I just realized that there have been several things I wrote about -- mysteries, minor crises, etc. -- and then forgot to follow up on. Let me know if I'm missing anything.
- The Mystery of My School Director's Need For Cat Poop: I told a story this past summer about how my director asked that I please give him a bag of "two to three days' worth" of my cat's droppings. I asked him why, and he said it's for...something..." Upon later sneaky research, he still wouldn't tell me. He kept requesting it (every month or so I have to hold Popsicle hostage until he has a bowel movement), and I keep getting more grossed out.
I did finally get him to tell me, though: "It's for a prayer to keep bad spirits away. But don't worry, it's not just the cat's 'caca'. We mix other things in too. And you know that candle you brought us from America? We use that too!". It's a Glade scented candle, which is maybe a good thing.
I'm now trying to get out of being his full-time kitty poop supplier, but so far telling him that it'll take a long time and that it makes my house smell have not worked. Today I tried a new strategy: offering to let him borrow my cat for a week. No go. Turns out he wants nothing to do with the actual animal, and everything to do with the poo. He's the opposite of 7th grade me. Sigh... What do cats eat that contains a lot of fiber?
- The Nigerian Gas Crisis: A month or two ago, Nigeria's government suddenly removed all of the really substantial subsidies they had on gas. Benin's gas is almost entirely from Nigeria (legally or illegally), so gas prices here shot up from 275 a liter to 800 a liter overnight, sometimes even more. Obviously, things got a little crazy: transportation costs were insanely high and inconsistent, anything imported basically doubled in price, and everyone went a little crazy. Several volunteers had to deal with zemidjan drivers who were clearly at the very end of their ropes stress-wise.
Nigerian oil workers, of whom there are lots, went on strike. Nigerians in general started riots and protests. The government decided to backtrack a little.
Now, the subsidies are reinstated. They're slightly less than before (gas is about 400 a liter now), but transport costs are back to normal (don't ask me how that works) and the new plan is to reduce subsidies slowly over a much longer period of time. People in West Africa do not like having their Band-Aids ripped off. We'll just take it nice and slow, thank you very much.
- Teachers' Strike: I can't remember if I blogged about this or just told my parents, so here's some background. Most of the permanent teachers (the tenured ones, kind of) are on strike, including a good chunk of my school profs and almost all of the primary school's. Why? Because of the government, according to them. What my teacher friends have told me is that even though their permanent status is supposed to get them a solid contract with a higher salary, the recently hired permanents were never actually given a contract by the government. No contract means no proof, so they've been getting paid just a fraction of what they say thru should be getting. I've only heard their side, so I have no idea what the other point of view is.
Anyway, so they're mad and they're striking (PCVs do not strike, so I'm still teaching). Entertainingly, they're only striking Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They work Monday and Friday so that they can say they worked that "week". Don't ask me how that makes sense. I haven't heard much about a resolution, and in the meantime the students are missing weeks and weeks of classes, which sucks. They might extend the school year to make up those classes, but they might now, and so far, the strike's got no end in sight.
- Other Things: Library's hit a snag with the book donation organization, but we'll work through it. Carpenter's working on shelves (still) and as soon as I have those I'll start organizing and labeling. I'm healthy (not counting my stomach pets), my girls' club rocks, and the president of Benin, YAYI Boni, is now the president of the Afrocan Union, too.
That's all I've got, folks. Did I miss anything?
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