So I've been in my village for five months now and after all the dark/black cloud/depressing posts I think it is time to relate some funny stories and the more light hearted good things that do actually happen in my village. I'll start with a few things that I've accomplished since I've been in Badion.
1. I killed a snake. With a hammer.
2. Ate six fresh mangos in one afternoon
3. Finished two village wide surveys
4. Been cramped in the back seat of a car for 16 hours straight
5. Lost twenty pounds
So, the snake. That incident happened fairly early on, in the first five weeks. People here are deathly afraid of snakes. For good reason: Senegal has mambas, among other poisonous snakes, so freaking out at the sight of a snake is a good idea. Me, on the other hand, I did the dumbest thing possible: after finding this long, dark snake underneath my duffel bag I pulled it out by the tail.
Yeah. STUPID.
No clue what kind of snake it was, but after I dragged it out into the open of my hut it slithered away into the opposite corner. I figured I would just put it in a plastic bag and then take it out side and ask my family for a shovel to kill it. Using my hammer to try and just push it into the bag, it tried to bite the bag. I freaked a little and then smashed its head in with the hammer. Not a pretty sight and I got blood all over my floor.
Using the hammer I carried the snake outside to ask my family what I should do with it. My brother, Ibrihima say me first, jumped up with a shout and ran over to me. The older boys and the man who works with my family quickly took the hammer from me, dumped the snake on the ground, dug a hole and then pushed the snake into the hole and buried it. Ibrihima jumped on top of it for good measure and then - much to my humiliation - finished off with a nice 'F--- you!'. In English.
Yes, I accidentally taught him that in an early fit of rage after catching a younger brother spying on me through the bamboo fencing as I showered. Ibrihima knows enough English to understand the context of the use. Not exactly the kind of culture the Peace Corps had in mind when they told us to share America. Woops.
Anywho, the snake was dead and buried and I gained a ton of bravery props for killing it on my own. A couple months later I found out, truly, why everything I did on that day was the dumbest thing I could have ever done. A young girl was working in the rice fields in another nearby village. She was bitten by a snake. The actual hospital down in the city of Kolda did not have any antidote. She died the next day.
I freaked a little when I heard that because all I could think about was my own encounter with a snake. Will never grab a snake by the tail again.
Rainy season is pretty crazy. For a lot of reasons. When it rains, it POURS. One night it stormed and poured for over six hours. The next morning I went outside and a benoir that holds about 8 L of water was nearly full. Streets turn to raging rivers and the area between my hut and the rest of my family’s huts turns into a giant lake. And the storms themselves are spectacular. I’ve watched storms back in the US, but there is nothing compared to literally being under one, where you can see the lightening strike the ground or a dead black night is lit up like day as lightening crawls across the sky right above you. And the sound: I woke up from a dead sleep one night as lighting flashed across the sky. The roar shook my hut. Scared the crap out of me first but now I love it. Totally going to miss the rain over the next nine months.
Other reason why it is crazy is the animals. Mostly bugs, but right now, in the last month or so, we’ve been suffering the plague of frogs. They hop through my room, hid under my backpack and hang out behind my bed. First I thought it was kind of funny, especially since the Senegalese are also terrified of frogs. I’d show up behind one of my siblings, tap them on the shoulder and say ‘look what I found’ and they’d jump back in terror. It was hilarious. But now they are just a pain in the butt. Doesn’t help that my cats don’t bother to try and kill them. Tennan will paw at them but she doesn’t try and get them like she does lizards and birds.
As for bugs. Oh dear Lord. Mosquitoes, flies, giant millipedes, dragon flies, butterflies, spiders, moths, hornets, ants, beetles, stink bugs…you name it. Mosquitoes and flies are the worst by far, though. The former believes I am a moving buffet while the latter is just DISGUSTING. And there are all different kinds, all different sizes. There was a period of about two weeks when my room would just be full of them (or so it seemed) and the background was just a constant humming of flies. So, so, so disgusting.
A large population of birds also take up residence during the wet season. Huge vulture-like birds, small bright red birds, gorgeous blue tailed birds, tiny sparrow like birds and these super annoying yellow birds called (I believe) Village Weavers. They weave hanging nests in Mango trees and never shut up from dawn to dusk. I have a mango tree right next to my hut, so as soon as the sun rises they are chirping. Ear plugs or no ear plugs I hear them early in the morning. Who needs an alarm clock when you have annoying birds?
The kids in my family throw rocks at the trees to make them flock away in a panic. Only time I actually cheer them on. I’d love some peace and quiet.
