These are Racine and Deo Gratias, two children that I cannot pass without stopping and shooting the shit, pretty much every day. The whole family is nice, they are good friends. I would be in love with Deo Gratias if she were only about fifteen years older.
Neighborhood girls, spontaneously falling into formation.
Playing ajido, the national board game of benin, on my front stoop with Grace, my next door neighbor. My AP Calculus and University-level vectors and matrices class put me about on par with her aptitude for the game. We battle it out to the bitter end. DiDi looks on.
Me and Clement, my homologue--an English teacher in the school, and my Fon tutor. Yeah, I know my bumba is fly...
The road between my house and the paved main road becomes a lake everytime it rains. Hello, Malaria... Trying to figure out how to deal with this situation...
Issa, a neighbor and a zemidjan driver. This is the main road.
Sunset, having just arrived at Grand Popo. Aaron and I walked down the beach to the Lion Bar, a Rasta-run hotel that plays reggae non-stop and has nice murals everywhere. Trying a bit too hard to be cool, but actually succeeding in being cool. It was Nonvitcha, the big fete for Grand Popo, held every year on Pentecost weekend. We didn't really do anything special, but spirits were high...Aaron is a friend of my feather, and you can belie' that we flock together. 
Me and Betsy doin it up at All-Volunteer Conference GAD fundraiser at Hotel du Lac, a ritzy hotel in Cotonou. I laid down smooth African grooves for dinner, she and Sandy brought the rukus for some after-dinner dancing ...needless to say, my bumba was permeated with sweat by the end of the evening. Luckily there was a sweet pool nearby.
Lots of words on their way.......much love to my people all over the world.
