MARINA I BENIN

pics

2008-06-07T17:50:00.001+03:00

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47458&l=ad05d&id=688982348

Electricity cuts, tired moped and storms

2008-05-29T12:48:00.000+03:00

The amounts of electricity cuts are ridiculous. For a few weeks we have only been having about 1 to 2 hours of electricity per day. Sleeping is impossible as it gets around 50 degrees in my bedroom, which means that one has to get up one or two times per night to take a shower. Last week the temperature during the day in the shade was closer to 40 degrees, now it feels much cooler as the rain has cleared the air. The last night’s intense wind and noteworthy amount of rain has really cooled the temperature remarkably. Last night I actually pulled my cover all the way up to my ears as it felt so cold. What a great feeling to lie in bed under the cover and hear the wind in the palm trees, the waves hit the beach and the rain hammering through my roof. It makes me think of autumn. Autumn that I enjoy so much with falling leaves, strong wind and cosy evening around candle light. But when I get to work at 8 am it is already hot and the sweating starts.

The darkness in the evenings is also impressive. I can’t even see my own hand in front of me when standing in the middle of my house in the evenings. The occasional light from the moon makes it though much brighter. I never get use to the fact that when walking home at night you don’t see anyone before they are in your face saying bonsoir and you see their bright teeth in the shape of a smile. Often I roll around with Nisse and seldom walk at night, but occasionally I leave the moped at home if I am going somewhere close. Nisse has been working quite well lately, except that the speed meter has been dead for a month, the side mirrors keep on falling down and the fact that I have to run to get it started. Yesterday it got tired on the way home and simply stopped, the motor just died. A bunch of boys came to my rescue and tried to start it with no success. Finally I decided to push it home but got irritated after 50meters and decided to try one more time to get it started. And wroom, no problem, Nisse was back on track. Lots of people have asked about Nisse’s future when I leave, but I have decided to give it to someone that gives it to his father who is sick and has needed a moped for quite some time. Feels like a good decision. Nisse will be in good hands.

Soon my time at Villa Karo comes to an end. All the things I have seen, learned and experienced during these five months. A lot! And still there is more to come, much more. Can’t even imagine leaving this place and the people, really not. The thought of it makes it turn around in my stomach, even though the new job in Helsinki and all the things it will bring is something I look forward to. If I could only take some sunshine, some laughter, the sea, drums, reggae, friends and loved ones, colours, pâte de maïs, fish, pima, culi culi, aloko, Lion bar, Nisse and so much with me to Finland in a bag. Oh how much I will miss it all!

Buying potatoes in Grand Popo

2008-05-19T19:49:00.001+03:00

Cooking in great fun even though it is about 55 degree Celsius in the kitchen and so humid that you look like you have been taking a shower. To get ingredients for the cooking isn’t always that evident though. On Sunday I got an urge to make a real Finnish style potato salad so I though I just quickly stop by the petit marché next to my house. Firstly I greeted everyone that crossed my potato search and some for longer time than others. Then I heard the horrible news that there are no potatoes to be found. I was so desperate for potato salad so I didn’t give up. I continued my walk. Then I met a lady that knew me for somewhere that took me to her home to greet her family and when they heard that I didn’t find potatoes they decided to do anything possible to help me, so the ladies’ youngest daughter was sent to help me. The daughter took me on a long walk. Finally after a long, but very nice, walk we found a lady that had lots of potatoes in her living room, but nothing else. At this time I didn’t want to mention that I also want to buy garlic so I bought a kilo of potatoes and got an enormous avocado for free because it was so nice of me to come all this way to buy potatoes. So yes, buying potatoes in Grand Popo can take 1.5 hours, no doubt. It was anyways a nice evening walk, and the potato salad was well received so I was happy that I hade made the effort.
In the beginning I didn’t see a point of cooking as it is so hot in the kitchen and as I can get a great meal for 80 cent. But now after 4.5 months I have started to cook more and more as the rice and fish twice a day is definitely good but sometimes a bit monotonous. Variation is nice.

Yes, by the way, if anyone hears something about a flat in Helsinki from august of September, please let me know. From mid June I can no longer be reached on my Beninese number; so call my Finnish mobile if something.

Nonvitcha and new job!

2008-05-16T12:27:00.000+03:00

Last weekend Grand Popo celebrated Nonvitcha which meant tons of people on the streets, day and night, but it also meant no sleep for me as I live next to Place Nonvitcha and they played music until early morning and again at 6 a.m. It was very nice though to take part in a local festival where everyone that has left Grand Popo comes back to meet relatives and friends. I also had lots of visitors as my roof terrace is an excellent people spotting place so all in all it was a weekend filled with friends, music, food, dancing, pick nick and let’s not forget the 11th of May: Bob Marley’s celebration.

On Wednesday Villa Karo celebrated its 8th birthday and yesterday I celebrated the news of getting a new job. So, what can I Say? Plenty of reasons to celebrate. For me the new job will imply moving to Helsinki as the job starts directly in August. I will work as a project researcher at the research institute of Soc o’ Kom in Helsinki. Wohoo. Very happy about that. Now it is raining so bloody much that it is quite scary to be at the computer so… gotta go.

Zangbetons, vappu, excursions and Cotonou.

2008-05-05T20:23:00.000+03:00

A lively and interesting Zangbeton ceremony, dinner festivities, vappu celebration and excursions to Ouidah, Abomey and Cotonou have filled my last weeks. A delegation group from Finland visited Villa Karo so I had quite a lot of program with them and we went on various trips, which was pleasant.

I also had a vappu celebration at my place, which is rather amusing as I never celebrate vappu in Finland. Vappu celebration in Grand Popo meant dinner for about 30 people, if not more, drinks and drumming until the early morning. The next day, the 1st of May, there was a staff and stipendiat lunch at Villa Karo which was very amusing. The amount of laughter and dancing always blows me away.

Last weekend I spent in Cotonou with Linni, Heidi and Victor. We experienced steamy nights as we all squeezed ourselves in his rather small but charming room. Despite the constant turning of the fan it gets very hot in a small room with 4 sleeping and snoring adults. It was an excellent weekend; just what I needed. I was in a need of getting out from Grand Popo although the many daytrips the previous week. I got to visit the enormous and very lively market in Cotonou, see a jazz band perform, ride moto-taxi in the rain at night, eat tasty Chinese food which was nice as a change, see a drum session in a cozy bar, witness the less posh area as well as a very posh nightclub with the highest bling bling factor I have seen in a good while. We also met some bling bling Lebanese guys that have lived in benin for a couple of years; they were fun company and took us around Cotonou in their fancy sports car. The scenario did though put a wide smile on my face as it is about 10 years ago since I have been riding around a city in a fancy car with terribly bad techno music. All this was a good change from the very calm laid back lifestyle in Grand Popo.

