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Late Thursday night, I read the journal Greta had been keeping of her stay in Benin. I was delighted to find an objective writing-eye with personality… so I kept it and am publishing it for all to read. I am doing the same with Grandpa’s too, but not with my own. I am the author, I get to choose.

Reading their Journals, by Greta

Erika Kraus
2006-10-07 13:47:14

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to kick, but the worst of it I was able to spend at the last day of the conference and the motel. This is good because there was no travel involved!
I slept most of Thursday and Grandpa read. We went for dinner that night at a Tata Somba across town. It offered a beautiful view of Natitingou. We met Erika’s language teachers there. Emily taught Erika French, Mina, and Fon. Sophia is a new teacher that Erika has only met a couple of times since she teaches the languages of the north, like Dendi. There were very nice women who could be very silly. Probably why they got along with Erika so well! Our driver seemed to be in a hurry though and told us he didn’t know we were going to take so long, and he had other things to do. At his urging, we got back in the car headed to the hotel. Erika was very cute as she chewed out the driver in French. He tried to argue back, but the more she shook her finger, the more she won! Such a grown-up!
Friday, September 8
Another bus ride that lasts all day. I was apprehensive, since I hadn’t been feeling well and there were no bathrooms on the bus. There were also no bathrooms at any of the bus stops. This bus ride was much better than the first though. There were fewer stops along the way, which meant we got there faster.
On the way up, we had many stops, for people and even a lunch stop. However, the Beninese eat very fast and a five-minute lunch/bathroom break just wasn’t enough for us Yovos. That was pretty disappointing. The trip down didn’t have a lunch break, but we got to Cotonou so much faster that it was worth it to keep going. It was raining in Cotonou, but Erika’s very nice friend Mathurin has a friend José who owns a car and was kind enough to meet us at the bus stop and take us to our excess luggage and the bank to change money and then all the way (two hours) to Athiémé. José and his family live in Sé, which is the town next to Athiémé. He owns a bar there and was happy ...