MONKEY TALES #17
(12/1/03)
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 #16
(11/22/03)
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! As one of my favorite people
always says,"Time to embrace Monday like that weird relative in the
family nobody likes..." Flew into Franceville this morning after
a crazy weekend, tho this car ride was a bit less comfortable than the
last time; 7 adults and 4 children in a Saab going over 70 miles an hour.
Don't ask, just feel my pain. Anyway, ran necessary errands and now just
passing time till the two hour "repos" ends (the African equivalent
of a siesta where everything closes during the heat of the day). It's
been QUITE the week...
1. World AIDS Day today--wear your red ribbons! Leigh and I worked with
community members to put on presentations and Q&A sessions around
town all last week for AIDS. We had an HIV+ woman come and talk at the
schools, which was incredibly moving; I'd never experienced anything like
it, even in the States. Information, statistics, condom demonstrations---the
whole shebang. However, it was eye-opening to notice the kids' reactions;
they refused to believe that anyone among them was currently living with
the AIDS virus. Ignorance is bliss, but makes my job here that much more
challenging. I was even supposed to go on tour with the people I was working
with to visit all the villages in a 1 hour radius of Ngouoni and give
the same talks on Friday, but keep reading to see how THAT turned out...
2. The end of Ramadan was Tuesday, so Leigh and I were invited by all
the Muslim men in town to the huge feast. They slaughtered a goat in the
morning, cooked it all day, and we sat down to eat just as a torrential
rainstorm commenced; the women and children ate inside and Leigh and I
sat with about 25 men in a covered cabana outside. Such fun! About 7 people
clustered around each huge platter on the floor covered with vast quantities
of mouth-watering rice and goat. We ate with our right hand, picking up
fistfuls of food and squeezing, so that the oil poured back into the bowl
(and down our arms) and the rice balled up nicely, making consumption
much easier. Of course, we weren't quite as adept as the natives and much
hilarity ensued at our expense. We allfinished in about 10 minutes and
Leigh and I settled back to rest, until our friend, Commando said, "Come
on, let's go eat!" When we protested he said that we had to, since
it was part of the celebration. Soooo, all the men and the two of us piled
into cars and drove to another end of town for the same kind of deal,
yet this time in someone's house. There was a Jackie Chan movie on and
all the guys piled into couches and on the floor, screaming and laughing
at the TV. We decided that the whole day reminded us of American men on
Superbowl Sunday, what with the commraderie, stuffing of faces, and general
jovizal atmosphere---we were just along for the ride. After that we returned
home to gain our senses before we ate porcupine at the restaurant for
dinner the following night (the way Antonio cooked it, it tasted like
steak). This leads to my next story...
3. Thursday during the AIDS talk at the schools, I started feeling funny--crampy,
nauseated, lack of appetite, and I was running a fever. By that afternoon
it hurt to walk and I was becoming lightheaded from lack of food, not
to mention losing fluids from both ends. I called our Medical Officer
in LBV, Jean Luc, and he listened to my symptoms before proclaiming, "Oh,
my sister, you have all the signs of severe food poisoning. Did you eat
anything out of the ordinary this week?" I fessed up to the goat
and porcupine, at which point he chuckled and said maybe my stomach didn't
like what being a part of the community entails. He said it would pass,
tho it might get worse before it got better, and that I should stay hydrated.
I decided to walk down to Leigh's, since at this point, it alleviated
the pain to be moving a bit. She came back from school to find me curled
up on the chair in a fetal position in my PJ's. We had grand plans to
drink gin and tonics and whip up a cake in honor of Thanksgiving, but
instead she ended up bringing me water and soda every half hour, before
she settled down to a solo dinner of rice and leaves while I just sat
there, unless I was running to the bathroom. Quite the Thanksgiving, and
I ended up spending the night there and subsequently bailed out of the
AIDS program on Friday because I was still sick.
4. However, by Saturday, I only felt a bit under the weather and actually
had an appetite for the feast we were planning later that day. Long story
short, all 17 volunteers from the Haut region descended upon Ngouoni with
various dishes, and we showed the Africans how well Americans do gluttony,
tho we did invite Antonio and Commando (2 friends) to eat with us. We
had it all---pumpkin pie, stuffing, quiche, rum cake, squash, sweet potatoes,
pasta salad, turkey, cranberry sauce, apple pie, hummus---you get the
jist. Divine, and I managed to keep it all down. It was nice to have everyone
there, but it was also nice to see them go; hospitality is far more draining
here than in the States, and there were 5 puppies running around as well,
so I had to clean up after pee, poop, and puke for hours after everyone
left. But last night...oy vey...Our friend, Allegra, left her laptop and
DVD collection with us, so Leigh came over later in the day after we had
both been cleaning for hours. We settled onto my couch with Ming and Bousco
and literally watched 13 straight hours of movies and TV show compilations,
stoping only for brief pee and feeding breaks. It was fabulous, our eyes
hurt, and our brains felt like ooze, but we took full advantage of the
opportunity while we could.
5. Brief dog story...Minger and Bousco LOVE manioc, so I couldn't be happier.
Nothing like nutrient-lacking gelatenous globs of grey flub to get the
little mutts salivating. I'm so proud.
I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with fun and food, and rest assured
I was thinking of you all on Thursday, despite my own issues ;-) It's
already December! Almost 6 months and/or 2/9 of the way through. Enjoy
the holiday season and the snow, I'm going to find a bean sandwich and
lait caille for lunch before Leigh and I see a man about a BBQ grill.
Hasta!
Manioc-flavored kisses from me and Ming-
Leah
P.S. For all those who yelled at me for eating porcupine again (after
it made me sick during Stage in Koula Moutou), I will say that I'll back
off for a while....but I'm giving it a third and final shot eventually!
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