The Day I Almost Dug Holes

So,  I woke up early the other day because I wanted to get to my master farmer's farm early before the sun got hot.  The plan was to meat up with Mamadou (The Master Farmer) Hildawg and Marie and dig a whole bunch of holes for corn.  At 7:30 I get to the garage.  At 9:30 I can finally leave the garage, and at about 10:15 I arrive at the farm.  After a few mintues of goofing around we assign ourselves different jobs to do.  I was going to dig with Mamadou while Marie measured out where the hole were going to be placed, and gave the machete to Hildawg to cut down some shrubbery (she needs to practice how to properly handle a machete too she wasn't very good, but she has potential).

Mamadou At The Farm.

So, By like 10:30 we are starting work.  If you know anything about working in Africa 10:30 in the morning is not a good time to start work cause its starting to get really hot.  Then Mamadou and I start digging holes and realize that the soil is almost as hard as cement because it hasn't rained in weeks.  after digging two hole I look at him and say, this isnt working.  It is way to hot, and the soil is way to hard.  This just isnt going to work out today.  he agreed and we left.  of course by then it was getting close to noon and  it is almost impossible to find a car going anywhere between 11:00 and 3:00 in Senegal, especially on a friday.   We go and sit with mamadou and have a very delicious lunch of rice and veggies and beef.
So, after waiting a few hours we finally are called over to the car.  and we sit in the car...and sit...and sit for maybe an hour and we wait for the car to get filled up with people.  in the oversized van that we are in,we are in the back where the seats are parallel with the sides of the road facing each other. in front of me I have marie and a man weilding a sword which is poorly hidden beneath his road, and will not let me see it.  to my left is a man wearing some very nice clothes and bling and a paper bag of meat, and on the other side of him is Hildawg.  Now this man on my left seems to be a bit out of place.  wearing really nice clothing, has some bling on, and onto the van he brought on a TV wrapped in a sheet, brand new fly kicks (nice looking shoes), a very cool truckers hat, and some new bottles of cologne.  This man was also wearing a jacket because he was cold. (I was in a T-shirt and shorts because it was around 100 degrees). The man opens this dripping-with-grease bag of meat and attempts to eat.  I look at this and can't believe he is going to risk having sticky fingers in such an environment (theres no water to clean up with) and I proceed to ask him why he is eating pork. he tells me it is mutton (thats french for sheep) and I tell him that I saw the restaurant earlier this morning and that they had killed a pig.  he doesn't believe me and continues to eat his mutton.  he then offers me some, and I tell him no I do not eat pork only mutton.  he laughs.  then he realizes the fatal mistake he had made, and after two hunks of mutton he tries to wrap up his meat and shoves it into the sheet with the TV.  then he looks down at his nasty greasy sticky hands.  Does this man worry about sticky fingers? no.  he rubs the mutton grease into his hands as if it were lotion.  then he begins to dance.  yes dance in the back of the van.  the man with the sword is not entirely pleased.  The mutton man then tries to dance with marie who really isnt having it and I tell him that she is my wife and that if he touches her again I will beat him.  he agrees to stop touching her, but continues dancing.  once he stops dancing he takes out the bag with the fly kicks and cologne and begins to spray me! I am not entirely amused but it does smell nice.  he then proceeds to spray all of us (and he is laying it on thick) and then sprays himself. then trys to spray me again.  I however stop him.  Then his attention focuses back on the girls.  and he asks for Hildawg.  I tell him that I will give her to him for 500,000 cfa, 10 cows, 3 goats, 3 sheep, and a kilo of rice.  He agrees and said that tomorrow morning we would do the arrangements.  I had kept asking him what his work was after this, and he would not divulge this information which leads me to believe that not only was this guy hopped up on drugs, but he was also involved in trading.
So, there we are smelling nice (kinda) and really want to leave, and so finally I go up to the driver and tell him that we are in a hurry and need to leave.  apparently it worked! and we were off.  on the road a lady began to talk to us, and offered me her baby.  I respectfully declined the offer with the excuse that I was travelling with my two wives and that Marie is my first wife and Hildawg is my second wife, and that I do not need anymore children because Marie has given me 3 boys (Aliou, Samba, and Lemiyne) and Hildawg has given me 2 boys (Demba, and Mamadou).  She completely understood why I did not need another baby.
We eventually got to Tamba to rest and wait some rain to fall, so that I can go back to the master farm and do what I do best, dig holes.

-Mike

a picture from the formation

The Formation that Almost Didn't Happen.

