12/19 – 12/21
There is a meat shortage in Bobo at the
moment. Fish almost every day. If I never see another fucking fin in my
life, it will be too soon. There go my
plans to gain weight back.
The entire day (12/21) felt it would storm
at any moment. The air was heavy,
breezy, and electric. It didn’t even
rain though. I clearly am not acclimated
to Burkina yet. I gave Bakary the day
off today. What I mean is: I gave myself
the day off but Bakary benefited. He
went home to see his wife and kids for the night. I just finished grad school apps the other
day and I needed a break. It gave me the
chance to catch up on some writing and reading.
I decided to plan my return trip to Karankasso-Vigue for after the New Year. I am trying to make plans with some Peace Corps volunteers but we shall see. I like the idea of seeing some English speaking people every so often, but I am a little reticent about these individuals. Some of them are a surprisingly racist for volunteering in an African Country. I recall one conversation where one of the volunteers was very concerned that I showed people the movie Transformers. “I don’t know if these people have the critical thinking skills to understand that isn’t real.” No doubt, she was just looking out for their hypothetical wellbeing.
I decided to plan my return trip to Karankasso-Vigue for after the New Year. I am trying to make plans with some Peace Corps volunteers but we shall see. I like the idea of seeing some English speaking people every so often, but I am a little reticent about these individuals. Some of them are a surprisingly racist for volunteering in an African Country. I recall one conversation where one of the volunteers was very concerned that I showed people the movie Transformers. “I don’t know if these people have the critical thinking skills to understand that isn’t real.” No doubt, she was just looking out for their hypothetical wellbeing.
That said, this country has made me act/talk
in ways that I am opposed to, just to blend in. Here is an example:
I went out last night with one of the
guys. After we got to our first stop, he
turned to me and said (in Jula/Bambara) sògó
té. It literally means ‘no meat.’ That’s not exactly the way I would have worded
it. To be fair, I was also up for
something casual, but I refer to woman as humans, not merely flesh for my
enjoyment. But my frenemy is already
suspicious about me because I say that it is not okay to kill people for being
gay. I asked him once if he would kill
me if I were gay. He said no, because he
knows me, but he would definitely cut of my penis in the middle of the night if
I hit on him. Every feminist bone in my
body screams at me as I agree meekly. Oui, pas de bonne viande. “Yeah, no good meat.”
We discovered a place that opened two weeks
ago almost next door to our place. He
grins wider the Cheshire Cat as we walk in.
Apparently one of the meat shortages has ended.
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