Happies and Crappies

Happies :)

Elections are next Sunday so people are very hyped with the campaigning. ATT has come to Gao twice and Ansongo once. Plus, the other groups drive around in cars with loudspeakers preaching messages. One woman is running; and the prez. of the National Assembly (like if Pelosi were to run), but really ATT is going to win. The night he was due to come the whole town gathered in the square to greet him. He was late, so I went to bed. Still from my roof 2km away I could hear: "Ok. When he comes we're going to clap and yell a-t-t a-t-t a-t-t! Reminded me of my days freezing my hiney off in NH yelling JK ALL THE WAY! Too bad I'm not in the thick of things for 2008! But honestly, they started too early and are wasting too much money!!

One of the phrases I've learned to say in Sonrai is "night blindness" because I give presentations on Vitamin A every week. I used it to my advantage when a male nurse, was trying to get me to stay after hours and have dinner. I replied "the sun is setting I have to go." "No, you can eat a little." "No really I have to go; I can't see a thing in the dark for I have night blindness!" My counterpart was there and doubled over in laughter. I don't know if I made a sexual innuendo (everything from being thirsty to lighting the fire has sexual connotations), but certainly made them laugh, and ever since the guy has been civil. One small step at a time.

I've basically become a regular English teacher. I do use sarcasm, especially when students ask personal questions. (I teach 10th, 11th and 12th grades whenever I get the chance) We've played hangman or simon says, I've taught songs (10th) and even have given an extensive talk on violence as a political weapon for 11th grade. They were interested in 9/11 and guns in the US. Sometimes the questions are obviously charged, like "why can you come here but we can't go to Europe or the US?" or "why do we have to learn English? I'll never use it." And "if you all wanted me to know it, send more real English teachers!" At least I'm a role model and the students greet me around town more. I also tutor the doctors, though only one of them has been a regular. It's nice to feel like they are learning a little more about my culture too.

My counterpart used facts right from our midwife training during visitations led by the doctor. It's important to space the anti-malarial drugs and the iron supplements because the SP blocks absorption of iron. The doctor was impressed and told all the nurses to prescribe likewise.

A mother of a baby who was once severely underweight came running up to greet me in the market and say that little Youssoufi was better after she started making porridge with tomatoes and eggs. Alhamdulilahi!

One afternoon I went to my teammate's homologue Aliou's house. A Gao teammate had come down for rock climbing fun. While we were waiting for lunch, Aliou whips out his travel French Scrabble! I was so excited!! We played in French, and letters have different #s and values so it was a challenge. But I successfully played "endroit" almost using all 7! I was even more shocked when a few days later I went to go meet the second English prof and his neighbors were playing it in the street out front (usually you see African checkers, parcheesi like game, or cards)!! Ah! The things I keep discovering. Really, PCVs could stay in site for 3 or 4 years and still not know every one's habits. Give us two years, minimal language, and a town for a site? Ha. Anyhow, the three of us went out to rocks on the island (well now just land because the river is so low), but we still had a to get a boat. The conductors were laughing and giving us a hard time over price. 5x the going rate is what they wanted. The Gao PCV retorts to the driver's comment, "There is a black skin price and a white skin price" with "I have red skin, that's like black!" much to every one's amusement. It got better when they still refused to drop the price and she goes "how about you pay me 500 CFA and we'll get married on the other side." At that they gave us the village price of 100CFA a head round trip. We win.

A man that my counterpart, me and the women are working with is nicknamed "Taxi." It was hilarious one day when we were looking for him and people were joking, "why, just stand by the side of the road with your arm out, he'll come." Or, "if you can't find Taxi, take Sotroma instead (a bush transport)." The Conseil de Circle himself joked we could find him at the car-stop. I think he earned his name from having so many clients and places to go; we've tried to get a key from him for a week!

A day I was sitting at the hospital chatting/gossiping and "learning" Sonrai with the nurses, a griot came by. I've seen them in ceremonies before, but even just casually they'll tell stories and joke.

Crappies :(

IT'S HOT!! And there are water shortages. The pump system is turned off from midnight until 6:00 pm each day, so you have to draw all the water you need at dinner. This is about 4 buckets for me, 2 to filter for drinking, 1 for bath, and 1 for cleaning. Sad thing is the wells are drying up too. My family's is already 30 m deep and hardly has water. Some days goopy mud comes up in the bucket. So people turn to the river. The nasty nasty river for drinking water.

