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.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
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.
Easter
It was impressive here.
About 500 people showed up for the 4 hour Catholic service, about 100 baptized, about 10 couples married.
Then the partying began, feasting on pork, lamb, and goat, washing it all down with millet beer.
I went and said hello to all the people who I see daily or who have helped me: the boutique guys, the meat guys, the coffee guy, the taxi guy, the street food ladies, the profs at the middle school, the family of the girl who helps get my water, my tailor, my carpenter, and the guys I drink tea with.
Then I hid away from the market drinking tea in a quiet courtyard away from the center. It is hard being the white person amongst a bunch of drinking strangers. So I sat in the distance watching the comings and goings of motorcycles that were going too fast for a heavily populated area. Thankfully he crashed instead of hitting a person.
There was a lot of drumming and dancing.
The night was full of joyful noise.
About 500 people showed up for the 4 hour Catholic service, about 100 baptized, about 10 couples married.
Then the partying began, feasting on pork, lamb, and goat, washing it all down with millet beer.
I went and said hello to all the people who I see daily or who have helped me: the boutique guys, the meat guys, the coffee guy, the taxi guy, the street food ladies, the profs at the middle school, the family of the girl who helps get my water, my tailor, my carpenter, and the guys I drink tea with.
Then I hid away from the market drinking tea in a quiet courtyard away from the center. It is hard being the white person amongst a bunch of drinking strangers. So I sat in the distance watching the comings and goings of motorcycles that were going too fast for a heavily populated area. Thankfully he crashed instead of hitting a person.
There was a lot of drumming and dancing.
The night was full of joyful noise.
1st Week of School
Twas easy.
The kids come to school on time.
They listen.
They participate.
They attend office hours.
They know what 9x9 is at least some of them do.
They are quiet.
They work.
my 8th graders all 110 of them
my 7th graders all 88 of them
I'm impressed this week.
The kids come to school on time.
They listen.
They participate.
They attend office hours.
They know what 9x9 is at least some of them do.
They are quiet.
They work.
my 8th graders all 110 of them
my 7th graders all 88 of them
I'm impressed this week.
Thursday April 10
God is funny or maybe sympathetic.
In the hottest, driest season,
He gave us mangoes.
In the hottest, driest season,
He gave us mangoes.
Thursday 5 April
A wind storm
drove us inside
me, a girl, and a mother with a baby
They said they could smell rain.
Later I heard it rained in Ouaga today.
They smelt it 100 km away.
drove us inside
me, a girl, and a mother with a baby
They said they could smell rain.
Later I heard it rained in Ouaga today.
They smelt it 100 km away.
Burkina vs Guinea
Wednesday April 4
Things here just work better.
The quality is higher.
There are more choices.
The matches light on one strike.
Chalk doesn't break every time I write.
2 pieces can last 2 hours whereas
in Guinea I would need 10.
The taxi for Ouaga left on time
even 10 minutes early.
It was a cush ride.
Things here just work better.
The quality is higher.
There are more choices.
The matches light on one strike.
Chalk doesn't break every time I write.
2 pieces can last 2 hours whereas
in Guinea I would need 10.
The taxi for Ouaga left on time
even 10 minutes early.
It was a cush ride.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Monday April 2
Lying still
I am okay
But as soon as I start moving,
even just my writing hand
my face slicks up.
It is only 19:30
I cannot lie still
till morning
So here I write
Here I glisten
I am okay
But as soon as I start moving,
even just my writing hand
my face slicks up.
It is only 19:30
I cannot lie still
till morning
So here I write
Here I glisten
Sunday April 1
A hornet's nest worth
of flies come zooming
out of the dark hole
whizzing by my ears
a few of them
their wings
succumb
to my splatter
stuck buzzing in a puddle
unable
to take off again.
of flies come zooming
out of the dark hole
whizzing by my ears
a few of them
their wings
succumb
to my splatter
stuck buzzing in a puddle
unable
to take off again.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
H2O
Monday 26 March 2007
Even though I have been swimming before I could walk, I have always felt much closer to earth enjoying the ground under my running feet, mud pies, clay at the bottom of a pond, the sound of gravel under my bike’s wheel, my bed inside a tent, worms hiding in the soil.
Now don’t misunderstand me.
I love drinking water.
It is my preferred beverage; however, I am a solid type of person rather than a flowy one, a person who loves to be grounded.
Water however has taken on a whole new perspective here in Africa.
My house is full of water: a large clay pot, three buckets, 2 bidons, and a huge garbage can. My water girl got over-zealous at $0.20 a bidon transporting 8 bidons of water today from the well. She wants to buy an expensive store-bought jean outfit for $10, to get dressed up for Easter.
Water is hard work here in my new village.
I have a new-found appreciation as I can down a liter and a half in 2 minutes, can take 3 bucket baths a day, and tend to drink at least 10 liters a day and still feel thirsty.
Water, more precious than the gold in the nearby mine.
