Dance Dance Paint

Tuesday.15 Mars 2011

Good News: My bookshelf suddenly appeared at my house today… and it grew legs and an extra divider! YAY

Bad News: My BugHut’s zipper died today. I’ve sewn myself inside for tonight… suppose I’ll deal with that tomorrow.

In other news – I learned there’s a lot of racism in Germany according to my friend at the CSPS? Good? Let’s go back to today and the fact that I am unable to write ledgably this evening (scribbles and scratches mark my journal). What’s up with that?

Woke up late (8:00 (almost)) and decided to PAINT! my walls that is. And because I ordered my bookshelf from Sapouy the other week I thought it would be smart to paint the wall I will be putting it against. SO, I get to paintin’ and start off with Beyoncé and I singing a duet of “If I Were a Boy” – for some grand reason, I am loving that woman right now and have since I arrived in Africa. Adam, you can suck it! She’s good. Do you hear that voice?! So I dance, sing and paint for about 2 ½ hours and then after being the sweatiest person ever I causer with my neighbors who are building a house (yea, another one). They tease me and ask if I want to help throw this cement/mud mixture up to the man on top of the wall they’re building up… I was going to… but didn’t know exactly how and didn’t want to slam mud onto the side of the wall… or on the man standing next to me. Then I went inside to eat breakfast and read some more of Bill Cosby’s HILARIOUS “Love & Marriage.” Right as I’m getting to a good part I hear a really loud moto pull up and immediately get annoyed because I think it’s one of the extremely annoying men who just come to my house (thinking they’re badass on their moto) just to saluate me… and then make fun of my inability to speak the local language… BUT… I heard my name and I go outside and see the carpentor and my bookshelf on my patio! Yay. It’s finished and pretty much exactly how I wanted it. I take paint out and paint it immediately! Gave the guy 10.000 CFA and a big cup of water. That jerk asked for more money because he had to transport it on his moto instead of his car that was mysteriously broken. No sir, I will not pay you more. The thing was already way overpriced. Bon, got that done (painting the unit) and then went inside, cleaned my house, brought the unit in (by myself, by the way… that thing was heavy!) and oh my goodness it looks great! I am so happy with it and can’t wait to finish painting my house – right now it’s just ALL white (at least the walls I have conquered) but it will soon be yellow and I’ll have a green bedroom. Really thrilled. No joke. Finally, I take a bucket bath around 3pm and go out to the taillor to diminuer a dress I got from the grabbox at the transit house, talk with some people and then buy key ingrediants for dinner (had fideo & yes, it was delicious as always). Then went to the CSPS to causer and thus I learned about racism iin Germany and also was told I will be learning how to make peanut brittle and tô tomorrow! A fantastic day I’d like to confess. Tomorrow is baby weighing and marché – should be a good one.

New Years Dance Party & Visitors are FUN

Monday: January 03, 2011

Let me recap on what happened in the past few days... we'll start on the 31st of December. Oh yeah, get ready for a really long blog entry. (sorry it's so late)

Left for Taré at around 8:15 to catch a bus to Léo to celebrate the upcoming new year with a few fellow PCVs: Hugo, Rhoda, Katie and Rob. There was supposed to be three to four more people, but they all went their seperate ways - either to Yako, Gawa or Bobo. Anyway - get to the Hotel Sissili (a really really fancy NEW hotel that tricks it's guests into thinking their in Americaland) and it is gorgeous! We go the cheapest rooms available: 21.500 CFA (two rooms, split five ways). We were lucky enough to have a younger woman working there at the time of check-in who sympathized with our situation and said she was just like us when she was our age & promptly pulled some strings and allowed three of us to one room. We all then took hot showers (lovely) and then laid out by the pool. Yes, pool. Everyone had drinks except me - instead I enjoyed an extra large bottle of ice cold Laafi water with ICE! Next came the food. Salads for me and katie and then Rob and hugo ordered, according to them: "real food" which would be spaghetti and some Senegalise dish. Rhoda refrained from stuffing her face, unfortunately. The salad was delicious - beyond delicious. so so so good. And the spaghetti, get this, had real cheese on it! Real. Gratted. Cheese. What? Yes, you heard me. Cheese isn't readily available in this country - and it was there. We took tons of pictures at the pool.