So,  (a formation is the same as a workshop but french)  I was supposed to have this formation yesterday and today about composting and soil preparation.  I have been having soo much trouble with the womens group Sahelia (See blog Post "It's Hot" from May 12).  Yesterday was supposed to be the beginning of the Formation...that didn't happen.  So the story goes, A really good gardener form Kolda (Seck) came up here to do a formation with me (his wolof and pulaar is much better than mine and can explain things that I just can't)  He arrives on time and I meet him and I show him to my house where he will be staying.  we then go to the garden we will be working at and then to the house of the president of Sahelia.  she is very excited and claims to have everything prepared...then I ask her what she has prepared.  her answer was nothing.  so the three of us go looking for manure and other items.  then I made sure to remind her that we would be starting at four O'clock.  she agreed.  Seck and I had a delicious lunch at a very nice restaurant in town and we napped.  at a bit before 4:00 we went to the garden and waited.  after about 15 minutes the pres showed up.  after another 15 minutes a few more people showed up.  by 5:00 there were 4 people ready for the formation.  we discussed what the hell is going on.  I was very disappointed.  then we decided to do both parts the next day.  some in the morning and some in the evening.  which shouldn't be a problem.  a few minutes later we realized that there was a problem.  beautiful Pam my site mate has a formation of her own the next afternoon.  We then decided to do it all at once in the morning.  not my favorite plan but getting out of the way first thing in the morning is fine with me.  We all agreed that 8:00 would be the time that we begin.  We also agreed that if no one showed up after 1 hour Seck would go back to Kolda.

So, the next morning we arrive on time.  we wait 15 minutes and then the pres shows up.  after an hour 4 people are there...again, also she didn't bring any manure or ash or anything else that she was supposed to bring.  I tell her that we will not wait any longer and we are leaving.  We both have other work to do (Kinda, I mostly just don't want to be sitting there, and I suppose I could be writing a radio show).  She runs off to who knows where and suddenly after 15 minutes a few ladies show up ready to work.  at 10:00 everyone shows up, and all the materials are there and we make compost piles and amend the soil and have a great time.  We ate lunch, took some pictures, and everyone left smiling, even me.

Now word is getting around amongst the ladies of Velingara.  already I have heard complaints from the other womens group about how I would not let them have a formation even though that is completely ridiculous.  I gave them an extra 7 days to give me the money even (See blog Post "It's Hot" from May 12).  Apparently they told pam (at her formation this afternoon) that they are upset with me and that I "did not agree" with them about having a formation.  I really don't care.  I am not going to worry about this.  I am going to focus on my Demo garden, my master farm, and the radio shows.


-Mike

Bad Morning.

So,  I am making a really big change.  Some people may not take this change of mine seriously but it is still huge for me.  I am making the switch from Tevas to Chacos (sandal brands)  I have always been loyal to Tevas, but I don't think that they can handle the rainy season here.  I had ordered some Chacos Onine earlier in the week, and I have been very excited to get them.  Yesterday I woke up from a nightmare at about 5:00am. I had bought womens flipflops, and there was nothing I could do because I am in Africa, and I had to live with wearing womens flipflops for the rest of my service here.  It was really awful.

Then the worst thing happened.  As many of you know I love cats.  not as much as trees, but still I love cats.  At my house in America my family 4 cats.  After the terrible nightmare I went outside to water the garden and eat some frozen yogurt for breakfast.  I heard this weird noise coming from a corner of the compound, so I went to check it out.  to my surprise it was a little baby kitten maybe a week or 2 old.  somehow it had gotten separated from its mother and ended up in the compound.

All I could think of was "OH NO! my puppy (it weighs roughy 30 lbs now) is going to destroy that baby kitten I need to save it"  so I went and tied up the dog, and went to rescue the kitten.  I figured that I could probably bring it to Tampa and give it away to someone there.  I went over and reached for the kitten, but the kitten decided to make a run for it.  The puppy saw the kitten scampering away and with a mighty force snapped the rope it was tied up with.  I immediately grab a stick to beat the dog that almost is eating a kitten that is running away.  we all stop at the douche (the douche is a french word for hole in the ground that you poop in) and we stare each other down.  The pup looks at me with the stick and the kitten, the kitten is looking at the douche, me and the pup, I am looking at the kitten, the douche, and the pup.  no one makes a move.  then suddenly the kitten thinks the douche is a good idea.  I freak out cause the dog moves in.  the kitten is able to back out and I am still scaring the dog enough for it not to attack.  Then I decide that the best action for me to take is to go for the dog, and tie him up again (with better rope) and find the kitten after and save it.

