It has been a few weeks, I know. I almost started this post by apologizing for
not writing, but then I remembered that this is my blog.
Let’s start with depressing news. I might be giving up on baby goats while I am
here. I just can’t seem to find a good
situation to scoop one up and smoosh it.
When I return to the states I will hypocritically do something against
my own moral code. Despite my objections
to zoos in general, I will try to find a petting zoo and go there for baby
goats. I decided this because the
thought of never cuddling a baby goat is more than I can handle. No human should have to live like this.
I thought I would take tonight to update you regarding my
last couple village trips.
My first impression since being back there for work was that
kids are braver. I am in the habit of
handing out candy and random times. My
first trip I had to practically beg kids to take them from me directly. Now they practically trample each other and
me to get to it. This observation seems
to run contradictory to a previous one regarding the fact that kids used to
randomly touch me. Now they don’t. No complaints about that though.
It has been getting dark fast. Or I lose track of time easily. Perhaps, along with an increased density of
grey hairs, I am now fortunate enough to engage in random time loss. I also might have forgotten the date my first
day of one of the trips. Anyways, I am
sort of fond of this new power since the days are hotter and drier and they
will only become more so next month. I
did not bring boots or pants to the village with me this last trip, due to this
heat. I regretted this decision almost
immediately. These flies are the
stubbornest I have ever seen. I am not
sure if they understand what being swatted is supposed to mean.
My previous visit to Karangasso-Vigue entailed random visits
from a very old lady. I was strangely
sad not to see her this time. She used
to just wander into Bakary’s family courtyard and start sort of speaking French. Her French vocabulary consisted the following
words: “bonjour, ça va, oui, merci, beaucoup.”
Sometimes she managed to combine “oui ça va” and “merci beaucoup.” I told her on more than one occasion that she
can greet me in Jula and Viemõ, but she just wanted to say her five French
words at the white person.
Back to the heat. I have
determined that I must get used to the idea of sweating while sleeping. Waking up in a pool of your own sweat is
always pleasant. I slept outside one
night hoping it would be cooler but that was a bad idea. The mornings are very noisy near the center
of KV and the donkeys passing through the courtyard was more vivacious than the
goddamn roosters.
We were unable to accomplish our actual mission for my last
trip. The idea was to attend a marriage
ceremony and dance. Days got swapped
around and the actual celebration didn’t start until midnight on a
weeknight. We wore our regalia we had
specially made for the ceremony while leaving the village because we would have
no other chance to do so. I was able to
start filming brick making process and I have it all. I will film the house construction soon. I already have video of how to make tos and
the gombo sauce.
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| All dressed up but nowhere to go |
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| Bakary and his kiddos |
Let’s see, what else?
I gave Bakary (who never drinks) some rum and he passed out during the
movie 300 (the Frank Miller version).
And I found out that fat pigeons are called “pigeons américains.”
Good to know our reputation is so well known.