I also managed to put some different pictures on the internet so check out this link.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47458&l=ad05d&id=688982348

april stuff

2008-04-24T20:17:00.000+03:00

New Finnish people have arrived and many have already left. One of the greatest things with my work at Villa Karo is that I get to meet and work with so many different kinds of people. I meet all sorts of Finnish artist in various ages. I have made great friends that I hope I will stay in touch with in the future. Some of my good friends here have been men and women over 60 while others have been in their thirties. Excellent. Time just passes by so incredibly fast. People say “African time” when things go slower and there is no hurry but it seems like days, weeks and months pass by faster in Benin. Very strange. Well, one does say that time goes faster when one is enjoying oneself, it must be that then.

I made a terrible loss a few days ago. I threw myself in Auberge’s little swimming pool to cool off from the extreme heat. I was wearing the bikini I had in Asia in 2004, which I haven’t actually used a lot here. After my relaxing swimming session I took a shower but when I returned to work and was about to put my swimming stuff out to dry I realized the terrible loss. I had lost my bright blue bikini pants. I knew I had left them in the shower at the hotel. Kaisa asked after Marina’s pants the next day but the guys just smiled largely and said that they haven’t seem them. Now we are convinced that one of them are wearing them, which actually makes me giggle. Those bikini pants were not worth a fortune so if some guy in Grand Popo gets a kick out of wearing or selling them at the market I will give him that pleasure. I just hope that I will, one day, know what happened to the bikini pants and where they travelled. If someone meets them on their journey please send them my best wishes.

I have decided to return to Finland in July, work for a month in the archipelago and then see what the next step is. I have simply made the realization that it will be terribly difficult to find an ok-paid job here now and unfortunately I can’t afford to work at one of the women’s organisations a few months for free, which I would gladly do if I could afford it. Many of the very interesting jobs at various international organisations go anyhow through Europe so it might actually be easier to find a job in West African from there, which just feels absurd as one is used to the idea that it is easier to find a job at the spot. It is alright though, august in Finland is great and it will be nice to meet good old friends, family and of course my brother, who complains that I don’t specifically write that I miss him . It will definitely be nice to hang out before the next great adventure.

Hospitals, Funeral, Dinners and Kia

2008-04-16T18:23:00.000+03:00

I am starting to be an expert on Beninoise hospitals. The hospital in grand Popo turned out to be useless, again. So, this time I got to ride a fast speeding ambulance that had the sirens on all the way to Cotonou with two Finnish stipendiates that were in terrible condition. One had malaria + some infection and the other had a serious infection. I also got to spend the night at the hospital with them, as support and translator. Luckily they are both feeling better now. Now I Hope I am done exploring hospitals. Time to explore the next thing. I have also been taking Nisse to the local hospital basically every day as if the tyre isn’t loose then half of the bodyparts are loose or missing. The mechanists like me though and don’t charge me a yovo price anymore. Today I have to say that Nisse is a happy camper and spins like the king of the hill, which makes me smile and invite everyone for crab dinner.

Last weekend I got to attend a voodoo funeral which for me mainly meant eating a big meal, times four, and drinking lots of sodabi. Doesn’t help to say no thank you as it is a tremendous offence if you don’t taste the family’s food or sodabi. So with a smile on your face and very full stomach you say oui oui and gladly eat some more and take another sip of the burning palmbooze. It was a great experience though to visit the village of Adjaha and all the very warm, friendly and welcoming people.

I have been attending lots of lunches and dinners lately, never a dull moment. If there isn’t a spontaneous drumming session in our garden and a huge dinner afterwards then someone comes by and invites me over. I have enjoyed it a lot lately and my need for own a time seems to have disappeared entirely. I was also glad to hear that the article I wrote for Hufvudstadsbladet Volt was published the 5th of April and was well appreciated. Jeah.

Kia is coming over soon (beginning of June) which makes me very very happy. As no members of my family will make it over, it is nice that my favourite travelling buddy comes to visit and at a perfect time when I have finished work so that we can travel around for 6 weeks. Now the plan is to go up north, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali and perhaps Niger. Suppose to be a great area to travel, safe and friendly people. I am so much looking forward to meeting Kia again. It will be another trip of a lifetime.

Being sick in Benin

2008-04-03T13:57:00.001+03:00

Everyone has to get sick at some point, right? I haven’t been sick at all so far until now. And now it hit me good. The interesting part of the story is that I got sick in Kpalimé, in Togo, and so did everyone else, even the driver. We decided to skip the rest of the program and try to get back to Grand Popo as fast as possible. It took 6 hours with regular stops along the road so that people could throw up in the bush. What a lovely feeling. Crossing the boarder at noon in 38 degree heat wasn’t the most exciting thing I have done in a while. It is interesting how you can handle a situation when you must. When I came home I completely collapsed. Three days without food and barely any liquid at all. Fever swinging from 34.7 to 39 and back down to 34. I spent the days in my room, in bed, looking at the monotone movement of the fan. Everyone kept telling me that it is obviously malaria, that the food poisoning (or whatever it was) had triggered but turned out to “just” be a serious infection. What sort of infection and where about in the body they couldn’t say. Now I have plenty of medicines and feel good. Malaria wouldn’t have been a surprise even though I take Lariam as we already have three Finns down with malaria since January. Otherwise Kpalimé was a very nice city 120km north of Lomé and the nature was stunning. We hiked to a waterfall, jumped in the refreshing water, played the drums, drank sangria, laughed and enjoyed ourselves, until the disaster. Did I mention that I have started to play the drums? I am not very good at it but it is fun and I will learn.

Now I am back at work, Nisse is also back in shape, well at least sort of, and Linni is visiting me from Lomé. She will go and work in Cotonou for 6 weeks so hopefully we will see more of her now that she doesn’t have to cross a boarder to get to Grand Popo.

