Context not Content

In the western world, we would like to think that the things we say are worth saying. This, of course, is not always the case. We say things that we don’t mean. Or mean things we don’t say. Or say mean things that we ought not to have said. You get my point. In general though, the content of our speech is important to us regardless of how successful we are at producing quality. In Benin, it is often a little different. 

In this cordial country, context is king. This is especially applicable when it comes to salutations. Oral salutations are mandatory whenever feasible; a wave or a head nod simply won’t suffice.  This means, for example, that drivers regularly stop driving in the middle of the road in order to greet other drive that they know. 

My absolute favorite greeting is A do fine à? – Are you here? The answer, of course, is always, Een, un do fi. – Yes, I am here. Outside of a profound, metaphysical discussion, this question seems to be exceedingly banal and its answer to be equally self-evident. 

This is where context is vital. The greeter is not in doubt as to the presence of the greetee. The questioner is merely acknowledging the latters presence. In other words, it’s simply a greeting, the content of which matters not. 

Several other examples of greetings are as follows:

A de wu à? – Are you in the middle? This is used here when the greetee is simply in the middle of some action. It is an encouraging remark, implying that the person is working hard. 

Azon yi atòn – It’s been three days. This is how you would greet someone that you haven’t seen for a while, regardless of how much time has elapsed since you last saw them. The best part is the response, Dokpo d’eji – And one more.  This is a wonderful example of the importance of context over content. 

There are many more examples of this throughout the language and culture. 

Pâte et Sauces

The Beninese diet is built around two things: pâte and sauces.

Pâte is a simple staple consisting of a large quantity of corn flour mixed into hot water. The final product is a molten hot, gelatinous substance that is poured into a bowl. As it cools, it takes on the shape of the container and the outside becomes firm. This bowl shaped blob is turned over onto a plate and served with a sauce.

Sauces are extremely important to the Beninese diet and offer a variety of flavors and nutritional value to the otherwise unchanging pâte. So far I have had several sauces.

Sauce de legume seems to be a tomato and palm oil-based sauces with the leaves of an indigenous plant’s leaves mixed in. There is also dried fish mixed in sometimes. This sauce is good

Crincrin is a sauce made out of a plant of the same name. This sauce is notorious among Peace Corps Volunteers. Before trying it, I had only heard that it had the consistency of snot and to avoid it if at all possible. When my host family made if for me two nights ago I found that it was actually delicious. I would say the sauce has more in common with melted mozzarella cheese; that is, if melted mozzarella was green and plant-based with some stems in it.

Sauce de moringa is so far my favorite. Moringa is made from another local plant that is actually a super food. It contains a tremendous amount of protein and various B vitamins. The sauce also has spicy peppers and peanut oil in it to add more complexity.

How to eat . . .

You eat pâte and an accompanying sauce with the right hand only. You take a ball of pâte (being careful not to sear the skin off of your fingers on the lava interior) and put the ball in the sauce. Then you pick up the glob of sauce-dipped pâte and put it in your mouth. Then repeat. Proper technique involves using your four fingers held together like a shovel and rotating the wrist in oder to dump the delicious glob onto your tongue. You should not have to tip your head back.

For the record, hand washing is mandatory before and after eating.

Note:

Be aware that you will most likely be fed more than you can possibly eat. “Hoto gohoun” is how you say I am full in Fon, the local language. Bon appetit!

Financial Preparations for an International Life

If you want to live abroad or work abroad, I am sure there are countless professionals and human resource people that would be happy to help you prepare your finances for the move. If you don’t feel like paying for the help or don’t work for a company that provides it, you may have significantly fewer options. I have decided to put together a list of things that I have done to prepare for my move abroad with the Peace Corps. I hope that these things will help other people that are more limited in there resources.

1. I opened a bank account that reimburses all ATM fees. I opened an Aspiration Summit Account. It is a mastercard so you can use it like a credit card as well as an debit card. This is a phenomenal, transparent new company that offers 1% interest on deposits over $2500. As a client you can choose to pay them any fee that you want for the services you receive (You can choose to pay $0). All ATM fees are reimbursed at the end of the month and they allow mobile deposits. The charge a 1.1% fee on international withdrawals but since the ATM fee is reimbursed it is still less than almost any other bank’s fees for the same transaction.
2. I opened a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I got a Capital One Quicksilver. It is a VISA, so almost anywhere that takes a credit card will take it. Credit cards are also great last resort if you are in a pinch. This card offers a flat 1.5% cash back rewards program, which is nice too. I recommend using the cash back to offset purchases, as there is no point in saving up reward dollars since they do NOT earn interest. This is especially true if you have opened the checking account described in number 1. (This is true for any rewards program.)
3. I also have had an American Express Gold Card for similar reason as the Capital One Quicksilver. There are no foreign transaction fees. Amex has outstanding customer service especially if you travel a lot. I have used Amex for several years and been very happy with them. The reason that I got the Quicksilver was to have a different payment option since many non-touristy businesses do not take Amex since it is so expensive to accept. This card has an annual fee after the first year but the points pay for it if you use it. I really have it for the safety that Amex provides and the credit limit flexibility.
4. Took my student loans out of deferment. As a Peace Corps volunteer, you are entitled to defer your loan payments. If you do not expect to have significant other income aside from your Peace Corps income, it would be a good idea to simply sign up for an income-contingent repayment plan (ICR). Odds are your payment will be zero or near zero and you will still have qualifying payments for the federal forgiveness program.
5. Set up auto payments for my student loans. These will be my only recurring obligation while I am abroad. I would recommend automating any mandatory recurring payments though just in case you forget or do not have internet access while abroad. While I am not actually obligated to make payments, it is a wise idea to at least cover the interest incurred so that your loans aren’t growing. I pay a nominal amount above the amount of interest being charged just so that I am at least picking away at the principal.
6. I rebalanced my IRA. I do not know how much time I will have to adjust my investments while away so I figured I should make sure I feel very secure with my investments while I have the time. I love ETF’s for the diversity they offer, their low management costs and their general liquidity.

