I can't remember if I blogged this, but it makes me laugh every time I think about it, so I'm going to tell it again.
I was riding my bike back from school a few weeks ago, thinking very hard about something and thinking very little about the road ahead of me. This frequently gets me into trouble, as people only use a foot-wide track down the road going both ways (despite its being a normal two-way-sized road), so not paying attention means you run a pretty high risk of collision. Anyway.
I was biking home and not looking ahead of me. In the split second before I ran over it, I saw a white mass, feathers...a chicken. I swerved, nearly falling over, and off to the right I heard a big collective gasp, then a relieved sigh. I looked toward the noise. There, I saw a group of no less than 15 people -- men, women, toddlers, topless grandmas -- all sitting there, watching this dead chicken. This was their afternoon activity. They were sitting on a log, just hanging out and waiting for someone to run over an already run-over bird. Better than TV.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Legend of the Retracting Penis
Last week I was sitting at a table at school with the vice principal and a bunch of other profs. The vice principal had a story on his mind. He had recently heard, from the friend of a friend, about a really, really mean man.
Why was he mean? "This man got mad at another man, and he did some gri gri (voodoo magic) against him. The mean man told the other man the next day that he'd better not touch his wife or something bad would happen.
"The second man (against whom the first had done gri gri) slept with his wife -- how could he possibly help himself? The next day, the second man was with some friends when all of a sudden, he started sweating. Then he started shaking violently, and suddenly his penis got harder than it'd ever been in his life. Slowly, painfully, it started shrinking, shrinking, shrinking, until finally it turned inside out and retracted all the way into his body. And you know when that happens, you die."
The best part of hearing the story wasn't even the story itself, though I feel that this is a pretty excellent example of a voodoo story. No, the best part of this story was the fact that absolutely no one doubted the possibility or verity of the events recounted. Instead, we then spent half an hour discussing how someone could be so incredibly mean and twisted as to forbid someone to sleep with his own wife, when we all know that life without sex leads to death. What man could deny another a functional penis? Who could be so...evil?
Why was he mean? "This man got mad at another man, and he did some gri gri (voodoo magic) against him. The mean man told the other man the next day that he'd better not touch his wife or something bad would happen.
"The second man (against whom the first had done gri gri) slept with his wife -- how could he possibly help himself? The next day, the second man was with some friends when all of a sudden, he started sweating. Then he started shaking violently, and suddenly his penis got harder than it'd ever been in his life. Slowly, painfully, it started shrinking, shrinking, shrinking, until finally it turned inside out and retracted all the way into his body. And you know when that happens, you die."
The best part of hearing the story wasn't even the story itself, though I feel that this is a pretty excellent example of a voodoo story. No, the best part of this story was the fact that absolutely no one doubted the possibility or verity of the events recounted. Instead, we then spent half an hour discussing how someone could be so incredibly mean and twisted as to forbid someone to sleep with his own wife, when we all know that life without sex leads to death. What man could deny another a functional penis? Who could be so...evil?
Updates 4.4-4.9
- Librarian Interviews. I started interviewing our two candidates for librarian this week. Exciting, but surprisingly political -- two profs I know well and like each suggested someone. One candidate is a man who has an education level way above what we can pay for, but he said he still wants the job. Seems nice, didn't call me cherie, etc. My main worry with him is that he secretly hopes/expects the pay to be higher, despite my telling him it'll 100% stay the way it is. And/or he would leavr next year if he found something better. Also, he clearly doesn't read for fun, but...not many people do here.
The other one, a girl about my age, I met a few nights ago. She's the sister of a prof, is married, and finished the first part of high school, which is the education level we're able to pay for. She's nice and seemed excited about working with kids. Worries with her are that she was super shy when I met her... Might just be her meeting a blanche for the first time, but if it's not, I'm not sure she'll be able to stand up to pushy profs and administrators who might want to break the rules. Will keep you posted.
- What Happened to Pierrette? Something's off. I started bringing volunteers to see her (she's my seamstress) about a month ago, and now...I think she's kind of forgotten what our relationship is like. She essentially forced me to buy tissu for a fete (party/commemoration) didn't really want to go to, sewed it into a little above-the-knee dress and got annoyed when I insisted on wearing leggings, and then tried to get me to leave my visiting friend at home while I went to the fete without her. Why? Because the friend wasn't wearing the same tissu. Seriously? She's been bossy and demanding, and is kind of treating me like a yovo doll instead of a friend lately. Frustrating. I'm going to slow up on bringing her stuff for a while, and also not bring more volunteers for a bit. Maybe she just got American-ed out.
- But Really, Life's Good. Besides my various stressors, things are going well. I've been working a bajillion extra hours a week to get the books labeled and ready, and I'm now shooting for mid May to open. Earlier if I can get the librarian trained fast enough. Village friends are doing well, and one just had a new baby boy! African babies come out surprisingly light-skinned, so I got to make the joke where I call the baby my yovo friend... Constantly amusing to everyone involved. No girls' club this week because of exams, so we start back up when I start teaching again after our really stupid two-week break. Yes, time off to travel will be nice, but do we really need to take more time off of class to relax? I've taught six and a half weeks since the beginning of January. That's stupid.
- Spring Breaaaaaaak! Vicky, Bridget and I are heading up to Kandi (way northeast) to celebrate the opening of the new workstation up there. It will be a much-needed break from my projects. I need to breathe and bond with friends.
