it finally hit me that i wasnt in america anymore. its so poor here. literally mud huts. thatched roofs. they use bamboo like we use rebar and they pack mud until it dries. some use crude cinderblocks but they are all hand mixed and baked in the sun. they build as they have money. no loans so there are half made buildings everywhere.

so its hot. no a/c in the apartment. wow, wall paper is the carpet... right over the cement floor.

we took a tro tro (crappy old van) for 15 min, then a taxi for 15 which all drive like maniacs so its fun and scary at the same time, then we walked for 3-5 miles on a road cut right out of the middle of the jungle. it was so sick. there were little voodoo things all along it. but benin is the voodoo capital of the world they say so ill be seing more of that

oh and i was gonna say like when you see those commercials with kids and their open sores on their faces with flies all over. thats here. i teach lessons and kids walk by all melancholy and covered in flies. its an unbelievbale sight.