zot in Niger bush camels

I went down to a village this weekend with several other volunteers for World Malaria Day, which as April 25th. We were supposed to be dipping mosquito nets in insecticide and handing them out, but instead we spent about five hours waiting for officials to show up and then we found out that they had already dipped nets and there was nothing for us to do… Waste of time. On the other hand, I think it was the first time that all of us lower Haute folks were together, and I enjoyed getting to know them a little better.

This is the last week before IST, and though I feel like I’ve been doing some stuff, I suddenly feel like I have a ton of things I want to get done before I go. Aside from my Etude de Mileu, I also want to get my Moringa trees planted (I have two started and they are growing quite fast). This requires building a protective fencing around them so that the goats don’t eat them, but shouldn’t take too long. But I’d also like to clean my house before I leave, build my solar dryer (I am not having my carpenter build it, he wanted too much) and dry some mangos, get some bricks ordered and delivered for building a terraced garden, and buy some things I’ve been putting off. Basically I’d like to get all the small house related things taken care of so that when I get back I can start on some big projects without having to spend time on little things.

Unfortunately I am about to run out of battery on my laptop, so this post will have to be a little short. I am still planning on writing about the different projects seeds that have started.

Yesterday was very successful. In the morning I got several blog posts up. The internet has been a little wonky and it was working well yesterday. I also got off a few important emails, and then searched out the Credit Rurale, which is a bank run by the Guinean government that provides credit to people in the agricultural sector. The basic idea is that the bank provides money to farmers to buy their supplies at the beginning of the growing season, and then collects the money during the harvest. It gives farmers a better interest rate than they would get from a real bank (what real bank?). I was told the interest rate is 4%, but I can’t be certain. When we talked to Credit Rurale during training we got some very weird answers as far as the interest rate was concerned, and I also don’t know if it is annual or some other time period. If it is from the beginning of planting to the harvest, then it is 4% over about eight months. That turned out well and I’m glad I took the time to find them. There was no sign or anything, they don’t make it easy. The guy who works there seems to be the only one and he actually used to work for my organization before they hooked up with Faissons Ensemble and went big.

Then I met again with the guy who wants to create an ONG. Its been kind of interesting working on it with him, seeing how he works compared with how I work. I can’t help making generalizations as to the differences between Guinean and American work culture, but I try to keep them under wraps. We have proceeded now through the objectives and the domaine d’intervention, and are I think about finished with it. I am not sure what happens next.

I have several specific goals today. I thought I was going to have my site inspected by my security director, but I haven’t heard from her, so I don’t know if that is still happening. I want to buy a couple of bidons to begin collecting fertilizer. This means peeing in the bidons until they are a quarter full and then setting them aside for two days to kill the schisto, then adding water and watering my plants. I don’t actually have any plants yet, but I am also thinking that this will cut down on the need to choose between a strong urine smell or using lots of water to flush every time I go to the bathroom.

I also want to give an order for a solar dryer to my carpenter, which I don’t expect to be easy, but we will see. I will probably have to do some serious explaining, but pictures help a lot. If I don’t do it soon the mango season will be over before I get any real stock of dried mangos.

And then I need to buy a bunch of mangos to make some mango jelly with. I have some jars I requested from the Peace Corps office, and I want the small ones and one big one full before the mangos run out. There are maybe a few more weeks of mangos left, I’m not sure.

This may not sound like a lot, but I will have to spend a lot of time arguing with the venders so that I can buy bidons and rubber strips at a reasonable price. Then I will have to argue with the carpenter so that I can get the solar dryer made at a reasonable price and to make sure he understands what I want. I expect it to take a few hours, and then I have to get the jelly made, wash my clothes, and get water all before nightfall.

I have several big projects in the very early stages. I will try to set them all down in a post, either tonight if I have the time and motivation, or tomorrow.