- Addendum to Last Point (Added the Following Day): Spring break is cancelled! I'm going to fast forward through the details, but basically the government cancelled the break because of the strike, so now we're supposed to teach all of April. Because as volunteers we taught during the strike (which started in January) and this is the second-year PCVs' last chance for vacation*, Peace Corps decided to let us take a week off anyway, which is remarkably cool of them. This is actually kind of the best case scenario for me: a week more to cram grammar rules into my kids' skulls and work on library stuff, PLUS a very necessary break from all of those things. And in perfect time to celebrate my birthday!
*PC rules stipulate that you can't take vacation in the first three months or last three months of service. For me, that means no more vacation after May.
- Bonne Fete! I did Easter in village again this year, which was a good choice. The actual day of Easter not much happens, but the next day is a multi-village Catholic celebration called Galilee. We went to church (again, and this one was four hours long), danced up to the front to give offering, ate spicy rice with spaghetti noodles on top, and then watched groups of students do dances and skits. When one of them is doing a good job, you can walk up and stick a coin to their forehead as a compliment. Normally they'd keep it, but this time it went to the church, kind of like a fourth, talent-inspired offering.
My student/friend Gerardine was dancing well, so I did this. Then another friend Ade (pregnant, my age) made me stay up on stage and dance in front of everyone. Embarrassing (I don't have even a semblance of rhythm next to most of them, and about 20 of my students were in the audience) but still fun. Everyone went wild when I attempted the shimmy-booty pop combo that's big around here... When else am I going to dance uninhibitedly in front of 400 people who think I'm great just for trying? Never, that's when. Also, to my future children: prepare yourselves. I'm saving embarrassing dance moves just for you.
The other one, a girl about my age, I met a few nights ago. She's the sister of a prof, is married, and finished the first part of high school, which is the education level we're able to pay for. She's nice and seemed excited about working with kids. Worries with her are that she was super shy when I met her... Might just be her meeting a blanche for the first time, but if it's not, I'm not sure she'll be able to stand up to pushy profs and administrators who might want to break the rules. Will keep you posted.
- What Happened to Pierrette? Something's off. I started bringing volunteers to see her (she's my seamstress) about a month ago, and now...I think she's kind of forgotten what our relationship is like. She essentially forced me to buy tissu for a fete (party/commemoration) didn't really want to go to, sewed it into a little above-the-knee dress and got annoyed when I insisted on wearing leggings, and then tried to get me to leave my visiting friend at home while I went to the fete without her. Why? Because the friend wasn't wearing the same tissu. Seriously? She's been bossy and demanding, and is kind of treating me like a yovo doll instead of a friend lately. Frustrating. I'm going to slow up on bringing her stuff for a while, and also not bring more volunteers for a bit. Maybe she just got American-ed out.
- But Really, Life's Good. Besides my various stressors, things are going well. I've been working a bajillion extra hours a week to get the books labeled and ready, and I'm now shooting for mid May to open. Earlier if I can get the librarian trained fast enough. Village friends are doing well, and one just had a new baby boy! African babies come out surprisingly light-skinned, so I got to make the joke where I call the baby my yovo friend... Constantly amusing to everyone involved. No girls' club this week because of exams, so we start back up when I start teaching again after our really stupid two-week break. Yes, time off to travel will be nice, but do we really need to take more time off of class to relax? I've taught six and a half weeks since the beginning of January. That's stupid.
- Spring Breaaaaaaak! Vicky, Bridget and I are heading up to Kandi (way northeast) to celebrate the opening of the new workstation up there. It will be a much-needed break from my projects. I need to breathe and bond with friends.
- Addendum to Last Point (Added the Following Day): Spring break is cancelled! I'm going to fast forward through the details, but basically the government cancelled the break because of the strike, so now we're supposed to teach all of April. Because as volunteers we taught during the strike (which started in January) and this is the second-year PCVs' last chance for vacation*, Peace Corps decided to let us take a week off anyway, which is remarkably cool of them. This is actually kind of the best case scenario for me: a week more to cram grammar rules into my kids' skulls and work on library stuff, PLUS a very necessary break from all of those things. And in perfect time to celebrate my birthday!
*PC rules stipulate that you can't take vacation in the first three months or last three months of service. For me, that means no more vacation after May.
- Bonne Fete! I did Easter in village again this year, which was a good choice. The actual day of Easter not much happens, but the next day is a multi-village Catholic celebration called Galilee. We went to church (again, and this one was four hours long), danced up to the front to give offering, ate spicy rice with spaghetti noodles on top, and then watched groups of students do dances and skits. When one of them is doing a good job, you can walk up and stick a coin to their forehead as a compliment. Normally they'd keep it, but this time it went to the church, kind of like a fourth, talent-inspired offering.
My student/friend Gerardine was dancing well, so I did this. Then another friend Ade (pregnant, my age) made me stay up on stage and dance in front of everyone. Embarrassing (I don't have even a semblance of rhythm next to most of them, and about 20 of my students were in the audience) but still fun. Everyone went wild when I attempted the shimmy-booty pop combo that's big around here... When else am I going to dance uninhibitedly in front of 400 people who think I'm great just for trying? Never, that's when. Also, to my future children: prepare yourselves. I'm saving embarrassing dance moves just for you.
Updates 3.28-4.3
- Stop Post: May. I'm not sure why, but the mail system here seems to have gotten way worse as of this calendar year- there are at least two packages that have been in the mail since January and still aren't here (that's 3 whole months). As such, I'm issuing my Stop Sending Me Presents announcement for the beginning of May. After May 1st, don't send me packages anymore, because I'm not positive I'd get them before leaving. Letters will still be fine though, and much appreciated! :)
- Visitors Galore. In this past week, I've had three visitors. Two of them came because they were bored of Cotonou and/or had nothing to do at post until Monday, and then Vicky came to do a condom demonstration for girls' club (more on that in a sec). It's so much fun to show off your village to people, to kind of see it through their eyes. It makes me proud when I can walk from one end of village to the other and every baby and every group of mamans, knows my name and waves at me.* And when men driving by on motos now call me "Madame" and smile instead of leering and yelling "Mademoiselle, cherie!" or "La Blanche!".