After that we decided we needed to rest: so we took naps, lounged and used the internet a wee bit before the festivities of the night began. I went out for a run and it was, by far, the most terrible run I have ever had. The wind was blowing against me, my throat hurt and I was running uphill. 3 miles should be 30 minutes, but I'm not sure how long this took me... it seems to last forever. After getting back I jumped in the shower and was greeted by a large glass of champagne when I got out... apparently when I went running the boys went for a drink run and bought us 4 bottles of champagne and 2 boxes of wine. Wonderful. The shower was great by the way... mhmmm.

Now, let the festivities begin! Somehow or another the first step is to obtain a faux-hawk. I soberly allowed Katie to fix my hair for the night, and that was the result. Got to skype with my Beak for a wee bit - sadly, the signal was too weak for video on both ends so we switched back and forth. The gang enjoyed talking with him too - he seemed thoroughly confused. Mohawk = Done. Dressed = Done. Make-up = Check. We wanted to order food from the hotel, the same two dishes the boys had during lunch... but, of course, the hotel wanted to break our hearts and told us the two dishes were "finis" (done for the day). So we gathered our troops and went out on the town to the cheap, but delicious (not to compare it with the spaghetti at the hotel, or my Dad's for that point) spaghetti and liver that Rob and I shared. I carried a bottle of bottle of champagne with us to dinner - we (four of us, Rhoda parted ways) shared the bottle and then went back to the hotel. There we had our own little "dance party" before heading out to the club which was, conveniently located on the same grounds as the hotel. We probably spend about 3 to 4 hours in our room listening to music, being British, cannibalizing our hands (Rob and I) and taking way too many pictures and a 30 minute video that I need to edit one day.

Off to the club: we danced to ridiculous Burkinabé music and the four of us shared a bottle of whiskey, classy huh? I got to talk with Adam some more when midnight struck and also Devon and my mom. Dev called me out on "drunk dialing" her - nonsense! but okay, I guess she was right. All in all... it was a pretty good night. Went to sleep with my New Years kiss from Katie (on the cheek, mind you) and I then the world was spinning beneath me.

Woke up the next day around 8:30 but didn't get up until 9:00. Realized all my things were in the other room and had to wake up Rob and Katie from their slumber. Took a shower and decided to lay by the pool until we needed to check-out. Had breakfast and some detox tea I brought with me... delicious? My neck was killing me - and I'm pretty sure I was a wee bit hung over (for the first time, ever) but only a little. Had another large bottle of Lafi (water) and continued to be British with Rob. Went inside around 11:30 to pick up the hotel room - it was a complete MESS and then packed up my bags to check out.

Downloaded Adam's new song that he sent me - so so so good! I now have the intro and the outro of their new CD (in-progress) and he tells me I can't hear anything else until it's 100% complete. Damn. I hope they finish the EP quickly. *for new readers* His band is "A Formal Affair" which is based in Austin, TX but formed in Wichita Falls, TX! Check 'em out.

Then I get online for a wee bit more before we leave so I can post a very brief update of our New Years in picture form on Facebook. Then Rob, Rhoda and I go out for lunch (after we checked out) and I have a salad while they scarf down salad and atcheki. The salad was really good, but I was having weird - do I want two plates of salad or do I not even want to finish one - feelings. I wouldn't say I was naseaus, but I definitely was bipolar about my desire to eat or not eat. I did, however, drink a butt load of water. The rest of the day we (Rob and Katie decided to grace me with their presence at my site) traveled from Léo to Taré and then off to my village - having to stop once on the dirt path for a potty break... ahhh, the glory of peeing in the open air - while you fear a snake will bit you or tick pick you as it's next host. Then we finished our bike ride to my village. We get settled and take turns going to the pump to get water. For dinner we had fideo in memory of Rob's first visit to my village a while ago. We had the regular ingrediants: vermacelli noodles, tomato paste, cumino, garlic powder, caldo de pollo (chicken bouillon) and then we added onions, tomatoes, cabbage and a nice taste of Americaland: a bag of ready to heat black beans in a mexican style sauce. Oh gosh - it was delicous! I wish I had two bowls, but there was barely enough for all three of us... but of course Rob was a mega fatty and had a bowl and a half! We had more Americaland by popping some Jiffy Pop... Thanks Mel! mmm. So good. I had forgotten how good and delicious simple popcorn is. Then we went off to bed. They slept inside and I slept in my tent outside. Thought I was gonna die from the cold, but actually was good. My neck ached - my nose was all kinds of stuffed up and my throat hurt - but I slept okay.

