What is worse than cockroaches, but not as bad as snakes?

SCORPIONS!! I found one in my room after being gone for the day. I left to get the broom to smack it to death (as I do daily with the giant spiders), only to find it had disappeared. The next day I tore apart my room cleaning and simultaneously looking for it, but to no avail. Good thing I sleep under an impregnated mosquito net – that’ll kill any bug that comes too close.

No named kitten…

I went to the Agoe marche – it was awesome: big but not overwhelming, with tons more options than Tsevie (although the prices of the same items may be a little higher). It is there that I bought my tiny kitten! It’s orange with big blue eyes. There were so many options at the marche and I was actually afraid to take this one home because she is so small. But when I put my hand into the cage she was the only one that wasn’t scared. She came right up to me and let me pet her all day long. Once I took her home, it was obvious that I made the right choice. She follows me everywhere and stands right by my feet (I have to be careful not to step on her) and she sleeps on my stomach. I wanted a lap cat and that’s what I got. But she’s got a feisty side too – she likes to roll over and she’ll nip at my fingers. She loves the lace on some of my shirts. I think she’ll be a great bug-catcher!! But what to call her? I have yet to pick out a name and just keep saying kitty. Any suggestions?

Working at the Disponsiare:

I am working on getting to know the health system in my community. I have been frequenting the USP, helping with whatever tasks the Sage-Femme (midwife) asks me to, and asking questions when I see the ASC’s (Agents de Sante Communitaire – Community Health Workers). ASC’s are volunteers which is why it is a difficult system because they are relied on to disseminate general health knowledge. When you are not paid to do so, the accountable work load is very little. There are not enough workers for my village, which consists of 6000 people. Additionally, my disponsiare serves the neighboring 9 villages. This will be quite a task.

Water load

I tried to carry water on my head like everyone else yesterday. I had a small basin and still only made it a third of the way to my house, and still spilled before another women took it for me. Not sure that I’ll ever get used to that but I want to keep trying. It’s hard to stand up straight and balance, plus you hold the basin with your hands to help stabilize it – it’s all just very tiring. But at least I can pump my own water. Everyone is quite amused when I do.

Making foufou

Well, at least, I TRIED to make foufou. I went over to my work partners house to make lunch with his wife. I wanted to make foufou, to know how and for the experience even though it is not my favorite food. So first you peel the yams (you can make it with cassava too), and you have to careful because apparently the yams will make your skin itch. Then you cut it up and boil it. Madame uses a charcoal pot to cook, as do most people here. (I have a gas stove, two burner and a tank that I had to hook up to the burners myself.) So you have to keep fanning the charcoal too. After boiling it, you let it cool a little. Then you put it in a giant mortar (like 2 feet tall) and smash with a 5 foot…not sure of the word in English…pestle? Anyways, you smash it up and then add water on the pestle so the food doesn’t stick and while you keep pounding it, and I mean pounding with more strength than I possess, and turning it to make a sticky goop. And just when you think it’s done, you add another cup of water and pound away to mix that in, and sometimes you even do that again! All in all, with only two yams cut up to feed the four of us, it took 2 hours to prepare!!! (And in the middle of all this, we made fish sauce, with heads, to pour on the foufou, and then ate it with our hand!)