From Rob's Point of view.

July 11, 2011

Greetings. This is Robert, Clayton’s stateside partner. I am eagerly anticipating his homecoming in less than 8 weeks! I just completed a week-long experience called “Live Like a PCV,” which I would like to share with you (http://www.livelikeapcv.org/ ). This was something I did to honor and better understand Clayton’s service.

For 7 days (July 4-10) I gave up: eating at restaurants, hot water, use of the dishwasher, temperature control (aka air conditioning), and television. Here are some of my thoughts and experiences from the week:

1. Giving up eating at restaurants was an inconvenience because I am on the road all day for work and it is SO EASY to stop at wonderful places like Subway or Tropical Smoothie Cafe. However, this actually aligned with my personal goal of eating healthier. Also, let's face it, preparing food from home is cheaper. Having multiple sources of motivation for this goal was helpful.

2. The lack of hot water, however, was more intrusive. I did not shut off the hot water to the entire house since I have a housemate who would have been affected, so I simply disciplined myself not to turn the faucets to “hot”. (Though, out of habit, my hand went for it many times!) I was annoyed by the fact that I was not using warm water to wash my hands (“Really? I’m risking germs for this challenge??”). However, I am pleased to say I did not get sick. I REALLY HATED cold showers. I can’t emphasize this enough. The physical state of being that makes me the most uncomfortable is being COLD and WET. I was really a wuss: I would aim the shower head straight down, soap up a limb, then gingerly – quickly – stick it in the stream to be rinsed off.

3. Refraining from using the dishwasher was not too much of a hardship; since I only prepared food for myself, there wasn’t much to wash. HOWEVER, combining this with item #2 was a little ridiculous: if I wanted hot water in the sink I had to heat it on the stove. The first few days I washed my dishes immediately. The last few days they collected in the sink and were washed on day #7 day #8. J

4. Temperature control. This rule applied to both home and car, but the car was not an issue since the air conditioning in my Vue had quit about a week prior. L At home, I did not use fans, but I did master the art of opening windows. You see, it is not as simple as having them open all of the time: there is a strategy. I discovered that for the daytime it actually made more sense to keep them closed. This way the house would stay slightly cooler than the outside: opening them would just let the hot air in. Evening and night-time, however, the windows were definitely open! I wore fewer clothes to bed and used less covers, if any. I had a beautiful experience one night of waking up to a storm. My immediate reaction was to close the windows of course, but when I went to do so I felt the most wonderful thing: the air was so cool coming in it was like air conditioning! So… what to do?? I sat for a moment, with the cool air hitting my face, then sadly closed the windows most of the way, and went back to sleep. Also, 2 lbs of frozen grapes were a nice treat to help me cope with a hot house.

5. Giving up the television wasn’t a big deal in terms of actually watching shows (after all, NCIS and Bones are in re-runs anyway!) HOWEVER, I have been using a series of workout dvds (yes, I will use this opportunity to give a shameless plug for P90X!) and no tv meant no P90X! How was I to work out without Tony Horton? I decided that I would do what I could from what I remembered of the routines. However, let’s not forget #4: I also did not have air conditioning! The heat REALLY decreased my motivation. Needless to say my workout while “living like a PCV” was not as thorough as usual. Also, I realized how much of a habit watching the television while I was eating had become. It felt awkward sitting in the livingroom with my cereal, staring at the dogs. They were not very good conversationalists.

As I write this, the air conditioner has been turned back on. Simply setting it at 79 feels like a luxury.

Initially, the list of items to give up didn’t look daunting, but that is because I didn’t realize how inter-related they were (as mentioned above). They were also far-reaching. For example, I did not give up the use of my stove/oven for this challenge, but did I really want to use the oven with the house already so hot?

Some of these may lead to permanent changes: for example, I may decide I don’t need the air conditioning at night. The lack of hot water, however, will not be permanent. I have resumed using it and it is not being relinquished again any time soon!

Doing the week was only part of the commitment. I also agreed to share my experience with others. This blog is my first step. I also plan to talk about it at church this fall.

I originally signed up for this mainly as a show of support for Clayton, and less for myself. After all, did I *really* need another illustration of what life has been like for him? I have been in close contact with him for his 2 years, and he has shared with me the struggles and joys of service. Plus, last fall I visited him in Benin for 2 weeks. The truth is, however, that I did learn quite a bit, as you’ve read. What these folks are doing serving abroad is incredible, and for those of us back home, there is no such thing as “too much” understanding!

Total eclipse of my heart.

