Monday, October 10, 2005 Weekend good. Went to a party at a NGO (non-governmental organization) called Victory Way for a volunteer who is leaving. Good times, good food, delicious cake. Also, we found hamburgers in Parakou. Not only that, delicious hamburgers for not much money. A little bit less than $3 for a complete meal of a cheeseburger and fries. Very delicious, very happy Stacey tipped us off.

All in all a good weekend, but not much really to tell. Mostly eating and socializing with volunteers. I'm trying to stay away from the workstation, but it's proven difficult thus far. Not because I really want to go over there, but really through a matter of necessity. This weekend was significant because it was planned. Last weekend was because I had no choice. Thankfully next weekend I'm going out of town to deliver groceries and a SIM card to Sara... although funnily enough it's to another workstation. I swear there will be a weekend where I DON'T go to a workstation. Really. I want one.

In other news though, people in my neighborhood know me. It's cool. Whenever I come home there are a ton of people on my route who wave and say "bon arrive" or the time-appropriate greeting of the moment. It's cool to feel like I'm becoming part of a community. Even though the only reason I'm probably really noticed at all is because of my white skin.

Today was the first day of school for all the youngin's. It was cute to see all the really little ones with their wide-eyes being led by their older siblings towards all the various schools. There is one in my neighborhood, so I saw lots of kids today. It's also funny to see 3 kids holding on for dear life on the back of a motorcycle being driven to school. As such the whole town was quite a flurry of activity this morning.

I'm slowly finishing up downloading all the things I need. I may, just may even get my own workstation soon... which means I'll actually be able to start serious work on the project. Oh, that's news. My homologue says we've definetly lost too much time waiting on the company so we're starting over from scratch. Fine with me, means I have something to do. I'm excited to have a purpose finally.

That's actually one thing that I consider to be an advantage in my situation. Other volunteers who've just started literally have nothing to do, or are at the present moment incapable of doing what they will do for reasons of language or season. Even if I have nothing to do a work, I do have a "work" to go to. It's much better than being all alone in a village and literally having nothing to do but to go between the marche, sitting on the porch, and sleeping. If that were the case I might die. Or, I might have finished a book by now... as opposed to the 6 I heard tale of one volunteer having finished.

Oh, for those of you who aren't link-stalkers... Theresa has updated her gallery. There is even a gallery devoted entirely to me!