It has been terrifically hot the last few days, but finally last night the rains came again and cooled things off significantly. Fortunately i had been out earlier to buy eggs, so I had all the stuff necessary to make pancakes, which turned out delicious and are serving as breakfast as well. There is no butter or syrup, but honey almost makes up for it.

But mostly I’m writing this post to report that my possibly mefloquine induced late night fears have returned. One night last week I woke up at 04:00. I had possibly been dreaming of that movie The Strangers with Liv Tyler. If you haven’t seen it, a few people in white masks terrorize and murder a young couple. My mind kept imagining one of them walking out of my bathroom with a big kitchen knife in his hand. Then last night I woke up at 02:00 thinking for sure there was a ghost or something and it was going to start throwing my things at me while I lay in bed. There was another night that I don’t remember well, but it involved hearing some kind of weird noise and distorting it and becoming freaked out.

The pattern is familiar, and while I reached a point in Forecariah when I was having these experiences where I was able to recognize them and wait them out, it has taken me a while to recognize this latest set. I wake up in a sort of fuzzy state of anxiety, thinking it must be morning, but when after looking at the clock wondering what it is that woke me up, which then leads to being afraid of whatever my overactive mind is conjuring up. Once I realize what is happening the fear becomes easier to rationalize, but it doesn’t really go away. There is nothing to do but wait it out.

Having never taken any medication for mental stuff and subscribing more or less to the idea of taking as few medications as possible overall, it is weird to see what seems to be a mental effect of the mefloquine. The Peace Corps is careful to tell us that reactions may be due to stress and the new environment and we can’t be sure that it is the mefloquine, mostly I think because they don’t want us to stop taking our prophalaxis. How does that chemical lead to no noticable changes (to me) except that I have these weird episodes of fear? It doesn’t seem like a chemical would have more of a blanket effect on behavior.

Anyway, I don’t mean to scare anyone. It seems to be only once or twice a week when it does happen, and it doesn’t really affect my day to day life. Since it doesn’t always happen, I am going to start looking at connecting factors. Maybe I only have an episode like this if I eat some specific food when I take my mefloquine pill or something.

On a completely different note, I forgot to mention that I received my first endorsement of “the little bit of crazy” over the weekend. Peace Corps volunteers have a reputation of being a little “off” after they return, and some older volunteers were saying they were beginning to see it in me. It seems to be mostly based in the excitement with which you talk about some things. In this case I was trying to describe why I had wanted a GPS recorder, so that I could make maps of where I had gone and what I had done. I think it goes back to how I was talking about being generally calm and happy, but having these sort of manic emotions that lay pretty close to the service. I think maybe its this that people are talking about when they mention the little bit of crazy.

It seems like a bit of a badge of acceptance, especially since the region of lower Haute is referred to by some other volunteers as “the pit of crazy.” It remains to be seen whether my stage of volunteers will live up to that name.

So last Wednesday I met with my program director, which worked out really well. We talked a lot about plans for different things, most of which I mentioned in my last post, but also about math groups, math competitions, and the possibility of kicking things off at the university. It was fruitful and she put in a plug with my counterpart to have my roof repaired before the rains come. We had lunch too, and I regretted that I knew of no nice restaurants to go to. I only go to rice bars and egg sandwhich places, which are not the steak and fries places that you would like to go to when someone is buying your lunch. She also said that Peace Corps would pay for the cost of putting another window in my house (I have only one small one, so the air doesn’t circulate much unless my door is open). And by window I mean opening in the wall with rebar. Glass is for patrons.

Then Thursday I worked on my etude for a while, but mostly hung out with my family here, reading a semi-farcical independent journal that is put out here and being surprised to find an advertisement for a Peace Corps position in it. Right now one person is the program director for both SED (my program) and agroforestry, so she has a lot on her plate and they are trying to hire someone for the agroforestry program.

And I had hoped to be able to make it through the end of May with out pulling money out of the bank again, but I realized that I might need money through the end of June, since I might not make it down to Kissidougou again until after that. So Friday I went down to Kissidougou with another volunteer and we spent the weekend with a volunteer that lives there. Of course I forgot my bank card, but thankfully all that is required to get access to your number is that you have your ID, so I was still able to get some money.

