Benin

It's a little country that I had never heard of until about four months ago. For those of you wondering, it's pronounced "buh-NIN," or less commonly, "buh-NEEN." Since this tiny country will be my home in about two months, I thought it might be a good idea to learn a little about it.

• It is located in West Africa. (The red circle in the picture shows Cotonou, the coastal city where we will be docked. Benin is the small, key-shaped blue country.)
• It borders Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
• The official language is French. (Je parle un peu Francais.) There are over 50 other ethnic languages spoken.
• The climate is hot and humid, with two wet and two dry seasons.
• Average temperatures range from 90-100 degrees for the highs and upper-70s for the lows.
• The population is around 7.86 million.
• And my favorite...according to various blogs...it is common to see dead cows strapped to the tops of cars.

Awesome.