This week has been IST, for which I have had three vaguely-stated and simple goals: Make an utter mess of myself using recreational chemicals, preferably alcohol. Have sex with another volunteer [deleted: prioritized list of opportunities sorted by attractiveness and availability]. Recharge, somehow, so that I am willing to return to post and continue to […]
Just overheard some fascinating discussion in the teacher’s lounge at the Lycee. People are talking about the recent political crisis in the Ivory Coast, where the election somehow failed and produced two presidents. One teacher in particular made some very cutting remarks. "They’re crazy over there, to elect two presidents. Here in Cameroon, we vote […]
I have been thinking lately about doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. Motivation: imagine you are in class and you ask: Teacher: OK, class. What color is the sky? Student, raising hand and being called upon, says: Air! Teacher: OK, good, the sky has air in it. But what […]
Exam week. Still have report cards to fill out, but I thought for the moment I’d write up the wedding I was at last week. It was the marriage of J-C’s daughter Solange and some guy I didn’t know. I later found out that the couple had been affianced for five years, and that they’d […]
It is my opinion that one of the reasons immersion works so well as a language learning technique is not because it forces you to practice, but instead because you already know, 90% of the time, what the other person is about to say, so you can quickly build a vocabulary of words that fit […]
Title by request of Julia. Épuiser means to fatigue, or wear out, and I think it comes from the word puiser, meaning to draw water (i.e. from a well). Saying you’re épuisé is therefore akin to saying you’re all used up, all drawn out, or simply worn out. In our discussion on franglais this past […]
Working here as a volunteer with the Organization is a 24/7 job — you don’t "go to work", you "take leave". And leave is scarce. You get 24 days a year "for free"; you get to travel sometimes for committee meetings; you get a week off for training with other volunteers; and there’s a new […]
It’s officially the saison seche, dry season here in the West, and the change is stunningly simple and distinct. The week before last it rained every day or two, enough for me to gather water to bathe with and even do dishes. Last week it rained once, hard, cutting power. This week it isn’t going […]
So it turns out that Bonheur’s name is not actually Bonheur, it’s Brondon, which isn’t relevant to the story except that he says a few things and I’d like to have his name right. I think this happened Saturday, after we got back from the deuil — which I haven’t written about, but I was […]
Gosh! Haven’t written in almost a week. Partly that’s due to not having power; it rained Wednesday and power went out during club, and then steadfastly didn’t come back for the rest of the week, nor the weekend either. Strangely enough, power was back in the rest of the village, but not here at my […]