I still have plenty thoughts about staying in the country. I would definitely want to stay, that is for sure, but it all depends on work possibilities and salaries… There are for example plenty of local NGO’s that do a good job which would be interesting to take part in but they can’t afford to pay a salary. There is for example a very interesting feminist organisation called Federation Nationale des Associations des Femmes Beninoises that work in all areas of women’s rights. I could imagine staying and follow the work they do just for a few months even if they can’t pay me, just for the experience. This would though require some sort of income from somewhere, maybe from articles.. In Dakar, Senegal, there is United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) where it of course would be super interesting to work or do an internship. On the other hand that is not Benin or Togo where I would like to stay. But why not Dakar? could be interesting. The international NGO’s often take employees that are already enrolled in the organisation in Europe and all the French people in the country come on a three year work contract from France. Benin doesn’t exactly have a “look for job” internet site that would function so it is difficult to know how to proceed. The problem is also the salary unless it is international organisation that pays in the direction of a European salary or at least an internship. Working for 50-150 euros a month doesn’t feel to exciting, at least as I have loans to pay off, in Finland. Maybe it means that I will stay in Finland for a while, until the next journey. Interesting to see where life takes me this time.

Thank you for the calls and sms I have been receiving when sick. It is particularly nice to hear voices from back home when sick.

Wedding, voodoo priest, kyltti dudes and Lomé

2008-03-21T14:37:00.000+02:00

Some time has passed. I was criticized for writing too personal on this global internet site that is open to everyone which led to the fact that I haven’t been writing at all. Anyways.

The wedding was a blast. It was a three day party after which everyone was quite tired. The Finnish quests felt a bit silly though in the beginning as it is custom that the quests make dresses from one and the same fabric that has been chosen for the occasion, so there we were; all looking exactly the same. A bunch of berries.

Last week the Finns and I went to a voodoo priest/chief in Togo. That was surely an unforgettable experience. The voodoo priest that we visited is one of the big chiefs that also attended the national voodoo festival the 10th of January. So there we were, in his house. There was smoke, chickens and goats: both dead and alive, blood, the smell of gin and the sounds of drums. When arrived there were some local women asking him for advice so we got to see the end of their ceremony and we were relieved that we didn’t have to drink from the glass of blood that was passed around. Then it was our turn. He asked our names and chitchatted a bit. A few of us asked for advice or made a wish. I asked him for advices concerning my future and the response was that my future looks brilliant, very brilliant. Phew. Glad to hear, not that I had any big doubts. He invited us to stay for dinner; to eat the animals that had been sacrificed by the people before us, but none of us thought that was a good idea. Then a lady came in and we got to follow her consultation as they talked in mina so we didn’t understand anyways. Otherwise it is just the voodoo priest and the one asking for something (and a few helpers) that are allowed to enter the room. It was very interesting to follow the process even though the smell of old gin and blood made most of us a bit nauseous.

The following day the HYPERLINK "http://www.kyltti.com" www.kyltti.com dudes came to Grand Popo. We had dinner at Lion Bar, good food and nice atmosphere as always, and had a great evening. Kyltti boys were a lot of fun. They were a real äijä group, in a good way. The next day I left for Togo which unfortunately meant that I didn’t have the time to show them around in Grand Popo but I heard rumours that they had a good time and left the village with a smile on their faces. I sure hope to meet them again one day, maybe in Finland or somewhere else. They seem to be on the road quit actively so wouldn’t be completely unthinkable to see the guys carrying their road sign somewhere in an unknown location. Yesterday I found out that one of them succeeded in putting his finger in the fan so he received 4 stitches without local anaesthesia somewhere in Burkina Faso. Good job!

Then two Finnish scholars and I went to Lomé. We took motorbikes, that drove like mad, to the boarder where it took around one hours to walk over to the Togolese side. There we found a bush taxi that drove us to our shabby but friendly hotel. In the evening we went to a Lebanese restaurant and I can’t even describe how nice it was to eat something else than rice or pâte with fish. We ordered falafel with hummus and ate until we almost dropped. It was marvellous to get tastes that have been gone for so long. After midnight we took motorbikes back to the hotel. This was one of the first times I held on like it would be my last day on earth. Well, when the speed meter is jumping between 70 and 130 km/h and you of course don’t have helmets and your cheeks are pulled back like in a roller coaster you easily see your life flash in front of you. To make things even a bit more exciting we slowed down at red lights but couldn’t stop as we were not in a good area of town which meant that if stopped by a red light on a moto I would have been robbed directly. So the drivers just screamed “allez allez allez” to each other and kept on driving. I was even pleased to greet the cockroach in the hotel room., even though I tried to kill him a while later without succeeding so we ended up sharing the same room and the bastard didn’t pay for his share.

The next 3 days we saw a lot in Lomé and had a lot of fun. It is an easy city to get a grip of with lots of friendly people and not as polluted as Cotonou. The down side is the corruption and all the military road blocks that demand money or take your moto if you don’t have all papers in order which many people don’t. We luckily managed to avoid them which was a very good thing as we didn’t have our passports on us as they were at the immigration office in order to extend the visa and of course we didn’t have any other id’s with us. So a hello from the militaries would have cost us quite a bit.

Then we put one of the Finnish scholar in a bush taxi and sent her to the Beninese boarder as she was leaving for Finland later the same day. She had a successful trip even though she doesn’t speak any French. The other scholar, Camilla and I, were invited to talk on the radio about sexual harassment. The host of the program wasn’t doing a very good job so one can easily say that we saved his show. It was very interesting to see a radio studio on Togo and I was told that Riki Sorsa is on their play list… I never found out why, but there he is.

All in all we spent 4 very nice days in Lomé and it was also nice to get out from Grand Popo a bit. Even though it is a lovely peaceful safe beach village one can get the urge to see something else.

The rain has started to fall heavily and sometimes at night I think the rain is coming through the roof but so far all is good. Nisse is in terrible shape which means that I have to push/run in order to start him. Luckily there are no traffic lights in grand popo as I couldn’t stop and easily continue the journey. I wonder if Nisse will make it to the end, meaning my time in Grand Popo?

A few days I made dinner to Florence and Boris and it was great to see their surprised faces as I prepared things they have never heard of or tasted before. I had bought egg noodles and Soya sauce in Lomé (things you definitely don’t find in grand popo) so I fried some onions, lots of garlic, different vegetables that I found that day and finally put the precooked noodles in the frying pan and poured some more soya sauce over the entire thing. Fried noodles! They really enjoyed it even though they looked at it a bit suspicious at first.