I make a move for the pup.  The kitten thinks I am going for it.  The kitten makes a final leap into the douche never to be heard from again.  not a sound escaped that disgusting hole of feces and cockroaches.  not a splash or a mew.  it was just gone...worst day of my life man.

After that fiasco, I travelled up to Manda to see my master farmer and ended up walking around his barren field in the hot sun measuring out plots for beans and stuff.  It was really hot. For some reason we had to measure it all out using triangles.  that was annoying.


-Mike

Bagels

So, I have been having trouble with this bagel project of mine.  For those of you that do not know, I am trying to have the pastry shoppe in town make bagels.  I think that they would make a lot of money from this endeavor.  Volunteers from all over the country have told me that they would buy bagels if they were available.  There are also many hotels and campements in the area with lots of foreigners that would buy bagels.  If the pastry shoppe makes bagels I would take orders from all the volunteers once a month and give the order to the pastry shoppe.  I would then distribute the bagels.  They would make a killing!  So here is the problem.  We tried to do bagels a few months ago.  They made a single bagel about the size of my head, and it tasted more like a donut.  Although delicious, its not a bagel.  Then I was away from site doing things like regional conferences, allvol, the donkey ride, and a number of other work related conferences.  Last week I entered the bagel shoppe with the new volunteers and I told the chef that they all wanted bagels.  As soon as I said the word “bagel”  the new volunteers immediately turned their head and started asking and being very excited about bagels.  The chef turned to me and said ok, I get it I will make bagels.  So a few days passes and I show up again and I ask about where they are.  He says that he doesn’t have the ingredients.  We look at the recipe list.  And we decide afterwards that he does have all the ingredients.  And he says in a few days to come back and he will have them.  I come back a few days later and ask where the bagels are.  He says he couldn’t do it.  I ask why.  His response is that he is unfamiliar with the unit of measurement on the list.  I look at it, and I realize that he doesn’t know what a tea spoon or a table spoon is.  This is understandable because he usually makes large orders, and I assume that he uses different units when making cakes, most likely he sticks to grams.  I tell him I will come back in a few days for the bagels he says ok.  I return a few days later very excited for bagels.  I ask him where they are are, and he tells me that he can’t make them.  I ask why not?  He says that the recipe is for 10 people but he is using 800 grams of flour, it doesn’t make sense he can’t do it, there is no way to weigh out 800 grams of flour.  I tell him that this is like science, it is ok to experiment and that he should just estimate. Then he tells me that he can’t do it because it takes too long,  he needs an hour to let the dough rise and that is just too long.  I tell him don’t worry about it just let it rise for 30 minutes and maybe it will be ok.  Then he tells me that he needs to let it rest in a refridgerator, and he doesn’t have one (he does have one and it works, and there are cokes and fantas in it right this very moment) I tell him don’t worry about the refridgerator.  He tells me ok I will make them tonight.  Today I went back to see the bagels.  He told me that he could not do it because the electric mixer is too big to mix the dough.  Geoff was with me and we told him to just double the recipe, although I don't know why he can't just use a spoon.  It is very interesting to me, at how precise he is following the recipe, and his unwillingness to look outside the box.  I think that it has a lot to do with the education system.  There is a lot of just rote memorization, whereas in America we are taught to think of ideas, and to problem solve.  Especially for a pastry chef, you would think that he would be able to figure this kind of thing out.  It is also very apparent to me that he doesn’t understand the chemistry involved with cooking.  Hopefully the bagels will turn out alright.  I think that my next pastry shoppe project will be peanut butter cookies.  There is a lot of peanut butter here, and they know how to make cookies, so it only makes sense...doesn't it?

