My Life in Pictures

It’s been a while since I wrote, and I’d like to blame the oh-so-busy lifestyle I live in Cotonou. And while I do find myself busy a lot, I also find time to spend hours reading other people’s blogs – blogs of friends, acquaintances, acquaintances of friends, and of people I’ve never met before. And in reading these blogs, I shamed myself into finally posting again. If Pioneer Woman can find the time to update her blog approximately 75 times a day while also homeschooling four children and remodeling a house and writing a cookbook and cooking yummy looking food, documenting with gorgeous photographs all the while, then I can take some time out of my busy program of looking busy at work (because I’m procrastinating on all the real stuff I have to do to) to update this silly blog.

I have plans for this blog – I will write a comparative study of different types of moto-taxis. I will do an indepth report on my favorite bar in Cotonou. I might even take you behind the scenes of a tailor’s shop – the gritty underbelly of the fashionably dressed in Cotonou.

In the meantime, I’ll give you a quick recap of the last several months of my life.



I moved to Cotonou! From the tropical paradise of Grand Popo to the congested, polluted, vibrant, exciting big city. I still have mixed feelings about the whole thing, but at heart I’m a big city girl so really, I’ve been pretty comfortable here.

My mom came to visit! It was great. She is a fantastic traveler and only got heat exhaustion once (my fault). Highlights include her egging our guide on so that we could get closer to feasting lions while on safari, and her eye-rolling “do I have to?” attitude about wearing her moto helmet. It’s a wonder I survived past childhood.



I went to Mali! We climbed an escarpment in Dogon country. I was not aware there would be heights involved and had more than one panic attack on the side of a mountain, but I only got heat exhaustion once (not my fault). Mali is beautiful. Ouagadougou, where we spent New Year’s eve, is a great city.




Kate came to visit! It was great. We battled a giant mutant butterfly statue, braved the snake monkey monster lurking in the wilderness of Camaté when we lost the trail, and ate an obscene amount of food (including snails on a stick), as per usual.






And, now, I’m starting to think about leaving – the date is August 9th, folks. We had our Close Of Service conference recently – the first and last time every volunteer from my group has been together since we swore in as volunteers two years ago. It’s a strange feeling…