I've fallen in the Egouts and I can't (can?) get up!

pillow/bed where I lay to get the cast (that's the material all of over the place)
Plaster station at the doctor's office

So as always it's an adventure being somewhere like Senegal. The other day I had met a musician who told me he to come to his show later that night and when I went to the club (boite de nuit they call it)la Kaznak not only was he not there but no one was there. I couldn't even find the entrance. Some people laughed at me wondering aimlessly around this building until an older guy came out and unlocked the entrance and asked me what I wanted. Apparently people don't go out until at least 11:00pm-12:00 here in Senegal (it was about 8:30). Feeling embarrassed I told him I'd like a beer (I wasn't going to just turn around empty handed - reminds me of "fishing" in poker). The place was completely unlit and strange on the inside. We turned on a small interrogation light and he gave me the drink while we proceeded a little awkwardly at first to talk. It turns out this guy was Senegalese but had been in Guinea (Conakry) for like 10 years digging for diamonds, and it was a pretty interesting conversation. We also talked about the 4 wife thing in Islam, woman in general, and about happiness in life. Feeling like I had at least accomplished meeting this interesting individual I left and proceeded to go back to my hotel...but at this point I had gained some confidence and felt I didn't "have" to go back to eat like I always do at this same hotel (where I am staying) and decided to turn around and find something else (I had been warned about strolling around on my own at night...although it doesn't seem that dangerous here), but this was a mistake.

As I strolled around in the dark (the streets are not lit here really despite the fact that it's the third biggest city in Senegal) and walked the sidewalk to avoid being hit by a car my mind wandered aimlessly. All of the sudden I took a step forward and instead of feeling sidewalk fell 4-5 ft. straight down into a whole. This took me completely by surprise, I scraped the side of my body badly and landed very awkwardly, but luckily on my feet. I had to pull myself out of the dirty whole (so I guess "egout" is like sewer although that's not really a fair comparison) and tried to walk it off. But there are lots of these random wholes in the sidewalk, I had seen them during the day - I had just not seen it coming. I couldn't sleep later that night because of the pain in my knee and realized it probably was not just bruised.

The next day at the hospital I got x-rays and saw I had fractures (x-rays were about $75 - so strange just handing the doctor cash straight up). The man who built my cast was smoking a cigarette and hardly spoke a word of French. That didn't stop him from saying God knows what in Woloff to me even though he must have known I don't speak Woloff - and the hard cast he somehow built for me in like 7 minutes (pretty impressive!) has immobilized me (it covers my entire leg). So that kind of ruins a lot because I can't swim, walk much, get in cars easily, or go up stairs easily, but it could have been a lot worse I suppose. I've been told we don't even really build hard casts like this anymore in the U.S. The travel insurance company also told me it could be a problem getting on the plane in a few weeks, which is about how long I'm supposed to have it...

It's funny learning technical words like cast in French, and that's the nice thing about being in the country and also just getting to see a whole different side too. Obviously health care is not the same here but in some ways just paying $25 for the visit and the cast was so much easier. Although I did feel pretty bad passing all of the sick people and crying babies as the volunteer coordinator's sister-in-law is a nurse at the hospital and just saw me right away (white privilege). I've been told you can wait 24 + hours to see a doctor here. Again, this whole thing could have been a lot worse, I am at least walking

Kaolack

I've been in Kaolack, the main city where I'll based for the next week or so for two days now. After checking the weather in the States and seeing it would be 72/73 and sunny every day in Dakar I thought it would be perfect, but driving just 3-4 hours west towards Mali the temperature went up about 25 degrees, and it is hot! It was 92 at 8:00pm last night. But it's a nice change from the Boston winter, and it's a dry heat, which is much more tolerable. There are a lot of mosquitoes though (so far so no nightmares like in the past from the malaria pills).

Today I took a stroll after "work" and man it was crazy here. There's no big buildings despite the fact that there's almost 200,000 people living here (it's the third biggest city in Senegal) and feels much more like a very very busy town with all of the traffic I saw (I guess it was rush hour) despite the fact that only a few of the roads are paved and there's nothing but dust and sand on many roads even in the center of town (I need to get pictures soon). There were definitely more cars than I remember in Cameroon (in general it doesn't seem quite as "poor" as Cameroon but I really don't know enough to be saying that yet), and lots and lots of moto-taxis and mule drawn rick-shaws along with a few bicyclers. It's pretty sandy/desert-e here and a fair amount of smoginess with not a whole of lot nice things to look at but nevertheless it's still interesting. There was so much activity going on everywhere I looked, peopling hammering away, taking a torch to some mettle, selling some clothing or some small lime by the side of the road, or just generally "stooping." I walked/ran for about 40 minutes until I finally found some people playing soccer, this kind of shocked me (of course the Westerner comes in and thinks there will be soccer everywhere), but there just isn't much green space in Kaolack, and it's been several years since the national team (like the Cameroonian and Moroccan teams they are also called the "Lions) was good. I did see a few kids playing basketball (which is growing in popularity here) as well as some kids boxing and some others doing something that looked like Karate.