Those are changes that I've made, just by being here and being patient, and by explaining nicely what I want from village friends. It's fun to show off projects, too -- the world map is always an attention-getter -- but the things I'm happiest to show fellow volunteers are the social interactions that I'm lucky enough to have. I am, at least to some extent, an accepted part of my village, and I'm so proud of that.
- FANtastic. Pun...sorry. My fan works! One of my visitors, Andrea, started tinkering with my fan, and now it kinda works! I have to stand in front of it and manually spin the wing things for 5-10 minutes before the motor kicks in, but still. Yay! Fan! Also, it rained twice this week, which seems promising (and cooler).
- Condoms, Condoms, Condoms! In continuing with my sex ed theme in girls' club, I brought my friend Victoria in to talk about safe sex and how to use condoms correctly. In America, I'm really against abstinence-only education, and even though I think pushing abstinence makes more sense here to some extent: in this culture and with their age level, it's really tough for me to believe that most girls are making an informed, uncoerced decision to become sexually active, whereas in America, most 7th grade girls are dating peers, not 32-year-olds or teachers.
That said, I still think it's super important to teach how to have sex safely, because some of them are going to decide to give it a go. I don't want any of my girls to be the next pregnant drop-out. Melanie was heartbreaking, and if it was a girls' club girl... Anyway.
So Victoria came and talked about why condoms are a good choice, and then she pulled out a wooden phallus and showed them how they work. Last year, the girls were timid and didn't want to even watch, but this year, everyone grabbed a condom and followed along -- so awesome. They volunteered to do the demo themselves and cheered when their fellow girls got it right...we made such a commotion that Vicky ended up doing a second talk for a group of 4eme girls that overheard and really wanted to learn how condoms should be used. We also did myth busting to start the girls thinking about how to argue when their boyfriend tells them that condoms break (they don't use them correctly), or they're too small (we stretched them over our arms to disprove that fact, and the girls thought that was hilarious).
Overall, a very positive and informative meeting, and a huge thanks to Vicky. Next club (after our 2-week spring break): negotiating techniques for saying no or not now to sex. Stay tuned!
- Time for Classes? Devoirs are this week, so we don't teach. The next week starts our 2 week spring break. I will teach one week in April, two in May, and one in June. Ridiculous.
- Director REALLY Wants Cat Poop. But cat now basically refuses to poop inside (thank god, it smells) since he's outside most of the time. Once I locked him inside for 3 days and he STILL didn't poop. I hate locking him in because the house starts smelling like his pee, but the director keeps demanding his poo and sending other profs to do the same. I keep telling him that he can borrow my cat for a week, but he refuses. Why do I have to do the smelly work? He should just buy a cat already. I guess I'll just have to tie poor Popsicle up outside... :(
*Once this week, though, I was walking with a visitor when one of the village folles ("crazies", not my term) walked up, wrapped her arm around me, and started babbling in Gun about money. She wanted it. I shook her off, but she (topless, of course) followed us for the whole length of the village (like 2k) pretending to understand our conversation, laughing when we laughed, and continuing to ask for money: "Give me 100 francs. Or give me a million francs." You know, whichever I preferred. She'd stop when we stopped, pulling up a chair when we stopped to buy bread. Everyone thought it was hilarious -- the folle following the yovo! -- and would try to help us, but she wouldn't leave. Finally a teenage girl chased her off with a broom... Oh my. My life. On the upside, that's definitely a story, and my visitor was a great sport. :)
- Visitors Galore. In this past week, I've had three visitors. Two of them came because they were bored of Cotonou and/or had nothing to do at post until Monday, and then Vicky came to do a condom demonstration for girls' club (more on that in a sec). It's so much fun to show off your village to people, to kind of see it through their eyes. It makes me proud when I can walk from one end of village to the other and every baby and every group of mamans, knows my name and waves at me.* And when men driving by on motos now call me "Madame" and smile instead of leering and yelling "Mademoiselle, cherie!" or "La Blanche!".
Those are changes that I've made, just by being here and being patient, and by explaining nicely what I want from village friends. It's fun to show off projects, too -- the world map is always an attention-getter -- but the things I'm happiest to show fellow volunteers are the social interactions that I'm lucky enough to have. I am, at least to some extent, an accepted part of my village, and I'm so proud of that.
- FANtastic. Pun...sorry. My fan works! One of my visitors, Andrea, started tinkering with my fan, and now it kinda works! I have to stand in front of it and manually spin the wing things for 5-10 minutes before the motor kicks in, but still. Yay! Fan! Also, it rained twice this week, which seems promising (and cooler).
- Condoms, Condoms, Condoms! In continuing with my sex ed theme in girls' club, I brought my friend Victoria in to talk about safe sex and how to use condoms correctly. In America, I'm really against abstinence-only education, and even though I think pushing abstinence makes more sense here to some extent: in this culture and with their age level, it's really tough for me to believe that most girls are making an informed, uncoerced decision to become sexually active, whereas in America, most 7th grade girls are dating peers, not 32-year-olds or teachers.
That said, I still think it's super important to teach how to have sex safely, because some of them are going to decide to give it a go. I don't want any of my girls to be the next pregnant drop-out. Melanie was heartbreaking, and if it was a girls' club girl... Anyway.
