- 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.
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