Hello, world! I must admit, I have been avoiding writing you
for a few months now. Summarizing my experience can feel daunting. So instead,
I’ll write a few one-liners.
Passing by compounds, especially within 1 hour of any meal
or tea time (so 60% of the day), is comparable to the Candy Mountain skit about
Charlie the Unicorn (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsGYh8AacgY ). Everyone
wants to lure you into eating or drinking with them, popping out from behind
walls and telling you they got good stuff in the back. “Kaay añ! Kaay attaya!” So far I have not
gotten my kidney stolen, but sometimes I wonder about the damage the sugar and
oil are doing to my organs.
I have probably consumed nearly a full cup of sand that has
blown into my food and drink.
My most common fantasies are about water hoses, sprinklers,
and ice.
At least every other day, a woman congratulates me on my
large taat or wan (butt). The larger it is, the more I’ve integrated.
My 2-year-old brother looks more gangster with a large stick
and oversized t-shirt than any rapper I've seen, and his name is Bur.
I have been called the “N”-word in Africa. ??
Apparently asking for 40 cows isn’t too high for some
marriage proposals.
In terms of agriculture work, my village is starting tree
nurseries (mostly for fruit trees but also moringa and some live fencing
species which have thorns that keep out some obnoxious animals from destroying
everything). Now we’re “cleaning” the
fields (aka slash and burn) and will plant some field crops come June/July, the
really hot and scary time of Ramadan...dun dun dunnn! To Be Continued…