We wake up around 8:00 and start our day by eating overcooked rice with sugar, butter, nido and cinnamen and a dash of granola (thanks Mel), craisons, raisons and brown sugar (thanks Ma)! Then we take bucket baths, light my trash on fire, be locked in my house because the nem finally begin finishing my hanger (YAY) and walk around town. We eat at a place that sells rice, maccaroni and chicken (a BIG surprise to me). After that we sit around at my house and they figure out when they'd like to leave. They end up going around 14:00 and I finish the day by napping. My neck has been killing me since New Years and I figure I could use some rest. I sleep until 17:30 and decide to fix dinner even though I'm not that hungry. I fix fideo-esque type food. Used the last of the cabbage, one onion and make the fideo minus the garlic && it actually turned out wonderfully! I didn't expect to get fideo without garlic, but I did. They things you learn! Went to bed after writting a letter to Adam and reading the new book my mom sent me: "The Elephant Vanishes" stories by Haruki Murakami. Good so far.

Today I woke up early because I was uncomfortable but went to bed because I felt horrid. I've felt pretty under the weather all day - so I've stayed home, thoroughly washed my feet because my toe nail finally gave and fell off/I cut off what was already not attached. I also cleansed my feet because I got a cut on my foot on the way back through the bush to my village and it looked a little inflamed.... damn cuts on toes - always actin' up! Aside from that I haven't done much. Just finished writing/finishing letters to Adam, Melanie, Elyse and am about to write Ashley and my parents.

Discovered I can braid the front part of my hair!

That's really exciting.

Cleaning up a bit

Will go out & about in the village tomorrow!

Gotta finish my PACA

1 & 1/2 weeks left.

Internet Face Stuffing Dance Party

December 19, 2010: Sunday Fun Day!

It’s our day off from IST and it was a much needed break. Woke up at the late our of 9:30 and took a cold, but refreshing, drip shower (the water presure is a bit weak in the mornings). Then lounged around the hotel and typed my journal entries onto my computer for easy upload when I get to internet again. Then we all went off to lunch: we went to the only place that sells porc and it was delicious! So so so good. I forgot how good pork is. Yum. Only thing is that there was a big group of very loud Burkinabè who sat down right next to us. Completely deranged all of us, and by all of us I really mean MOI! But as soon as the food came we were all too busy stuffing our faces to care! Also – I wish pigs weren’t so damn fat. They should harbor more muscle, and less fat – because that stuff is not fun to eat, and not fun to digest. Our platter, unfortunately, was proportioned fat>muscle. Sad times. After lunch we lounged some more and I typed more. Then we decide to go to Hugo’s house to do our homework, make dinner and use Internet. It was a blast. Got most of my blogs up, finished our ridiculous homework about a spider (who resembles a person in the pictures) who eats chimpanzee tails and tricks animals into becoming it’s prey. Bad spider. Dinner (eggplant, green peppers, onions and tomatoes with salt and instant mashed potatoe porriage) was good. Yum. Internet was ridiculous as always. Uploaded pictures and commented on everyone else’s. But overeall – all we did todday was loung and eat. Perfect. Everyone else drank – but I steered clear of it becaues my intestines and I are at war.

Mam na rata n bang Mooré

December 15, 2010

First day of this mini-stage and, surprisingly, it wasn’t as torturous as we all assumed it would be. We’re splitting our learning into two languages: le Français and Mooré, and to make things even more enjoyable we are utilizing both formal learning style and then application. So we have two hours of French in the morning, two hours of applying that French within the city, break for lunch, then we apply our Mooré for an hour and 45 minutes, then meet to learn Mooré for an hour and a half.

