The Last full Day in Benin

Today is our last day in Benin - we leave tonight at midnight for Paris. It is hard to believe that the trip is almost over.

Since our last posting we attended the West Africa Project Fair, which was another reason for this trip. The first day was seminars on the Rotary Foundation and the Future Vision Program. I'm not sure if it is a good thing we are not in the Pilot Districts for this new program or not.

After the seminars we were treated to a wonderful dinner and an outdoor restaurant right on the beach. It was a beautiful spot. There were two restaurants - one indoors and one outdoors. The interesting thing was that the food was cooked in the indoor restaurant and had to be taken across the street to the outdoor one. It was some distance between the two. The name of the restaurant, which we expected to be some fancy place, was actually called "The Beer Garden". You could tell it was expensive by the cars in the parking lot - we even saw a Hummer, which is unusual here.

At the Project Fair, which was held in a gymnasium, there were booths all around the perimeter, each representing a Rotary Project from one of the West African Clubs. I learned more about the needs here than I cared to. I have plenty of information to take back to our club to share what types of projects and the needs.

Yesterday we took a bus tour of Ouidan, the starting place of slavery, as well as an area where voodoo is practiced. We went to a sacred forest, but the hightlight of the day was the python exhibit. Judy and I both had our pictures taken with a Python wrapped around our neck, and neither one of us could believe we did it.

There were other interesting places to visit as well, but the highlight was definetly the python!

When returning to Benin, we took a tour of the Africa Mercy Ship. This ship is a hospital, where they do free surgeries for people in Benin. It was beyond incredible. We had a tour of the ship, including the operating rooms and wards. The President of Mercy Ships happened to be visiting, and he spoke to the group about the connection between Rotary and the ship. Someday, I want to volunteer to be on the ship - I felt the same way about the ship as I did about this trip - that it was meant to be.

Today we are having a down day as we leave tonight. Some of us will be going shopping, or at least try to. This afternoon we will be hosted by the Ambassador from India, Ashook. He is going to host us at his home, and we are interested to see what that will be like.

This likely will be the last posting before returning to San Francisco, where I hope to do another blog. I have been keeping a journal as well, and since the internet access has been limited, there is much more to share than what has been posted. I'm still trying to figure out the picture thing, and I suspect that I will just do a full album on Picasa and send out the link to everyone.

Bye for now