The “Adult Playground”: Acadian Chill-Out

After graduating and having only four months before my deployment to Benin, I have decided to take a well-deserved summer break. Relearning to relax has been rough though. I have spent the last three-and-a-half years working full-time and studying non-stop with 18 – 22 credit hour course loads and summer internships.

My life has been a Redbull-black-coffee-fueled, sleepless, academic mad-dash for the past few years. I literally would have dreams about doing tax returns in French! That is how dominant education and work have been in my life. Not even in my sleep did I get to relax. So, now that I can, I am finding my work ethic to be somewhat of an –aholism. I’m working on it though.

People say, “The Peace Corps is the hardest job you’ll ever love”, and this has encouraged me to relax while I have the chance. I also want to spend as much time seeing friends and family while I can as well. Over the last week, I had an opportunity to do both.

One of my oldest friends got a fantastic job opportunity and was fortunate enough to have some transition time off. Since my schedule was wide open, I took a bus up to Maine to visit. We decided to go check out Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island. The place has a cool history and is absolutely gorgeous. My buddy appropriately dubbed it the “Adult Playground”.

My crack at oil painting some cliffs. Impressionism is back right?

We spent a day climbing over the rocks at the edge of the crashing sea.

Took silly photos that looked like we were falling off cliffs.

Had the worst fish sandwich of my life for lunch at a touristy bar in Bar Harbor.

Had some excellent lobster for dinner at a road-side shack in Bumble F*ck.

And had a harrowing ride home (too long of a story to tell).

The rest of the visit consisted of . . .

Chilling out.

Catching up.

Chowing down.

Drinking up

Sleeping in

And generally palling around.

I would highly recommend you try doing all of these things the next time you are in Maine! All in all, it was a hilarious time and I think it was a great way to spend some time before leaving for the Peace Corps.

The Medical Clearance Process: Part II – The Tasks

The whole process kicks off 200 days before staging. Unfortunately, you only have 60 of those days to pack in more medical visits than you have probably had in your entire lifetime.

My family took an if-it-aint-broke-don’t-fix-it approach to healthcare when I was growing up. This probably explains why prior to the medical clearance process, I had not seen a doctor (except to get a new glasses prescription every other year) since I was a kid. It took me a little bit of asking around to find some good doctors, and a little bit longer to find some cheap alternatives. But here are the lessons I learned:

1. Use the email message system in the Medical Application Portal (MAP) for any and all question you might have. You are assigned to one nurse who handles your application. I had a lady, named Mary, who was extremely helpful. I had about a billion questions and she put up with me, so shout out to her wherever she is.

2. Public Health clinics are very useful for getting shots and blood tests. They can be a lot cheaper than a physician. Also if you are in New Jersey, Walgreens apparently does Yellow Fever Shots. I would still try the public clinics though. The nurses/doctors at the clinic that I went to were wonderful. I found that people at these institutions get very excited when you tell them you are going into the Peace Corps.

3. Print out all of your forms from MAP and keep everything in a folder to bring to all of your appointments. You don’t want to lose things and waste time trying to get new copies filled out when you are on a time crunch.

4. Make sure you understand your insurance. Talk to your provider’s customer service as well as your doctors office. Apparently, proactive blood work is often not covered by insurance since it is not used to diagnose an actual ailment. If you can get it all done within an “annual physical” though, I think it can be all lumped-in and covered together. I talked this over with my doctor and explained my financial situation. In the end, I ended up having everything covered by my insurance company as one claim. That might be only my unique case but it is worth checking out if you are on a budget.

5. Get itemized receipts if you want to be reimbursed by the Peace Corps. Keep each receipt with each form so that you can easily send the Cost Share Form for each task with its receipt. Again, staying organized and keeping all this stuff together will make the whole process easier.