Now I am on Easter holiday meaning that I have Friday to Monday off. I was thinking about travelling somewhere but it is also quite nice to just relax for a few days, and besides I just a few days came from Togo. We shall see.

pictures finally

2008-03-04T09:07:00.001+02:00

so here comes a link to a few pictures! as i am in cotonou for 2 days i finally got the chance to use faster internet and post these!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40297&l=8e867&id=688982348

enjoy and hugs

Sleepless nights

2008-02-29T12:43:00.000+02:00

I have been having sleepless nights. Or let’s say that I do fall asleep relatively early, around 11 or 12 but then I wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning and can’t sleep anymore. Frustrating. So what is on my mind? Well maybe better to ask, what is not on my mind. Seems like I have the world in my head. Maybe drinking wine and reading Kierkegaard isn’t the best after all. It is not uncommon for me to not sleep as I have sleeping problems since teenage years, but until now I have slept like a baby here. Maybe Lariam is finally starting to show its brighter sides… I have had a few hallucinations but nothing more serious. I hope it stays at this. Maybe sleeplessness is also caused by the fact that it is now bloody hot at nights and my fan sucks. Last night there were also heavy rains and massive thunders. It looked like the sky had a disco. At least today the air is very fresh but also very humid. We are a sweaty bunch of people.

Maarit left and the bed suddenly feels very big. Where is that little blond thing that I used to accidentally hit during the night? I do get lots of new bed partner offers, but nah, alone is good. Unfortunately everyone doesn’t get the no and keep on trying until I completely loose my nerves. At least no one enters my bedroom when they hang around the house. They kindly stay behind the mosquito net-door and wouldn’t even dare to touch it. Good good.

I have a lot of nice programs in front on me. Tomorrow after work I will go with Boris to the Saturday market and then go home to his place and assist him cook dinner for his family. Will be exciting to see his place and watch him cook African style. His mother is crazy about me as she thinks I will be the future wife. Sorry mum, Boris is not the one for me. It will be nice though to meet his family. The same evening there is the monthly concert at Villa Karo and on Sunday I will take a motorboat to “bouche de roi” which is where the sea meets the river. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places here in the area. I will spend the day swimming, eating pick nick food and simply relaxing. On Monday evening I’ll go to Cotonou to welcome the new arriving Finnish scholar and on Tuesday I will be back in Grand Popo. Pas mal de program! I can’t believe it is almost march. Where is time disappearing? Well at least days are longer now that I don’t sleep… Bon, ce n’est pas grave. Sleep comes and goes like most things in life. Sometimes you have more of it, almost too much and something you lack it.

Parties, spiders, chickens and good vibes!

2008-02-26T12:06:00.000+02:00

My need for own time, meaning at least one hour by myself a week, has been accomplished as the new neighbours have been quite busy. I got what I needed. Otherwise it has worked out very well and I think everyone is happy. Very nice neighbours, I have to say. Last thursday we arranged a party at the house, a party for Maarit’s departure. We cooked, or actually Boris did, for about 40 people, and we bought 8 liters of wine, 2 bottles of Pastis and a bottle of whiskey and everything was gone by the end of the night. That is what one would call a good celebration! Did I say Africans don’t drink? Ups. Well actually people drink quite a bit, all the time, strong palm booze, but seldom one sees people in a Finnish state of drunkenness. I might even admit that I was a little tipsy last night but then again it was the first time being tipsy in Africa. The party created lots of laughter and dancing until the dying of the stereo. One can’t have a party in Benin without music and dance so this meant that the party also died. At least everyone enjoyed themselves as long as it lasted. Have to admit that I was rather tired this morning and to my luck I had 5 guiding tours in a row…

On saturday the ex Villa Karo trainee Linni that currently lives in Lomé also came over with three friends and they will all stay at my place. Now you might think that I was getting stressed as I need my own time, but nah, I just need it once in a while, every few months. I am glad that they were here and we had a good weekend together. The ones that know me also know that I am a social monkey and enjoy having people around me. And besides I am not here to be alone, I am here to dance, laugh, learn, talk, socialize and what not. Mission accomplished as by the end of the night, of our big party, I was called “the petite beninoise”, thanks to my enthusiastic dancing. Yesterday I went to Cotonou, just for the day. It was a long and sweaty journey as the cars are always packed, meaning three people on the front seat, four in the back and yesterday one also in the luggage storage. On the way back from Cotonou we also had some chickens in the car that made lots of unhappy sounds. My intension was to find a internet café in order to download some pictures but the one I found was closed and then I finally didn’t have time to go to the others as I went with Villa Karo’s night guard Abdullai and he had to be back at work. But on my way to Cotonou my phone rang and surprise surprise it was Veronica. That was very nice. We talked for quite some time and it only cost her 1.5€ as she called through skype. Apparently one can also call very cheaply from Finland, cheap = 4 cents à minute, if dialling 99533 before my Benin number, that is +229 97831277. So wink wink, if anyone wants to call  It is of course nice to hear voices from backhome!

What else? A chicken decided to enter my house the other day and make a hell of a lot of fuss about leaving. And oh yes, the spider. The electricity in Grand Popo is a mess which results in electrical cuts lasting a few hours to days. This means that the fridges melt and the fans don’t work which means that it feels like one is sleeping in a bad sauna and is completely covered in sweat in the morning. This is how I met the spider. The fans didn’t work and I was tired and sweaty at 7 a.m. and of course the lights in the bathroom didn’t work. In the semi darkness I could still see a hairy body on the wall. A monster spider! I went to get a candle and a stick. With a candle in one hand and the murder weapon in the other hand I entered the battle zone. The monster spider wasn’t ready to breathe his last breath. I kept on hitting him while he kept on defending himself and pretending not to get hurt. Finally I got him down on his knees and with a shoe I took his life. At this point Maarit woke up wondering what the hell I was doing hitting the wall and screaming like a mad woman. A real murder scene!

Yesterday evening I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I was chilling on the sofa reading an old iltasanomat (actually the sport section !! as that was the only magazine that was laying around) and drinking a glass of wine when my flatmates and their friends, meaning 6 local men, started to dance, sing and drum on the table. What a joy, energy and laughter. Couldn’t imagine seeing 6 men in Finland dance just like that out the blue with so much energy and happiness. I really felt like “the dude” chilling on the sofa with my sport section and wine watching the dancing men. This is exactly what makes one fall in love with Benin and maybe Africa in general (even though I never want to generalize Africa).

Pia asked me to comment Bush’s appearance in Benin but honestly I am in a complete news shade. I don’t have TV, we don’t have a newspaper and unfortunately I don’t have a radio… Of course I heard about Bush visiting, but that is all. So please do inform me of the biggest news events. Even though last night I got a fresh Helsingin Sanomat in my hand, wow, with the arrival of the new Finnish neighbours. That is surely something.

