BF Journal: 11/23 - 12/2

11/23 – 12/2

I know it has been a bit longer than you are used to.  Please forgive me, I was very bogged down.  When I wasn’t working with Bakary, I was busy filling out graduate school application forms and writing statements.  

I am not done yet, but I had my first two applications due back to back, which made things a little hectic.  But I think I am back now.  I will do my best to recall the last ten days and fill you in.

Regarding my research, I partly answered some of my questions from a previous entry and found plenty of new ones.  I am getting very excited for January when I presume that I will have more time to devote this Viemoŋ project.  I would really love the ability to concentrate on mostly one thing, for once. 

People don’t seem to get much out of me posting data, so I will refrain from that (I may have mentioned that before).  However, I will still tell you about some things.  It seems like a lot of questions about pronouns will be answered by figuring out the semantic notions behind the alternations.  For example, when it comes to subject pronouns, there is a special class of them used only for actions taken affecting another person’s body.  The pronoun used when you are killing someone is different from killing yourself or a cow.  The pronoun used for taking someone’s clothes off is different from undressing to stripping the bark off a tree (same verb).  Interesting stuff, right?  That said, I still haven’t figured out what was going on with the different pronouns with the copula construction (in a previous post). 

I hope to make a village trip sometime soon to begin collecting texts.  I am basically just going to record a whole bunch of stories and interviews, practice some basic Viemoŋ, and try to get a little cultural observation time.  I have no idea when I will make this happen, but I suspect late December.  I want to be in Bobo for New Years.  Apparently they do two days of drinking/partying.  I fear for my liver.  Speaking of alcohol poisoning, I am going to Zaki’s brother’s wedding in Ougadougou, the same day we pick up Jeff from the airport.  We joke that Zaki has two stomachs, one for food and the other beer.  This isn’t much of an exaggeration.  He can drink a case by himself.  I call him beef, because he has more than one stomach and weighs like 45 lbs. more than me.  Drinking with him always gets me drunk.  I have a graduate application due that day too.  So big application, Jeff will at the airport, and a wedding to go to with a professional drinker.  What could possibly wrong?

I finally made contact with a Peace Corps volunteer staying in Bobo.  But she is leaving this weekend.  Good timing, eh?  Well, at least I got to have thanksgiving with someone (and one other volunteer) and speak English again.  We had chicken instead of turkey.  But one of the volunteers procured cranberry sauce and the other got bacon bits.  Don’t ask me how.  I am still impressed.  Those of you who know me on social media know I hate when people link pictures of their meals on social media. Wow, that hamburger looks so fucking different than other hamburgers, my life is now complete.  Especially during holidays… we are eating the same thing people.  Allow me to be a gigantic hypocrite and give you a picture of our Thanksgiving meal.  I am in a foreign country and I never do this, that makes it okay, right?  Even though I absolutely hate myself for doing this.

In other news, I was told that I am getting skinnier.  I had noticed that I have abs once again, but I hadn’t noticed that I was losing mass all over.  Apparently it is obvious to people here.  It is vexing to me since I have been going to the gym three times a week.  It is strange because my strength is improving (I am lifting heavier things and putting them down again).  It is stranger still because my diet is basically carbs, tons of fruit, and greasy vegetables.  I joked that I have a parasite.  I will never make that joke again.  It me forever to convince Oumar that it was just a joke and that there is no way I am going to the clinic for that.  I changed my diet a bit to add a higher protein content and I hope it does the trick.  Not that I am trying to become a body builder, but I didn’t think I would lose weight while regularly hitting the gym.  However, I weighed myself and I had lost 10-12 lbs. since leaving the U.S.  Does this mean I should drink more beer?