(for Damon)
In the morning
gobble rice and goat sauce,
stir in a cafe au lait
(sweetened condensed milk with instant coffee),
with a buttered baguette,
chomp on a slice of coconut,
drink zoom koom (ginger drink),
open up a mango,
and mix with
dried manioc shavings and fried fish,
try a mouthful of warm millet beer,
share a plate of grilled goat and lung,
sip a bottle of hot coke along
with warm Guinness
ending by mixing the two.
An African Tapas experience au village
Let the stomach rumble and grumble till nightfall.
Then throw it up and piss it out your ass.
Welcome to Africa.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Taxi Bus/Brousse
Sunday 3 June
The ride was luxurious in a big 60 passenger bus, a five hour trip with curtains on the windows, with music and air conditioning. The road was smooth, flat, and straight.
On a dirt detour from the paved road being repaired, the bus stopped.
We sat outside on the sparsely grassed dirt and planned our trip to Ghana.
An hour later we flagged down a 12 passenger van and became two of the 19 sardined inside.
Luxury turned into reality.
Ahh... the adventures of travelling in Africa.
The ride was luxurious in a big 60 passenger bus, a five hour trip with curtains on the windows, with music and air conditioning. The road was smooth, flat, and straight.
On a dirt detour from the paved road being repaired, the bus stopped.
We sat outside on the sparsely grassed dirt and planned our trip to Ghana.
An hour later we flagged down a 12 passenger van and became two of the 19 sardined inside.
Luxury turned into reality.
Ahh... the adventures of travelling in Africa.
Something to do au Village
Thursday May 24
One of my favorite things to do in my house is to search for termite tracks along the white walls.
Termites form dirt paths as fat as my fingers that can be as long as my foot and even longer if you leave them be.
Termites don't bite. I just brush the crispy dirt away with my hands.
The only negative thing about termites is that they eat paper, precious reading material. Documents turn into dust.
I have to keep my eye and broom on those insects that give me something to do au village.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wednesday 16 May
It is 1:21 am and I cannot sleep even though today was an extremely busy day with girls' club, teaching, and market day.
I wonder if the elderly in Africa have trouble sleeping like my grandmothers.
Is my insomnia due to drugs, the infamous Larime, the excitement of organizing activities for a girls' club, or the excitement of Damon's visit?
I wonder if the elderly in Africa have trouble sleeping like my grandmothers.
Is my insomnia due to drugs, the infamous Larime, the excitement of organizing activities for a girls' club, or the excitement of Damon's visit?
Rain and Bugs
The heavy rain upon my aluminium roof hurts my ears.
It is a good thing I brought ear plugs.
The rain knocked down my straw roofed and straw enclosed patio where I sleep every night. Thankfully I was already inside my sturdy house. That would have hurt. Straw is heavier than you would think.
When the rain is pouring, know what I need?
a chamber pot
You know what I like about Africa?
You can leave a dead roach on the floor of your house and the next morning it will be gone.
It is a good thing I brought ear plugs.
The rain knocked down my straw roofed and straw enclosed patio where I sleep every night. Thankfully I was already inside my sturdy house. That would have hurt. Straw is heavier than you would think.
When the rain is pouring, know what I need?
a chamber pot
You know what I like about Africa?
You can leave a dead roach on the floor of your house and the next morning it will be gone.
My Kitchen
consists of a 2-tier table supporting a 3 burner table top gas stove with its tank on the floor. I have one frying pan and two pots. I have 1 sharp knife, a big stirring spoon, 7 spoons, no forks, and one pair of chopsticks. I have two aluminium plates and 3 plastic cups. I have a plastic basin to wash my dishes in. I have slat, oil, and beef bouillon cubes.
And you know what the great thing is?
My village has a market day every three days, so if I need a bowl or a fork I can just walk 2 football fields and buy whatever I desire.
And you know what the great thing is?
My village has a market day every three days, so if I need a bowl or a fork I can just walk 2 football fields and buy whatever I desire.
May 13: Starting at 6 am
I do my laundry every Sunday
today the wind was strong
a quick dry
my clothes like kites in the sky
snap like the sound of a whip
Ideas for Village Projects
A co-worker has approached me with two ides for projects:
- to help start a program for families who take in orphans and need assistance
- to help with cultural preservation, the traditional masks of the village.
I have a few ideas, but would appreciate your suggestions, your expertise, and your experience.
At the school, I'm trying to start a Girl's Club. Empowering women and tackling women's issues must have an impact on poverty right?
The Poverty Question
What can I do? To what point do I give such that I myself do not fall to a level of poverty? What must I give up to help the poor: meat, sushi, movies, coffee, cheese?
Seeing people especially kids in need really hits me and I feel the urge to give, but if I started handing out 5000 CFA ($10) bills does that help anyone? It provides a temporary solution to my guilt of being privileged and a temporary solution to a person's hunger. After the money is used up though hunger creeps in again.
