Don't Tempt Me Cause I'm Close To The Edge

Tuesday: 11 Janvier 2011

Things Accomplished Today:

1. PACA: Mossi Men
2. Marché in Sapouy
3. Commission groceries
4. Mail letters
5. Receive key to mailbox
6. Bike the whole route to and from Sapouy

I'd say today was mighty good. Woke up fairly early: 6:45 and got myself to the CSPS by 7:30! Had to get there in the wee hours because I was conducting a PACA tool today with the Mossi men. Four down, three to go! Less than one week. Let's see if it happens. The men - it seems - will be pretty difficult to gather and work with or maybe it will be more like a waiting game with them. Men don't show up until after Alisone went out to the marché and rounded up them... and even then it was an hour of waiting. Alisone told them to be at the CSPS by 6:00 and we didn't start until 10:45. How many men showed? 8. W T F?! Oh well, I found out all they do is go out on brousse and come home, eat, pray, read and sometimes sleep with their wife/wives. Gotta take turns. That's right - I asked about where all these babies came from - the women didn't mention it and neither did the men, so I went ahead and put it out there. After that I causered with Agathe and her friend & was commissioned to buy her a gros chou (big cabbage) and 100 CFA of poivrons (green peppers).

So I get to my house and my neighbor (whom I bought 50 CFA of tomatoes yesterday) brings me some lunch: rice and this abnormally DARK sauce - the color of mole sauce. I still don't know what it was made from, but it had hints of tomato, peanut and (I think) some kind of leaf. It wasn't terrible - but it wasn't good either. Anytime my neighbors bring me food I always am cautious to eat it - but out of respect - I do.

After lunch I gather my things for Sapouy: iPod, rice sac, letters for sending, sunglasses, nalgene and purse. Then I head out on my bike - 27km later - I'm in Sapouy! It's 14:00 and so the post is closed... gotta wait and hour and a half for it to open again. 15:30 rolls around and I ask “es'que il y a quel que chose pour moi dans le boit deux?“ He goes and comes back with LETTERS! Four of them!! Mom, Ashley, Devon and Mama Sivil wrote me. : ] I'm ecstatic and can't wait to read them. I tear open all of them and read them all there at the post! Good day. And on top of that, my key was finally ready! Now I don't have to wait and schedule my visits around the hours of the postmen if I'm just checking mail. I then went to the marché and bough cabbage (for Agathe and myself), green pepper (ditto), garlic, squash and eggplant. I have been cooking soups like no other (when I have the veggies) and I don't plan on stopping until I can't stand soup no more!

Biked home - I LOVE LOVE LOVE riding my bike with no hands. I'm a master pro. And I've also mastered the art of dancing while on my bike sans les mains! So much fun and the people love it. Get home just at 18:00 and I've got about 30 minutes until it gets dark. Heat some water, wash dishes, reread letters and take a bucket bath. Bike over to the CSPS to give Agathe her groceries and then bike home to start cooking soup. Same as the first time, but added eggplant. I enjoy myself some instant mashed taters while everything cooks, simmers and loves each other. I eat at 20:00... more like 20:30 and now I'm in my tent outside! Tomorrow I'll do some pre-packing and lay out stuff that I'll take to IST, prepare things and set up how I'll pack. Friday I'll talk with Peuhl men as well as the members of the CoGes and Sunday (hopefully) I'll talk with the Grounssi men.

Fully Recovered Kitty

Monday: 10 Janvier 2011

So it appears that Colonel Mustard is here to stay - at least as long as I'm here. He is still as vocal as ever and very curious. His wound has healed up rather nicely.

Okay, I know you don't know exactly what my house/patio looks like but I'm sitting up on my patio's wall, under my hanger and Colonel Mustard has decided he needs to be here with me. He climbs up one of the tree posts inside my patio area, no way for him to get to where I'm at from there... he fumbles about and finally retreats. Goes down the way he came. Crying the WHOLE time. Then looks up at me and cries some more. He leaves my patio area and I think he's forgotten about me being up here - oh no, sir - he's scoping out another route. One of the outside tree posts will do - and that's when I see him climbing up at full speed! Gets to the top and climbs onto another "branch" that holds up the straw roof. From there my gymnist takes a leap and gets onto my wall and all he does is stare at me and, what do you think he does? Cry! More or less like a yell. Then I make the safest route with my hand in the air and he follows suite. So smart (ish). and now he's climbing on me, on my journal, attacking my pen as I write, getting right up in my face and meeeeowwwing and just wanting to play! He got the point that I'm writing. Mama's busy! So he played along the top of the wall, attacking my cowstring, the straw hanging down and just running back and forth. I'd say he's fully recovered, eh? He's eating more too! Rice is pretty much all I've given him - he likes it. We'll just have to see if he'll be here when I come back from IST - a week in Ouaga and another week in Koudougou. Two weeks - I don't know if he'll stick around or if my family will fee him so he will stay.

