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Published: February 17th 2006
AS.P.E.L.
At the garden, with Ghislain.
Photo by Gabriel Tucker Have I told you about the time a viper came to my door? That was a pretty interesting afternoon.
In a non-related story, Ghislain came to my door Christmas Eve day with the head-forester-guy for the entire Mono-Couffo region, who had brought pythons in bags to be set free “en brusse” near Athieme. I closed up shop, leaving my vanilla tea to go cold, and hopped in the truck to go to the forest outside the next village over. We walked a ways in, accompanied by a couple men from the village council who told us we could set the snakes free there. Unfortunately, the news did not accurately reach the vast population; the women and children were in a riot in the street because they thought we had brought some three hundred snakes, of various man-eating species. (Pythons are acceptable, however, because they are a big part of voodoo. Also, pythons aren’t as means as vipers.) In the end, everything was explained and I am no longer associated as the snake-woman.
For a couple of days in October I had a very drab looking flycatcher in my yard. She would perch on a fence post in the
School
This is the primary school in my neighborhood, where Mathurin teaches and directs. Photo by Gabriel Tucker. afternoon, as I lounged on the porch, watching her dance in the air to catch insects. She is probably the most graceful being I have seen in Benin.
I also had a Malachite Kingfisher in my yard for a few days. The Malachite Kingfisher is a very small but vibrantly colored bird, iridescent blue body, a little white patch on the chest, and a large red-orange beak. As you know, kingfishers live pretty much on the water, and as you know, I live on land, though near water. I was a little puzzled by his presence.
Before my gracious neighbors cut down the tall elephant grass next to my fence to prevent those fearsome snakes from entering my yard, I saw a cute little yellow-fronted canary. The book said it was most often found in nursing homes and other cages. Ha I saw it wild!
I was at the CEG, hoping to plays Frisbee, but ended up watching soccer players when I wasn’t watching a small group of cattle egrets intermingle with a few Senegal coucals. Egrets are fairly attractive birds; coucals are not. Coucals are black-headed, brown-backed, white-bellied red-eye-ringed birds that hope on the ground awkwardly,
Me
This is me, saying hello from my porch. Photo by Gabriel Tucker. but not quite as awkwardly as they fly. Very entertaining.
No hippos. Yet. Nor other large mammals. Derique get lots of attention, as far as mammals go. He likes to talk, and will gently hop up to place his two front paws on my leg, pressing his forehead on my thigh between his feet, similarly to Amigo. He’s so sweet. I had to explain to him that in my family, we beat each other out of love. Because other humans aren’t so used to the Kraus Family Rules, Derique gets the brunt of my affection.
Cold-blooded creatures, other than and more common than snakes, are alive and well and rampant. (In other words, SBEE, the electrical monopoly, is still in charge. Ha ha ha, that’s a Beninese joke.) Twinny is still in the bathroom, but has fallen out of favor because she seems to find that the little piece of soap that got away from me is much more favorable to the cockroaches. But the lizards are picking up her slack fairly well. There are the big, yellow-headed guys who mostly live out-of-doors if Derique is doing his job, and who do push-ups and kamikaze acts falling off
Mono River
This is the Mono River, but not the crossing in my neighborhood. This is down the road a ways, where I talk about America with the taxi and zemi-men. Photo by Gabriel Tucker. my roof. I think they fall as they stick their hind-ends over the side to drop gifts on my steps. I also have the green-spotted-headed and smaller ladies of the same species (the name?) in my home. Maybe Derique doesn’t like mistreating women, bless his little doggie soul. At first I thought that maybe I didn’t have that many lizards or spiders, but I think that it just took a while for them to get used to my presence.
I still hate cockroaches.
I love running, at some times considerably more than normal. Like this morning; I woke up once, just before daybreak, then only lightly slept until my body told me there was enough daylight to GET UP! GO FOR A RUN! It was one of those rapid decisions that would d have freaked out people who like to wake up slowly, around noon. I was out the door and hit the fence gate running.
I liked my run considerably more this morning for many reasons, primarily because I haven’t been on one for quite a while. Running here is an early morning thing, to avoid traffic and gawkers. I prefer to leave at least
Thanksgiving!
We had quite a spread at Yovokomey. You see Mathurin in the grey shirt, and Kantos in the tissue. The rest are volunteers. We ate so well. by 6h45, but lately, daybreak has pushed my sleeping schedule to 7h. And, I kind of get discouraged when I think of how many people will stare…
Even though I biked to Lokossa yesterday, and will probably play basketball this evening, I ran this morning. The morning was cool, made me think it might rain, and the air tasted so good it was like eating German Chocolate Cake and I just didn’t want to stop. I stretched my legs, stretched my lungs, and said “Bonjour!” to all my friends.
To do today: find the basketball to play with tonite, find the girl who gets a scholarship from the Peace Corps, eat beans and rice, hang out with the girls’ club, play UNO at CLAC, play basketball, and cook dinner. Of course, the program is always changing.
Update on the constellations too: Orion greets me every night, just outside my doors, and I can see ALL of him. Below him in Lepus, with Canis Major below him. I also know Taurus, though not Auriga yet, nor Gemini, nor Monocerus. (Not sure of any of the spelling.) Just thought I would let you know.
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Greta
non-member comment
Yea Pictures!!!!!
Erika, you are SO CUTE!!! I'm so glad that you are finding constellations! Does that book I gave you help or did you find a better one at CLAC?? Love you, miss you!