-Mike

I Got Sick...Again

So, I have gotten sick a few times here.  Giardia, Ameobas, heat rashes, and some stuff that was undiagnosed.  This last time I got sick was the worst so far I think.  It was a classic case of Giardia, which is  "an infection of the small intestine caused by a microscopic organism...outbreaks can occur in communities in both developed and developing countries where water supplies become contaminated with raw sewage" Lucky me. I think I got it from drinking some unfiltered well water, ain't I smart?  So anyways I woke up feeling really tired, and diarrhea, and then the sulfur burps came (classic symptom of Giardia is having an unusually high amount of burps that taste like sulfur.) So like a good Peace Corps volunteer I called med to double check the medicine i should buy(I was pretty sure of the medicine 'Fasigyne' but I just wanted to be sure).  I called, and told the person on the other line my name and site, and what was wrong, and they weren't quite sure why I was calling.  I explained myself again and asked for a doctor.  at that point in time the doctors were attending the new volunteers swear in ceremony, (which I do approve of as a completely legitimate excuse) and the man on the phone asked me if he wanted them to send down any medicine.  I needed the medicine now, not in two days from now, so I asked him again if he could just tell me the name of the medicine I needed to take.  He failed.  I hung up and bought the medicine.  I ate the medicine and some tylenol, and tried to nap.  Unfortunately for me, my next door neighbors were having a wedding.  This meant that there were giant speakers and a hundred people making noise.  I pretty much watched movies and read for most of the day and night.  the next day I was still not feeling so good.  I went to pams house and told her im sick. and then I came home and decided to watch the Mighty Ducks trilogy.  at this point some guy came into my compound with my host dads key took some mangos I think and left...but he didn't lock the door behind him.  so ten minutes later all these ladies form the wedding next door are in my compound asking me to fetch them water, and ice water, and ice, and all sorts of stuff.  I am not amused.  I am not hospitable.  I do not know who the hell these ladies are.  So there I am in the hot african heat, sick, with crazy ladies bothering me and I have to watch them, cause I don't know who they are and if they feel like stealing something from my house.  Eventually my host dad comes back and I can go to sleep.  Sleeping was difficult this whole time.  when the power was on, I could use my fan and sleep in relative coolness but the giant speakers next door were blasting terrible senegalese music and Akon.  When the power was out, the music was gone, but it was too hot.  By night fall, I took some more tylenol, and drank a bunch of gatorade and I was feeling relatively good.  I went to a restaurant and ate some eggs and potatoes, I checked out a new bar that had jsut opened up (I didn't drink anything) and then went back home.  Then the worst 5 minutes happened.  Suddenly the power went out.  not a problem I walk outside and drink some cold water.  then I realized I had to pee.  I want to see the color of my piss to know how hydrated I am so I bring in my cell phone because it has a flashlight.  I repeat to myself over and over, "Don't drop it in, don't drop it in, don't drop it in"  of course I do drop it in.  Now let me tell you.  I have a nasty toilet.  it is really really gross.  I stare at it for a few seconds, and sigh and begin the search for a flashlight.  during the search I slice open my thumb on a piece of metal (of course I don't realize this till much later cause I can't see anything)  and I eventually find my flashlight and latex gloves.  I fished it out and swiftly walked outside with the phone dripping nasty goo from its seams.  As soon as I had laid the phone down and started wiping it down with an old cloth, the power came back on. I went to Pams house and told her everything.  She pretty much just laughed.  I put the phone in a bag of rice in hopes that the next day it would work.  3 hours later I started feeling extremely nauseas.  this lasted until the next morning.  my stomach hurt so much, I got only a few hours of sleep.  Then the next day I was so tired and felt so sick I could barely get out of bed.  I managed to walk to pams house and used her phone for some work stuff and then went home and slept.  That night I was feeling well enough to talk to the women's group president.  I had to tell her that I had to move the date of the workshop again.  I was feeling so loopy, I could barely understand a thing she was saying to me.  I can only hope that I got my message across.  


Now I am feeling much better although my appetite has still not completely returned, and I am still a little tired.  I can only eat a half bowl of rice.  Gatorade is a real lifesaver.  That stuff is awesome.  


It has Rained twice this week!  last night it was pretty scary.  a lot of wind and lightening.  almost reminded me of home.  In a few weeks time my city will turn into the Venice of Senegal! Imagine a town with its streets flooded from rainwater stirring up all the donkey, cow, goat, pig, and human feces into a wonderful beautiful river.  I can hardly wait.


-Mike

It's Hot!

So, to begin this post I must say that it is really hot.  possibly even too hot.  I am lucky enough to be living in a place where I get electricity 80-90% of the time, and I have a freezer.  other volunteers are not so lucky.  they live in huts with grass roofs and no electricity or running water for miles.

