toot has left the country

take a deep breath everyone! toot and i managed to successfully travel around Benin and we didn't make the news OR create any more ruckus than necessary. She flew in the 27 of July after getting stuck in Burkina for two days. her unextected stay there was due to a false ticket issued by her ticket company. WHAT? how does this happen? best part is, she doesn't speak a word of french and had never traveled before. when she finally arrived in Benin, she could make the thumbs up sign and say "Burkina is good?"...she made many a friend. after i had whipped all of Cotonou into a frenzy over her non-arrival on the 25 (the previously scheduled date) i was finally able to check my email the next morning to see what had happened as her mother, organized as always, had let me know what happened. three cheers for communication! we began by heading north to Natitingou where my host family lives. i haven't been there for almost a year and it was a HAPPY reunion! my host dad bolted out of the house and gave me a big hug, something people here just don't do and was very reminiscent of my own dad, awwwwww! my host sister is now 5 and speaks awesome french! she didn't leave my side and i had all in all, an amazing time up there. we saw the waterfalls even more north in the town on tanegou then headed back to parakou. the trip from Nati to Parakou was toot's first bush taxi experience as we took a bus up. she wasn't a fan. 9 people plus children in a 5 place is the norm but apparently shocking to some. after shifting to get the feeling back in both our legs, toot declared she thinks "this is just insane." arriving in the parakou auto-gare was also a new experience as it's one of the more aggressive places in the north. we went to the tchuke marche (millet beer) and even got to guest speak on a radio show put on by the English club at Parakou University. We talked about gender roles which was perfect for toot b/c she got asked ALL THE TIME here is she was a boy, on the sole fact that she doesn't wear earrings. the question we got even more was "are you twins?" good to know this is a cross-cultural question as it happened just as much in the states. we continued down to see the voo-doo history museum in Abomey then to Lake Ganvie, the floating stilt village. she flew out today and has a connection in Cote d'Ivoire, set to touch down in the states tomorrow. we had a fabulous time and Benin gave her a wonderful welcome. definitely recommended for the first time traveler, but plan ahead for what we're dubbing "the Burkina snag"!