It's Saturday evening and I've just returned home from the horse club. I still smell like a barn animal, but I've decided to write a little before I take a long, well-earned bath. I need to tell you about the horses. For those uninterested in these, the most beautiful animals in the world, don't waste your time reading any further.
The stable is, essentially, right on the beach. A 5 minute ride and you've got your hooves in waves. Last Tuesday I had a more formal lesson and we stayed within the boundaries of the makeshift, beach football field near the stable. Today, we rode along the shore. A game was on.
It was beautiful and strange. The section of beach just in front of the stable is, coincidently, also just in front of a hotel and therefore clean and clear of debris. Ride a little further in either direction and the same cannot be said. Plastic bottles, tiny pieces of plastic bottles, syringes, flip-flops, and trash, trash, trash litter the sand. Some areas are more polluted than others, but it was a disturbing sight nevertheless as I thought about our horses' unshod feet kicking up sand and whatever happened to be in it. Near one particularly dirty area, we had to turn back and change direction because a man up ahead was burning a pile of trash. Horses don't like flames, and I got to see how skill full my fellow riders are. Impressive. Yet, somehow, it was all still beautiful. Truth be told, much of the beach is mostly clean and undisturbed.
I've never really ridden in a straight line before. I'm sure this seems very silly to those who don't ride horses, but those that do, or have, will probably understand what I mean by this. Let me explain: a large part of the riding done in the equestrian world is confined to circular or oval shaped arenas where horse and rider go around, and around, and around. There are those lucky enough to ride trails regularly or go on "hunts". For the most part, I didn't fall into this second category, and even when I did, the narrow and windy dirt roads/trails that run through New England forests don't provide great opportunities for long, hard gallops.
But today, there was just sand and water. And a non-stop gallop along the shore. I'm hooked.
30 June 2007
28 June 2007
Q: When Does 3 + 0 = 0?
A: When you've got the following scenario: 3 days + 0 internet = 0 new posts.
Don't we just love the rainy season? No, I didn't forget or get lazy; I got frustrated instead. Due to large volumes of water falling from the sky over the past few days, Cotonou went temporarily wireless. But not the good kind of wireless, like what you find in pricey cafés, but quite the bad kind of wireless, as in, absolutely no internet connection at all. This also meant absolutely no new blogging at all. For this I am very sorry.
For those worried about the lack of communication (aka my parents), don't distress. All is well. Wet maybe, but well. Actually, it's not even that wet. This certainly hasn't been the kind of rain that would knock out power and internet capabilities in many other places I've lived. Nor is it of an intensity that would be foreign to those places either. I guess it's just testament to the fragility of an infrastructure about as flimsy as the woven-reed homes along the beach. Come to think about it, I wonder if they withstood the rain?
Now, normally a few hours without the internet makes me about as happy as a claustrophobe in the metro at rush hour, but I've got so many things that have to be done I hardly had time to notice. With a thesis to write, a language to learn and a city to explore, I some how managed.
Truthfully, I more than managed. Let me just say the pool at the Marina Hotel is a worthy place to swim laps in the morning. And C's been more than helpful in getting me settled by connecting me with a German friend who's involved in a local equestrian club. And now, so am I.
I want to post this message now, just in case this is only the "eye" of the poor-internet-connection storm. If the forces that be keep me connected through the night, expect details soon. Do you think there's a voodoo spirit for telecommunications? Where can I find a talisman?
Don't we just love the rainy season? No, I didn't forget or get lazy; I got frustrated instead. Due to large volumes of water falling from the sky over the past few days, Cotonou went temporarily wireless. But not the good kind of wireless, like what you find in pricey cafés, but quite the bad kind of wireless, as in, absolutely no internet connection at all. This also meant absolutely no new blogging at all. For this I am very sorry.
For those worried about the lack of communication (aka my parents), don't distress. All is well. Wet maybe, but well. Actually, it's not even that wet. This certainly hasn't been the kind of rain that would knock out power and internet capabilities in many other places I've lived. Nor is it of an intensity that would be foreign to those places either. I guess it's just testament to the fragility of an infrastructure about as flimsy as the woven-reed homes along the beach. Come to think about it, I wonder if they withstood the rain?
Now, normally a few hours without the internet makes me about as happy as a claustrophobe in the metro at rush hour, but I've got so many things that have to be done I hardly had time to notice. With a thesis to write, a language to learn and a city to explore, I some how managed.
Truthfully, I more than managed. Let me just say the pool at the Marina Hotel is a worthy place to swim laps in the morning. And C's been more than helpful in getting me settled by connecting me with a German friend who's involved in a local equestrian club. And now, so am I.
