MONKEY TALES #16
(11/22/03)
MONKEY TALES #25
(3/13/04)
MONKEY TALES #24
(3/8/04)
MONKEY TALES #23
(2/12/04)
MONKEY TALES #22
(2/5/04)
MONKEY TALES #21
(1/31/04)
MONKEY TALES #20
(12/22/03)
MONKEY TALES #19
(12/13/03)
MONKEY TALES #18
(12/6/03)
MONKEY TALES #17
(12/1/03)
MONKEY TALES #15
(11/13/03)
MONKEY TALES #14
(10/24/03)
MONKEY TALES #13
(10/16/03)
MONKEY TALES #12
(10/11/03)
MONKEY TALES #11
(10/4/03)
MONKEY TALES #10
(9/27/03)
MONKEY TALES #9
(9/19/03)
MONKEY TALES #8.5
(9/14/03)
MONKEY TALES #8
(9/13/03)
MONKEY TALES #7
(8/21/03)
MONKEY TALES #6
(8/14/03)
MONKEY TALES #5
(8/8/03)
MONKEY TALES #4
(7/29/03)
MONKEY TALES #3
(7/24/03)
MONKEY TALES #2
(6/29/03)
MONKEY TALES #1
(7/17/03)
"YO!"
(6/27/03)
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Hey, hey, it's a gorgeous, albeit,
hot, day here in Franceville, and everything seems to be going well so
far. The ride in was phenomenal---Leigh and I had the whole backseat to
ourselves, a novelty that never occurs, and she gave them a tape to play;
we flew into FRV to the tunes of Marvin Gaye and the Temptations. Splendid.
Then our ritual pain au chocolat at the cafe, followed by what's sure
to be copious internet time, lunch, and a marche shopping extravaganza.
Not much to report, but...
1. I'm constantly coming up with ways to pass my free time here, and I
just this week I stumbled upon a gold mine. While sifting through the
book collection in my house left by other volunteers, I found one entitled
"Solo Games" and it's truly been undoing. I now pick randomly
long (English) words and spend time each day finding smaller words within
them. For example, there are over 60 alone in "kaleidoscope"
that I've found so far. Leigh keeps saying that I'm too young to start
amusing myself in geriatric manners, but I figure at this rate I'll be
a killer Scrabble player by the end of it. Besides, what else am I going
to do? De-brousse?! Right...
2. I've decided to branch out from my hospital work, since there's rarely
anything for me to do, the marriage proposals are getting a bit out of
hand, and one person in particular, Christophe, is driving me insane.
He has these conversations with me that start off okay, before they take
a rapid spiral downward and nothing I do can turn them around. Perhaps
the issue that bothers me the most is that I can't ascertain if he's trying
to get me riled up or if he actually believes what he says; as many of
you know, it takes a lot to make me angry, especially where an individual
person is concerned. However, I become irate when talking with him, and
it scares me that I feel such hostility toward him. Anyway, the other
day he told me about "scientists" that conducted studies in
Libreville a few years ago and determined that the AIDS virus lives in
condoms. Completely false, but he said, "Don't you think it might
be a plot of developed nations to put AIDS in condoms to kill the Africans?
Why else are there so many cases on this continent?" Drove me UP
THE WALL, especially since this is supposedly an educated person of relatively
high rank at the hospital. Plus, he broaches highly personal topics and
is becoming a bit more physically liberal, so to save myself the aggravation,
I'm only goign to go twice a week on the baby weighing days and work instead
on community issues outside of the hospital.
3. Speaking of AIDS, World AIDS Day is December 1st, so Leigh and I decided
to try and organize something small-ish within Ngouoni. We arranged a
time and central meeting place, and planned on posting signs until one
of the teachers Leigh works with told us that we had to pass out individual
invitations instead. We thought it was a bit formal, but he said it was
necessary, so we rushed to print up and hand deliver about 40 personal
invites. We wanted the teachers and hospital personnel to attend, since
we'd be working in tandem with them, so we made sure they all knew. The
day arrived and all was going well until Leigh called in a panic..."Leah!
We have to buy drinks for everyone who's coming because the meeting's
in a restaurant (we thought it was a great location) and they expect it,
plus they think that Peace Corps will give us the money for everything.
What do we do?" In the end we decided to go through with it and suck
up drink costs, but it only got better. Two people from the hospital showed
up and only one teacher---the rest of the room was filled with influential,
rich, stuffy, "type" (pronounced "teep") men from
the community. So there we were, two little white girls on display in
front of a highly intimidating audience, trying to speak formal, respectful,
French, and not make any hideous blunders. Then it began pouring. Imagine
trying to speak/hear over the din caused by gallons of water dumping from
the sky all over a tin roof. In the end, we ended up forming a committee
and will be having round-table discussions and question panels in the
schools and surrounding villages. We'll see how it goes. Though the best
part was the closing...after we passed out drinks to everyone (won't think
about the damage to the income on that one), the President of the General
Assembly stood to leave (the biggest type in the room) and my co-worker
hissed at me, "Get up and follow behind him". We did, and the
whole room filed out after us. Apparently with a type like that, everyone
in the room must accompany him out of the building when he leaves. Quite
the day.
4. In more amusing man stories, there's a bar owner near my house who
we call the "Bottle Nazi". All the drinks here comes in glass
bottles, and if you take them home to drink, you have to take the bottles
back before you buy more. He knows where we live and it's not like we're
planning on stock-piling his precious bottles, yet if we don't return
them the next day, he gets on our case, in an annoying, yet good-natured
(kinda) way. However, I was waiting for Leigh near there the other day
and he came over to talk to me. The situation then evolved into him trying
to drague (hit on) me. Translated, he basically said, "You're all
alone in your house every day. You must be lonely. I could pass by sometimes
and then if you need anything, I could help you out. For some things,
only a man can do the job." The utter nerve! It was so outlandish
I laughed in his face and assured him that no, I was in fact quite happy
and did not need any "services" from him. People here (men)
don't understand that unmarried woman can live alone without needing to
engage in frivolous sexual activities to stay sane and happy. And they
wonder why girls are becoming pregnant at 12 and have 3 kids by 19.
5. I haven't had water now for over a week, but thank God it's the rainy
season. I set my buckets up outside and hope for a downpour everyday,
which doesn't always happen, but at least I've been able to stay hydrated.
Needless to say, laundry, dishes, and personal hygiene took a back burner,
altho I did shower at Leigh's once. Anyway, I hadn't washed my hair in
over 4 days and all of a sudden this torrential rain storm came out of
nowhere on Thursday. We were at my house watching with glee as my buckets
filled, until Leigh suggested that I wash my hair under the runoff from
the roof. Talk about special! It felt like a Gabo-style Herbal Essence
commercial--I was drenched and freezing, but my hair was clean. Wait till
you see the pictures!
Alright, that's it for now. Turkey Day this coming weekend, and AIDS Day
events before then. I wish you safe travels and delicious food with friends
and family, and I'll be back online in a bit.
Gobble gobble-
Leah
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