Well,
for the first week, I met frequently with my Madame Tizi, my community host, to
do protocol. This meant many, many moto rides as we went from place to
place to introduce myself to certain members the community that may have
something to do with my service here over the next two years. This
includes people like the lawan (Sanguéré-Paul's chief), the sous-préfet of the
community (some other important guy), gendarmes, and leaders of lots of
environment-related organizations and government ministries.
My
neighbor, Olivier, has been really great by showing me around and answering any
questions that I have, and also a great way to practice french in an informal
conversation! (Although he refuses to correct my horrible grammar).
On my first full day in the village, we went for a walk, and climbed this
little hill.
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| A cotton field and a little hill behind my village. |
Believe
it or not, it was actually a bit of a difficult hike. The dusty earth
made it quite slippery, and hiking in sandals was definitely not a good
idea. There was blood. But all in all, it was fun! The hike
allowed me to see Sanguéré-Paul from above, as well as the surrounding
villages.
And
cows.
And
odd geological features.
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| Oli in front of a weird balancing rock. |
But
aside from protocol and hiking, what have I been doing? I would say that
each day I have three main activities:
1.
Going for walks around the village and introducing myself. The first day
that I decided to get out and take a walk, I chose the wrong road. I
thought it was the road that would lead me deeper into the village, but I was
oh-so-very wrong. This was the endless road to nowhere. I walked
for 40 minutes in one direction, and passed only three people. That being
said, there were a ton of moto drivers who passed me, each one giving a
friendly beep of their horn and a little wave.
So
I learned that I need to take other routes. There's a bit more exploring
to be done, more hills to climb, and some orchards to check out. More
importantly though, I've been trying to make sure that on these walks I begin
conversations with people. So far my conversations have been more along
the simple lines of "Hello, my name is Maria. I'm your new neighbor,"
and "I would like to buy some beignets please!" Baby steps,
right?
Starting
this week though, I'm going to step it up a notch. I told my favorite
beignet mama that when I return from Garoua, I'm going to sit with her for an
entire day and just practice Fulfulde. I will also be going to all of the
schools in the village to introduce myself to the teachers and principals, and
I'll be visiting my host organization, IRAD, as well.
2. Cleaning. There had been no one living in my house for several months before me, so I was greeted by a thick layer of dust coating everything. There were also lots of pretty sights like this:
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I
still have a bit of work to do, but little by little, it's starting to feel
like a home.
As
I have mentioned in a previous post, there has also been a technician at my
house installing doors and windows where there were none before, so it's been
difficult to clean around him (and to clean up after him!) Soon though, I
will be able to put up pictures of my new fancy-pants home.
I
still have quite a bit of work to do, but little by little, it's starting to
feel like a home, especially now that I have some Christmas decorations
up! (Thanks to awesome an care package from the famjam!)
I
even have mini presents under a mini tree!
I'll
post more pictures of my house once I finish cleaning up the other rooms!
3.
Reading. I'm still getting used to the heat, and still getting used
speaking speaking other languages ALL THE TIME. So quite often, I find
myself just totally worn out. I've found that reading is a fantastic
escape into the world of English, and it also allows me to stay out of the sun
and attempt to keep cool in 100+ degree weather. (I am not alone in this
need to seek refuge from the heat. I often see my neighbors resting under
a tree during the afternoons).
Besides
from these three activities, there are a few other basic activities in my
life. Every two or three days (depending on whether or not I feel like
using dirty dishes), I go to the well to get water. Luckily for me, one
of the village's only five water sources is located right next to my neighbors
house. Fetching the well water is no longer a struggle for me as it once
was in the Bafia days, but currently my only means of transporting it is a
watering can. So typically I have to make six or seven trips before I can
completely fill up both my water filter and my giant water bucket (about the
size of a mini trash can that you'd put out on the street on trash day.
Oh gosh, garbage collection... I remember when that used to be a thing in my
life! I'm still not quite sure what to do about my trash here... Most
people burn theirs.)
Every
Wednesday is market day in Sanguéré-Paul. I usually do my shopping in Garoua
where there is more variety and more French (rather than Fulfulde), but every
Wednesday I at least go browse the market and chat withe some of the
vendors. The market atmosphere is incredibly lively. Last
Wednesday, I made two trips: one in the morning around 10AM, and one in the
evening around 5PM. During the morning, everyone is calm and quiet and
some people are still just setting up. This is the best time for me to
browse and talk with people. During the evening, well, that's when it
really comes alive. There's this one section where people just hang out
and listen to music, dance, and drink bili-bili. I can even here the
music from my house! (Then again, my house is only a 2 or 3 minute walk
from the market, so I shouldn't be too surprised).
I'm
going to experiment with some cooking this week. I've been keeping it
simple up until now, with nothing really but beans and stir-fry. Thanks
to that same fantastic care package from Mommy Dearest, I was able to change it
up and make some delicious bright orange mac & cheese (ah, good ol' cheese
powder!) Yesterday I bought some baking supplies, so I plan to make
chocolate chip cookies this week for my neighbors. It'll be my first time
baking cookies without an oven (or toaster oven), so wish me luck!
I've
also been hanging out with my cat Grumps a lot. Sometimes he's kind of
cute, but most of the time, he's just grumpy. He is definitely a great
nap buddy though. That's our main method of bonding.
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By my next blog post,
I hope to have expanded far beyond these activities! On va voir!
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