Unfortunately Maarit is leaving tomorrow. I was just thinking about it the other day that Maarit and I met on the airport in Cotonou the second of January and ever since we have shared the same room and bed, and it has worked out fantastically. It is surprising how easily it can be to get along with someone you have never met before and suddenly you are together all hours of the day. Well lately Maarit has been travelling around a bit so we haven’t been attached to the hip like we were in the beginning. She doesn’t look too excited about going home to Rauma. I wish her the best luck with everything! Things will be alright and like we say here: there is always tomorrow.

Everyday Life

2008-02-13T18:41:00.000+02:00

I have found an everyday life in Grand Popo. I work, eat, swim, sleep, talk a lot of shaise, drive my moppe, hang around, drink a few glasses of wine now and then, and most of all I socialize. I socialize at work, well that is my job, I socialize on the streets as the habit is to greet every single one that passes you by and I socialize at home as I have shared the house with a couple (African lady and a French man) that invites half of the village to the house. There is music, hairdressing, food, laughter and a hell lot of people. Most of the time it is fun and a very good way to get to know the people in the village, but sometimes the extremely loud music makes me escape my house. Everyone has though been very friendly and I have had many many lunches and dinners with half of all the relatives. In a few days they will move out and in moves the next loud group. Hah!

Well I think that might actually be very pleasant. Gildas (guide Guildas for those who know him) is moving in the 15th and his wife to be, Jaana from Finland, arrives on the 24th with a friend. They are staying 2 months. I will have the chance to witness an African-Finnish wedding which will be very exciting. Gildas knows everyone is the village, has thousands of friends and plays the drums so I have been told that the house will be filled with music and people. At least I am not lonely!

My moped, Nisse, is quite a happy camper. It has only been about 3-4 times a week to the mechanist… well just smaller illnesses, nothing serious. Nisse is suffering from aging, the heat and would much rather just rest. Instead I make him roll in sand and darkness.

I am in good health and in a good mood and lately I have also had a lot of work which is quite nice. I definitely prefer being busy than just sitting around. Last weekend I made an overnight trip to Porto Novo and the village of Hêtin. A very successful trip and Porto Novo is a very nice city, far nicer than traffic and pollution mad Cotonou.

I am actually enjoying Benin to the point that I am considering staying for a few years. I don’t have studies, work or a relationship waiting for me in Finland so why not stay if I would find an interesting job. Interesting job could signify an international organisation, for example a NGO on human rights, a culture institute or something else. I have not yet checked all possibilities but time will tell. Maybe I am happy to return to good old Turku in 6 more months… or than not! Sometimes I do miss my everyday life in Turku. Most of all friends, all wonderful friends that it is so easy to hang out with, but I also miss Bristol, Kerttulin kievari, the simplicity of going to Siwa, reissumies, yoghurt, Aakkoset (for some strange reason) kvinnis and its people. But oh dear can’t even imagine how much I would miss Benin if I would be in rainy Turku. We shall see how things work out.

lots of stuff

2008-01-31T12:05:00.000+02:00

24 january

Black/White, Bodies, Gecko, English, Laptop and Moped !
In the beginning of my stay in Grand Popo I thought that there was me, the Finns and the black Africans. Different colours of black Africans.

Now I think there are me and the finns that make a unity of yovos, and then there are friends, colleagues, fruit ladies, moped chauffeurs, children on their way to school, and a bunch of people I haven’t had the chance to talk to yet. The blackness has disappeared. All that is rest is my own yovoness. I don’t see people as black anymore. I see friends and smiles. I do have to admit though that I react when I see a new yovo in town; who is that and doing what? Interesting how fast a way of perceiving things can change. That I am grateful for. Maybe old dogs can learn to sit after all.

The regular body contact stroke me as slightly awkward in the beginning. My female colleagues straight forward grab my breasts, my male boss likes to comment my butt, lunch lady wants me for herself and makes sure to always touch my butt before I leave…and so on and so on. There is a lot of talk about my butt. They appreciate a round African butt on a yovo. Feels very strange to get so many comments about my body from people I don’t know. I don’t think much about it anymore unless it is a new form of comment. At least most of the comments are positive; otherwise it could be a bit heart breaking…

Today there was a frozen gecko in our fridge. I wonder how it got in. When it got taken out it fell like a dead dude on the floor. A while later it decided that ok, enough time being frozen, so it got up and continued its day as normal. Impressive. Geckos and lizards enjoy our garden. When they are not chasing each other they are relaxing in the sun. In the evenings they are curious what we are up to in the house so they tend to take a peak before being chase out by a mean yovo.

Today is the day for English course. The trainee is also teaching English twice a week for anyone that is interested. Yesterday we had only three students and yet it was somewhat difficult to know how to teach. The difficulties are caused by the fact that the students are all in very different levels of English knowledge. Otherwise I think it is quite fun.

Oh yes, my laptop died a week ago. It just got tired from the humidity and refuses to be turned on. It is a shame as I have plenty of music on it and there are pictures from here that I didn’t yet put on my usb, argh. Oh well. I am convinced that after some resting it will be a happy camper again. Rasta Gildes (Lion Bar Gildas for those of you that knows him) convinces me that it can be fixed. He will bring it to some fixer; maybe it would enjoy a lively voodoo ceremony. Hah. Of not fixed here it might wake up in Finland. Who knows how computer thinks?

Another oh yes, I decided to buy a moped. This way I am free to drive wherever and whenever I want and don’t have to walk alone in the darkness. The only catch is that I have to go to Togo, to Lomé, to buy it and drive it myself over the boarder. I could buy an old shitty one from here but apparently I would have to put a decent sum of money on constantly repairing it so it is better to buy a new one from Lomé or a quite fresh one at least. Can’t say I am a moped expert but it shouldn’t be too difficult to drive a small moped in the sand. Shouldn’t be more difficult than biking in the snow, at least this is what I tell myself. Luckily I don’t have to make my moped business on my own. The energetic museum boss Soile is here for 2 months and she is also buying a moped, so on Saturday Soile, Saku (her husband) and I go to Lomé and come back with two lovely mopeds; at least so we hope. I will be a proud moped owner!

It is fun to see that all kind of people have found this blogg, former stipendiâtes finlandaise and stagiaires, family and friends! I hope I am able to describe the things I feel, see and experience in a way that you can in some ways share this time with me. I will try to post some pictures as soon as possible. At time of writing this internet has been down for a couple of days, but there is always tomorrow.

