A Very Guinea Birthday

So I spent the hours leading up to my birthday trying to get all my 800 or so exams graded so I could be done in time for the big day ... I fell 150 short, which I will be getting done this weekend.

I went to bed, and woke up just before 5am to my phone ringing (I have one of those really obnoxious ring tones). It turned out my friend Maricarol - who I've been friends with since we were 6 - wanted to call to wish me a happy birthday, but hadn't quite figured out the time zone difference....in any case it was great to get a call from her. I went back to bed, then got up to teach. I started my 10th grade on the last section of the syllabus - organic chemistry!. They're only learning about hydrocarbons, but it's still great to teach them something other than balancing equations, etc....though I spent most of the time teaching them to balance equations for the combustion of various alkanes. I then gave my 9th grade English class an incredibly serious lecture on cheating that took like 20 minutes. They could tell I was not happy with them, and they didn't even argue much when I told them I had failed every one of them on the final. I think the lesson went as well as I could have expected it to, I think it got to them enough that at least they'll be more careful about cheating in my class in the future.

I got a call from Tim, and we got his travel dates figured out (he'll be here in about a month!), then I got a call from my mom and we chatted a bit as well. I also got a couple of text messages from other volunteers, and I had already received birthday cards in the mail from my mom, sister, Tim, and a few of my friends both back in the states, and in Guinea.

I went home and started work on my birthday cake. Using the cocoa powder my mom sent in a care package and ingredients I had gotten in the market that weekend I made a pretty delicious chocolate cake. I used the dutch oven system to bake it (explained in this entry) and it came out pretty good. I whitled a regular candle down to birthday candle size and stuck a teddy graham cookie on top for decoration. Since I didn't have "Happy Birthday" on my iPod, I dug out a tape of music that my aunt sent me which contained "Las Mañanitas" among other mariachi hits....so I played that for myself, made a wish and blew out my candle. I then cut myself a piece of cake and was just about finished with it when this lady who I hang out with in my village came looking for me, wanting me to help her transplant some more chili pepper seedlings.

I locked up the house and gave her a piece of cake, then did my best to explain that it was my birthday to her in Susu. After some sign-language she got the point and I realized the Susu word for birthday is the same as the French....I should really start trying that more often. She loved the cake and told me I need to teach her how to make it (I think I can substitute the "hot cocoa" mix you can sometimes find in the markets so she can find all the ingredients here). I told her I would if she taught me how to make these cookies that people sell around here that I really like. I then went with her to her field and spent a couple of hours helping her and her son dig trenches, fill them with manure/compost, pour water in them, and transfer a strong seedling to each one. We probably got like 150-200 of these set up in that time, we eventually got two young boys "helping" though they spent a lot of their time just watching me (I suppose a white guy ankle deep in mud and elbow deep in manure is a rare sight for them...).

After this I went home, took a bucket bath, and watched a movie on my iPod, and called it an early night (between getting woken up at 5am, teaching 6 hours, and spending 2 hours in the fields, I was exhausted). All in all a very good birthday.

Also, I should have some pictures up on Facebook in a few hours - as long as the Boke power doesn't cut out....