On June 15, 2011 was the longest, brightest total lunar eclipse of the century. "Of the century." What once held special meaning to me is now a taunting phrase; a big, whiney AHH HAA.

Before I start, I should say that my first sign of failure was the abnormal heat and humidity, in comparision of the previous 2 weeks.

I told the guard to cut the electricity to eliminate all external light sources from interfering with my shots. I managed to build a stable "tripod" for my camera out of a stool, and books--it was actually pretty decent.

Pitch black all around me, I look through the view finder to find the moon. Found. I focus, or do what I think is focusing, and take the shot. Not focused. Refocus, try again, take the shot, fail. This cycle continued on for about a half an hour but I was content because the moon wasn't going anywhere and the electricity was cut. I got to play around with a few of the camera settings and test out different strategies.

Then, horror. The electricity was turned back on by the power company. Imagine: the workstation power cut and everyone house around with electricity has it's lights turned on. The effect was awful fluorescent light cast across the workstation courtyard. This made focusing even harder because my eyes had to adjust and readjust to the darkness of the viewfinder everytime I took them away from it.

I never did successfully focus the lens. Trying to look through the view finder at black sky with a dimly lit moon in pitch black is just beyond me. So is the more irritating circumstance of trying to take a picture in darkness with cast lights all around.

Point of irony: in western, undeveloped Africa, while taking a picture of the night sky, electricity was my ultimate undoing. My biggest enemy. My arch nemesis. Would it not be for the Wii gaming system waiting for me or for guitar hero (or Robert), I would be bold enough to publicly denounce the use of electricity. But alas, I love The New Super Mario World for Wii too much.

These photos are of the full eclipse and then the un-eclipsing of the moon. They are the best I could do. They aren't great but I think another eclipse like this will happen in 18 years. Hopefully it's viewable from North America :)

Next assignment: Lightning.

Long Time no See!

Oh yes, it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry. Time is flying. Like every other Peace Corps Volunteer who's maintained a blog, I now too will say that the months are passing by and I am NEARING THE END OF MY SERVICE.

Just typing that makes me smile. When I'm done. I will have been a real-life Peace Corps Volunteer.

And now that I'm pretty well adjusted to Benin, I can say that not too much has happened. Neither exciting nor interesting events have occurred.

Really, I was just waiting for something "blog worthy." I can only blog about the heat, the rain, flowers, and food so many times before it becomes boring. Like a reporter, I was looking for something new and fresh. Something that would take my readers by surprise. Something that would make you say "just when he thought he'd experienced everything..."

Well ladies and gentelment. For your viewing pleasure, I submit this photo.

A few notes: the creature is actually bigger than it appears in the picture. It was AT LEAST a solid 6 inches :: Um... maybe more like 4- but it was 4 inches SQUARE! :: That was Glenna, a friend of mine visiting from the South who got to behold the sight of this creature. We disagree on size but not on presence. ::It was totally there; it was enormous!:: Glenna again.

Glenna is a fellow teacher and is currently on vacation. She decided to come up to Nati to peacefully pass her vacation with me. Tuesday night, we decided to make egg rolls (from scratch and they were delicious) and duck sauce (also really delicious). Making the duck sauce required honey which was in my house. I left the back of the workstation, descended the steps and happened to glance up and BAM. There this thing was. Just sitting there on the front wall of my house. It was so big, it looked like it could talk. I (quite literally in my temporary insanity) expected it to say "Hello there, Clayton." In a smooth, Sean Connery-esque voice.

I tell you, it was the first time I truly felt absolute fear and revoltion in my heart at something created by nature. In that moment, I experienced an overwhelming since of personal offense. Nature had created that bug and it had found it's way to the wall of my house to personally piss me off. I felt that I must've done something horrible and karma was saying "Hey Clay! Stop being such an asshole!" I had all sorts of mean thoughts about how assholish nature can be. Here, in front of me, was a 6 inch (4 inches according to Glenna) creature on my wall.

All I could do was stand there in pure horrified shock, turn around, walk into the house and inform everyone that we would not be making duck sauce because I couldn't get into my house.

Of course everyone flocked to see what the commotion was about and I felt validated when 6 other people were as horrified as I was. The immediate plan was to destroy the creature but in the end, I said we shouldn't because it wasn't harming me physically even though it had harmed my sense of security in the world. We left it alone and when I came back outside a few hours later it was gone. No, that did not make me feel better. When something that hideous disappears it creates more fear and panic because the awful truth is that I would rather sit and stare at it to know where it was and what it was doing than to not have any clue AT ALL.