My dislike for children has grown a ton since I got here (as the Lord of the Flies model is proved on a daily basis) but there are some really fun times of playing soccer, showing them weird dances and then rolling in laughter as they try and copy, letting them watch Presto – the Pixar short film that has no words and is thus perfect for international audiences – on my iPod and chasing after them in the compound for tickling, throwing them over my shoulder and spinning them around, or ‘stealing’ them and dumping them in the middle of a field. It is also fascinating to watch my youngest siblings – Alpha at about a year old and Jarta at just over a month – develop. The way they learn, how fast they grow, the discovery of their feet or how chairs can be pushed over and then pushed across the ground, it’s like I’m in a spontaneous study of child development in the third world. Best part is: the development and growth is the same. Certain milestones in a child’s development are universal. Teething, crawling, walking, discovery of motion and manipulating their own hands to get food or successfully hold on to a ball – every single one of these things is universal in normal mental/physical development. I love coming back to my village after being gone because Alpha has learned something new and my family is eager for the little guy to show it off to me.
I never had younger siblings, so being the ‘oldest’ in this family with 16 younger siblings is a whirlwind of crazy, frustrating, maddening and funny.
They are also very funny about my cats.
When I first got Tennan (I think she was a month or so old when I got her) they were all scared to death that she would rip them to shreds with her teeth and claws. Now that she is older and they are used to her, most of them love to play with her, having her chase strings and such. But when I got Talata, at the tender fluffy age of five days old, they were even more freaked out than they were about Tennan. At five days old, Talata didn’t really even have teeth, but they still thought she would bite them. They would run and shriek when she got near. The noise would scare Talata and she’d arch her back and hiss, scaring the kids even more.
I continually asked them, “Why are you scared of her? She is five days old and you are a big human. Why are you scared?” After many excuses – including scratching and biting nonsense – most of them have gotten over it and now play with her as well. One girl loves to get Talata straddled over her foot and then lift her foot. While the play often annoys both of my cats after a point, it is good practice for the kids. They are learning to be gentle (at least with my pets, no change in behavior towards other animals unfortunately) and they are also learning to curb some of the more irrational responses. Run away screaming from a five day old cat? That’s ridiculous. And they are fascinated when I feed her with an eyedropper. This kind of care of baby animals is not done. If the mother dies or abandons the babies, those babies die. Now they see it is possible to take care of a small animal. They also see the results of such care.
The other cats in the village – save for a precious few – hate, despise, and fear humans. They are kept around only for getting rid of pests and are not treated well at all. Which makes those cats lash out and scratch when they are approached by people. Hence the belief by these kids that my cats would scratch their eyes out. But Tennan is a pretty good mouser, she also goes after lizards, scorpions, flying bugs and spiders. And she loves to be scratched under her chin. She doesn’t run away from people when they approach and doesn’t scratch their eyes out when they try to pick her up. She does her work and isn’t a danger to anyone. Tennan is also a source of entertainment for the whole family. Chasing after birds, the rope on escaped goats (her claw got stuck once and she got dragged halfway down the compound. My host sisters and I were in tears we were laughing so hard). She also once climbed up onto the roof of one of the shade structures, somehow managed to get herself under the roof and stuck between two poles as she tried to figure out how to get down. We all laughed at her as she slumped across one of the poles and looked down at my host dad as if it to say, ‘okay, I give up. Stop laughing and get me down.’
I’d say this kind of lesson to the kids is an important one, and hopefully it will continue and perhaps pass on to the larger animals like goats, sheep and horses. I won’t hold my breath, but it is something I will continue to watch for.
Workwise, things are slow to the point of not moving. Without school in session I haven’t been able to do anything for the well at the middle school or fixing the well at the elementary school, but the teachers are back now so that should change once I get back. Rainy season is also pretty much dead season since everyone is busy in the fields so trying to do anything is nearly pointless. School means harvest and the end of most work for the people in my village, so things might be easier to set up. Our new baseline survey is really going to take up most of my time up until I leave for the US (Dec 18th BABY!!!) as it has to be translated, tested, tweaked and then out to the village as a whole, then the information needs to be compiled and submitted. So I’ll be busy with that. Hope to fit in the wells in between and also talk about how I can contribute to the English club at the middle school and where I might fit in at the Elementary school. The principal is one of my closest friends so hopefully I won’t encounter a lot of resistance from the teachers themselves on stuff.
So I hope this shows the lighter side of life for you. Tomorrow I will begin the trek back to Kolda. I’m cutting it close since Tabaski is on Friday and it won’t be easy to get transport the closer that day looms.
Wish me luck.
Christine
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