30 january
we have not had internet for a week, so now i came with monsier kwassi to the nearby villages internet to check some work e-mails. lots have happened again. Two days ago i spent the night and following day at the hospital with one of the finnish artist. He calles maarit and me at one in the morning as he had had an attack of eplilepsia. we took him to grand popo hospital and i spent the night with him there. They couldn't do anything so we just waited. One interesting detail is that we should have brought our own bed sheets with us, as there are none at the hospital. Obviously we did not knw this so we slept on some plastic beds. At 8 in the morning we went to cotonou where i dragged him around the whole day as he was in very bad shape. At the same time maarit sent me an sms saying that tehre is a moped i could buy; cheap. I answered, yes, and make the deal.
So when i returned from cotonou at 10 in the evening, which was by the way madness to drive in the darkness, i had a moped in the livingroom. I tried it yesterday and of course i directly fell off.. so i am filled with bruises but hey, that is the way it is in the beginning. It is a cool moped; not a scooter. I will post pictures one day but now i have to run. Thank you all for e-mails, and sorry that i haven't been able to answer ( cause of no telephone ligne). kisses and hugs

Harmattan, Ouidah, Mina and Corruption!

2008-01-19T11:15:00.000+02:00

Another saturday at work.

Harmattan is slowly over and heat has showed its side. It is humid and hot, but apparently nothing yet. Today Harmattan could again be felt as the morning was nice and chilly. During the middle of the day during the last week it has been so sweaty that one can’t do much else than run into the big waves or throw oneself in the nearby Hotel’s swimming pool. The waves are big and the water is salty. The best time for swimming is between 12-14 p.m as the sea is at its calmest during this time of the day. The waves are anyways big at this time and the currents are very very strong so one has to be careful. The salty water and the waves hitting me in the back of my head make my hair very funny, its becoming Rasta à la naturell. The Rasta-reggae population of Grand Popo really likes my messy silly looking hair.

On Wednesday I visited Ouidah with the Finns. My job was to translate everything the guide said in the museum of history and at the port of no return. It is tiring to concentrate to hard especially as I naturally get the Swedish words in my head but not the Finnish ones, so my head is doing a double translation task…phew. But it was very interesting as it was all about the slave trade and the history around it. It is a cruel brutal past. The things we people do to one another, it’s incomprehensible.

I have been thinking about the local dialects lately. People here learn French in school but hardly ever speak French to one another. Here they mostly speak mina that is also spoken in southern parts of Togo. I tend to forget that French is not people’s mother tongue. Then I realized that it is a bit like being a finn-swed, most of finns-sweds speak a good if not a fluent finnish but many also struggle with it. It is like French here; many speak it absolutely fluently while other struggle to find words and especially numbers. This mostly concerns elderly as young people use French on a daily basis in school.

My mother called me yesterday and said that there had been a program about Villa Karo on FST. Apparently it had shown Villa Karo in a very bad light in many different ways. Local authorities that they had interviewed had a negative view of Villa Karo and its impact on Grand Popo. This surprises me as it is not the impression I get being here. Many locals appreciate Villa Karo greatly partly because it has woken up a sleepy almost dying little town and given many locals jobs and party because Villa Karo organizes free concerts every months and movie nights every Friday. For the concerts up to 4000 people attend from all nearby villages. The institute is open for everyone; at least this is the point of the institute. Yesterday a local catholic school visited the postcard exhibition and the children between 3 and 11 years of age were very excited and it was many times pointed out to them that they are always welcome to the institute. Drawing and music classes are being arranged for local children, obviously for free. Of course there is also another side of the coin. The program on FST had apparently also shown a side of corruption, that Villa Karo put money on beer and parties while the town needs money for schools and medicines and so on. Finnish Artists that maybe don’t have enormous amounts of money in Finland can live like Kings here and eat at restaurants every night and basically buy all they want. Of course this is very frustrating for people in a poor country that can’t put a third of a monthly salary on an evening out at the restaurant. Of course being here as a yovo feels a bit perverse at times. We live in the fancy houses and eat at restaurants. The program also brought to light something about Villa Karo stopping a Finnish school to collaborate in Grand Popo. It is quite impossible for someone that doesn’t know the language or the culture to come here and collaborate and this is why the project should have gone through Villa Karo, as the cultural institute already had a steady foot in the society. Well I haven’t seen the program so I shouldn’t comment more but it simply doesn’t seem like objective journalism. One can always create a bit of drama it one wants to. Why didn’t the program bring to light any of the positive effects Villa Karo has on this town, or was the point that there are not any? I have a hard time believing that.

More Greetings

2008-01-11T12:45:00.000+02:00

Now it is a bit more than a week ago since I came to Benin. Feels like I have been here much longer because of all the people I have met and all the things I have seen and learned. An everyday life has started with work, marriage proposals, laughter, drums, darkness and lots of dinner invitations. I work from 08-12 and 16-18 and every other Saturday 8-12. There are 9 “stipendiâtes finlandaise“ and 2 more Finnish people, so at the moment there are plenty of Finnish people in the house.

I have a home now, I got it arranged so that I will continue living in Maarit’s house. She will be here until beginning of February and actually it is really nice to have company to share ideas and experiences in the evening. She is very funny. My mother asked me if it is a safe place to live, and what can I say: yes and no. It is safe because everyone knows that Maarit and I live there and it is a very small village so it would be a disaster if anything would happen to us, but on the other hand the front wall and the wall to the backyard consist of mosquito net; so if anyone wants to enter the house it is very easy; just tear down the mosquito net. I found out that it is the same house that Vivi-Ann Sjogren lived in when she wrote the book “Detta motet”. She wrote that she had the feeling that people are watching her; especially when it is dark outside and the lights are on, well I do feel the same sometimes. People are interested what the new yovo is doing.

Yesterday was the national voodoo festival. Thousand of people came to the village nearby and the day was filled with drums, dancing, ceremonies and plenty of things I have never seen before. It was a great experience. I took loads of pictures and videos that I can show one day. All the children were more than surprised over my piercing. The freak out when I pull it out a bit. Funny. I got a few marriage proposals again, phew. Even the ones that you have neglected a few times keep on trying, but then again why not, quite many Finnish ladies that have passed through Grand Popo have had affairs with local young boys. It is great business for the men; as they usually receive money and gifts from Finland after that, so why wouldn’t they try with the new one… it is a bit frustrating when people, many people, call you many times a day and all night long, but I assume it is only this crazy in the beginning, at least I hope. I have been told that people just wait for me to choose one, after which it will be less chaotic. It is madness. I have become good friends with a local boy that isn’t talking about marriage, so maybe now that people see me all the time hanging around with him they will assume that he is my chosen one… even though he is just a friend.