So Victoria came and talked about why condoms are a good choice, and then she pulled out a wooden phallus and showed them how they work. Last year, the girls were timid and didn't want to even watch, but this year, everyone grabbed a condom and followed along -- so awesome. They volunteered to do the demo themselves and cheered when their fellow girls got it right...we made such a commotion that Vicky ended up doing a second talk for a group of 4eme girls that overheard and really wanted to learn how condoms should be used. We also did myth busting to start the girls thinking about how to argue when their boyfriend tells them that condoms break (they don't use them correctly), or they're too small (we stretched them over our arms to disprove that fact, and the girls thought that was hilarious).
Overall, a very positive and informative meeting, and a huge thanks to Vicky. Next club (after our 2-week spring break): negotiating techniques for saying no or not now to sex. Stay tuned!
- Time for Classes? Devoirs are this week, so we don't teach. The next week starts our 2 week spring break. I will teach one week in April, two in May, and one in June. Ridiculous.
- Director REALLY Wants Cat Poop. But cat now basically refuses to poop inside (thank god, it smells) since he's outside most of the time. Once I locked him inside for 3 days and he STILL didn't poop. I hate locking him in because the house starts smelling like his pee, but the director keeps demanding his poo and sending other profs to do the same. I keep telling him that he can borrow my cat for a week, but he refuses. Why do I have to do the smelly work? He should just buy a cat already. I guess I'll just have to tie poor Popsicle up outside... :(
*Once this week, though, I was walking with a visitor when one of the village folles ("crazies", not my term) walked up, wrapped her arm around me, and started babbling in Gun about money. She wanted it. I shook her off, but she (topless, of course) followed us for the whole length of the village (like 2k) pretending to understand our conversation, laughing when we laughed, and continuing to ask for money: "Give me 100 francs. Or give me a million francs." You know, whichever I preferred. She'd stop when we stopped, pulling up a chair when we stopped to buy bread. Everyone thought it was hilarious -- the folle following the yovo! -- and would try to help us, but she wouldn't leave. Finally a teenage girl chased her off with a broom... Oh my. My life. On the upside, that's definitely a story, and my visitor was a great sport. :)
Updates 3.24-3.27
- I just had a really great day. I'm not even sure what was so great about it... I bought library things in Porto-Novo, saw Victoria for coffee, labeled books in the library, tutored a girl... I think it was just one of those days when everyone I saw smiled and said hi, calling me "Sister" or "Madame" or "Melissa" (or "Amalissia") instead of "yovo." Those smiles and familiarity mean a lot.
- Sex Ed, Continued. The local midwife (medically trained, very respected) came to girls' club and talked about sex: the necessary terminology and definition, and the consequences. Some of the things she said were a little unusual (like, "Having sex early or too often will made you ugly and old very fast."), but in general the information was solid and much clearer than I would have managed. Plus I got to ask leading questions, which let me stay in control of the direction of the talk.
Next week, Victoria (my good friend and nearby health volunteer) is coming to explain contraception and how to CORRECTLY use a condom. I, for the record, think abstinence-only education is stupid* (ahem, Texas...).
- Working Butt Off = Refreshing. This last week or so I've been spending every available minute working in the library. I've had a pretty great last week or so, so I'm thinking maybe my busy-ness is related. Being productive is so awesome! I feel useful! Yaaay!
- Stamp Crazy. The director is giving me lots of the books that have been locked in his office for years, and i'm thrilled about that -- it's over 400 important, very useful resources. The school's administration is very, very focused on making it clear that those books belong to/were given by them, and as a result they're marking them as their territory pretty... Uh... Obsessively? They want each book to be stamped essentially in every blank space in the entire book (to discourage theft, I think). Guess who gets to do that work? Yes, I get to stamp the books around 10 times per book. Because they couldn't find anyone else to pee on their fire hydrants for them. Ahem, I mean, stamp their books. I do appreciate having work, but this just seems unnecessary. If it's so important, pee on your own books, people!
*Besides, you know, being incredibly ineffective in reducing teen pregnancy and STIs.
- Sex Ed, Continued. The local midwife (medically trained, very respected) came to girls' club and talked about sex: the necessary terminology and definition, and the consequences. Some of the things she said were a little unusual (like, "Having sex early or too often will made you ugly and old very fast."), but in general the information was solid and much clearer than I would have managed. Plus I got to ask leading questions, which let me stay in control of the direction of the talk.
Next week, Victoria (my good friend and nearby health volunteer) is coming to explain contraception and how to CORRECTLY use a condom. I, for the record, think abstinence-only education is stupid* (ahem, Texas...).
- Working Butt Off = Refreshing. This last week or so I've been spending every available minute working in the library. I've had a pretty great last week or so, so I'm thinking maybe my busy-ness is related. Being productive is so awesome! I feel useful! Yaaay!
- Stamp Crazy. The director is giving me lots of the books that have been locked in his office for years, and i'm thrilled about that -- it's over 400 important, very useful resources. The school's administration is very, very focused on making it clear that those books belong to/were given by them, and as a result they're marking them as their territory pretty... Uh... Obsessively? They want each book to be stamped essentially in every blank space in the entire book (to discourage theft, I think). Guess who gets to do that work? Yes, I get to stamp the books around 10 times per book. Because they couldn't find anyone else to pee on their fire hydrants for them. Ahem, I mean, stamp their books. I do appreciate having work, but this just seems unnecessary. If it's so important, pee on your own books, people!
*Besides, you know, being incredibly ineffective in reducing teen pregnancy and STIs.