Speaking of IST - I wanted to finish my PACA tools and talk to the CoGes before I leave, but I still have ALL the men to talk to and the meeting with the CoGes. I was supposed to conduct an activity with the Grounssi men yesterday but it was canceled due to a funeral in another village. So tomorrow I'll be speaking with the Mossi men. Tuesday morning. Then on Friday I'll speak with the CoGes and possibly the Peuhl men and Monday morning I'll talk with the Grounssi men. It's gonna be a long week - but maybe it will be a really face week due to all the "meetings?"

I washed all my dirty clothes Saturday and Sunday and I'm pretty damn proud of myself! Did that AND washed my sheets, blanket, pillowcase and tent!! The only thing I need to do now is wash the rest of my panties and bras and then figure out how I'm gonna pack for two weeks. Maybe my backpack and rice sack? I can't pack anything in my rolling luggage - maybe I can - but I don't know if I can properly attach that to the back of my bike and be able to bike 27 km with it.

The end of this month will mark my fifth completed month at site... making me 7 months in Africa. 20 months to go. Really, 19 months. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna take the first opportunity to get out so I can start my life back in the States ASAP.

World, Meet Colonel Mustard

Friday: 07 Janvier 2011

Note to self: don't procrastinate when in West Africa and laundry need to be done. Need to start doing laundry at least once, maybe twice a week - wash as you dirty. That's the key.

This morning - early, early this morning, I heard a blood curdling cry from a cat near by. I thought maybe a male was harassing a female (quite common here, among every species) but then I thought about the kittens that were just born here in my courtyard and started worrying about spiders, scorpions and snakes. So I look at my watch (3:26), switch on my lantern and get out of my tent. I was preparing for the worst because the cries were getting weaker and weaker - but they were still there, faint, but there. I walk towards the sound and I see a tiny kitten crouched by itself - I cautiously approach it (I don't know if it likes people, or it whatever it was crying about is still around) and I checked my surroundings... seemed safe. I picked up a stick and examined it from afar. I notice blood trickling down the right side of it's neck. Oh no. Is it deep? What was it that caused the wound? I get closer and the kitten whimpers. I don't know what to do. I wonder why no one else has come outside to see what all the commotion is about. But no one does. I walk back to my patio area - but the kitten starts crying again. I swear it's going to die. Why is it in my courtyard?! I go back after a few minutes and pet it again (with the stick) and it starts purring. Oh god. I have to take it in. It's sweet. It's little and if I don't, I know it will surely die! So I pick it up and bring it inside - I get some water and try to clean it's wound. I'm scared. I am not sure at all of what I'm doing. I give up cleaning it. I give it water and get my pagne (fabric for making clothes) to wrap it up in. I put it in the corner of my patio just outside of my tent and I get in my tent to go to sleep. I tell myself not to get attached. I say it might just pass through the night. I sit down and it starts crying and going around my tent to find me. Damn. Okay. I get it, wrap it in my pagne again and bring it into my tent. Put it near my feet and let it settle down. I go to sleep. I wake up because I forgot to cover something in my house - don't want a mouse to get in that. Go inside. Come back out and get in my tent and check on the kitten. Shit. It's not there! Then I feel something under my thigh! Oh gosh. Sorry!! I life up - it cries. But settles quickly. I give up trying to keep it in my pagne. I settle. Finally I am able to go to sleep. I wake up in the morning and it's right beside me. It's cold. I cover it up more.

At 8:00 I get up. It wakes up with me and we go inside. I heat up some water because I want to thoroughly clean what I can - with antiseptic and put a bandage on it. He (I think it's a he) seems to understand that I'm not gonna hurt him. He must be hungry - oatmeal? Sure. I make some plain oatmeal and put it down for him. He doesn't seem to like it. At this time I've named him Mustard. That's both male and female, right? And dubbed him Colonel Mustard (like the game clue?) Well - he's been with me - practically all day. Really vocal. Gets pretty annoying sometimes, but cute & friendly. He likes to climb up onto my lap when he wants attention : which is ALWAYS! Only problem. I have no idea what to feed him. I bought rice and chicken from the marché today and he ate the chicken but not really the rice. I tried feeding him my soup I made and he stuck his nose up at it. I asked my neighbors to give me some tô because that's what ALL the animals eat here - but they didn't. I don't know why. So I'm at a loss as to how to feed him.