P.S. MW, please excuse the language. What the fuck is it?

Found Nemo...

And decided to eat him.

I have now killed with my own two hands, and prepared something that flies--the chicken (yes I'm using the world flies very, very liberally)--and something that swims--the fish. Now all that is left is something that walks or....hops >). Where are you Peter Cottontail?

Pictures!

Touristy things.

Just a few photos. I went to visit tatasombas with another volunteer in a village relatively close to Natitingou. Tatasombas are a style of housing built by local people. The houses are made of mud, 2 stories with a roof that is used for storing food, shelter and other things that I don't remember or am not sure of. We took zems to and fro and although I was cursing the heavens the entire ride back, it was pretty neat to see the tatas and I got a few good shots of local people in the village of Bakoumbe.

Gay ol' Paris.

On the way back to Benin, I stopped in Paris for a week with another volunteer who was traveling and coming back the same time I was.

Before becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer, I had never traveled abroad so this time in Paris, I did all the tourist-y things: Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Arc de Triomphe.

Just a few pictures.

...But you can't take America out of the boy...

In December, I traveled for 24 solid hours to go home for a visit (sitting in an airport for 5 hours does in fact count as travel). It was pretty fun, great to see family.

It is so true that every person handles their re-introduction to the States differently. Some volunteers said they felt weird when they went home--I felt normal. I didn't feel like an outsider, estranged, apart, separate or anything of the sort.

However, I did feel aware.

I knew the moment I got on the plane in Paris to Fly into Philadelphia that I was on a plane full of Americans. I heard two distinct things I hadn't heard in 18 months: rude conversation and loud and rowdy children.

Everything in Africa runs at a slower pace, even the conversations. In Benin the first part of any conversation you have is usually a greeting followed by a question and answer period during which you ask about someone's day, their children, their spouse, their work, their health, their animals, if the force is with them, how long it takes Jupiter to rotate around the sun, how many moons Mercury has, and the square of 28,25o,509. As you might guess, conversations last a bit longer here and while the Beninese aren't always beacons of politeness or socially acceptable behavior, they will at least ask about every aspect of your life including whether or not you want to marry their baby girl (if you're male) and if you can loan them money, before they let you buy a soda from them. Having been in Benin for nearly 19 months now, I've become so accustomed to this conversational dance that I value it as an integral part to any social interaction. There's something satisfying about asking someone about the health of their children and how work is going for them.

So you can imagine my shock when, as I was sitting on the airplane getting comfortable, the flight attendant came up to me and asked if I needed anything before promptly walking away. Why didn't he want to know about my stomach, my eyes, my left big toe, and my courage?

I was even more offended when, while checking on other passengers, he simply said "hello, do you need anything?" Why didn't he ask about their kids, their spouse, their health, and their work?

And so, I immediately and even a bit righteously concluded that Americans are rude. The point of all those national jokes about rugged unrefined Americans suddenly became clear to me. We don't spend 20 minutes asking someone about how their digesting their food, their patience level, or the hair follicle on their left thigh right above the knee. And we are declassé because of it.

About the loud and rowdy children.

It's true that the workstation is next to an orphanage and often times the children howl at all hours of the night sometimes for hours on end. Wailing, wailing wailing. But you know what Beninese children don't do: they don't run around screaming in joy at top of their voices on airplanes. I've ridden in taxis for 9 people, stuffed with 15, and 3 small children who don't utter a peep the entire ride. Nevermind that at 3 and 4 they're still breast-feeding (usually why they aren't talking), they're quiet. I maintain that there is a difference between the howling of twelve African children and the shrill screams of 2 year old American children. Eventually, it dawned on me that American parents bargain way too much with their kids. I haven't heard "darling, don't you want to sit down now? Please sit down." in 18 months and when I did, I thought "that bargaining is why our American children grow up and believe so strongly in their autonomy as humans. People don't like big goverment because it's like the concerned, attentive, non-bargaining parent they never had. Big government says "do _____ now" to people who grew up with "do you want to do _____now?" Don't you see U.S. government: you have to start asking people if they want to do things. Do this, and you too will be as successful as the pleading airplane parents whose kids ran up and down the aisle THE ENTIRE 8 HOURS OF FLIGHT FROM FRANCE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Well, I noticed a lot of things when I went back to America. For instance the number of people in drive-thrus and their.....size....or just how much of a gem Target is (I love you), the awesomeness of real milk not that French stuff that can sit in heat for months on end and not spoil, good chocolate, fast internet and...TV!! But, what I most noticed was that I was still American and loved consuming :)