Blog
November 2008.
I can’t really put into comprehensible words how I feel about the presidential election. All I can say is that I am very happy with the results.
I stayed up half the night anxiously awaiting the results. I’m four hours ahead so by the time the polls closed it was way past my bed time. So I didn’t get to sleep until shortly after McCain gave his speech. Like around 4 or 5 am here.
I honestly don’t know where I’ve been the past couple of weeks. October was ok.. Kat came to visit from kankan for a couple of days and it was really nice to have a visitor. Something or someone attacked my cat. I left Moussa, my cat, out during the day (which isn’t out of the ordinary, she likes to play with lizards and such) for a couple of hours and when I came back I found one of her eyes swollen and bloody. I was really sad but mostly angry at myself for leaving her outside like that. I took her to the vet (yes there are vets here) and well she is slowly recovering.
Work is still very frustrating. I told my counterpart that I wanted to visit all the villages by bike, he thought this was funny. I was not joking. I have made it to so far to 5 out of the 8. Yes of course I’m going to be tired, bikes do that. It’s just frustrating he won’t even allow me to try. (it’s cause I’m female.)
So the other day I decided to give EVERYONE that made me furiously angry another chance. Like the kids in my neighborhood that come everyday to stare at me and my cat and knock at my door nonstop. Yeah, everyone. So the kids come everyday and ask me for stuff so often that now my name is Kadiatou Okkran (which is my guinea name + the word for give me in Pular.) Cute, right? I kindly tried to explain to them that my name was not “Kadiatou Give me” and that they should learn my name before asking me for something. I spent about twenty mintues, to no avail and left to go get some water.
The other day I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, they weren’t the best but the kids really liked them. I made them about the size of a dime and this one girl ate half and saved the other half for her brother. Now I don’t know if she was just being really nice or the cookies really sucked and she couldn’t finish it. (I think she was being nice because later they came back and asked for more cookies.)
I went and played with them this game kinda like jump rope and double dutch. (maybe I should show them that.) And they were less annoying. Afterward I went to the pump and they actually helped me carry my bidons full of water back to my house. [these bidons hold 25 liters of water.] they never did that before. So sometimes they are ok.
The vaccinator I work with who completely ripped me off, when I asked him to help me get furniture made as hard as it was not to yell at him, I have decided to forgive him. (yeah 3 months later) It takes times for wounds to heal. Besides I really can’t stay mad anymore and it’s partly my fault for not asking around beforehand. However I must admit I was in the habit of telling him how much of a jerk he was (IN PULAR) and that he was not a nice person and a bunch of crazy things because I was upset. He thought I was joking but it did make me feel better to tell him how much of a jerk he was.
The Pular. It’s better. I need to get out of the habit of responding in French but the comprehension is better. I don’t have a tutor. So I’ve been working out of a workbook and just practicing with the family or at work. I asked my host brother if he could teach me insults and bad words in Pular but he refused. O moyya!
I had wanted to teach English but I don’t thinki have the patience or the desire anymore. It’s really time consuming and it’s difficult to make sounds your mouth isn’t used to making. So maybe not for me.
Oh and my birthday was unlike any other. I really thought it’d be great but no, no it was less than great. I spent half the day in tears because NOTHING went as planned and partially because I was also homesick. I know nothing ever goes according to plan here but I was hoping the birthday fairy would help me out.
I haven’t learned any new dishes or anything. I’ve been inda just laying low in the village. Trying to spend more time exploring the village and less time annoyed at retarded people.
I’ve been cooking less and eating with a family every day, just dinner. I usually make lunch for me and the cat. The oatmeal cookies was the first time baking in a month.
So lastly I’ll talk about this village I went to today. It was about 8km, that’s a little over 6 miles. And I met with the President of the community, teachers, as well as other respected members of the community. I went to the school and did a short presentation and just asked questions about their community. There’s no health center, no mosque, no pump and no marche. The doctor at my health center goes once a month to do vaccinations and to do consultations. Can you imagine getting sick and walking six miles to go to the health center? Yikes! When I asked them what their needs were, they expressed interest in a health post. I’d have to agree with them. And a pump at the school. They asked so nicely that I would have liked to give them money right then and there out of my pockets, if I had it. Out of all the villages I have visited so far this one seemed to be the poorest. By the way, on my way out there I saw a huge monkey, how neat is that? And I was trying to keep an eye out for snakes.