How can I have an impact on poverty? Giving money? Teaching skills that help people make money? Putting money into the local economy by spending? Planting a Moringa tree? What can I do to put a dent into poverty and hunger?
My 10th graders say, "We need jobs."
Seeing people especially kids in need really hits me and I feel the urge to give, but if I started handing out 5000 CFA ($10) bills does that help anyone? It provides a temporary solution to my guilt of being privileged and a temporary solution to a person's hunger. After the money is used up though hunger creeps in again.
How can I have an impact on poverty? Giving money? Teaching skills that help people make money? Putting money into the local economy by spending? Planting a Moringa tree? What can I do to put a dent into poverty and hunger?
My 10th graders say, "We need jobs."
Peaceful living
Thursday 10 May
As I was cleaning the glass of my kerosene lamp, I thought to myself, "Wow. Every day you are living at a campsite: a pit latrine, a tent, light from a flame, and it's become normal, not weird or uncomfortable."
Life here has a simplicity that makes it a desirable and a wonderful life for me. Even though I'm covered with mosquito bites and rashes from the heat, I feel a sense of peace I rarely felt in the US. The burden of responsibility of having to make money to live comfortably was a dark shadow that made it heard for me to enjoy time. Here my shelter, food, health care, and spending money are all provided for me in exchange for teaching and cultural exchange.
Everything I need is here. I don't have to worry about how I'm going to make ends meet. Here I can enjoy. Even bouts of sadness, I seem to experience differently here. Au village, it is so much easier to be sad, to find peace with the sadness, and to watch it pass. In the US for some reason I held onto my misery for longer than I should.
I am provided for here. I feel safe. In this safety I don't worry. I exist with a sense of contentment, and if I do worry it doesn't linger. How strange that in the endless quiet au village, thoughts and worry don't spin in my unoccupied head.
As I was cleaning the glass of my kerosene lamp, I thought to myself, "Wow. Every day you are living at a campsite: a pit latrine, a tent, light from a flame, and it's become normal, not weird or uncomfortable."
Life here has a simplicity that makes it a desirable and a wonderful life for me. Even though I'm covered with mosquito bites and rashes from the heat, I feel a sense of peace I rarely felt in the US. The burden of responsibility of having to make money to live comfortably was a dark shadow that made it heard for me to enjoy time. Here my shelter, food, health care, and spending money are all provided for me in exchange for teaching and cultural exchange.
Everything I need is here. I don't have to worry about how I'm going to make ends meet. Here I can enjoy. Even bouts of sadness, I seem to experience differently here. Au village, it is so much easier to be sad, to find peace with the sadness, and to watch it pass. In the US for some reason I held onto my misery for longer than I should.
I am provided for here. I feel safe. In this safety I don't worry. I exist with a sense of contentment, and if I do worry it doesn't linger. How strange that in the endless quiet au village, thoughts and worry don't spin in my unoccupied head.
Things in the night
Last night I lay beneath my mosquito net writing a letter when all of a sudden a huge insect went scurrying all over.
A scorpion?
I turned out the lamp and breathed in the wish that it wouldn't find its way into my protected space that has ample openings for it to discover.
Today I learned it was a harmless palm sized insect, called a transporter.
It's package?
scorpions
A scorpion?
I turned out the lamp and breathed in the wish that it wouldn't find its way into my protected space that has ample openings for it to discover.
Today I learned it was a harmless palm sized insect, called a transporter.
It's package?
scorpions
Tuesday May 8
My live au Burkina revolves around work. It's a nice work schedule 2-5 hrs in the morning and 2 hrs in the evening, 3-4 of those hours are with students, the rest are spent grading or preparing for the next day's lesson. Work is not frustrating. It can be tiring with all of the grading. Thankfully math is easy to grade.
The rest of the time is spent eating and napping in the shade. Do I get bored? No way!
The most challenging part of the day is having visitors all of the time, visitors who lie on a prayer mat on the ground just napping. I let their presence frustrate me, allow them to disrupt my peace and my activities at home. I need to learn to just let their company be a comforting presence instead of an irritating chirp of a cricket.
The rest of the time is spent eating and napping in the shade. Do I get bored? No way!
The most challenging part of the day is having visitors all of the time, visitors who lie on a prayer mat on the ground just napping. I let their presence frustrate me, allow them to disrupt my peace and my activities at home. I need to learn to just let their company be a comforting presence instead of an irritating chirp of a cricket.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Monday 23 April
Today I spent a couple hours on an old fashioned typewriter.
Twas fun.
Reminded me of playing the piano.
What were you typing?
I was typing a 3 page English exam written by the principal that will be copied using a manual hand crank replicator.
Twas fun.
Reminded me of playing the piano.
What were you typing?
