General Observations

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Hi everyone
My imminent departure has given me new cause to reflect on things here in West Africa, and I find myself making lists in my mind of things to remember. I have decided to post this list on my blog, even though I do not have pictures of everything and you may not appreciate it as fully as someone who has been here. But you've all been along for the ride so, what the hell?

-kids (I am talking about small goats) look a lot like puppies in the way they prance and play and are just as cute
-the sheep arent fluffy, just sort of furry and are sometimes hard to differentiate from the goats if you don't know what to look for. And they all look like they're wearing little bolero jackets.
-drivers we hire are totally insane and always drive way too fast. I hate nagging at them to slow down, but it beats rolling the truck over in the middle of nowhere.
-it is ALWAYS sunny here. Never once have I woken up to a grey morning or any kind of in-between weather. Even in the rainy season, it rains violently for about an hour then the brilliant, scorching sun is back.
-it's greener here than I gave it credit for. There is a fair number of trees and the bougainvillea in town are quite beautiful.
-I will miss cheap, giant beer. Me and Stephan went out for drinks and a snack the other day, and for $6 we got: tea, 3 large draught beers, and some snacks.
-I don't hate bucket showers anymore. I am up at site now and had one last night that I found very satisfying. It's amazing what a person can get used to. It uses so little water!!

More of these later, I'm sure....

So, true to my control-freak nature, I have taken on the task of planning my own going away party. Luckily, I have tons of help and basically just have to "approve" things (menu, drink quantities, etc) and dream up stuff I want. The highlights so far? The party will be on my roof, with roughly 60 people, food and drink galore, and a LIVE BAND! 😊 Yup, I definitely dream big and we've found a way to make it happen. That's one good thing about Africa; you can't get everything, but the stuff you can get is cheap usually. We've hired a local band (6 pieces) to play local tunes and some Western stuff all night until we can dance no more. It should be fantastic. I am really looking forward to having people come and just party down.

In other news, not much is going on. I am looking forward to this conference in TO that I go to every year. Every year it gets better for me since the first time I didn't know ANYONE. The next year I knew more people. This year, I know TONS. It is also a good networking opportunity for later.

Last weekend I got the last remaining stomach parasite in Burkina Faso. I thought I got them all the first two months I was here, but apparently there was one I missed that I needed to get before I could leave. This particular case was particularly bad because of the intense stomach cramps that went along with it. I basically spent all of Sunday on a friend's couch watching movies and trying not to cry out from the crazy pain. Yeah, did I mention it was painful? It was! Throw diarrhea into the mix and a total lack of appetite, and it was a fun weekend. I kept my appointment with the Chinese lady hoping that I could get through it or maybe she could help, but after awhile I just up from the table and said "we're finished". The mix of terrible stomach pain and foot pain was just too much. She actually was able to ease the cramps by massaging certain parts of my foot (I still find that amazing) but as soon as she moved on to another part the cramps came back. Not cool! By the end of the day on Sunday, I was super weak from not having eaten, so I decided to try some soup. It was at this time that you really feel the loneliness of living in a huge mansion all by yourself. I got back from watching movies and opened a package of Knorr dehydrated soup and tried to make it on the stove. But our stoves are lit manually, and maybe the gas was turned off or something because I must have used up about 10 matches trying to light the thing. Still, nothing. So... What next? Improvisation. We had a kettle, so I boiled some water and poured it and the soup mix into a big metal bowl and topped it with a pot lid. Not too shabby. A few minutes and some stirring later I had some relatively edible soup. By Tuesday I was still not really eating solid food and was still on the same package of Knorr soup from Sunday! Feeling better today, though. No worries!

Last piece of news (sorry this isn't very entertaining today, just random news). I went to the jewelry store yesterday to buy myself a few "souvenirs". As many of you know, I am a jewelry junky and have been staring at the stuff since I was tall enough to see into the glass cases. Allow me to digress for a moment... To me, jewelry stores are a haven of beauty, finery, and taste. They sell pieces of art, often handmade and unique (as long as you stay away from Peoples, *shudder*) made from beautiful materials found right under our feet. They are always clean and elegant, with staff that are usually prim and proper. My favourite jewelry store in Ottawa is Davidson's on Bank St since their pieces are always amazing and different. Much more European influence than mall stores. ANYWAY, I am relieved and validated to know that jewelry stores in Africa are no different from the ones in Canada. Even when on dirt roads and in dodgy neighbourhoods, they are always clean and cool, often air conditioned, and the same source of elegance that I have come to expect. It's nice to know that some things are universal! One difference is that sometimes there is a workshop attached where you can actually see pieces being made by hand. For me, this only enhances the experience. It's also very convenient as you can usually have a ring sized in about 10 mins!

Gotta wrap this up in a hurry... sorry. More later!
xo
Brownie

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