Even though I have been swimming before I could walk, I have always felt much closer to earth enjoying the ground under my running feet, mud pies, clay at the bottom of a pond, the sound of gravel under my bike’s wheel, my bed inside a tent, worms hiding in the soil.
Now don’t misunderstand me.
I love drinking water.
It is my preferred beverage; however, I am a solid type of person rather than a flowy one, a person who loves to be grounded.
Water however has taken on a whole new perspective here in Africa.
My house is full of water: a large clay pot, three buckets, 2 bidons, and a huge garbage can. My water girl got over-zealous at $0.20 a bidon transporting 8 bidons of water today from the well. She wants to buy an expensive store-bought jean outfit for $10, to get dressed up for Easter.
Water is hard work here in my new village.
I have a new-found appreciation as I can down a liter and a half in 2 minutes, can take 3 bucket baths a day, and tend to drink at least 10 liters a day and still feel thirsty.
Water, more precious than the gold in the nearby mine.
Chores and Play
Saturday 24 March 2007
After drinking a 6:30 am cup of coffee and after sitting at a table with thousands of flies thankfully more interested in the skinned lamb instead of me as I waited for my flat tire to be fixed, I arrived home to my two seventh grade helpers and a 3-year old sibling, all sleeping on my sand-covered patio.
We washed clothes, swept the house, and washed my bike. The two girls braved the hottest part of the day to make 3 trips to the well to collect 5 bidons of water wanting to get me water instead of waiting for hours during the cooler parts of the day when the line of women for water is extra long.
I babysat the cutest little boy. The 3-year old taught me how to say I want water in Moore. He learned how to operate a spigot on a water filter. We played with rocks instead of blocks constructing bridges. We put his baby to sleep, a tiny figure that his sister molded out of candle wax. He listened attentively as I sang the ABC’s and all the nursery rhymes I knew, hoping he would take a nap.
When his sister returned, I watched as she used one small clear plastic bag amusing him for half an hour making balloons of all shapes and sizes that go boom.
Today was a nice mix of chores and play.
After drinking a 6:30 am cup of coffee and after sitting at a table with thousands of flies thankfully more interested in the skinned lamb instead of me as I waited for my flat tire to be fixed, I arrived home to my two seventh grade helpers and a 3-year old sibling, all sleeping on my sand-covered patio.
We washed clothes, swept the house, and washed my bike. The two girls braved the hottest part of the day to make 3 trips to the well to collect 5 bidons of water wanting to get me water instead of waiting for hours during the cooler parts of the day when the line of women for water is extra long.
I babysat the cutest little boy. The 3-year old taught me how to say I want water in Moore. He learned how to operate a spigot on a water filter. We played with rocks instead of blocks constructing bridges. We put his baby to sleep, a tiny figure that his sister molded out of candle wax. He listened attentively as I sang the ABC’s and all the nursery rhymes I knew, hoping he would take a nap.
When his sister returned, I watched as she used one small clear plastic bag amusing him for half an hour making balloons of all shapes and sizes that go boom.
Today was a nice mix of chores and play.
No Naan *pout*
I thought I liked eating with my hands, mashing up rice and beans into a ball that neatly pops into my mouth.
The oil factor has turned me off of the always handy utensil.
My hand drips of oil, impossible to remove after a meal.
I’m either going to have to keep a spoon or a bar of soap in my bag.
The oil factor has turned me off of the always handy utensil.
My hand drips of oil, impossible to remove after a meal.
I’m either going to have to keep a spoon or a bar of soap in my bag.
Q&A
Thursday 22 March 2007
In the US I am known for my never-ending questions. If I was in the US, what questions would I ask my friend in Burkina?
What is your living situation like?
I live in a tiny 2 room house full of sand and dust with an aluminum roof. It’s smaller than most of your garages. Can a car even fit into mine?
My latrine shares a wall with my house and has no roof. I wonder how that will be during the rainy season. I have a front porch, sand as the floor, enclosed and roofed by straw mats surprisingly private, a place to sleep in the heat. I write by kerosene lamp and have a couple of girls fetch water 2 football fields away from a wheel pump well. My house is empty except for a desk. I basically live in my porch. It’s too hot inside.
I don’t cook. There are too may food vendors: rice, black-eye peas and spaghetti ($0.20), corn toe (solid form of grits), fish and sauce ($0.20), bread and 1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk and a spoonful of instant coffee, the rest water ($0.20), cabbage, lamb, rice, and spaghetti ($0.20), a huge plate of goat or lamp ($1).
Are you lonely?
No way. There is a ton of socializing here. Lots of people speak French. In the mornings, I have coffee and talk with students. In the afternoon I walk around town talking to whomever. Kids and students come visit especially girls. In the evenings, I eat with a family and drink green tea with a group of men.
How’s school and teaching?
Well I arrived during the last week of the 2nd trimester. Teachers were calculating grades and having the kids recheck the math.
My first impression is that it is a well-run school. The facilities are new provided by PLAN. They have 10 classrooms, a library, an administration building, a teacher’s room, a kitchen where the cafeteria lady cooks over wood, and nice homes for the teachers who are brought in by the government.
