The Plane I Flew In On

So when Peace Corps asked which airport I'd like to fly into I said Rutland, Vermont because it's the closest airport to my house. So I flew from Boston to Rutland in style on this gem.

I'm Sorry I Speak English

There are certain expressions in french that describe an emotion or situation better than their english equivalents. For example, in english if you bumped into someone you would say 'i'm sorry' or 'my bad', if someone stubbed their toe you might say 'watch out' or 'you ok?' if a friend is doing something risky you might tell them to 'be careful' or 'watch out'. In Benin there is one expression that wraps it all together. 'faire doucement' directly translated 'make/ do sweetly.' Much easier and a better description of the emotion you're trying to convey. Of course not everyone speaks franglais here in Vermont. In fact, nobody does except me. So when I tell people to 'faire doucement' it only leaves them confused. Even if they spoke french, in France to 'faire doucement' is bedroom talk, so they might actually be offended.

Other phrases that have popped out of my mouth are 'ou bien' directly translated 'or well' is a phrase that is used to emphasize a statement, sort of an add on at the end, 'you know what i mean' or 'isn't it'.

'en va voir' we shall see.

And the cream de la cream of all language problems I've been having. I walked into the general store down the road with a friend of mine, and keep in mind this is a place where people know me and see me on a regular basis. I then went up to the deli and asked for a boneless chicken breast. The guy behind the deli asked me to repeat myself, which I thought was odd because I thought that I hadn't been mumbling. So I did and he went about his business and then my friend turns to me and says 'You know you were speaking french the first time right?' I hadn't even noticed.

Now What

OK to those who have followed my old blog about my Peace Corps experience welcome to my new blog. You may ask what Mal integre means... well it means poorly integrated. In Benin Peace Corps Volunteers strive to be bien inetegre (well inetegrated) it is a constant process of changing your mannerisms, speech and most importantly perceptions to be able to live easier in the culture. The more bien inetegre you are the easier it is to do projects.

But now, after having been living in Benin for two years I feel a bit mal integre here in the states. A few things have happened that are classic mal integre moments getting excited about toilet paper in every bathroom, running water, and beer on tap. Others include walking into a grocery store and marveling at the choices of shampoo.

There is a larger plan though beyond getting my hair back to it's voluminous shiny self and filling my body with as many tasty treats as I can. The scheme ultimately is to get into grad school for a masters degree in some sort of an environmental education oriented program.

So here are the things that are on my list:

Study for GREs

Find job

Take GREs

Apply to Grad school