This weekend I will attend a few parties which will be fun. Actually on Saturday Maarit and I have invited all the Finns to our place, so they would see where we live and so on. My friend will cook for us all, think we will be around 13 people. People drink wine, beer and sodabi (local palmbooze) pretty much every day but just a bit. I have not seen any drunken people around except for a Finnish man. The drinking system here reminds me very much of the French system. Of course there are nightclubs and apparently party nightlife in Cotonou but nothing like that here in little grand popo. Just as good. It is always a pain in the ass to walk home in the darkness, and it gets dark after 7 p.m, and shortly after it is so dark that you can barely see your hand in front of you. I walked the other night, in the darkness, as my flashlight broke. The freaky part is that you don’t see that there is anyone in front of you before they are really in your face. Otherwise the walk didn’t feel unsafe at all, the only thing is that it is quite far, 3km from work. Usually I take a moped but they are hard to find at night. Wouldn’t walk like this in Cotonou or Lomé (in Togo) but here it is fine.

Oh yes by the way I haven’t had any Lariam side affects at all, so far; even though I had a fever and a terrible cough at my lariam pill day. I thought the fever and the Lariam pill wouldn’t be the best combination, but it was ok. And my fever is gone, think my body got a chock from the heat, even though we are now in harmattan which means that it is dry, cool and sandy. Cool means 34 degrees Celsius in the shade during the day. But mornings are really great, I am even wearing long sleeves as it feels cold. Soon the heat period starts, even the locals are talking about it that it is hot hot hot, phew.

So all in all things are really good and I am enjoying myself. Hope things are good over there and come to visite! You gotta see this place! Oh yes!

Greetings from grand Popo

2008-01-05T12:42:00.000+02:00

It is superb, it is warm, actually very sweaty, lots of people, lovely people, nice morning and evening wind, slow tempo, excellent street African food, spiders, big cockroaches, scorpions, surprised faces to see a new yovo ( white person) many many interested men suggesting marriage, people wanting too meet the new stagier finlandais, lots of smiles and laughter, lots of colours, children, Muslims mixed with voodoo, sand everywhere, very dark nights, very dark, lots of new sounds, the sea, the beach, African French and mina language, sounds of drums, dancing.

These are a few of all the impression I have received during these days. My work seems very good so I am very pleased. I have not found a new home yet but I am sure it will work out in one way or another. We will try to arrange so I could live in the former trainees house, maarit. I live with her now, we share the same bed as there is not that much space. It is nice to have someone close that have been here for 5 months but in the long run I cannot continue sharing the same bed with her, I need to find my own place. I met an older man yesterday and visited his house, I might be able to rent a studio in his house, he lives in france, but we shall see. I will go there today and negotiate about prices. It was a very fancy house, too fancy, the biggest richest house in all grand popo… I don’t need that when I live here. I would of course only rent a very small part of the house; but still. I am already a yovo, a rich yovo. Have never experienced my own whiteness like this before. No matter what I do, I will always be yovo. But if monsieur gives me an okej price I will still take it as I will be here for so long. But I doubt the price will be okey. There are other Africans looking houses available so have to check that out.

People are very friendly and open; yesterday I had lunch at someone’s house. Well you cant call it a house, from a Finnish house-perspective, but it was a home. There was also a baby that liked me. It was a funny baby. I haven’t burned from the sun at all, I just sweat like a pig, but so does everyone else, so it is ok. I am happy to be here, go to work by mopo taxi that. Yesterday night when I wanted to go home from the restaurant and I didn’t want to walk alone 3km in complete darkness with a flashlight… I managed to get a mopo ride that had no lights, so the driver put a flashlight on his forehead and then we drove like hell in the darkness, yup, well, I am still here… people do have lots of mopo accidents, so I just hope mine wont be a bad one. Maarit has a high fever, we hope it is not malaria, she might have to go to the doctor if it doesn’t get better soon.

I have a local mobile number, I am not sure if all sms get through but one can always try. And it doesn’t cost me anything to receive phonecalls from finland. Number is 0022897831277 I think the country code is 228, have to check it out.

All in all I am doing great, and I am not lonely as I have thousand of people around me all the time  I am also in good health and it is not too hot yet even though I sweat a lot, it is manageable, still, before the heat wave in feb-march-april. Hugs and kisses

Welcome dear Lariam!

2007-12-27T00:12:00.000+02:00

I will continue writing this blogg in English, at least partly, as quite a few people have asked me to do so. So what is new? Have I received my passport? No, not yet… still waiting and hoping. Seven days until take off. My mind is filled with emotions. I am excited, happy and nervous about arriving in Grand Popo, meeting my colleagues, finding a home, copying with the heat and simply making a new everyday life for me there. I am also realizing that I am leaving, which includes good-byes. Most of the times I don’t find it that hard, as I always come back and I am used to leaving Åbo, and leaving in general. The close people around me are also used to it. It is moi moi, see you later. This time it doesn’t feel quite the same. People seem to worry about me more and I seem to worry about the fact that certain things simply won’t be the same when I return. But that is one part of leaving and returning, sometimes things are the same and other times everything seems different. Life goes on, right?

I started taking Lariam today, which is an anti-malaria medicine. You have to take it one week before arriving to the area and 4 weeks after, so all in all I am stuck with Lariam for 8 months, oh joy. Why is that bad? Well Lariam is a heavy drug that makes most people feel bizarre in several ways. Last time I took Lariam for a few months I had hallucinations and paranoia. Not often but always once week at the so called Lariam pill day, as you only take it once a week. Being at the Cambodian country side with paranoia is not something I recommend. Luckily I wasn’t alone.

I found an information site that is fully devoted to Lariam but mostly against taking it. This is what is said about Lariam: “Mefloquine may have severe and permanent adverse side-effects. It is known to cause severe depression, anxiety, paranoia, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, peripheral motor-sensory neuropathy, vestibular (balance) damage and central nervous system problems. For a complete list of adverse physical and psychological effects — including suicidal ideation — see the most recent product information. Central nervous system events occur in up to 25% of people taking Lariam, such as dizziness, headache, insomnia, and vivid dreams. In 2002 the word "suicide" was added to the official product label, though proof of causation has not been established.” What a lovely drug! Other Nordic countries actually don’t prescribe it anymore. There are other anti-malaria medicines that don’t cause this many side effects but the down side is that they cost about three times more. It is impossible for me to pay 500-600 euro only for anti-malaria medicines, so I am stuck with Lariam. If you are lucky all the side effects you get are exceptionally powerful erotic dreams.

