There’s nothing like a little physical labor to put you back at peace.  Yesterday I dug a bunch of holes and put all the posts in for the fence of my garden.  Its only a small garden, but I am planning on building a little shade structure and setting up a hammock under it, and hopefully I will have a place to pass afternoons that is not as hot as my house is.  The rest of the garden will be filled with herbs and bell peppers and peas and other goodies.  I need to go buy cord to tie the wood of the fence together, but I am avoiding the marche.

Also I got my house wired yesterday.  As I expected, I ended up paying for some of the line, which pisses me off because my family broke the line in the first place, but it was only 15.000 FG and sometimes it is easier to just pay, which of course they knew.  So far I’ve had electricity constantly since we got hooked up, which is crazy.  I wonder if I am going to have current 24/7 through the rainy season.  It certainly makes it easier to write posts without worrying about running out of battery.

I was also wired because I finally got one of the kids to teach me how to make Attaya, which is a sort of consentrated tea with a lot of sugar that many people drink here.  You make two pots with each box of tea, and each pot fills almost four glasses (like shot glasses).  We made two boxes, so I drank four glasses of tea and spent the rest of the night overcaffinated.  But it was fun to learn and the tea is pretty good, and kind of important in terms of tradition and respect, so it is good to know.  I have all the equipment, so I can make it on my own now (by equipment I mean teapot, four shot glasses, two cups, and a charcoal burner with charcoal).

Then with the current I got to spend the night going through my music and listening to new stuff, which I haven’t had a chance to do ever yet.

The vision of the garden is doing a lot for my peace of mind because I think it will be a sanctuary that isn’t inside my house, which I can’t really hide in, and which isn’t much of a sanctuary anyway because people can (and do) sit on my steps and be loud as hell.  There isn’t really a concept of not disturbing people here, so I can’t even do much about it without seeming like an overly angry American, which I already come across as sometimes.  A big part of it is the concept of joking here, which is centered around getting into fake arguments.  To me its not remotely funny, and I get tired of hearing people yell at each other.

Anyway, my garden is behind my house, and so it is sheltered some from the noise, and the shade hut will be less hot than my house and will make me still approachable without having to be out with everyone else.  That might seem reclusive, but its important to be able to get away from things, and doing so in my house too often feels like cooping myself up.  Also, Guineans spend as little time as possible inside their houses, so I think it comes across as a little rude if I stay inside, but everyone hangs out in the shade all the time, so that is just fine.  Ah cultural adjustment.  So fun.

And the current just left, so I guess it won’t be 24 hours a day.  But it is still a lot, which is fantastic.  I cleaned my house and did a little rearranging to try and get more organized before Mary arrives.

June 15th Update: My garden is now ready to be planted, hopefully tonight.  Its pretty exciting, though I need to figure out what I want to plant where.  I left a spot to build a little rain and shade cover and be able to hang a hammock under, which will be awesome sometime next year when I finish it right before my service ends.