Updates: 3.19-3.23
- Mali Shuts Down. So remember how last post I was really upset about not being able to go to Mali in April? Well, turns out I probably wouldn't be able to go anyway: they're currently having a coup, so the country's a no-no for all PCVs the world over. Sigh. Maybe in August...
- Boss Meets Egoun. My Peace Corps boss Taibatou came to visit me/my director in village to talk about me getting replaced by another volunteer when I leave (gah!). My director, polite and impressed by my (strong, well-dressed, polite but outspoken, kind of awesome female African) boss, takes us to a buvette for a soft drink. As we order who walks in? Egoun.
That's right, Egoun, the probably always drunk, dancing, goofy voodoo fetish. He immediately starts yelling, in his Louis Armstrong voice, for a large beer. No one is sure how he would drink said beer, as his face is covered with what looks like a sequined, embroidered ski cap, but he really wants it. The director laughs and ignores him, Taibatou is silently focusing on her soft drink, and I feel awkward.
I'll fast forward through the next ten minutes of Egoun calling for beers, singing the yovo song (incorrectly, somehow), and demanding money while we all sit there awkwardly. Eventually the director paid him off (just a little tip, really) and he left. Taibatou's response: "Egoun used to be sacred. Now, he's just a joke." Ooh, Egoun, buuuurn.
- Library: We have books! More, I mean! Gabriel and I finally went and bought books in the Porto-Novo marche (picture me sitting quietly with a bag full of money, Gabriel arguing like a champion for good prices, and no less than 8 different men and women crowding frantically around us with their offerings). This process took 3.5 hours and still isn't done. The very next day, I went to the director's office and discovered that he's decided to give the library a whole bunch of books that I guess he had kind of hidden in his office...including many of the ones I'd just bought. Oh well, we'll just have lots of those important ones. I'm really excited- it looks great so far! Now, labeling and librarian. Will keep you updated.
- SO HOT. Ladies and gents, it is hot-and-humid-as-hell season. It is so hot that I start sweating within 4 minutes of a cold shower, wake up in a pool of transpiration, and have at least 3 people a day say to me, "Wow, you're really sweating. I guess it's not this hot where you're from, huh?" I, like everyone in my village, have heat rash, except mine is even on my scalp. No one can sleep, except for me when I take Tylenol PM. (Yes, I know that's probably unhealthy.) I hate my fan for breaking, and I'm praying for the end of April, when the rainy season will come.
- Welcome. Every time I take my backup phone to school with me, I get a "Welcome to Nigeria" message. Hah.
- School Update: The professors are all now showing up to school, but several are JUST showing up. They go to class and sit there, or take a nap, or talk on the phone. It's just a few of them, but until they start again, the government's not announcing the new end of the school year. Most people think it'll be done by the end of June/early July (meaning we wouldn't have to change camp dates), but no guarantees yet.
What is certain is that on that official last day of school, the second I am done teaching, I'm buying myself a large, icy cold beer. Celebration of survival.
- Ears of Corn. In marche success stories, I found a pair of earrings in my local market for 50 francs (10 cents). They're are tiny golden ears of corn! On my ears! So clever!
- Need New Music. Anyone? Anyone?
- Boss Meets Egoun. My Peace Corps boss Taibatou came to visit me/my director in village to talk about me getting replaced by another volunteer when I leave (gah!). My director, polite and impressed by my (strong, well-dressed, polite but outspoken, kind of awesome female African) boss, takes us to a buvette for a soft drink. As we order who walks in? Egoun.
That's right, Egoun, the probably always drunk, dancing, goofy voodoo fetish. He immediately starts yelling, in his Louis Armstrong voice, for a large beer. No one is sure how he would drink said beer, as his face is covered with what looks like a sequined, embroidered ski cap, but he really wants it. The director laughs and ignores him, Taibatou is silently focusing on her soft drink, and I feel awkward.
I'll fast forward through the next ten minutes of Egoun calling for beers, singing the yovo song (incorrectly, somehow), and demanding money while we all sit there awkwardly. Eventually the director paid him off (just a little tip, really) and he left. Taibatou's response: "Egoun used to be sacred. Now, he's just a joke." Ooh, Egoun, buuuurn.
- Library: We have books! More, I mean! Gabriel and I finally went and bought books in the Porto-Novo marche (picture me sitting quietly with a bag full of money, Gabriel arguing like a champion for good prices, and no less than 8 different men and women crowding frantically around us with their offerings). This process took 3.5 hours and still isn't done. The very next day, I went to the director's office and discovered that he's decided to give the library a whole bunch of books that I guess he had kind of hidden in his office...including many of the ones I'd just bought. Oh well, we'll just have lots of those important ones. I'm really excited- it looks great so far! Now, labeling and librarian. Will keep you updated.
- SO HOT. Ladies and gents, it is hot-and-humid-as-hell season. It is so hot that I start sweating within 4 minutes of a cold shower, wake up in a pool of transpiration, and have at least 3 people a day say to me, "Wow, you're really sweating. I guess it's not this hot where you're from, huh?" I, like everyone in my village, have heat rash, except mine is even on my scalp. No one can sleep, except for me when I take Tylenol PM. (Yes, I know that's probably unhealthy.) I hate my fan for breaking, and I'm praying for the end of April, when the rainy season will come.
- Welcome. Every time I take my backup phone to school with me, I get a "Welcome to Nigeria" message. Hah.
- School Update: The professors are all now showing up to school, but several are JUST showing up. They go to class and sit there, or take a nap, or talk on the phone. It's just a few of them, but until they start again, the government's not announcing the new end of the school year. Most people think it'll be done by the end of June/early July (meaning we wouldn't have to change camp dates), but no guarantees yet.
