Frustrations, Successes, and Exploding Batteries

Alright, so it’s been a while since my last entry, partly due to me not going to Kamsar, and partly due to the internet being down when I do make it in. (At least they brought the price down to 5,000 from 6,000 since gasoline is now cheaper (they run off generators when the power goes out). Because of the inconsistent electricity, my battery charger just made a loud popping noise and started smoking (sounded like a blown transistor if my Analytical Chem electronics lab experience served me well), luckily I have a backup.

Anyway, the past two weeks have been a mixed bag of sorts, I got strep throat, killed two mice, saw an ENORMOUS rat that my cat just sorta followed in a “what’s this?” sort of way as it ambled into my latrine, yelled at and walked out on one of my classes (the English lesson for the day was “you’re all wasting my f**king time!” – it was a chemistry class), had a power struggle with one of my students (he wouldn’t stop talking in class, so I kicked him out, and he just sat there and stared at me defiantly until he realized I wasn’t kidding around when I grabbed his notebook and threw it out the window (I’m pretty sure he was older than me, and was experimenting with the “petit” system where he’s higher on the food chain than me)), had another conversation with “a school official” who keeps trying to wedge me out of any decision making in the library project and insists on calling the shots while having me do all the work (I want it to be a community library so we can extend it to all of Bintimodia and have the community take an interest in it which might help preserve it in the long-term – he insists it should be the school’s library and wouldn’t even hear my thoughts about getting important community figureheads (the head of the Women’s group, etc) involved in the committee, which currently consists of the school admin and one teacher (oh yeah, and me, I guess, though I’m starting to wonder if I’m just the token American whose job it is to find books and money, organize the entire system, and let the big boys call the shots))).

On the upside, I’ve started getting out to the neighboring communities more with one of my better friends, going for walks in the afternoons and stopping by with people to chat, etc (every time I go out I end up coming home with an armful of “cadeaux” oranges (‘tis the season), and on one memorable occasion two of the best grapefruits I’ve ever had). I’ve made more friends in the village, and my cat and I are coming to an understanding about what he should and shouldn’t do (though his new little game is running to Guineans during prayer time - when they’re kneeling and bowing to Mecca - and try to get them to play…it’s not as cute after the first few times. I got some awesome cargo shorts commissioned (I just had to move the button over by an inch or so since they were a bit too large), and I finally got my bamboo closet/wardrobe/shelf thing for my room, though getting it was an adventure.

I commissioned it after my last entry, finding the bamboo guy on my bike home. After some bargaining I got him to lower the price to 200,000 (I wanted it cheaper, say 150,000, but I’m always hesitant to bargain too much with someone who hasn’t made the item yet, so it doesn’t turn out to be crap later). We agreed that it’d be ready the following Saturday, so I showed up Sunday morning fully expecting it to be almost ready but not quite, I wasn’t disappointed. I told him to reinforce one part of it (the bar I intend to use as a “closet”) and that I’d be back in 6 hours to get it. I went about my business as usual, then went back to find it finished. I told the guy I’d be back with a car soon and walked over (about ½ mile) to the taxi area to find a car headed to Bintimodia. I expected to pay about 6,000 tops for this trip (a seat in a Bintimodia bound car is usually 4,000 – I figured tack on 2,000 for the large baggage). The first guy I talked to listened paitently, and say “ok, 100,000”. Now, since “cent-mille” and “cinq-mille” sound so similar, I knew I must have misheard him. “5,000?” I asked, and he said “no, 100,000”. About an hour of bargaining, yelling, pleading, name-calling, laughing and running around to most of the cars in the area later, I agreed to pay someone the last 14,000 left in my wallet (literally the last of the money I had), in exchange he’d meet me over by the road near the bamboo guy whenever the car filled up with people (anywhere from 15 minutes to….???). I walked back paid the bamboo guy, had a guy help me carry the thing (about the size of a smallish entertainment center) to the side of the road. I took out my book and read for about 90 minutes, talked to my mom for a while, and then the car showed up (I was a bit worried since I had no money, a big entertainment center, nowhere in Kamsar I could sleep and the sun was setting, but I just kept my faith that someone would get me eventually). We got it back to my village though, and it’s made a big difference as far as organization goes. Now I just need to buy and/or commission some hangers.

The new training group did their site visit, but since none of them are that close to Boké they didn’t go and do a regional capital visit like I did back in August. I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever meet them (maybe 4th of July?). I’m looking forward to going to In-Service Training for a week in Mamou since I’ll get to see all my training group again and spend a week with them catching up on the last 3 months of our lives. I’ll also finally be able to pin down the people I need to ask about getting materials for the library project, and figure out if there’s a more diplomatic way of convincing my “school official” to stop treating me like a child.

Anyway, there’s probably tons more to say, but nothing is coming to mind and I should wrap things up here anyway, until next time.