I want to post this message now, just in case this is only the "eye" of the poor-internet-connection storm. If the forces that be keep me connected through the night, expect details soon. Do you think there's a voodoo spirit for telecommunications? Where can I find a talisman?
23 June 2007
Keeping Busy
C's been keeping me pretty busy. Last night we went to a restaurant down on the beach for a drink. It was a German place with the long beer list you'd expect from such a place. Too bad the beers only exist on the menu. But the atmosphere couldn't have been much better. A Friday night, but far from crowded, we sat on the edge of the patio for an unobstructed view of the waves. Big waves. Much larger than I am used to seeing. As the sun began to set a live band took the stage behind us. We didn't stay long after that, but I made a mental note to remember the place.
Today we went with another expat here to a local carpenter to commission a dining room table. You can have beautiful hardwood furniture custom made. It's not super cheap, but something of equivalent, hand-made quality would go for a good penny more in Europe, and it wouldn't be custom built exactly the way you want it.
The workshop was located on a run-down dirt street and was spread out in a number of small buildings constructed in the typical rotting wood and flimsy metal manner. On closer inspection, the large bar expertly crafted from afzelia standing in the road gave the place away, as did the beautiful teak and afzelia doors leading to a crowded showroom. The master carpenter showed us beautiful chairs, coffee tables, cabinets, and shelves, explaining the techniques they use to ensure that the furniture will not warp or crack in drier climates and displaying the high-quality hardware they make sure to use. Apparently using cheap hinges and wet wood are common mistakes made by many local carpenters.
After seeing the workroom, where a staff of about 10 people were busy sawing, sanding and polishing, our friend handed the carpenter a set of drawings she had made and explained her hopes for a new dining room table. In 6 months she will have a beautiful wood and glass table. If she didn't have to worry about drying the wood really well first to take the table back to Europe she could have had it in 2 to 3. I made sure to get this man's card before we left. T had mentioned something about being interested in finding some nice furniture here.
Today we went with another expat here to a local carpenter to commission a dining room table. You can have beautiful hardwood furniture custom made. It's not super cheap, but something of equivalent, hand-made quality would go for a good penny more in Europe, and it wouldn't be custom built exactly the way you want it.
The workshop was located on a run-down dirt street and was spread out in a number of small buildings constructed in the typical rotting wood and flimsy metal manner. On closer inspection, the large bar expertly crafted from afzelia standing in the road gave the place away, as did the beautiful teak and afzelia doors leading to a crowded showroom. The master carpenter showed us beautiful chairs, coffee tables, cabinets, and shelves, explaining the techniques they use to ensure that the furniture will not warp or crack in drier climates and displaying the high-quality hardware they make sure to use. Apparently using cheap hinges and wet wood are common mistakes made by many local carpenters.
After seeing the workroom, where a staff of about 10 people were busy sawing, sanding and polishing, our friend handed the carpenter a set of drawings she had made and explained her hopes for a new dining room table. In 6 months she will have a beautiful wood and glass table. If she didn't have to worry about drying the wood really well first to take the table back to Europe she could have had it in 2 to 3. I made sure to get this man's card before we left. T had mentioned something about being interested in finding some nice furniture here.
22 June 2007
Sweet Dreams
Just had the wind knocked out of me by a lizard. Had heard stories about how they run around inside others' houses and how they used to be in our flat before the last time it was routinely sprayed for insects. Apparently there were quite a lot of them always running across the walls. Looks like they've returned.
I was on my way to bed (mind you, I'm alone in this place now) and as I was closing the bedroom door, a lizard about the size of a large salamander made a mad dash across the wall from near the door hinges. I nearly screamed. Thought it was a spider. Talk about a sigh of relief when I realized it wasn't. Just a cute little pale yellow lizard instead, probably just a baby. Not sure where he is now, or I would have taken a picture of him. But he's got to be somewhere in the bedroom with me as I've shut the door. I like him. He'll keep me company when I'm alone. I hope he brings friends. We'll have our own little party. Besides, lizards eat mosquitoes... and I like to think spiders as well :)
I was on my way to bed (mind you, I'm alone in this place now) and as I was closing the bedroom door, a lizard about the size of a large salamander made a mad dash across the wall from near the door hinges. I nearly screamed. Thought it was a spider. Talk about a sigh of relief when I realized it wasn't. Just a cute little pale yellow lizard instead, probably just a baby. Not sure where he is now, or I would have taken a picture of him. But he's got to be somewhere in the bedroom with me as I've shut the door. I like him. He'll keep me company when I'm alone. I hope he brings friends. We'll have our own little party. Besides, lizards eat mosquitoes... and I like to think spiders as well :)
21 June 2007
On My Own... Well, Almost
T and his colleague left for a trip through Niger this morning. They'll be gone until Sunday evening, so I thought I'd be on my own for the next few days, something I felt both sad and a little relieved about. Now I'd be able to really focus on learning French without the mandatory 2 hour lunch break from 13.00 to 15.00 when the guys come home, a relic from Benin's communist past. And I'd have the flat totally to myself in the evenings, a welcomed opportunity to get comfortable here and start feeling at home by sprawling out on the living room couch and watching chick flicks.