What is certain is that on that official last day of school, the second I am done teaching, I'm buying myself a large, icy cold beer. Celebration of survival.
- Ears of Corn. In marche success stories, I found a pair of earrings in my local market for 50 francs (10 cents). They're are tiny golden ears of corn! On my ears! So clever!
- Need New Music. Anyone? Anyone?
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Mali Trip: No Go
A little down today because I think I'm not going to be able to go to Dogon Country in Mali, which is one of those trips that everyone says is the best they've taken in West Africa. :( Two friends and I have been planning for months to go, but because of project timelines and money issues, they're not going to be able to go with me.
Just found out last night, and since we'd have to turn in vacation forms next week and start on visas really soon, I'm now not sure if I'll be able to go at all... it's not a good idea for a woman to travel up north by herself. Sad face. Throwing some hail mary emails all over the place, but unless I find a volunteer with a lot of saved-up cash and vacation days, I don't think it's going to happen.
So a little bummed. But at least I have something to do (school!) this week, right?
Just found out last night, and since we'd have to turn in vacation forms next week and start on visas really soon, I'm now not sure if I'll be able to go at all... it's not a good idea for a woman to travel up north by herself. Sad face. Throwing some hail mary emails all over the place, but unless I find a volunteer with a lot of saved-up cash and vacation days, I don't think it's going to happen.
So a little bummed. But at least I have something to do (school!) this week, right?
Friday, March 16, 2012
Updates: 3.12-3.16 (Boredom, the Strike, and Egoun!)
- Frustrée (adjective): frustrated. I learned this word on Monday. Why? Because I had to explain why I was pissed when I got kicked out of school FOR THE THIRD TIME.
I called two people the night before class to ask if I should teach. They said to go and see if other profs were teaching. I went. Two teachers were working. I taught my very rowdy, unfocused students. I went to say hello to my administration...who admonished me for teaching on a strike day. Ugh! I am trying SO hard to do whatever I'm supposed to be doing. I'd teach, I'd stay at home, whatever. Could somebody PLEASE just TELL me what to do???
- Reading Rampage: In related news, I'm working on my 5th book in the past week and a half. 100th book, here I come.
- Mangoes are now the size of tennis balls! Just thought you should know.
- Ahhhhh! I woke up early Tuesday morning and grabbed my pagne to take a shower. Out of it launched this black thing that scuttled across my floor and under my dresser. I then realized that I'd been screaming, loudly and in an unladylike way, for 30 seconds straight. My poor neighbors. There was a chase and a cat, and when it all came down to it, Popsicle got some fresh mouse meat. Uh oh. Where there's one mouse, there's an exponentially reproducing family of them. Will be spending some time blocking up holes in my ceiling very soon.
- The President Issues an Ultimatum (Tuesday): According to a snippet of news I saw on a television this morning, YAYI Boni said that if the strike's not over in 72 hours, he's going to call an année blanchee (blank year), which has apparently already happened in several surrounding countries. Your move, teachers.
- Strike Struck Down (Thursday). As of this evening, it's official: the strike is over, and the President has won. I'm not a huge fan of that news, given that a large number of my friends are professors, but hey, it is what it is.
Everyone will be back in school on Monday, and the people not there won't get paid for any work after January. It's good that we're going to be back in class, I think (much better than calling a blank year), and I'm excited to get back to girls' club finally. Plus, library stuff will be SO much easier if there are students present to haul books around for me. :)
- Egoun on the Town. Egoun is a voodoo fetish, or spirit, and he's one of the least scary and most fun. My village, apparently, has an occasional Egoun "festival" wherein the fetish comes out and just kind of walks around and sings and talks to people in a hilarious Louis Armstrong on helium voice.
He's dressed in what appears to be a very large, multiple-piece, beautifully embroidered blanket, is noticeably stumble-y (I'm guessing lots of sodabi is involved), and does absolutely nothing threatening. Occasionally he asks people for money, but he wasn't mad when I didn't give him any. Actually, he started talking in Nigerian "small small" English, and giggled (in the Louis Armstrong voice) when I complimented him on his mighty command of languages.
Voodoo, despite oro and bad gris-gris (magic) and all of Hollywood's interpretations, is pretty cool as a religion, and can be hilarious to be around. Egoun, you get my thumbs up.
I called two people the night before class to ask if I should teach. They said to go and see if other profs were teaching. I went. Two teachers were working. I taught my very rowdy, unfocused students. I went to say hello to my administration...who admonished me for teaching on a strike day. Ugh! I am trying SO hard to do whatever I'm supposed to be doing. I'd teach, I'd stay at home, whatever. Could somebody PLEASE just TELL me what to do???
- Reading Rampage: In related news, I'm working on my 5th book in the past week and a half. 100th book, here I come.
- Mangoes are now the size of tennis balls! Just thought you should know.
- Ahhhhh! I woke up early Tuesday morning and grabbed my pagne to take a shower. Out of it launched this black thing that scuttled across my floor and under my dresser. I then realized that I'd been screaming, loudly and in an unladylike way, for 30 seconds straight. My poor neighbors. There was a chase and a cat, and when it all came down to it, Popsicle got some fresh mouse meat. Uh oh. Where there's one mouse, there's an exponentially reproducing family of them. Will be spending some time blocking up holes in my ceiling very soon.
- The President Issues an Ultimatum (Tuesday): According to a snippet of news I saw on a television this morning, YAYI Boni said that if the strike's not over in 72 hours, he's going to call an année blanchee (blank year), which has apparently already happened in several surrounding countries. Your move, teachers.
