Busy, busy, busy

This week has been exhausting, but I want to share because it was quite a good week.

Monday I started my day with some professional reflection and set some goals for myself. After that was lesson planning, where we prepared our lessons for the week missing only the second lesson of 3e (9th grade), confident that we could put that lesson together before our Thursday class. My counterpart Eric is quickly becoming a pillar of support for me. He’s sympathetic when I don’t know things; he never judges me. He’s willing to learn and willing to help me learn. 

Monday and Tuesday afternoons are reserved for my 6e (6th grade) classes. It’s a new experience for me to teach the same lesson back to back, and I really appreciate the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. The trade-off between 6e A and 6e B is messy. 6e A starts rushing into the room before 6e B is finished taking notes, and it’s like trying to stop a leak in a dam to make them wait a few more minutes.

If you recall, usually it’s teachers who switch between classes, but 6e A does not have their own classroom. There are five classrooms at my new CEG and six classes. 6e A travels to whatever classroom isn’t in use. My 6ème students are a lot of work. They chat incessantly and they’re always ready to switch the topic to something a bit more amusing. 

I’ve gotten better at managing my classrooms, though. My new policy of enforcing that students have out their name tags has gone really well for two reasons: I get constant exposure to the students’ names and a few details about them, and students realize that I really will not start class until they have their nametags out. Enforcing this rule consistently helps me to set the tone for serious class work to come.

Tuesday is a dreadful day. It’s an eleven hour work day: 8 am to 7 pm. I don’t feel human by the time I get home. It’s dark and I still have some dishes to do and dinner to cook. But finishing Tuesday does mean I’ve completed my 6e classes for the week, and it means I only have four hours left to teach on Thursday.

Wednesday was a good day. It started with the Atelier Professionnel du Zone (the teacher professional development for the whole district, situated by subject). I found the subject of the training, lesson planning, to be a bit redundant, but it was quite exciting to meet other English teachers. After that, I took a soda break with my counterpart and we planned the hangover 3e lesson quickly. 

Next, I went into the nearby urban area with my volunteer friends Shreyas and Ronan. We went to a really nice restaurant that had ! pizza ! and quite good french fries as well. The restaurant was quiet and well ventilated and it was a great environment to finish some work. It stood in stark contrast to the busy market day rushing outside. I’ve been assured that this market is one of the biggest in Benin, but that is, for the record, unverified. Largest market or no, there were many colors and textures to take in. I finally bought some small luxuries I had been doing without: powdered milk, Quaker Oats, Dove deodorant, sunglasses. 

On Thursday, I spent the morning creating a budget tracker sheet that could work offline. I had a template that I really liked on a website called Notion, but my network connection at my house isn’t really good enough to support habitual internet usage. After that, I set my house back in order which also helped me to feel a bit more in control. I don’t have classes until the afternoon on Thursdays.

Thursday afternoon was well spent. I went to class very excited to teach, and I was able to really engage students. I started both classes with speaking activities and lent a special emphasis to scaffolding students from where they were to the learning objectives.

In 5e, I was trying to help a student focus by refolding her name tag that had started to sag a little bit. In my attempt to recrease the folds, I accidentally tore her tag in half. We both stared at the two pieces in my hands and burst into laughter. Luckily, the nametag was easily re-made. I couldn’t stop laughing thinking about it for the next half an hour.

On Friday, I went along with Ronan and my host father Daniel to greet the mayor and the chief of police. There was a lot of waiting between salutations. We finished our tour by lunch time and finished in the nearby city to eat some delicious igname pilée (pounded yam with peanut sauce). After that, I stayed in the city for the superior signal to take a productive virtual meeting.

I also prepared my itinerary for an upcoming community meeting on Saturday. I was feeling incredibly nervous. It was to be my first official community engagement. I worked and reworked my plan until I felt like I was going to lose it, and then I went home to play Stardew Valley.

The next day, Saturday, I rose early to go to breakfast with Daniel and do some last minute preparations for the meeting. We arrived at the CEG at 9 am sharp to a completely empty meeting room. Most of the people showed up around 10, some even later. The meeting stumbled to a start. I tried really hard to act as facilitator, but it quickly became clear that I shared neither language nor literacy with my target audience. I struggled through the beginning of a Peace Corps provided activity before I realized that the best thing I could do was relinquish control to a member of my community and simply listen and learn. After I did that, our community map started moving smoothly forward and we defined several community assets and needs that I’ll hopefully learn to address at my upcoming Tech II training. 

I was happily surprised that at the end of the meeting, my community gave me my new Adja name. In my community, I’m now known as Afi, which means a kind and happy girl born on a Friday. It was a really special experience to circulate in the crowd and shake hands, each person greeting me as Madame Afi. It really is a blessing to experience such instant and enduring connection.

After the meeting, I was dead tired. I hurried home to my bed and slept and read. I read an entire book in an afternoon, which I haven’t done in years. In the past, I’ve worried about not being able to keep up with the relentless pace I set for myself. I still worry, as always, but now, I rest assured knowing that I’ve created a solid system of self-care for myself. I prioritize physical movement and build planning and reflection into my schedule. I’m dealing with a lot settling into my new home along with my secondary responsibilities, but I’m really bearing it quite well. That negative voice in my head hasn’t been right so far, so why would that change in the future?

Things I’m looking forward to:

• A day trip to Lokossa!

• A meeting for a promising youth program in Cotonou later this week

• More small moments of laughter with my students

• Nights spent reading a little too late

There’s a lot to love. I’m working hard, but as hard as I work, I’m reaping the rewards. I’m prioritizing my self-care as I move forward. It’s a lot, but step by step, I’m progressing.

With love,

Lena