But it turns out that this isn't exactly the case. Instead, I spent the day with the wife of another man at the office, C. Actually, she works there too but has taken the next few days as holiday. C and her husband ate dinner with us last night (we had the Danish-style roast pork Elisabeth makes and that we've been hearing so much about), and she invited me to spend today with her. First we took a walk around the neighbourhood. After having lunch at her place we went for a drive around the city and she took me to two of the best stores in town for getting general household items. I got myself a pillow. This was the triumph of the day. The pillows we've been using are overstuffed so that they are at least twice as full as they should be and as dense and hard as a sack of pebbles. And C knows a man who makes shoes. Custom. She's clearly a good person to know ;)
Elisabeth is also still here. She is wonderful. It's very, very strange having someone wait on you and clean the house while you're still there. I don't like it at all. But I'm doing my best to get used to it and we're working out a good friendship/business balance in our relationship. And I know at least one French lady who will be very happy to know that she's helping me learn French. As soon as I have enough of the basics down (hopefully about 2 weeks from now) she will speak only French to me as often as we can afford to not totally understand one another. She helped the man who lived here before us in this way and is very enthusiastic about it. And she's given me some educational materials and has offered to help read them to me so that I get the pronunciation down. If I manage to pull off a life down here, it will be in large part due to her.
I've been plugging away at the few Pimsleur tapes I bought and I know enough now to say hello, thank you, goodbye and tell people that I can't understand them. Hardly enough to really even get by, but I've just found another good resource, free FSI French developed by the U.S. government from http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/French.aspx. They also have courses for a whole bunch of other languages if you're interested and I've heard they are really effective, if a little dry. I plan to finish the Pimsleur introduction and then combine the FSI course and the free online Rosetta Stone course offered by the Keene Public Library for my self study. Four to six hours of that every day combined with practising with Elisabeth and maybe two hours of private lessons a week with a qualified teacher here and I ought to be able to do this. I will do this.
But it turns out that this isn't exactly the case. Instead, I spent the day with the wife of another man at the office, C. Actually, she works there too but has taken the next few days as holiday. C and her husband ate dinner with us last night (we had the Danish-style roast pork Elisabeth makes and that we've been hearing so much about), and she invited me to spend today with her. First we took a walk around the neighbourhood. After having lunch at her place we went for a drive around the city and she took me to two of the best stores in town for getting general household items. I got myself a pillow. This was the triumph of the day. The pillows we've been using are overstuffed so that they are at least twice as full as they should be and as dense and hard as a sack of pebbles. And C knows a man who makes shoes. Custom. She's clearly a good person to know ;)
Elisabeth is also still here. She is wonderful. It's very, very strange having someone wait on you and clean the house while you're still there. I don't like it at all. But I'm doing my best to get used to it and we're working out a good friendship/business balance in our relationship. And I know at least one French lady who will be very happy to know that she's helping me learn French. As soon as I have enough of the basics down (hopefully about 2 weeks from now) she will speak only French to me as often as we can afford to not totally understand one another. She helped the man who lived here before us in this way and is very enthusiastic about it. And she's given me some educational materials and has offered to help read them to me so that I get the pronunciation down. If I manage to pull off a life down here, it will be in large part due to her.
I've been plugging away at the few Pimsleur tapes I bought and I know enough now to say hello, thank you, goodbye and tell people that I can't understand them. Hardly enough to really even get by, but I've just found another good resource, free FSI French developed by the U.S. government from http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/French.aspx. They also have courses for a whole bunch of other languages if you're interested and I've heard they are really effective, if a little dry. I plan to finish the Pimsleur introduction and then combine the FSI course and the free online Rosetta Stone course offered by the Keene Public Library for my self study. Four to six hours of that every day combined with practising with Elisabeth and maybe two hours of private lessons a week with a qualified teacher here and I ought to be able to do this. I will do this.
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