- Strike Struck Down (Thursday). As of this evening, it's official: the strike is over, and the President has won. I'm not a huge fan of that news, given that a large number of my friends are professors, but hey, it is what it is.
Everyone will be back in school on Monday, and the people not there won't get paid for any work after January. It's good that we're going to be back in class, I think (much better than calling a blank year), and I'm excited to get back to girls' club finally. Plus, library stuff will be SO much easier if there are students present to haul books around for me. :)
- Egoun on the Town. Egoun is a voodoo fetish, or spirit, and he's one of the least scary and most fun. My village, apparently, has an occasional Egoun "festival" wherein the fetish comes out and just kind of walks around and sings and talks to people in a hilarious Louis Armstrong on helium voice.
He's dressed in what appears to be a very large, multiple-piece, beautifully embroidered blanket, is noticeably stumble-y (I'm guessing lots of sodabi is involved), and does absolutely nothing threatening. Occasionally he asks people for money, but he wasn't mad when I didn't give him any. Actually, he started talking in Nigerian "small small" English, and giggled (in the Louis Armstrong voice) when I complimented him on his mighty command of languages.
Voodoo, despite oro and bad gris-gris (magic) and all of Hollywood's interpretations, is pretty cool as a religion, and can be hilarious to be around. Egoun, you get my thumbs up.
Updates 3.2-3.10
- Still On Strike. I tried to go to school twice this week (mini-vent: NO ONE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON OR CAN TELL ME WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO). Once I was asked a billion times why I was late and then told I probably shouldn't teach anyway. Wednesday I went to school, taught a third of my class for 30 minutes, then was kicked out again. The school's now really closed (the three rooms with doors are locked), so I've been sitting at home trying to keep busy. Mainly I've been staring at the walls/the street a lot.
- Fun Summertime Game: Ant, Sweat or Hair? You feel something tickling the back of your arm. Quick: is it an ant, a drop of sweat, or a loose hair? You can usually figure it out if you pause for a second and see if it's moving, but that's cheating. Gut instinct, go!
- Library Plan B. The French NGO has taken way too long in assessing our application, and the don't even seem close to getting books together. This has to be done by the end of the school year, so we're moving on to our backup plan: buy books in Benin! Hopefully secondhand. A little tricky because pricing changes depending on who's haggling, but we'll figure it out.
- International Women's Day! I got to go to my friend Victoria's village on Saturday to help out with her Int'l Women's Day event- she is such an amazing organizer. There was a girls-only 5k race, which is unheard of here. They LOVED it -- they each got a race-day t-shirt and a pink headband, and they had a lot of fun with the competition. There was prize money for the winner ($20!), and then local students and nurses did presentations on nutrition, malaria, and family planning. It was such a fun day, and seeing all of the other volunteers who came to help was fun, too.
- Fun Summertime Game: Ant, Sweat or Hair? You feel something tickling the back of your arm. Quick: is it an ant, a drop of sweat, or a loose hair? You can usually figure it out if you pause for a second and see if it's moving, but that's cheating. Gut instinct, go!
- Library Plan B. The French NGO has taken way too long in assessing our application, and the don't even seem close to getting books together. This has to be done by the end of the school year, so we're moving on to our backup plan: buy books in Benin! Hopefully secondhand. A little tricky because pricing changes depending on who's haggling, but we'll figure it out.
- International Women's Day! I got to go to my friend Victoria's village on Saturday to help out with her Int'l Women's Day event- she is such an amazing organizer. There was a girls-only 5k race, which is unheard of here. They LOVED it -- they each got a race-day t-shirt and a pink headband, and they had a lot of fun with the competition. There was prize money for the winner ($20!), and then local students and nurses did presentations on nutrition, malaria, and family planning. It was such a fun day, and seeing all of the other volunteers who came to help was fun, too.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Rollercoaster Week: 2.29.12
Updates from Daagbe: 2.28.12
- Teacher's Strike Continues. The permanent professors are still on strike and seem to plan to stay that way for a while. Figured out more of the reason: according to my fellow English profs, the president raised the salaries of all civil servants, except for the teachers (who also work for the government). They're mad, and the president doesn't want to give in because he raised their salaries a few years ago.
Whatever. The more immediate problem for me is what's going to happen to the kids and the school year. If the strike keeps going a long time, the government and/or UNESCO might declare an "année blanchee" -- a blank year, meaning that this whole year would be erased and they'd start again next year. That would royally suck, nor only because all of my teaching work this year would be void, but also because projects would get way harder to finish. Girls might have trouble coming to girl's club if they're not already at the school, and getting into the library would be tougher (but still doable, and I am getting that thing done by June).
Luckily, most profs I talk to think we still have time to resolve the strike before that (cross your fingers). We have lost a LOT of school, so they might extend the school year a few weeks or a month, especially since now the permanent profs have decided to work only Mondays (before it was Mon and Fri). That would mess with project/camp dates maybe, but hopefully not too much.
So that's the state of the strike at the moment. Sucks for the kids, especially since the school year (once you take out exam weeks, days off and breaks) is about 6 months long to begin with. Throw in several months of striking and... Yeah, it is kind of a blank year.
- Other Bad News. One of my students, a smiley 13- or 14-year-old girl named Melanie, dropped out of school over the last week and a half. She's pregnant and, according to her classmates, now living at her husband's house. Husband. Heartbreaking. My amazing professor friend Florence told me she plans to go to the house to try to convince her to come back to school at least until the baby's born, but that's not terribly likely... Often the husband doesn't allow the girl to go back (because she'll think too much and become too "emancipated"), or the parents won't let her because it wouldn't be proper. Other times it's the girl who just considers that part of her life over, and she quits to become the grand lady she wants to be. I hope she comes back, and if it's a forced marriage, you can bet I'll be on the phone in two seconds to get her help, but unfortunately, I can't hold my breath.
