BF Journal: 8/27 - 8/31

Quick note to my readers: future posts might be spaced out a bit more than you are used to.  Now that I am settling into a routine, there are fewer new things occurring daily.  I might take some time to write some other non-Burkina Faso blog posts that I have been meaning to do.  We will see, I am still bogged down with French and Jula.

I ran into (literally) some Marines at the gym.  They were leaving as I entered.  They said they were doing some work for the embassy.  Their hair made me think they were former Marines not active duty.  I was curious what they were doing but they were a little reluctant to get into specifics.  If I encounter them again I will try to meet them out somewhere for drinks.  I wouldn’t mind knowing if they were going to be around for a while so I can know if I have some English speaking friends.  Also, I want to squeeze it out of one of them over drinks.  When I figure it out, I might have to not tell you.  Or kill you.

Most of you who have spent time around me know that I am an eternal klutz.  When I went kayaking this summer, I all but fell into the water off of a dock that was two inches from my kayak.  I got that from my dad, obviously.  Granted I am not quite a bad as him.  He could trip over a rainbow, somehow.  But, I did manage to almost break the second most expensive thing I have here.  I tripped and dinged up my iphone (I use it for music) while running.  What’s better is the fact that I was basically not using it because it will not work with SIM chips here.  I brought it out twice, and I almost killed it.  I knew I should have bought a cover for the screen.  My newish phone now has Burkina Faso souvenirs on the screen.  

I am in good company though.  Oumar fell down the narrow stairs (I think) last night (8/30).  I took a picture of them next to the porch for one of my first entries.  They are kind of narrow and steep.  I know what you are thinking: don’t worry, I will stay away from them.  He came into my room last night while I was studying with a puppy dog look on his face, a tiny first aid kit in his hand, and he was bleeding from all four limbs (not gushing or anything).  I think I put like a dozen band aids on that poor guy.  I am glad I packed like 500 band aids, Neosporin, alcohol, and had paper towels handy.  He was too.  You may now refer to me as Nurse Nate at your leisure.  

I realize you have basically no idea what anyone looks like.  I will put some pictures up sometime of the cast and crew when I remember.  Maybe next Saturday, we are supposed to go out again.  I guess I better have cash by then.

I started compiling my Jula notebook into a document.  It is kind of early in the learning process, but think I am the only person on this project who is taking a serious crack at Jula.  Most others either speak some Bambara (which is basically the same language) from their time in Mali or just get by with French.  My impression is that Bmbara is to Jula what British English is to American English.  They are mutually intelligible but there are obvious differences in both the lexicon and pronunciation.  Also there exists some scholarship on Bambara but like nothing on Jula (based on a cursory glance at google scholar).  I mention it because I might turn it into something like a lesson book for Jula.  Especially, since I can write it for Spanish, English and French (soon enough).  Apparently there are people in Mali who also speak Spanish.  That may not happen, but I am kind of doing that anyways in study guide form for myself.  

Tomorrow (Monday, 9/1) I am supposed to take my first day trip out to a village.  This village is a Seeku speaking village (Laura’s current project) and we are just going to check some trees/plants.  Tuesday we might pack for some overnighters.  I am particularly interested in checking out villages about two hours from Bobo where they speak Viemo or Turka.  For more info check this link out (toward the bottom).  They are Gur (pronounced with the same vowel in the word sure) languages, which basically nobody on this project has gotten into.  I think Steve did one in Ghana.  They have all done Dogon or Mande languages, I think.  While, it would be nice to use other people’s grammars on this project for insight into whatever language I settle on (which would be the case if I did a Mande or a Dogon language), the fact that almost nobody does this language family (Gur) makes me sad for those languages.  

I am also morally interested in documenting languages that are spoken by a small population since, historically speaking, we know that they are likely to be supplanted by colonial languages (English, French, German, etc.), creoles that pop up like Nouchi in the Ivory Coast, or some local lingua franca (for here, that is Jula).  In fact, this entire area looks like it is becoming Julaphone, so there may not be much time.  I may talk about that in the future when I know more, so take the information so far with a grain of salt.  I am not exactly an expert on this region in two weeks.

I may update after the trip tomorrow or I might wait until after the overnight trips.  I will see you soonish on the interwebs.

BF Journal: 8/24 - 8/26

The past few days have been relatively quiet.  I have been mostly studying French, eliciting some Jula in the hopes that more of it will stick, picking away at grad school stuff, and working on my NSF Graduate Research Grant proposal statement and background statement (finished rough drafts of both statements today).  This grant is very competitive so wish me luck!  Both languages are getting better.  I am picking up the French much quicker than Jula, since I knew it years ago.  Jula has been a bit slower, but I think it is because I am still relearning French.  I have been quick with languages in the past but two at once is a bit taxing.

I have learned that our water service is a sort-of unreliable.  Sometimes the pressure is great, other times it is like drinking a martini through a garden hose.  Showering is like a rolling the dice.  I have also come to the conclusion that the closets in my room seriously stink.  When I leave and come back after a while, I can smell it.  I have certainly lived in worse conditions, but the thought of such smell for 11 straight months is a bit much.  I think whoever had my room last might have had some serious body odor issues.  Or the combination of prior occupants is sort-of staying in the closets.  That’s even grosser.  When I give out my address, I expect to be sent febreeze.

