- 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.
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