- Now That I've Thoroughly Depressed You... My library has shelves! And we got all of the school's books out of the boxes and put them on the shelves. It looks pretty cool already, and administration is suddenly really proud of it. :) Entertainingly, the second we started taking the books in, everyone suddenly became an expert on library organization. I told one of the administrators how we were going to organize the books, and three minutes later he stopped me to give me a mini lecture on what we should do...repeating word for word what I'd just said. I imagine that if it continues, the advice will get annoying, but right now it's just showing how excited and into the project they are, and how ready they are to run it correctly when I leave.
- Tissu Invite! My friend GbloGblo came to my house to see if I wanted to buy matching tissu with her family for their upcoming party. I guess that's not a huge deal, but she's inviting mainly her good friends to do so, so it's one of those little victories that I love. I'm one of them, y'all!
- Breaking News 3.1- I just got kicked out of school for the day. Not just me, I mean, all of the teachers who were still teaching classes. The permanent teachers who are striking are now increasing the pressure on the government by closing schools entirely for part of the week. In my school, there are now no classes Monday through Thursday, which is unfortunately all of the days I teach... So until this strike is over, no classes for my kids. I was in the middle of class today when the professors arrived to tell me, and when I told the kids to go home, like 12 of them surrounded me to ask if I could please please please do makeup classes. :( I'll try, but finding a classroom on Friday or Saturday will be tough. They're so worried about exams... Sigh. No comment. At least I'm still allowed to do girls' club. This afternoon: Sex Ed, Part 1: Puberty and Periods.
*Later* Sex Ed Part 1 went so well! The girls had lots of questions and were really happy to have things explained. We're even going to do an extra girls' club on Monday, just because we can. :)
- Teacher's Strike Continues. The permanent professors are still on strike and seem to plan to stay that way for a while. Figured out more of the reason: according to my fellow English profs, the president raised the salaries of all civil servants, except for the teachers (who also work for the government). They're mad, and the president doesn't want to give in because he raised their salaries a few years ago.
Whatever. The more immediate problem for me is what's going to happen to the kids and the school year. If the strike keeps going a long time, the government and/or UNESCO might declare an "année blanchee" -- a blank year, meaning that this whole year would be erased and they'd start again next year. That would royally suck, nor only because all of my teaching work this year would be void, but also because projects would get way harder to finish. Girls might have trouble coming to girl's club if they're not already at the school, and getting into the library would be tougher (but still doable, and I am getting that thing done by June).
Luckily, most profs I talk to think we still have time to resolve the strike before that (cross your fingers). We have lost a LOT of school, so they might extend the school year a few weeks or a month, especially since now the permanent profs have decided to work only Mondays (before it was Mon and Fri). That would mess with project/camp dates maybe, but hopefully not too much.
So that's the state of the strike at the moment. Sucks for the kids, especially since the school year (once you take out exam weeks, days off and breaks) is about 6 months long to begin with. Throw in several months of striking and... Yeah, it is kind of a blank year.
- Other Bad News. One of my students, a smiley 13- or 14-year-old girl named Melanie, dropped out of school over the last week and a half. She's pregnant and, according to her classmates, now living at her husband's house. Husband. Heartbreaking. My amazing professor friend Florence told me she plans to go to the house to try to convince her to come back to school at least until the baby's born, but that's not terribly likely... Often the husband doesn't allow the girl to go back (because she'll think too much and become too "emancipated"), or the parents won't let her because it wouldn't be proper. Other times it's the girl who just considers that part of her life over, and she quits to become the grand lady she wants to be. I hope she comes back, and if it's a forced marriage, you can bet I'll be on the phone in two seconds to get her help, but unfortunately, I can't hold my breath.
- Now That I've Thoroughly Depressed You... My library has shelves! And we got all of the school's books out of the boxes and put them on the shelves. It looks pretty cool already, and administration is suddenly really proud of it. :) Entertainingly, the second we started taking the books in, everyone suddenly became an expert on library organization. I told one of the administrators how we were going to organize the books, and three minutes later he stopped me to give me a mini lecture on what we should do...repeating word for word what I'd just said. I imagine that if it continues, the advice will get annoying, but right now it's just showing how excited and into the project they are, and how ready they are to run it correctly when I leave.
- Tissu Invite! My friend GbloGblo came to my house to see if I wanted to buy matching tissu with her family for their upcoming party. I guess that's not a huge deal, but she's inviting mainly her good friends to do so, so it's one of those little victories that I love. I'm one of them, y'all!
- Breaking News 3.1- I just got kicked out of school for the day. Not just me, I mean, all of the teachers who were still teaching classes. The permanent teachers who are striking are now increasing the pressure on the government by closing schools entirely for part of the week. In my school, there are now no classes Monday through Thursday, which is unfortunately all of the days I teach... So until this strike is over, no classes for my kids. I was in the middle of class today when the professors arrived to tell me, and when I told the kids to go home, like 12 of them surrounded me to ask if I could please please please do makeup classes. :( I'll try, but finding a classroom on Friday or Saturday will be tough. They're so worried about exams... Sigh. No comment. At least I'm still allowed to do girls' club. This afternoon: Sex Ed, Part 1: Puberty and Periods.
*Later* Sex Ed Part 1 went so well! The girls had lots of questions and were really happy to have things explained. We're even going to do an extra girls' club on Monday, just because we can. :)
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