September 11, 2012 Letter #1
Hey Mom and
Dad!
So just to start this out I am so sorry for being so terrible about
writing! I have not been good about
writing since I cannot seem to find a good time to do it. It’ll get better—I promise!
I’m sitting in my courtyard with five of my normal kids. Remi is about 7 and the only one I think
that goes to school. He lives right
next door and is the son of the old counterpart (he did all three of the health
volunteers). I’m also sitting with
my dear new baby bunny. I just gave
him some milk. He is so cute but I’m attempting to not get too attached because
I feel like he will die on me.
Right now he has free reign of my kitchen. He doesn’t cause much of a mess but if
he will be around for a while I may need to get him better/more realistic living
quarters. I feel like he will poop
a lot—though I have to clean up gecko poop everyday anyways. Feeding him milk is adorable but a lot
of work. He doesn’t drink out of
the bowl but he likes licking me so I dribble it on the arm—he is starting to
learn the spoon technique thankfully A farmer that I work with/may start
working with who is growing mangoes in his field gave him to me. Mousa (my counterpart) was just as
confused when I got handed a baby bunny instead of a bunny ready to be
eatenl
So Mousa has been great. He
comes to my house around 8 AM every day and we do things between then and noon
and then he is back at 15:00-19:00.
He is really nice and very quiet.
He is getting better about talking and asking me questions but he is
awesome about showing me cool things and introducing me to incredible
people. He is extremely Muslim—his
sisters are pretty much the only ones I’ve seen that wear the all black flowery
garb though luckily they don’t cover their faces. He is the only one of his siblings that
isn’t married and he is the oldest boy—having a hard time understanding
that. He spent about seven years
working on cocoa and cotton plantations.
My favorite line from him so far is when we were talking about the fact
that once a week they play a movie after the marche. I asked him if he ever watched them and
he replied that he used to but doesn’t anymore. I then asked why –because he
doesn’t talk too much—and he said that movies like that make him question too
much and he becomes too much of a rebel.
A rebel?? From watching a
movie once a week? You gotta wonder
. . . We get along well and he is
surely one of the fastest walkers and bikers in the village—which means that we
go just above a snail’s pace when going places.
So each time I do the bike ride up to Silmidougou I shock myself with how
beautiful it is and how uphill it is!
It is fairly flat for the first 3 km out to Mane proper though part of
the road is washed away. The hills
then start and go up a Kili-like slope (maybe a little steeper). When that starts to tire you out is when
the “Mountain of Silmidougou”
appears. I am getting pretty
good about getting up it but it is very steep. It then falls into a valley-esque
village of Silmidougou! It is about
30 minute run from my house to the base of the “mountain” and back. So most of the time I am going past it
and running further!
Well, today is marche day so I should probably go there for a bit. I’m on the search for people I can maybe
do some income generating and basic accounting with!
Hey Mom and
Dad,
So the kids just walked in with a baby bird they stoned to death. Sometimes they really gross me out. They tied a string around its leg so
they can fling it around at people and they are taking off all its feathers and
stuffing them in their ears. Ugh,
kids here are so gross when they want to be. There is one girl that lives with the
dohlo (beer) family who is about 15 years old and I love her. Her name is Saphie and she takes care of
her family’s goats and is the only one at her house who plays with their
adorable puppy. She is going
to school so I am hoping I can get to know her better as her French gets
better.
The bunny is alive and well, though I have decided I’m going to eat him
for Thanksgiving. He should be fat
by then, he poops will be bigger, he will be less cute and there will be fewer
greens for him to eat. Right now
still feeding him by spoon all day long.
He is so cute.
So Moussa and I are going to the pyramids to go t meet up with the banana
man. He wanted more info on how to
make compost since he has been told that compost is a much more effective for
trees than chemical fertilizer. It
is nice to have a convert who just needs to learn how to do something. The book Lisa’s mom gave me is really
useful since Moussa can get brought
up to speed so he can help with the discussions as well! Hopefully it goes well—we will see. I also think that the book showed him
lots of ways that other communities have made changes so it gave him a little
bit of inspiration—which is always good to have!
The bike ride to Kaya is pretty killer. It is 40 km away which is pretty far in
general but the last 10 kim or so is all up hill (same thing on the way back
funnily enough). So I’m definitely
getting tougher by doing it but the first trip almost killed me! I’m going again on Monday so hopefully
this time will be better. The first
time I biked with Zach both ways which meant we were really going fast! Going to go at Katie pace next
time. I think I will be ready for
the Wirth bike trip to Harper’s Ferry when I get back! I’m still excited about this hike you
came up with!! How far is it? How long is it supposed to take? Editor’s note: I think she is talking about the Incan
trail to Macchu PIchu. I’m
still running 40 minutes a day but now that I have the bunny and Moussa comes at
8 AM I’m not sure how I can increase my time. May just try going faster and then time
can be found so I can go on a longer run!
It is nice going running again.
Sadly, unlike both of you when you were PCTs and PCVs, my tolerance has
dropped significantly. I’m telling
myself that it is because I need to
be more hydrated. Hopefully in the
end I will be able to drink more than two beers again! (For those of you who read this and
haven’t lived in Africa, each beer is 22 oz.)
Things have been busy here!
Leaving Zach to drop these off at the Kaya post office! Much love and miss you. I am already excited to have you guys
come see this place!
Hey Mom and
Dad,
I am sitting at one of my two favorite boutiques while waiting for a
storm to come and pass by. Today
has been a “busy” day. I had an
entire two things on my schedule! I
had my APCD (Associate Peace Corps Director) come and check on me. It was great seeing him—he’s a very nice
guy. It’s funny because I’m by the
time you get this letter you will have met APCD George in DC!! He brought me juice that I think I will
open up when Zach drops by Sunday with my new bunnies. He seemed impressed with how I know so
many people in my community and that I am so happy here. I also had a meeign with the “youth
group”. It is all males between
20-35 years old. I was really
nervous about it but I think it went well.
There were a lot of faces in the crowd that I knew so that helped a lot
and people wanted to talk about the goals and projects they want to
do. The only thing that really,
really shocked me from the meeting was the number of youth that work in gold
mines. Most make their own
shafts and work independently. They
are the youth by far with the most money but it is a dangerous job. I’m still trying to figure out what kind
of projects I can do with them. I
think it may be on accounting and saving money so that they can pay for all
those tools and things that they want for their work.
Hey you
guys!
So I just got done with a trip to a former lake/barrage. It is sad to think that a source of
water for the community is gone now and the closest body of water to Silmidougou
proper. Though it has made the land
available to a Peul community that has lived there for ten years—now fixing up
the lake (emptying out the dirt that has filled it up) would mean they would get
relocated, something I’m not
sure is right for the Mossi project.
Everyone talks about how the new barrage is starting to fill up as
well. Talking to Moussa—my
homologue—he seemed surprised at the idea of mitigating the water problems of
the future by starting to empty it now.
It may be a tough thing for the community to think about but I think they
all actually know the consequences of not dealing with it—so they may be willing
to be proactive about the barrage they have now. We will see.
I was just told that my country director will be visiting on
Wednesday! I’m kind of excited
because I love my site but nervous because there are no projects as of right
now. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Well, that’s all for now.
Miss you!
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