about of late. Loren arrived home on Wed night. His ticket said he was
to arrive at 14h40 (2:40 pm for you non-military Canadians) but
somewhere in the last 7 weeks they changed their schedule and didn't
bother to mention it. So when he called and asked if the plane was on
time, they said "yes of course", but he arrived at the airport to
discover that on time now meant leaving at 7PM and making a stop in
Togo. So he didn't actually arrive in Ouaga until 10PM. His 45 min
flight turned into a 7 hour wait at the airport and a 3 hour flight.
The stories he has are painful to hear. He talks about being spoiled
coming back to Ouaga - he was literally in the bush with nothing,
drinking river water, being swarmed and stung daily by bees, eating
manioc (a kind of mashed up grain) and bush meat - deer, monkeys,
whatever they could kill - so here with electricity, cold beer, and
vegetables, as well as not having to worry about workers striking and
getting shot at, Ouaga probably seems like paradise. Although it's a
lot hotter here, it's less humid (40+ deg and only 35% instead of
35deg and 80%!). Just at night, he said they needed a fire because it
got down to about 18 - 20 deg C. Here, at 4AM it's still over 30deg.
Loren was amazed at how much Ben had grown in 2 months. He was also
amazed at how big the cat was and immediately started talking about
putting it in a casserole with wine sauce. I THINK he's joking.
At least he's home. I found myself strangely distant when he arrived.
Part of me was expecting that we had to start all over again and it
was as if I was shut off from our relationship and had to be
re-started, like a car that's been parked for 7 weeks. It didn't take
too long to get back up to speed and the next part in some ways
doesn't seem so bad anymore, in others feels worse. It will be 10
weeks and I will have been re-Canadianized somewhat so we'll see how
it goes. At least I have something to look forward to. Like being
freezing cold! I'm bringing my coat!
We went to a funeral this morning. It was our friend Michel's
grandmother who died. So we drove out to her village. She was a
chief's wife so it was kind of a big deal. We sat out under mango
trees eating chicken and rice, and pork and french fries, drinking
coke, beer, whiskey, water. I wore a knee- length skirt and still
managed to get a light sun burn on my legs under the trees as my legs
haven't seen sun in 8 months. We sat and talked, and Ben of course was
bored, as all children are at parent functions. Fortunately Loren has
a couple friends who are quite amusing. Yves showed Ben how to make
origami boxes. Yves is also absolutely hysterical and had us nearly
crying because we were laughing so hard. He likes to mix english and
french. So he said things like, we were traversing the school yard in
running, and told Ben that he was to "be regarding me during my
conception" (regard in french is to watch, and conception is a design
- so totally different than the english).
During the funeral, they do something of a salute - anything that has
to do with the chief, they do 4 shots from a gun, just powder, no
ammo. This happened to be a muzzle-load shot gun. What was funny -
along the lines of being in the desert, by camel ride and hearing cell
phones go off - was the first round of shot set off a bunch of car
alarms. I think I nearly peed from laughing so hard.
Having said that, I don't think I quite have the hang of their humour.
Loren was telling the story of a group of friends who had very little
so they decided to pool their resources to send one to Europe to get a
job. So each of them sold all their possessions - bikes, everything -
and sent one guy to Europe. 2 weeks later they see him again and ask
him what he's doing back. He says "it's cold up there". And everyone
around the table bursts into laughter.
Another one, that I did think was funny but not nearly as funny as
everyone else seem to think: a boy at school is asked to write a story
describing a picture. The picture shows a boy being chased by a
crocodile. The boy writes: Drissa nage (swims), crocodile nage. Drissa
nage nage, crocodile nage nage. Drissa nage, nage, nage, nage, nage,
nage!!!!! Crocodile nage, nage, nage, nage, nage, nage!!!!
And some of you are thinking, what the hell is wrong with you?!
Anyway, it seems odd that I will be home in less than 2 months. Let me
know if you have any requests for artwork, batiq, cloth, statues,
masks, or little instruments. I won't buy a djembe - too heavy. Benny
is staying until the end of August. Then he gets one more month of
vacation when he arrives here. I am checking out 2 new schools near my
office since he seems terribly bored where he is. We'll see how that
goes. But I'll miss him!! We've never been apart that long!
Off to shower then to bed. I don't think my hair has been 100% dry for
nearly a month now. Your scalp sweats and your hair stays wet inspite
of/because of ? 40 deg weather. Keeps you cooler anyway. I'm getting
used to sleeping soaked in sweat. Just a few more weeks of this, but
then the mosquitoes will be back too. Africans don't believe me when I
talk about the mosquitoes, horse flies and black flies in Northern
Ontario and in some of the parks. But at least those don't carry death
and disease like malaria and sleeping sickness.
I will be going to Ghana in a few weeks and am debating about taking
Ben with me so I can stay a little longer. We may have to drive to
Tamale (about 6 hours costing about $600 total airfare and another
$200 in gas) and fly from there because from Ouaga to Accra is just
too expensive (about $900 Canadian for me and $600 for him). Our
Burkina visas have expired, as has my Ghana visa. Should be an
interesting trip for him. I also have to do a couple minesite tours so
don't want to leave him too much.