I have to remind myself not to get attached.

Don't do it.

This is the beginning of the second chapter... It begins with a heartbeat

Thursday: 06 Janvier 2011

I'm ready to fly. I think I'm able to do so - but to fly across this ocean between us may be too much for me. I want to. Maybe you and the love that resonates from you can give me the strength I need to finish this journey.

One more week until IST and I finally got to talk with Alisone and he's going to try to organize the men so I can talk to each of the three ethnic groups BEFORE I go to Ouaga. That would be superb! I'll also be talking with the CoGes on the 15th about what they expect from me and what they believe the village needs = put their priorities out there so I can know. February will be here in no time & I believe I want to start "working" by March or April. I know that's the hot season, and it will be really difficult to find motivated individuals (hell, I may not be motivated either) because of the heat - but I've got to try. I want to do the following projects so far:

• World Map Project
• Health Murals
• Coaching for Hope
• Summer Camp (for girls or boys)

How and when I'll do this is beyond me. I would also like to (possibly) do some soap formations (workshops) with women here and start a savings and credit club. Also, I'd like to start a garden and introduce Moringa here in my village. I think I'm off to a good start - not too original with my ideas, but I think more creative/advanced projects would be better for 2nd or 3rd generation volunteers at my site.

April 2011: Health Murals

July 2011: Summer camp

September 2011: Garden

October/November 2011: Coaching for Hope

February 2012: World Map Project

April 2012: Soap Formation

July 2012: Summer Camp

Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia

No originality ever exists. We inhabit a certain kind of great exchange, a great intertext. Ideas circulate; language likewise. Meanwhile, the only thing we can do, and get into the habit of, is combining them. But there is one idea not yet created after all: it is here, like a sort of major market in a major economy. Thoughts circulate and only at a certain moment are stopped and sorted out, and are then edited, probably as when making a film, and that produces a work."

- Roland Barthes; Michal Viewegh

Soup Fever

Wednesday = Mercredi

05 Janvier 2011

Things I Love About This Country:

Dancing while riding my bike with no hands and listening to my iPod. People get such a kick out of it. Hell, I would get a kick out of it if I saw someone do it back in the States.

Things I Hate About This Country:

All the carbs. Carb. After carb. After carb. Can I get some kind of variety in my diet, please? How about an ENTIRE meal make out of protein, fruit and veggies? Is that possible? No. Not likely.

To counter balance my TIHATC, I decided to have a marvelous veggie soup for dinner.

Here goes:

• 1/2 squash
• 1/2 head of cabbage
• 6-7 baby tomatoes
• 1 bundle of fresh green beans
• 1 small carrot
• 1 large onion
• 2 small green peppers
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 can of tomato paste
• chicken bouillon
• basil
• salt & pepper

Chop/slice onion, mince garlic and add to hot oil in large pot. Let simmer until translucent. Add chopped green peppers (sans seeds). Cover pot - allow to cook 3-4 minutes (stirring occasionally). Add pepper to veggies - cover again. While cooking, wash tomatoes, squash and green beens. Snap ends off green beans and chop both tomatoes and squash. Add diced tomatoes to pot and about 1 liter of water. Bring to a boil. Add 1 cube chicken bouillon, 1/2 can (small) of tomato paste and 3 pinches (large) of salt. Stir. Add in green beans (chopped to bite size) and chopped carrot. Once soup is boiling for a couple minutes lower heat and bring to a simmer. Add basil. Taste & add whatever spices you may think are needed. Simmer for 5 - 7 minutes. Add squash and sliced/chopped cabbage. Stir in. Allow to cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Once green beans and core of cabbage are still firm but soft enough to eat, your veggie soup is finished! Scoop into bowl. Caution!! HOT! And Bon Appetit!

I had two heaping bowls and there's still plenty for lunch and possibly dinner tomorrow! I'm really proud of myself for making that up. So good and healthy. If only I could eat like that all the time... that way I wouldn't have to be concerned with all the carbs I'm consuming and then, invariably, storing in my belly. I swear - the one thing I was most (may be exaggerating here) frightened of was gaining weight in this country. Men lose weight. Women gain it. That's just because of the way we metabolize the food here & probably because women are expected to not do much physical labor (at least foreigners). I'm trying to battle fate by working out - but I can't seem to cut my portions. I LOVE TO EAT. Damn fat kid syndrome.