The following vignette is not for the faint of heart. We eat in the dirt esentially. The communal bowl is placed on the ground and we squat around it. I get a stool cause I'm all special, but basically it is the dirt. So I grab a handful of rice with mashed up fish in it (no fillets here, fish is ground skin, bone, eyes and all), and start to chew when my lip is stabbed. I think it's a bone. When going to pull it out, I find a spider crawled into our bowl. I got the lucky treasure and it bit me on the lip! I flung it away rice and all. People thought I was nuts until they too saw the twitching spider on the ground. Ew.

An 8 yr old host-sister would come to my house for colors and bring back pics she had drawn. Or she'd ask for a bit of tea and sugar to put on a tea party for her friends. Then she'd come and ask for cooking things for my host-mother, say powdered milk or salt. She often helps with the cooking so I conceeded. (This is how I contribute, by buying cooking items like onions, salt, potatoes, etc. instead of giving money). But then two days in a row she asked for a whole cup of milk powder. The second day she screwed up her story and I knew she was lying. I went to market and came back with a box of powdered milk for my host-mother and told her her daughter wanted me to bring it to her. Turns out all the things she said my host-mother wanted to cook with were lies and my host-sister was using them herself. It's serious because she was lying and being selfish, two big no no's here. Not as bad cause she is only 8. But I was hurt she'd lie like that and sad that I was responsible for her beating (yeah, they're big on corporeal punishment here). At least I hope she learned. She hasn't come to color since though...

One day I was weighing babies the women demanded, "Where are the mosquito nets you said would come?" Oh they came. They just got taken by the staff. Plus the government provided 20 nets for the entire area!! But I just said hopefully more will come and explained how to treat a sheet/curtain. They said that it is too hot, and they want my net, the one they see me hanging every night. Always feeling helpless and trying not to make empty promises.

I survived my first big storm, but not without some casualities. My PC issued woven mat flew away, I ripped my sheet on the way running inside for shelter and the following morning I couldn't find breakfast! Evidently no one makes bread when it storms. No one. I went to 4 bakers and two alfinta (crumpets) ladies before I gave up and went home hungry. Luckily my host-mother had some leftover potatoes from the family's breakfast. Once again I see we are at the mercy of nature.

So did I mention it's hot? Honestly. I probably sleep half the day, 10 hrs at night and 2 during the day. Lethargy sucks. And I'm molting now, not sunburned, just distressed. Plus I had to stop my morning rides unless I want to bike in the dark. The moment the sun is over the horizon it's a-roasting. With the heat and dust the scorpions come out to play too! What fun!

Sadly on my way to church a woman asked me, "where are you going Mariam? Hala bene? All the way out to the bush?" I responded "I'm going to church." She says, "Oh you Christians, always going around with blessings wanting lots of money in return." What do you say to that? I said not all Christians are the same and kept going. Funny how I thought that is what Muslims do, cause during both festivals all I got at my door are people blessing me expecting money!!

And then there is work. Two facts are incredibly difficult to work with here. No one seems to take nutrition work seriously because it is one of those hidden maladies, and it's not treated with a simple injection of Amoxicillin or Quinine, but with long-term care. We are working on it. Then, my counterpart has just out right said, "No one in Ansongo does anything for free." Great. With the elections people are tough to find and often I am not informed. Out of the loop. Plus, my trees died and my women pretty much expect me to do everything. I try not to and just work to encourage them (or do baby steps) and push them to do the rest but they don't. I blame the heat.

The two year old in my family has a new found irrational fear of the white lady. To the point where the other kids in the family will torment her by saying I am coming home when I'm not. I tried to win her heart with candy, but she still runs and hides every time I appear. The other two year old isn't scared. And this little one wasn't before. I just don't know...

My favorite bike repair man left town. Tear. And the new one is more expensive and doesn't fill a flat, just a patch.

One doctor has really taken me under his wing and helping me learn medicine. So this is a happy. But the more involved I get in hospital life, the more I see the weight of it all. It's not easy having a life in your hands! One day during visitations, the doctor asked me what "splenomeglomy" is. I was thinking in French, so I didn't really see the connection between "spleen" and "spleno". I consulted my anatomy book at home and then later in the week got to use my knowledge. Splenomeglomy, an enlarged spleen occurs in the case of severe infections. The spleen is where antibodies are made. A 5 yr. old girl came in with a fever. The doctor had me feel her left side. I identified splenomeglomy correctly; it was malaria as the cause. Later in the day I went to greet her family. The father had commented on my Sonrai earlier so I wanted to say hi again, but they were gone. The girl died. Now obviously I only made a diagnosis that the doctor already knew. The nurses did the treatment they could. But being so close to death is not a pleasant aspect of this job.