6. Don’t forget that you can just take pictures of documents on your phone and email them to yourself. If you are like me and don’t have a scanner at home this will also save time when it comes to uploading everything onto the medical portal.

I’m sure there are some other tips that will come to me later, but those mentioned above are the most important.

 

 

 

 

Goals for my 30th birthday . . .

I have decided to formalize a list of dreams that I have had bouncing around my brain for some time now. I’m using this post to challenge myself to meet these goals before I turn 30 years old. Some of them are a real stretches in terms of feasibility but you can’t do anything if you don’t try. The lists below are in no way inclusive of all of my dreams and are not in any sort of rank order.

Before I turn 30, I would like to learn to (through experience) . . .

• sail and maintain a sailboat (because it seems like the only way to be free and travel the world),
• scuba dive and free dive (there is just way to much that most people never get to see down there),
• fish including spearfish, deep-sea, etc. (mostly because I love fish, like the taste I mean),
• hunt in general (c’mon it’s practical),
• clean and cook what I catch (otherwise it’s just a waste),
• garden and cook what I grow (plants are pretty darn cool),
• speak Spanish on a informal, conversational basis,
• as much about micro-finance and micro-business as possible (obviously),
• trade weather derivatives effectively,
• trade synthesized stock and bonds (risk profiles and creating your own investments are just awesome and useful skills to have),
• about weather patterns and global climate change (everyone probably should),
• how nonprofits function effectively,
• I am definitely forgetting some things here . . .

I would also want to learn any other languages possible, which is a real stretch. I just think Spanish would be a good place to start after French. I will most likely be learning Fon in the PC, that is if I am posted in or around where I think I might be in Benin. I am really open to anything though.

Before I turn 30, I would like to go to / see . . .

• Benin (Obviously),
• Morocco (did a project on Morocco once, fell in love with the idea. Check out Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations episode on Netflix and you will too.),
• Algeria,
• Senegal,
• Mali,
• Egypt (pretty sure it’s a must see if you are in Africa),
• The Canary Islands (I’ve heard they’re just incredible),
• Kenya,
• Ethiopia (I love everything to do with coffee and I would love to see plantations here),
• South Africa,
• The Antilles,
• Somewhere in the South Pacific / East Asia (really anywhere will do, I’d like to spend some serious time in this world region at some point though),
• Anywhere else I can get to (I’m really not picky, North Pole, Sahara Desert, Middle East, whatever, I’m down) . . .

I would really like to go everywhere on earth, this is just what might be feasible before I turn 30. Also I am going to try to get all over Africa when I have time in the PC, the above African countries are simply my priorities.

Other things I would like to do include:

• obtain my MBA in Finance from a top-tier school,
• obtain my CPA license in the process,
• launch my Hedge Fund (I have an idea for this),
• Be completely self-sustainable,
• Feel like I have done my best to help the world,
• Be in good shape and eating healthy,
• Own a sailboat,
• Again, there are things that I am not thinking of right now . . .

Yeah, this is less feasible section of my dream list, but let a fella dream right?

Ben who?

Welcome to my blog! My name’s Benjamin and I’m a soon-to-be college-grad sitting at the bottom of a debt blackhole as deep as Mount Kilimanjaro is tall (get it? cause I am going to Africa . . ha ha). Anyway, I’ll be graduating magna cum laude with B.S. degrees in Finance and Accounting and a B.A. degree in French Language and Literature. Now, my original intention was to sell out to a big investment bank, work 16 hour days, 80 hour weeks, and make enough to pay down my school loans faster than you can say “Mergers & Acquisitions”. But, unfortunately for the loan agencies and (hopefully) fortunately for my soul, I have decided to join the Peace Corps instead. In other words, I am taking my skills to the streets, instead of to the Street.

I will be a Community Business Advisor Volunteer and will be working with small communities and individuals to develop their economies and general financial stability. I hope to work specifically with micro-lending operations and improving individuals’ financial literacy.  My home for 27 months will be Benin, a French-speaking West African country. I am extremely excited because this is a rare opportunity to help others while capitalizing on all areas of my education.

Other than what I have mentioned above, I am a returned Rotary exchange student (Cahors, France, 2009-2010), a travel addict, and a bit of a workaholic.

The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences and thoughts before, during, and who knows, maybe after my Peace Corps term. As the tagline suggest, I will discuss everything from miscellaneous mishaps to socio-cultural commentary on borrowers behaviors. I might even try my hand at some French poetry about African economics, no guarantees but consider yourself duly warned.

So, I would like to thank you for checking out my blog and I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to leave me comments or questions (I love questions especially ones that I don’t know the answers to).Otherwise, enjoy!

Also, please enjoy the lovely disclaimer below:

“The content of this website is mine alone and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the [insert host country name] Government.”

Disclaimer: This is not a scholarly blog. I am not citing any sources, rather any information has come from my personal studies and any graphs or data used or referenced is easily accessible via Google Search.