During the last week of the 2nd trimester, the students organized a football tournament, a traditional clothing pageant, a carnival, and a dance. I got to judge the pageant based on costume and a 5 minute speech on a theme like HIV/AIDS, child labor, excision, scholarisation of girls.
We are now on 2 weeks of vacation and I’ll finish the month and a half of the last trimester teaching 10 hours a week of math to 7th and 8th graders, class sizes of 80-100. That will be a challenge. I also haven’t done any geometry since 11th grade. I guess it’s good that I have a PhD, a badge of a self-learner.
Do you see any differences between your village in Guinea and your village in Burkina?
First off the village in Burkina has a Catholic church, a Protestant one and a mosque. It has pork running around as well as donkeys. It has cell phone coverage, cold beer, homemade millet beer, and cold cokes.
Another big difference is I see a lot of kids with big bellies which is something I never saw in my village in Guinea.
Here it is flat with sand, shrubs, and cliffs, kind of reminds me of Colorado.
I can’t get fruit in my Burkina village, but I can get cabbage.
There are cultural differences too, but I’m too new to comment on them.
I am very happy in my new home. I do daily 20-30 km bike rides and did a 60 km ride today. I am hoping to do the 80-90 km to Ouaga soon.
My house isn’t furnished yet. It feels more like a large walk-in closet. But this village feels like home. I have a daily routine, people to talk to, girls to teach how to make friendship bracelets, kids who come over to play. It is a community not a house that makes a home. I’ve never been a Martha Stewart. Who cares if my windows have curtains? I can be happy living outside on a cot as long as there are people who come to visit, people to cook for, people to share my huge bag of salted cashews with.
In the US I am known for my never-ending questions. If I was in the US, what questions would I ask my friend in Burkina?
What is your living situation like?
I live in a tiny 2 room house full of sand and dust with an aluminum roof. It’s smaller than most of your garages. Can a car even fit into mine?
My latrine shares a wall with my house and has no roof. I wonder how that will be during the rainy season. I have a front porch, sand as the floor, enclosed and roofed by straw mats surprisingly private, a place to sleep in the heat. I write by kerosene lamp and have a couple of girls fetch water 2 football fields away from a wheel pump well. My house is empty except for a desk. I basically live in my porch. It’s too hot inside.
I don’t cook. There are too may food vendors: rice, black-eye peas and spaghetti ($0.20), corn toe (solid form of grits), fish and sauce ($0.20), bread and 1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk and a spoonful of instant coffee, the rest water ($0.20), cabbage, lamb, rice, and spaghetti ($0.20), a huge plate of goat or lamp ($1).
Are you lonely?
No way. There is a ton of socializing here. Lots of people speak French. In the mornings, I have coffee and talk with students. In the afternoon I walk around town talking to whomever. Kids and students come visit especially girls. In the evenings, I eat with a family and drink green tea with a group of men.
How’s school and teaching?
Well I arrived during the last week of the 2nd trimester. Teachers were calculating grades and having the kids recheck the math.
My first impression is that it is a well-run school. The facilities are new provided by PLAN. They have 10 classrooms, a library, an administration building, a teacher’s room, a kitchen where the cafeteria lady cooks over wood, and nice homes for the teachers who are brought in by the government.
During the last week of the 2nd trimester, the students organized a football tournament, a traditional clothing pageant, a carnival, and a dance. I got to judge the pageant based on costume and a 5 minute speech on a theme like HIV/AIDS, child labor, excision, scholarisation of girls.
We are now on 2 weeks of vacation and I’ll finish the month and a half of the last trimester teaching 10 hours a week of math to 7th and 8th graders, class sizes of 80-100. That will be a challenge. I also haven’t done any geometry since 11th grade. I guess it’s good that I have a PhD, a badge of a self-learner.
Do you see any differences between your village in Guinea and your village in Burkina?
First off the village in Burkina has a Catholic church, a Protestant one and a mosque. It has pork running around as well as donkeys. It has cell phone coverage, cold beer, homemade millet beer, and cold cokes.
Another big difference is I see a lot of kids with big bellies which is something I never saw in my village in Guinea.
Here it is flat with sand, shrubs, and cliffs, kind of reminds me of Colorado.
I can’t get fruit in my Burkina village, but I can get cabbage.
There are cultural differences too, but I’m too new to comment on them.
I am very happy in my new home. I do daily 20-30 km bike rides and did a 60 km ride today. I am hoping to do the 80-90 km to Ouaga soon.
My house isn’t furnished yet. It feels more like a large walk-in closet. But this village feels like home. I have a daily routine, people to talk to, girls to teach how to make friendship bracelets, kids who come over to play. It is a community not a house that makes a home. I’ve never been a Martha Stewart. Who cares if my windows have curtains? I can be happy living outside on a cot as long as there are people who come to visit, people to cook for, people to share my huge bag of salted cashews with.
The Walk
the heat
yet I'm not miserable
there is a savoring sense like a good dark chocolate
this walk in the sun
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