The night was difficult. It's just soooo hot even with the new fan Jade just bought. I don't know how she managed before. You have a hand fan and you pretty much go to sleep fanning yourself. Then around 5 or 6 am, the animals wake up. Jade's compound is full of animals. Chickens, roosters, goats, guinea fowls. The roosters crow all day but they start early in the morning and walk across Jade's roof. We have earplugs though. Regardless, with the heat and the mosquito net, it's just really hard. AND my tent can only be set up on solid ground so I have to sleep one inch off the ground on a thin extra mat Jade has. so essentially I am sleeping on concrete, making sleeping even harder.
When we woke up I took my first bucket bath. I actually kind of like it. You have to draw water from the well. if you're lucky, one of the kids is already drawing water and they will draw your bucket as well. kids have to respect their elders here. After you get your water, you tie a cloth around you and go to the nygen to bathe. It's outside and hot so the bath is actually very refreshing cause the water is cold. Afterwards, we had breakfast of bread and laughing cow cheese and tea. then we went to go boy the chickens with Jade's host brother Diacxiari (Jackorie). He held the chickens by the feet and brought them back sqwuaking. We also bought mangoes which are in season here and very cheap. When we got back we played Uno with Diacxiari and his friend. I also got a chance to practice my greetings and blessings. It is VERY important to greet and bless those you meet/see/pass, especially your family and elders. For lunch, I ate tegedege na (rice with peanut fish okra sauce). I had such a huge plate, it was so daunting. It took my an hour to eat it all. I didn't want to waste food and be seen as a wasteful American. But jade told me if you don't finish you can give it to one of the kids, they will eat it. Jade and I are served with forks on a small table outside. The others eat with their hands (right hand only because the left hand is used to wipe yourself in the nygen.... gross).
After lunch, we sat under Jade's "gwa" (straw-roof covered area) and practiced Bambara with Bwon, one of the young girls. She ended up calling me a prostitute because I wore a headwrap on my head which apparently only married women do. It made no sense to Jade or I, so we asked Diacxiari. He must have told his dad because later Bwon got beat. Oops! Then the rains came and it was magnificent. Except we discovered Jade's house leaks...The rain cooled things down significantly so I think we will sleep better. The electricity also came back on! The winds and dust storm were so powerful that it shut off. After the storm, I presented my gifts. It was like Christmas watching Yacouba (Jade's host father) distribute gifts to the kids. Tomorrow they are going to play with their bubbles! I'm glad I brought gifts for the kids and not just the adults cause Jade said kids are often forgotten. Here, you must listen to your elders and they def use the kids. The are always drawing water. The young girls do the laundry. Interstingly enough though, the oung boys will watch the little kids though. Here, men take care of the kids (like in case of divorce, the kids stay with the father). It's nice to see men playing with the kids :). Not to say women don't but I think I've seen more men or kids care for one lady's kid than the mother. We ate ceri with yogurt for dinner. I can really see how Jade lost so much weight cause I haven't eaten meat all day :(.
Today I learned about baya beads. Babies wear some necklace around their necks until their teeth come in well and around their waste so their "caca" is good. As you age, you take them off. But girls start wearing them again when they're older. It's a flirty kind of thing. They gave me 6 :). We also ate a little meat today and we will kill and eat the chickens. it's funny that you can't show your legs but you can show your breasts. Young girls under a certain age can go topless, as can nursing women. Women also have to learn how to work hard at an early age. They have to draw everyone's water (for bathroom, clothes washing, bathroom, cooking), beat rice and toh (this gross stuff. I haven't eaten it yet so I don't know how to explain it, but it looks gross. Jade doesnt eat it), wash clothes, sweep, and pretty much do anything anyone asks. We went yala-yalaing (walk around) today. I saw Jade's school. They are in a U-shaped compound and the rooms are pretty packed with students. The rooms are open concrete rooms. We then went to hang out with one of Jade's students at their house. They had invited us to sit under a tree so we accepted. Here, you don't need to talk constantly when in someones presence. You can just sit and be. It's kinda nice. Lunch was rice with meat sauce. Dunno what kind of meat. We also went to buy woso (like fries made of some potato-like plant). Dinner will be something with the chicken that Jade bought.
I watched the young guys pluck and clean the chickens. Only men can do that. Women are the ones who cook it. We also bought tea so I can learn how to make it. They love tea here. The boys were pretty absent today though so I guess it will happen tomorrow. Life is pretty slow here.
i really do like learning new cultural things like the fact that they can just be in each others presence and not talk. Its so interesting. That would be considered so weird here. Thats why more people should go abroad, to broaden their horizons.
ReplyDeleteo wow. looks like you're learning a lot!
ReplyDeletebut the right-hand left-hand thing is pretty amazing to me, b/c we have that in igbo culture. maybe its a universal to west africa or something. didn't kno
but In igbo the word for right hand is "aka-nri" which literally means "food hand".
@justin - glad ur enjoying my commentary :)
ReplyDelete@ nnenna- yea I'm learning tons! and i always think about the you and the whole right-hand/left-hand thing because I remember you explainnig that to me once. I thought it was all of Africa. but what do i kno lol.