend. Since I live about fifteen minutes from the border the other volunteer and

January 29 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Well, I am cheating a little bit and typing this update from the workstation and then am bringing a disk over to the Cyber Café. I just for some reason feel pressured to write down my thoughts and moments here in Benin into the thirty minutes I have at the café. So, yeah, I will write in my insomnia. My life here is becoming routine and in some ways borin

January 16 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Sorry all. This will be breif, because I have litterally been and will be in Parakou for 24 hours and still have a lot of work I need to do. It is test time for the mid semester February 7th and my exams are do on the 19th. Also, on the 19th my boss Maria comes for a site visit. So, I have to finish some reports and fill out a bunch of forms. Plus, teach

December 22 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Merry Christmas everyone. It is my first holidays away from home and I guess it would be dishonest not to admit it is a little hard. But, being on vacation, having rwo weeks away from my students, and being surrounded by other Americans helps ease the pain a bit. With Christmas is obviously another birthday. I am turning 23 and this is the first year I can

December 4 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Well, as of today exactly I have been a volunteer for one month. It has flown by in general, especially this last week, because of traveling. But, I had to go to the bigger city to get money. We get paid every three months, I think it equals like 600 bucks every three months, Can you imagine, oh well, it is plenty of money and I think I will be able to save some

November 17th in OS Customization JoeUser Forums

Well, I know it has been quite a while, but I am alive and well. In the shortest terms my first two days in Badjoude were chaotic, the next week very difficult and the past two amazing, with a plethera of work and projects. I guess, the easiest is to break it down. My Village The provisional ballots are still being counted, but I can now predict

November 3 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Okay, so here is my first post as an official government official and an United States Peace Corps volunteer. I know, and I am also one tired on. We stayed,up all night at the American Cultural Center, watching the election returns. It was neat to be a part of it, even if no decision was made yet. Anyway, I am leaving well moving tomorrow. It is really we

October 29 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Quick note. Here in the capital, actually in the Peace Corps office. Yesterday was a beautiful day. I shopped, ate a cheesburger, pizza, and had draft beer. I know, the little things. Alrighty, there is a long line for the computers. Love you all. I am heading back to Lokossa today and cooking for 18. Yeah, not that excited, but it is a good gift for my homest

October 24 in Misc JoeUser Forums

Well folks!!!!!! Guess what? I passed my language test. To be honest, I think a little of it was like the professor who refuses to give a D to a senior who needs that class to graduate, but instead gives a C------. Anyway, I do know French and I can get around fairly easy. I also am done practicing teaching and met that requirement with flying colors. Al