We stayed up till 04:00 talking about a whole range of topics, mostly on the economy, our hopes for Obama, our excitement over the plans for high-speed rail (in my opinion one of the best ways to reduce our use of foreign energy and address potential climate issues, not to mention the efficiency and productivity increases that rail gives). We talked about plans after Peace Corps, about movies that were great and ones that were about to come out before we left that we had wanted to see. We closed with a story from one volunteer about his struggles with World of Warcraft and the wider social implications of games like that (and a little reminiscing about other video games we played).

Samedi we did some shopping for supplies during the day and ate the best rice and peanut sauce ever. Except for the extreme temperatures , the ramshackle hut, and the flies, I would have thought I was in a high class Thai restaurant. It was delicious. One of us bought a nice phone that can hold two sim cards at once, and can connect to the internet and all that (though there isn’t really service here that allows you to do that). I am probably going to have to follow suit one of these days when I’m in Conakry.

We got back Sunday and had a minor moral victory when we walked out on a taxi driver who was trying to put more people than normal in our taxi, and he caved and left the standard number. For sedans they are supposed to bring six people (that means eight, because they put one in back or on top and then the driver), but often they try to cram more in if the car is wide enough. He wanted to put four in the front seat (across two bucket seats), something that is commonly attempted, but I was in no mood for it this time, so I told him that either he gave all the passengers some money back or he didn’t let the seventh guy on. He was mad but we became friends later when I gave him a bonbon.

Part of why I wasn’t in the mood was because my back was itching terribly, and getting worse. When we made it to Faranah we went to the internet, and while waiting for the other volunteer to finish it was driving crazy. Back at my house we took pictures of what turned out to be a rash covering most of my back and then went back to the internet to email them to the doctor. I washed my back and arms with an antimicrobial and antibiotic cleanser from our med kits, and then put on some hydrocortisone cream, and today it isn’t bothering me as much. Hopefully it was just some combination of heat and the humidity of Kissidougou. Hopefully there are pictures below, and those of us in med school will have a fun time looking at them.

And if you are wondering why I don’t refer to other volunteers by name, its because Peace Corps policy is not to mention other volunteers whereabouts and activities for safety reasons. Its okay to talk about me because then I’m putting my own information out there, but not about others. I may just move to talking about John and Jane or something, because its annoying to write “the other volunteer” each time. About 90% of the time its the volunteer that lives closest to me anyway.

Jake I got your postcard!

Which just goes to show that you can’t believe everything older volunteers say. Case in point, there is a rather annoying rumor floating around about me, but we’ve figured out a grand joke to play off of it. Stay tuned in a few weeks to hear about it.

I am doing well. I really miss the states, particularly food like pizza, shushi, and the easy availability of cold drinks, and of course my people, but life here is good even on days when I have an annoying rash on my back and arms.

Let’s see now. I feel like a lot has happened since my last post, though after I write it all down it may not be much. Last Friday I met with the Director de la Direction de Promotion de la Jeunesse (Department for the promotion of youth). He is a really friendly guy and he seems really involved in his job. I spoke to him for a while about going out to see his village and learn about issues there, which seem to consist largely of educational problems (there is no high school there, and the students can’t go to high schools in other sous-prefectorals). After that we talked about some of teh stuff I wanted to do, and I mentioned that I was interested in starting a group of peer educators. It would be a group of college (high school) aged kids who are interested in social issues, and we would meet once or twice a week to discuss different topics and practice different skills. It would probably be entrepreneurial-based, but would also cover health and gender issues, and maybe include learning English. He was really receptive and I left the meeting pretty excited about what we would be doing.