Många käppar i hjulet

2007-12-20T10:47:00.000+02:00

Käppar i hjulet får en att hålla andan, känna pulsen stiga och visionera kring allt som kan gå snett. Käppen som hamnade i hjulet var denna gång av det kraftiga slaget. Jag mailade försäkerhets skull i förrgår till Benins ambassad i Danmark eftersom jag inte sett röken av mitt pass innehållande visum som borde ha anlänt en vecka sedan. Jag hade skickat det i rekommenderat brev och kunnat konstatera att det kommit fram till Charlottenlund den 24 nov, finemang tänkte jag. Benins ambassad svarar på följande vis:

Dear Madam,
I am sorry to inform you that we haven't received any passport from you. It must have gone lost in the mail.

Kind regards
EMBASSY OF BENIN IN DENMARK

Jaha! Hur kommer det sig att ett rekommenderat brev försvinner spårlöst? Tänk att tanken inte hade slagit mig att det faktiskt kunde bli stulet i danmark, nej sidu, sånt händer ju inte i norden.. nähä. Posten i Danmark bekräftade att det nog blivit stulet och sannolikt sålt, inom trafficking. Jag hoppas att passet kom till någon som behövde det för att fly och inte till någon som skulle bli smugglad nånstans och säljas. Fan.

Skulle jag ha mycket tid så är detta snarast en kostadsfråga men nu är min avfärd 2 januari så nu handlar det om att hinna skaffa nytt pass, visum ansökningar, vaccinationsintyg, passfoton, danska kronor och skicka alltsammans pånytt till DK och dessutom hinna få det tillbaka. Jag vill påminna om att det är juletiden. Fick igår på morgonen rusa till polisen, ansöka om ett express pass som är färdigt samma dag i Helsingfors, skicka ett foto per e-mail till en foto butik i hesa som kunde göra det till passfoton så att pappa kunde hämta det och på det sättet ha passfoton av mig samma dag, och faxa ansökningarna till mammas jobb. Sedan var det upp till pappa att hinna med allt. Köra runt Helsingfors. Det blev en snygg byrokrat runda. Han flängde omkring och meddela mig med jämna mellanrum hur det hela framskred. Kl.17 samma dag efter att han jagat Fed Express i vanda pga han inte fick skicka iväg fanskapet från DHL kontoret i centrum för de sett att han hade danska kronor i brevet så fick jag meddelandet: "Putkessa on! 58 euro, brevet hann med kvällens flyg" Pust!

Nu gäller det att hinna få det tillbaka. Jag känner hopp, det kommer att fixa sig. Detta påminde mig om när jag skulle åka iväg på 3 månaders asien äventyr med transibiriska järnvägen och lyckades få Åbo-Helsingfors tågbiljetten att försvinna in i väggen. Jo, i väggen, på tåget, mellan fönstret och väggen, där fanns en skåra vart den slank in. Då undrade jag hur resan skulle bli när jag inte ens lyckades ta mig till Helsingfors utan käppar i hjulet. Jag lyckades dock övertala konduktören att biljetten verkligen var i väggen. Han tittade skumt på mig.

Jag kommer nog att sucka av lättnad när jag äntligen har det nya passet i handen. Ännu mer suckar jag när flyget landar i Cotonou och jag hittat Alfonso som jag skall spendera natten med i Cotonou innan vi nästa dag kör till Grand-Popo, och när jag hittat ett nytt hem åt mig. Ja, ett hem har jag inte ännu. Det fixar jag sen där. När jag om en obestämd tid sitter i mitt nya hem och anpassat mig till jobbet, människorna, hettan och vardagen kommer jag att sucka av lättnad. Sen skall jag bara vara.

Det blir flytt till Grand Popo

2007-11-07T23:14:00.000+02:00

Vilken dag alltså. Dagen början med intervjun på Villa Karos stiftelses kontor i Helsingfors. Talade ganska länge om varför jag önskar fara dit, hur jag tror jobbet skulle vara, vad som skulle vara jobbigt osv tills hon yttrade de guld värda orden "kyllä minä sinut sinne lähettäisin". Ok. Vi talade lite till om resande och mötet med det okända. Tillslut fick jag visum ansöknings papprena i handen, telefon nummern till Air France, e-mail adresser till tidigare praktikanter och ett stort leende. Jag gick ut från kontoret som ett fån. Vad säger man nu till detta? Drömmen går i uppfyllelse. Där stod pappa som tog emot nyheten med ett jubel.

Mitt nuvarande jobb tog emot nyheten med öppna armar, ett jubel och stora choklad muffinsar. Kommer nog att sakna dessa tokar. Nu är det mycket att fundera på och planera. Hyra ut lägenheten, fixa visum, vaccinationer, söka resestipendium, förbereda sig mentalt och planera resande runt i vest afrika. Kia, min trogna resepolare, var givetvis genast med på noterna. Diskussionen handlade om ifall vi skall resa 1.5 eller 2 månader, om vi flyger hem från Cotonou eller någon annanstans ifrån osv. Ingen tvekan om att vi gör en resa efter att min praktiktid tagit slut.

Flyget skall jag boka imorgon, det är meningen att jag flyger från Helsingfors den 2 januari och jobbar fram till börja på Juni. Sen skulle kia komma till Grand Popo och vi skulle resa runt fram till slutet på juli. Perfekt. Jag går helt på övervarv och det är svårt att fokusera på ngt annat än Benin.

Lyckas jag ta mig genom urvalen och intervjun?

2007-11-06T12:25:00.000+02:00

Ligger på soffan, rätt så matt av stegringen som jag drabbas av, och läser om Benin. Imorgon har jag intervju nr 2. Nu gäller det alltså. Jag måst övertala och bevisa dem om att jag är den rätte personen för jobbet på Villa Karo (finländskt och nordiskt kulturinstitut) i Grand-Popo i Benin. Jobbet inleds i börja av januari och håller på tills sommaren. Jobbmässigt passar det perfekt eftersom mitt nuvarande jobb, som amanuens vid Kvinnovetenskap ÅA, tar slut vid årssiftet.

Jag har redan en längre tid drömt om möjligheten att resa till Benin och jobba på Villa Karo. Helt enkelt en unik möjlighet. Att få jobba 6 månader i ett afrikanskt land som benin, lära mig om och av de lokala, känna hemlängtan, svettas, skratta, tala franska, äta lokal mat, komma bort från Finland en stund, sätta ner min väska i en obekant miljö och konstatera att detta nu är mitt hem de kommande 6 månaderna, få följa med vardagen på Villa Karo och njuta av havets närvaro. Det är det jag längtar efter.

Om jag väljs till uppdraget så kommer denna blogg handla om förberedelserna innan avfärd och om tiden i Grand Popo.