Today – since it was our first day in the city – we went around saluering (greeting) important(ish) people like the guys at the post office, the police, and the people Hugo (one of the volunteers who live here) works with. We learned that pretty much 87% of the population speaks French which is a HUGE change from where we all have been in the past three months (and probably why we’re refreshing our vocabulary and grammar). But really all we did was tour the city and then learn a few words in Mooré: Roli/Doli = petit ami (boyfriend or girlfriend) ß the difference between using an “R” or a “D” depends on what part of the country you’re in and has nothing to do with gender. I forgot what else we learned, but I didn’t have my notebook on me so I couldn’t write it down.

Anyway, Christmas and New Years are still getting planned. Looks like I’ll be traveling with Ashley to Josh’s site for the festivities of Noel. Shannon will also be there (one of his site mates), so I won’t be a third wheel. New Years – well, that is definitely undetermined. I’m not worried about it and don’t mind (at this point) if I spend it alone at site. I’m not with the people I most want to spend that day/night with – so why put so much pressure on myself to make it memorable? It’s just another day in a year && I’ve got two of them here. Speaking of time here: I’ve figured I really only have 13 months of work here: Pretty much, the first 6 months at site are used to get integrated, learn the people, language and functions of your work and then you have your 13 months of work, (accumulated) 2 months of travel and the last 3 months are for closing up your work, saying goodbye to your village and then preparing to go home. So I’m feeling a little better about it all.

Errbody Gettin Tipsy

17 Juillet 2010

Went to Baratapas (I may or may not be spelling that right...but if I'm not, I'm gonna need you to come to West Africa and give me a spelling lesson - please, enlighten me)...so yes - I went to Baratapas with: get ready - it's a long list:

Austin, Nick, Nate, Daneil, Dan Pinte, Josh, Sam, Margo, Amanda, Christi, Erika, and another PCV's name I completely forget the name of (no hard feelings)

We ordered food, beer and some of us got a round of shots - I soon realized that I am a complete light-weight in West Africa! After a shot I felt my eyes getting heavy. Talk about sad times. Gosh. But - let's first talk about these shots - er - well - how they are made, or mixed, rather. This French man who owns the bar soaks and flavors his own rum!

Y U M - O !

He had anana, mint, mangue, candy - or baileys flavored - ginger and probably more. So the 1st shot I tried was the anananaaa!! I love that word, and the fruit, and the flavored rum! Didn't taste anything like pineapple - just rum that completely burned as it went down - but still marvelous! After that shot we got our food: Pulled pork avec mangue and crudité! It was great! Probably some of the best food I've had since I got to this country. Amanda and I shared a beer - yes, beer - I know, I don't like beer. But I will say that in this country - I enjoy beer. All wonderful until I decided I needed to go check out the bathroom. I was fine - but for some reason the world was on a weird teeter-totter tilt and made it extremely difficult for me to walk straight. I will say - I covered it up quite well! At least I think I did. But boy was I feeling it. Stumbling a wee bit - but straight. Austin, Nick and Nate all made fun of me - thanks guys.

So here's the good part - got to the bathroom after walking down this long, dark corridor - and everything was wet! The floor. The sink. The toilet. I looked around for some kind of leak - but nothing - just Africa. Ha. Okay - so after contemplating whether or not I should take my chances in the oceanic bathroom - I looked at this picture, rather, mural: Two men. One man is standing while urinating into the toilet - yet, he is doing this with the biggest frown ever. The other man is sitting on the toilet while urinating - with the BIGGEST smile on the planet! The frowning man had a big red X over his body...the other man did not.

What?

Yes - I decided I could hold my urge to go - I'm not an expert at hovering yet.

After a few more sips and snacks I bought Austin, myself and Erika each a shot! Generous, I know. I tried mint this time and O H E M G E E it burned and was so strong! The French man, Allan, said that ginger was the strongest, and Austin said he about threw up after trying it two years ago. = Vagabond...I'm gonna need you to take that one like a champ. I know you can do it!

We left and all went to this jazz bar. It had old pictures of jazz artists everywhere - all B&W - so I was as happy as a bee in a field of daisies. And on top of that - the bar was playing a lot of old jazz in A N G L A I S. Definitely a good choice. Played darts. Watched people dance. Watched the fellows play pool. It was a pretty chill place. Good conversations too. Let's hear it for connecting with a fellow Texan from TX A&M...Gig'em. I'm actually pretty excited there are a few other Texans here to connect with.