The night of the 23^rd, Jeff gave Oumar some money for a night out.  It was Saturday night but nobody was at the bar, which also had a dance floor and a decent DJ.  When we left @ 12:30 a.m. there was still basically nobody there.  Either everyone gets to bars really late or we went to the wrong place.  I still had a good time half understanding my new friend and him understanding even less.  Somehow I paid for all the beers.  Let’s see if that happens when I am in charge of the money... it probably will.  More importantly: me in charge of the money?  Apparently so.  Since I will be here for the long haul (until next July, at a minimum, pending grad school acceptance and such) the people who work for Jeff are going to have to get used to me paying them.  That apparently also means tracking expenses and gathering receipts.  As the newbie, I am very glad this falls on me, I really didn’t feel like I am enough of a hassle already.

Yesterday (8/25) I went out scouting plants with Zaki.  I saw a few interesting things: another market place, where the road to Mali is, some ornate old looking buildings (from the 4x4, so no pics), and what he referred to as an ancient pool along the way.  The heat was sweltering so we did not feel like staying out in the sun long.  There were children playing but I don’t know how.  I felt like just breathing made me sweat.  Not breathing didn’t help either.  It was still not worse than the 135 degree heat in Kuwait (on my way back from Iraq) though.  I honestly don’t know how people lived there.  I am told this is not the dry season though, so I may have more complaining to do later.  I snapped a couple pics of that pool for you.  There is definitely some decent scenery here.

I got temporarily sick again yesterday and by lunch time I lost my appetite.  I tried napping a couple times before dinner and felt better by then.  Then I ate the golden food of the gods.  I mean, I ate some delicious roasted corn.  I have seen people do it in the U.S., but I never tried it.  I will start doing that myself when I return to The States.  If you have never roasted corn, you are wrong.   

I need to find a source for some cheap peanuts.  Apparently they are rather common so this shouldn’t be too hard.  I noticed that the routine here leaves me six or seven hours between meals.  I am getting pretty sick of that real fast.  I definitely need to eat more often.  I am not starving or anything don't get the wrong idea.  But I am the only person in this house who works out and ingredients for meals are purchased in advance.  They run a tight ship.  Throw in a couple cliff bars with the febreeze.

Last night I slept really well for the first time since my arrival.  It is amazing what a good night’s sleep can do for your mood.  I actually woke up early for here (@ 5:30).  Acetometophine (spelling?) PM rocks!  I suspect that is partly to blame for my good productivity today.

BF Journal: 8/21 to 8/23

8/21/14

My plan for the immediate future is to keep studying every day until Jeff’s botanist friend leaves at the end of the month.  After that, we will take some trips to villages in September and I will select and begin work on a language in October.  I have until then to be able to talk to people better in both French and Jula.  I skimmed through some of the grammars written by others on this project and I have some big shoes to fill!

I tried some local tea today.  This is actually part of a local custom that requires some explanation.  Every now and then you will see people hanging around with little cups and tea pots.  People sit there (usually near one’s dwelling and near a road or foot traffic area), brew tea, and chat.  Maybe some people join you, maybe not.  It seems like the purpose is to just make one’s self available for socialization.  You might think of it as a similar to siting in a café and people watching but people might come up to you to chat or join you.  Apparently you always brew three batches and each one is sweeter than the last (I presume some of the sugar used to sweeten it stays in the pot).  I had some from the second batch.   It was like a warm spicy sweet tea.  I will come back for seconds.

8/22/14

Today was pretty uneventful.  There was more practicing French mixed with some brief Jula lessons.  Jeff and I waited spent roughly two hours getting our shared account set up today.  One hour+ of that was waiting with nothing to read, with someone who doesn’t chat much.  After, we took a trip to the supermarket where I found incredibly cheap alcohol.  It was mostly cheap rum.  Everything else seems about the equivalent of prices in the U.S.  I am tempted to try the cheapest possible rum.  Why do I do this?  I don’t actually think there will be an issue since I usually only drink socially these days.  Oh, yeah, we got some important things there too like water and vegetables and stuff.

It did rain a lot today.  We got out of the bank and everything went from sunny and temperate to the entire ground is flooded.  I think the city might be one big puddle right now.

On another note I have been eating this incredibly bland melon called a corgette (I guess because the yellow skin looks like a squash) at almost every meal.  The actual meat of the fruit is white and this lack of color is fitting for a food that makes rice cakes seem like gourmet meals.  This “fruit” is so uninteresting that I swear it even tastes white.

Tomorrow I may go do some sight-seeing in the country to get a sense of farming practices and maybe the same for some trees and such.  I am going to try to find a place that will let me try dog, if I can.

8/23/14

… no dog, but Zaki promised me some other time.  I think the rain made him not feel like driving any more than he had to.  I am sure you are all heart-broken for me.  That said, I will make it happen.  I am not exactly why I am so set on this, but I think I just like trying new foods.  I did get to see a couple of farming villages and started the process of learning to identify some local flora (one of Jeff’s projects).  It was wet out today, so it wasn’t quite the sightseeing tour I had hoped for.   But I did meet some baby goats!  W-A-N-T.  I snapped a couple photos for you all.  The little brown guy was super cute, but started ignoring me as soon as I grabbed my camera.  OMG s/he’s camera shy!  <<commence squeeing>>

I did fix the gym situation but it was almost not worth it.  The gym is one small room but it almost has all the equipment I need.  Almost.  It’s not really a problem except that it’s like fifty bucks a month.  Whatever.  This why I just bought a bunch of kettlebells and worked out at home in the U.S.  They are so versatile and no fees or waiting.  Also, gyms are stank sausage-fests, but so is this house. 

On that subject, I am supposed to go out for some drinks with the dudes here in the house.  I really have no idea where we are planning to go, but it should be interesting.  I assume we are walking, so I might be okay.  It is rainy night in an area where I only kind of speak everybody’s second or third language (French).  Why would I do this?  I am glad you ask.  I love the idea of sitting at a bar and have no idea what’s going on.  More on that tomorrow, perhaps.