So, I've been trying to make some workshops happen for some womens groups.  One of the groups presidents (from the Mashala group)  called a great gardener that I know in Kolda (who happens to work with the peace corps almost daily) and asked him to come up and do some workshops.  Gardening workshops.  very simple workshops for just a few hours.  He contacted me through the wonderful Kolda volunteer Marcie and I went down and scheduled some with him for the two womens groups I garden with (Mashala, and Sahelia are the group names).   I told both groups to have half the money ready by May 2nd, and after the workshops they can pay the second half.  May 2nd came along and no one had any money. I ask the Mashala president why they don't have any money, and they say its too expensive (it is not at all expensive).  I told her then that if she doesn't have the money she can't have a workshop.  This seemed to surprise her.  I told her that i was doing this for her because she called the gardener in kolda, and that I am only organizing this because she asked for a workshop.  she tells me that she doesn't know what I am talking about.  That she doesn't know the gardener in Kolda and that she doesn't even have his number.  That surprises me. eventually she tells me that she will have all the money by May 10th.  I am at this point to tired and annoyed to continue arguing, and agree.  I tell her that I will call her everyday and ask her about the money until may 10th, and I continually remind her that if she does not have any money, she does not have any workshop.  I then go to the house of the other president of the Sahelia group.  She says that she and all her ladies love me so much, and they are so happy when I come around.  I then ask her for the money.  She tells me that i need to sit down and eat Laalo.  Laalo is a nasty meal consisting of rice, and the leaves of a baobab tree (at least I think its baobab).  its kinda gross.  I eat a little bit anyways to be polite, and again ask her for the money.  she says she doesnt have it, the secretary has it. I say ok lets go to her place and get the money.  So we go there, and of course she doesnt have any money.  The president tells me to go to her garden the next morning and she will have the money then.  I have my doubts, but say ok anyways, and that I need to leave for Kolda at 10:00.  at 9:00 I am at the garden, at 9:05 she tells me she doesnt have the money, but knows someone that does.  So we walk a few blocks and end up at Pams supervisors house (I must point out that her house has some beautiful banana trees).  I am thinking oh this is great this lady will know I am PC and everything will be great and I will get the money, and I will soon be gone.  The lady doesnt really recognise me, nor does she speak pulaar, she only speaks french and wolof, two languages I do not speak.  So there I am, trying to figure out what is going on between the two of them, and wondering why on earth woud pams supervisor not speak pulaar, and why does she have the money?  I explain to the president who explains to pams supervisor what the workshops are for and why they need money for work shops and she seem sto understand, and then she says that her uncle works for PC.  she calls him up and it turns out to be Yousafa, a man that taught me a lot about Urban ag during my training, and whom I really get along with (we are both huge James Brown fans).  He told me that both of the groups were trying to treat me like a normal NGO, and are trying to get money out of me (these ladies have obviously never met a full blooded jew before) and that what I was doing was great and that I should not give any money, and that I am here as a teacher.  I agreed with him on all accounts, and he talked to Pams supervisor and as soon as she hung up the phone I had the first payment for the workshop in my hands.  of course it was almost 11:00.  The next day in Kolda I went to the gardeners house and told him all that had happened.  He was very confused that the Mashala president said she didnt know him, because the other day she was at his house. he is her uncle.  I decided to call her right then and there.  the gardener and I talked to her, and reminded her about collecting money for the workshop.  everything was great.  I called that lady every day to remind her about the money (I may have forgotten one day) and then it was the 10th.  and I go to the garden where she works, and notice that no one is there.  I call her.  I asked her where she and her ladies are.  her response is essentially I do not have any money, and I am in Dakar.  I tell her she can not have a workshop. The weird thing with her is that she asked for the workshop, and she knew the whole time it was going to cost money, and she knew when the due date was.  So, then I go and check on the president of the sahelia to make sure that the second payment will be on time on the 14th.  I go to her house, and she tries to feed me Laalo again, and I eat a little bit but this laalo was really bad.  and I get down to business, and ask if she has collected the money yet.  she asks me when the workshop is going to be.  I tell her it is still going to be on the 14th, thats saturday, I use french numbers usually and she asks what that is in Pulaar and I tell her, and she suddenly looks very surprised.  She tells me that the 14th will not work, because all of the women will be in Kounkane for a regional women's group thing.  at this point, I am not surprised.  I honestly should have seen this coming.  I ask her what is a good day for her. she says the 17th I call the gardener and he says it'll be fine.  later that night as I am in bed watching a movie (Grandmas Boy) and I get a call from Pam.  She told me that the president had gone to her house and told her that she wants the workshop on the 13th instead.  why she didn't call me, or come to my house instead of Pams house I do not know.  She wants the 13th?  you have got to be kidding me! I can't move it up a day, thats the day I am going to buy stuff for the workshop and actually prepare materials for the workshop.  So then there was this morning.  I go to her garden at 9:00 because she told me to be there at 9:00.  I waited until 9:30 and then I left.  Will she have a workshop on the 17th? maybe.  will she get her money back if there is no workshop? I don't know.

My demo garden budget is almost done! its going to be great!

The hamburger guy is back in town, now with Nems (like eggrolls) and Fatayas!!!  its awesome!

it is really hot.

-Mike