Aside from that, I got 54 km in on the bike today! And got a nice sunburn on my back where I couldn't reach. Overall. A good day.

Sénégal Fast Food :: Amadou & Mariam

Tuesday = Mardi

January 4, 2011 = 04 Janvier 2011

A night with absolutely no moon - the stars are shining brightly by themselves - apparently the moon is on vacation (at least for a day or two).

Today has been pretty uneventful: woke up late due to the fact that my head was aching, my neck was stiff and I felt as if I had only slept for a few hours... so late would mean 9:00... people here wake up around 4:30 - 5:30 (at the latest!!). So, Got up & out of my tent (I'm sleeping outside again - under my brand new hanger :] ) and went inside and realized I'm very low on water and have way too many dishes to clean and very little motivation to wash them, myself or to get water at the pump in order to complete these tasks. So, I eat a Special K (vanilla, thanks Ma) cereal bar and sit on my floor. As I'm sitting and looking around I find my house to be the dirtiest it's ever been in these past four months of occupying it... The floors need sweeping, the dishes need washing, the books need organizing, the trash needs burning; you should get the point by now, it needed to be cleaned! So finally around 10:00 I gather dishes and wash them outside: 4 bowls, too many spoons and forks, cutting board, pan, marmite, casserole dish, 2 very sharp knives and empty tomato paste cans. What's next? SWEEPING! By the time I finish sweeping my "one-size-fits-all" room, I've got a mound of dirt, dust and debris by my screen door. Yuck! I then decide to "wash" my floor by pouring water on the cement and running a rag over it - seems to work, and it's what everyone else does in village to wash their floors or patios. Then I heat a little bit of water so I can then wash myself. Washed my hair and body (perks of having short hair = less water). Clipped my nails. Put sunscreen on. Examined this new rash on my chest that sprung up out of nowhere in the past two days & then get dressed. Yesterday I discovered that I am now able to braid the front part of my hair again... which is... U L T I M A T E L Y the most exciting thing that's happened to me since I cut my hair. Okay, exaggeration, but it's still really neat. By this time it's 11:30 and I head out to the CSPS to make a phone call the PCMO about my "rash" and to see what Beak wanted two days ago when he texted "call me!" The PCMO tells me to apply some cream on my chest and keep her informed. Beak didn't answer - so I assume everything is fine. Since Ma is in Kentucky I don't expect a phone call from her - so I causer (chat, hang around) with the Major (Congo) and the Pharmacist (Agathe) for a few minutes and head off to the marché to find Alisone. I need to finish 3 PACA tools in less than two weeks and it took four weeks to finish the first three. He can't be found. Damn. Oh well, I buy cabbage, tomatoes and baignets at the marché along with my 4th anklet.

I eat lunch. Read more of my new book and fall asleep midday. Wake up around 15:45 and decide I REALLY need to get some water. Go to the pump two times and on the third round I detour to the CSPS to causer a little more and check my phone. Adam says he just wanted me to tell him "Happy New Year" and that's all. I talked with Agathe some and was invited to have dinner with her. Went home. Sat around for 2 hours - had a snack: triscuts, easy cheese and sliced tomatoes (thanks Ma for the yummy treats). The easy cheese was substitute for real, sliced cheese: think swiss, provolone, sharp cheddar, or smoked gouda! Mmmmm. And I read my book while I was munching. Ate dinner and now I'm here in my tent. I was completely frightened by a dog on the way back from the CSPS. With no moon and a shitty headlamp and ridiculously bad night vision I am always spooked easily when walking around village at night. So I hear a growling noise up ahead of me while walking and I immediately tense up. I think about Cujo and freak out a little. I say - well at least I could throw my Nalgene at it - that might spook it and could make it run away? But out-loud I just yell "Hey!" and hope it runs away - it doesn't. It growls more and then starts barking. I stop walking. A group of men are to my left and finally pay attention. One yells. Another throws something. And another says my name "Lauriene!" He walks me a bit of the way, past the mean dog and goes on his way. That was about the only "exciting" thing that occurred today. Well, actually, come to think of it - I'm wrong: I got to talk with Adam today before dinner. I thought I'd try to give him a ring to check up and wish him a Happy New Year (finally). It was a good convo. I miss that man so much. Tomorrow I've got to go to Sapouy to buy some onions, send mail and see if my key is FINALLY ready. And, of course, I'm not expecting anything yet, but I'll check to see if my package(s) is(are) here.