I was typing a 3 page English exam written by the principal that will be copied using a manual hand crank replicator.
The Day's Schedule
Saturday 21 April
5:30
Rise and shine
6:05
My water girl showed up ready to move a pile of sand out of my patio.
6:10
Went and had a cup of instant coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk with a buttered baguette to dunk.
7:00
Went in search for veggies and salt, but the market was empty.
7:30
Went to the tailor
8:00
Started grading 80 math tests.
9:00
Went to the market and bought tomatoes, onions, okra, sugar, salt, and freshly butchered lamb.
10:00
Graded some more.
11:00
Started cooking spaghetti for five people using my one tiny pot.
Noon
Ate spaghetti.
Afternoon
Washed dishes.
Started and finished a book.
Crocheted a bag.
Braided my hair.
17:00
Took a bucket bath
Evening
Had tea with neighbors.
Put grades into grade book.
Read Where There is No Doctor for my continuously runny nose. Allergies to the dust? Take Dramamine it suggested.
20:00
Listened to music and fell asleep
5:30
Rise and shine
6:05
My water girl showed up ready to move a pile of sand out of my patio.
6:10
Went and had a cup of instant coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk with a buttered baguette to dunk.
7:00
Went in search for veggies and salt, but the market was empty.
7:30
Went to the tailor
8:00
Started grading 80 math tests.
9:00
Went to the market and bought tomatoes, onions, okra, sugar, salt, and freshly butchered lamb.
10:00
Graded some more.
11:00
Started cooking spaghetti for five people using my one tiny pot.
Noon
Ate spaghetti.
Afternoon
Washed dishes.
Started and finished a book.
Crocheted a bag.
Braided my hair.
17:00
Took a bucket bath
Evening
Had tea with neighbors.
Put grades into grade book.
Read Where There is No Doctor for my continuously runny nose. Allergies to the dust? Take Dramamine it suggested.
20:00
Listened to music and fell asleep
Black Hole
Monday April 16
I'm always afraid of dropping my
flashlight down the hole
like how my good soap from Mali
got away from me and plummeted to its death.
I knew a guy whose hat fell.
He fished it out.
Must have been a really special hat.
I knew a girl who lost 5 pair of sunglasses.
And I once heard the story of a kitten who skidded and couldn't stop.
No wonder the 3-year old goes in the courtyard rather than my latrine.
I'm always afraid of dropping my
flashlight down the hole
like how my good soap from Mali
got away from me and plummeted to its death.
I knew a guy whose hat fell.
He fished it out.
Must have been a really special hat.
I knew a girl who lost 5 pair of sunglasses.
And I once heard the story of a kitten who skidded and couldn't stop.
No wonder the 3-year old goes in the courtyard rather than my latrine.
Sunday 15 April
The sun makes one
not even want to move out of the ombre
to go to the unshaded latrine
holding it until the last moment possible
like on a long car trip.
not even want to move out of the ombre
to go to the unshaded latrine
holding it until the last moment possible
like on a long car trip.
Dust covers everything.
Yet people's feet and shoes always seem so dust free.
I've learned to scrub my sandals every night, my feet several times a day, and rinse my flip flops before leaving the house. I now understand better the washing of feet so often spoken of in the Bible.
I'm surprised that in this dusty, dirty, hot place, my pores don't clog.
Maybe sweating keeps the pimples away?
Maybe it is the lack of chocolate?
Or is that a myth?
I've learned to scrub my sandals every night, my feet several times a day, and rinse my flip flops before leaving the house. I now understand better the washing of feet so often spoken of in the Bible.
I'm surprised that in this dusty, dirty, hot place, my pores don't clog.
Maybe sweating keeps the pimples away?
Maybe it is the lack of chocolate?
Or is that a myth?
Friday April 13
It is dark.
It is hot.
It is still early only 8 pm.
I lie in the dark thinking up dresses I want tailored made.
I was never a clothes person in the US, hating shopping because nothing ever fit. Here though everything fits if its a good tailor.
I have a good tailor.
Send me pictures or patters of cute modest sundresses.
I left all of my clothes in Guinea.
It is hot.
It is still early only 8 pm.
I lie in the dark thinking up dresses I want tailored made.
I was never a clothes person in the US, hating shopping because nothing ever fit. Here though everything fits if its a good tailor.
I have a good tailor.
Send me pictures or patters of cute modest sundresses.
I left all of my clothes in Guinea.
Seeing two nuns
speeding away on their little motorcycles an attitude of eat my dust with veils flapping behind them makes me smile.
The Burkinabe nuns live it up here a walled compound full of foodies: cold water, running water, toilet paper, popcorn, a fully cemented courtyard, flowers, and fruit trees.
The Burkinabe nuns live it up here a walled compound full of foodies: cold water, running water, toilet paper, popcorn, a fully cemented courtyard, flowers, and fruit trees.
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