Saturday I was supposed to go dancing but no one called me to go. It was just as well cause I was kind of nauseous and not that excited about it anyway. And Sunday I just washed my clothes and read a Michael Crichton book called Rising Sun, which was all about how the Japanese were taking over the American economy. Its funny because it was published in 1992 which is about the year the Japanese started their decade-long recession. In all it was a good relaxing weekend, though I was increasingly missing my life in America (reading books that take place in approximately modern America, while a joy, are also not so good for how I feel afterward). My hard days have changed from feeling unhappy here to missing my life and people there. Its a good change, because it means that I am increasingly enjoying myself in my day to day life here, and that is important.

Monday my mailrun came! It was very exciting. They were a day late because one of the Peace Corps drivers passed away (he was only 35 or so). I didn’t know him, but people were pretty sad. Anyway, on that note, I got two boxes and a few letters, as well as the postcard for Jake and Allie’s wedding! One of the boxes was just jars that I had requested from Conakry to make mango jelly and pickles with, but the other was from my mom and had jerky and nutritional yeast and snickers and canned chicken. All the joys of modern life. It was fantastic.

I was supposed to meet someone at the internet place on Monday, but, as is becoming a recurring theme, they didn’t show up. I’m thinking of imposing some kind of filter on meetings, because I am tired of making them and then going somewhere or waiting around only to have no one come. I haven’t decided how to do this yet. So instead I sat at the internet for a while, drank some ice cold ginger drink, and then came back and read my mail until my 16:00 meeting, which did happen, but probably only because we meet at his house. Still, it was a productive meeting and we worked on developing his ideas for an ONG and how it would look. I made more progress in getting through to him that we had to talk about what he wanted to do, not what people with money would want to hear. We can do that part later.

So I started Monday depressed, laying on my plastic mat and thinking about my life, but I ended it fiarly happy. As I’ve said before, it is crucial for me to feel like I am actualy doing some work, or I start to think this is a waste of time. Oh yeah, the other thing that happened on Monday is that I saw the Director of the DPJ and he said he was already getting together a list of interested people for the peer educators group, and I talked to him about a list of potential people for Girl’s Conference, which is a weekend seminar for girls that we do each year.

I spent Tuesday morning writing my Etude de Milieu (and playing more than a little nethack). Me and Cece also were doing a test to see how many mangoes I can eat in a day. If I haven’t mentioned it, mango season is upon us, and there are many mangoes to be found. He wanted me to try for 30 but I thought 20 was probably more realistic. I ate 5 in the morning and 7 in the afternoon, which left me feeling rather ill. Around 20:00 I started eating the last 8, but I could only make it through 4 before I thought I was going to die, so I called it at 16. Cece was very disappointed in me. Its good I stopped though because I woke up at 5:00 this morning thinking I might be making a trip to the bathroom to upchuck all that mango. Fortunately that seems to have passed.

I also literally chased a petite off my front steps. Most kids are nice, but some don’t know how to handle me and respond by being cocky and patronizing. He was sitting there making fun of my conversation with Cece so I told him to leave. I told him at least three times, but the kids think I am kind of a pushover because I don’t smack them, so I had to actually shove him off my steps and chase him away. Its not really a good thing because he will probably just be more impolite now than he was. On the other hand, people here seem to have big dramatic conflicts and then be fine the next day, so we will see what happens with that.

Today I am meeting with my assistant program director from the Peace Corps, and my homologue. The APCD is making rounds through volunteer’s sites and she is at mine this morning. I want to talk about a few ideas with her, including possibly doing some work to help Guinea develop its economic analysis capabilities. I am going to ask if she can get me contacts both with the government and with the state department and USAID to pursue that idea. I also want to talk to her about having a math competition for girls.

This weekend I might be going to Kissidougou to visit some volunteers. Next week the security director will visit my site, and next weekend I am either going to a site to help dip mosquito nets or to someone’s birthday party, and then there is only a week left before in-service training. I can’t tell whether it seems like time is flying or crawling by.

Oh yeah, and Cece eats more than twenty mangoes each day right now. But he is 14 and lives off rice, so I think he is just always hungry.