Journal 5

Back at you from Afrique.

June 27th

The rains have started to fall regularly now, and Bani is a ghost town. Everyone is out in the bush working furiously planting their crops. As I had arrived in the dry season, I was under the impression that the burkinabe had no concept of work, but I understand now that in an agricultural society, you work when nature provides. Anyone with an education (which means you earn a state salary), has or will soon leave for the big city life. The “functionaries” as they are called in French for the most part feel they are above village life and the difference in behavior and attitude of the villager and educated are now obvious to me. The functionaries (and some commercants) are my only real resource to cultural integration at this point, not only because we can converse in French, but also because they understand that there is a world outside of the village. There are many here that have no idea that the world is round, or could even find their country on a map. Even after I learn their language, I can’t even imagine what our conversations could be like. However this is not an immediate concern because I only know about 20 words in Fulfulde.
It’s a shame Boly is leaving soon. He’ll be passing the summer in the capital. Ouaga, a much more cosmopolitan setting, is officially off limits to all new volunteers for the first 3 months. But as for me, I’ve never been such a big fan of rules, especially those which are almost impossible to enforce. I’m just going to wait and see what opportunities present themselves. In fact I just got back from a short visit to some volunteers about 100 km north of Bani in Gorum Gorum, a relatively large ville near the Malian border. A young married couple live up there and work with local artisans. They work in the small enterprise sector and are trying to organize the labor and support accountability. It seems to be frustrating yet rewarding work. In any case they are very nice and interesting people, and I’m glad to have them so close. The have even invited us (Patrice Josh and I) to come up there to celebrate the 4th of July. It looks like that’s going to happen so I’m happy about it. I can almost smell the BBQ sauce.
I hope that after school starts in October, I will no longer have to oblige myself to fectch water every day. It is quite an adjustment to economize a free resource. The ease and abundance of H two 0 I enjoyed back in the states was certainly taken for granted> At this point I estimate I use about 5-8 liters per day. Roughly 3 gallons I think. This is the size of my water can which I strap each day to my bike, and then pedal on over to the pump. It’s a small chore, but something I cannot forget to do. But as I was saying, its something the students are expected to do for me. In theory they should perform almost any reasonable task I ask them to do, including washing my clothes, and cleaning my house, or even going to buy cigarettes or beer. Again this is just what I was told, but its pretty common knowledge.

July 1st

Ok, I’m starting to find my groove here. I spend more time outside of my courtyard than in. My days pass quicker this way, and I’m beginning to be part of the community here. I’m still only here at the starting point, but I’m coming up to my 1 month mark.
I’ve taken on a few projects to occupy my time, but nothing even approaching my capacity or ambition. There is a very genuine and friendly butcher who I teach a little English once in a while. Also one of the hotels just got some new road signs made, and since the guides cannot write, they have asked for my help. I’ve seen enough ads to know what the white man likes. But most of my time is spent waiting fore the tea to boil, picking up words in the local lang, and just observing everyday life here. I thi k I’m going to increase the time I spend at the prefecture (like the mayors office) because the governance of this little village is kind of interesting. Where is the justice when someone’s goat eats the seeds you planted? Mr. Kabore, the volunteer secretary at the office is one of the nicest people I’ve met here, and is French is quite good.
Cooking is still a little tough. I still eat to kill my hunger, and not for any other pleasure. To my credit, variety is not abundant right now. The villagers all abandon their gardens during the rainy season to tend to more profitable crops such as millet, corn, and rice. I eat a lot of caned tuna which I can find in Dori. At my quaint little town market which opens every 3rd day (the commercants rotate from village to village on a 3 day cycle) stocks very little right now. I was lucky to find some beans, dates, and peanuts, but little else. Even the famous mangos are under par right now. I did see some sad looking eggplants, but I was never was a fan.

Update: July 8th (today)

Happy birthday America. My Independence Day was a lot of fun and very gratifying. We had 6 Americans and one bottle of BBQ sauce, made in America. We took the party to the best chicken place in Gorum Gorum, and had ourselves a little party. If cigarettes could count as sparklers, we even had fireworks. It was a nice break from village, but traveling, especially during the rainy season, and especially in the desert is an exhausting adventure. We had to ride on top of a cargo truck which broke down 2 times in the blazing heat. In addition the roads were pretty flooded. Luckily it didn’t rain while we were up there or we could have been stuck there for many days.
But we decided to do a touristy thing while we were up there, which would be my first touristy thing I’ve done since I got here. But we hired a guide and set off on camel back to camp out on the sand dunes under the stars. I’ve got some great pictures of the whole thing, but since my computer is out of commission for the time being, its going to be a while before I can post them. Riding a camel is really hard on the ass, it’s a bumpy ride, I felt like I spent a week in prison when it was over. But aside from that, it was very pleasant and relaxing. I also commissioned one of the artisans up there to carve my chess set. He’s very skilled and works closely with the volunteers there. I figure its better to have a professional do it than try to work it myself, plus he works with ebony, which I can’t find. But I’m excited to see the finished product.
So its back to Bani for a little while. I hear we might get a telephone next year, but I’m sure they said that last year. Its like that with everything. Again thanks for the comments, I read ‘em. And lastly I’d like to send a big “fuck you” to Al Qaeda.