I haven't started much work yet but have been preparing some at the NCBA/CLUSA office (the agency I'm working with) to go into the villages to start working with the millet farmers (still haven't had that here - apparently it's the "poor" man's rice). Six of us shared one huge plate (literally we all ate off of it) for lunch and the food was pretty good, a mixture of rice, beef, onions, and some interesting spices I can't quite place my finger on. There was a lively debate about whether kids in Senegal today "owe" their parents anything anymore and what parents "owe" their kids and whether life is really easier on Europe or not. My French is pretty good so I can follow along - which is cool, because I feel like it gives me an entry point into a whole new world that most Americans would not see. The volunteer coordinator (Yaguemar) here told me I was the first volunteer they've had who who really speaks French.

I also have a driver, Paul, who is Christian, which is a little unusual in a country where 97% of the people are Muslims but it's not like I expected. Woman don't really cover up, they can work, drive, play basketball, and although I did hear one woman's cell phone ring was a 10 second clip of a Muslim prayer/chant, Paul told me the Muslims drink more than the Christians in this country. Paul and Yaguemar also both warned me that the woman here were some of the most beautiful in the continent and I should watch out. So going to see some music here now, gotta run, I'll watch my back (white people tend to stand out here)

Senegal

So it's about time I put this blog back to work, god knows it's been awhile since that last stupid post about a mustache, a chicken, and a Yamaka - just kidding, except about the mustache part.

Anyways, I've embarked on another adventure here- to do some co-operative development volunteer work with some millet farmers here in Senegal. Just arrived but some highlights/low-lights:

1. 2.5 hour flight Portland - Salt Lake yesterday morning. 10 + hour flight to Paris overnight, after a 5 hour lay-over there a short 5.5 hour flight to Dakar and here I am, wow that was tiring

2. Besides the normal screaming babies during the flights, we picked up a French Senegalese prisoner in Paris who would not stop screaming "The plain must not take off!" (in French) for the first 30 minutes of being on the plane (made me really want to go to Senegal). He only stopped when he was drugged by one of the five police man accompanying us. Pretty strange right? Apparently immigration was transferring him to a Senegalese prison, I suppose I'd probably be screaming non-stop as well if that were happening to me

3. Leaving Leopold Sedar Senghor airport and having to go through the metal detectors to leave the airport was strange. Then the usual crowd flooding in to grab bags, get you a taxi, and forcing themselves near so even as you walk you can't get away. I looked for someone I was told would pick me up called Yaguemar and of course everyone told me they were called Yaguemar. But which one was the real Yaguemar? The one holding a sign for me of course.

4. Getting in the car that picked me up and getting scrambled radio that somehow resulted in a mash up of "Gangsta's Paradise" and Dido's "Thank You" while riding the crazy streets of Dakar.

I'll fill folks in as things actually happen

The Mustache in Me

It's been years but for whatever reason (laziness) I decided to grow a (shitty) beard, as I am want to do. I went on a two week sales trip to Florida and I kept wondering if it made any difference to how people perceived me. After failing to resist the urge (temptation?) to not leave myself with a mustache when I decided to shave this week, any questions around changed perceptions and facial hair have been dropped.

Today I noticed a pretty attractive girl walking next to me who I had recently actually set across from at a neighborhood cafe for about 2 hours (while still having a mustache) and she decided to casually cross over to the other side of the street. She continued walking in the same direction, parallel to me, for at least 4-5 blocks, while avoiding all eye-contact. It was amazing.

(note: photo on left - creepiness added for effect)

Case in point - example #2, a small child holding his mother's hand walking in front of me turned back, saw me (or probably really just the mustache), issued a small whimper, and did not turn around for the rest of his stroll.

The Upsell

Hello dear readers (if there are any of you left out there),

I stopped posting awhile back because I found out my mom was reading this blog. Not that it's a private blog or I reveal any deep dark secrets, I just didn't like her talking about my gas problems or knowing about some things when I had previously just assumed that she was very far (my father Herb as well) from the blogosphere realm. Well not sure what I will do going forward but recently had a blogworthy event I thought I'd write about (+ I am on a 4.5 hour bus ride back from NYC this weekend too).

I used to have two frogs that a friend bought me (I named them Ace and Gary because they were both male and seemed to cling to each other about as much as their gay Saturday Night cartoon counterparts). After Ace or Gary died, not really sure which one was which, I thought it was kind of sad that the other didn't have a friend. So I called my local pet store and inquired about getting an African dwarf frog (see above picture) and the pet store dude inquired about my current tank - which truth-be-told is a tiny little square of a tank with just enough room for a little bamboo plant, snale, some rocks, and the frog (it's a self sustaining tank). After telling me these little tanks were just gimmicks and I needed to give more space he said he could help me out. Upon arrival at the pet store with Ace (or Gary) I asked to see the African dwarf frogs and the same guy from the phone told me he wouldn't sell me another frog in my little tank and I kept explaining that I didn't want to buy a bigger tank and the pet store guy continually telling me to look at the sad little face and meek legs of my current frog I told him to just show me the damn frog. He finally showed me his albino frog (see other pic.) which is about 4 times the size of mine. I asked if they would be ok together and he replied, "no this one would eat that one." So in the end he never even had a frog he could sell me and was just trying to get me to buy a new tank. It turns out one bigger and cheaper option was only about $10 (and he threw in the gravel at 50% off) but I was so annoyed by the experience I told him that I didn't care if my frog was comfortable and stormed off with Ace (or Gary) never to enter this store again. He told me he thought the frog would be dead in a few weeks but that is something a deceitful and spiteful pet shop owner would say to a customer, who wasn't in the end, actually a customer so we'll see who wins this round later. For now, I think Gary (or Ace) is happy to know that I tried and seems pretty fine with the home he's had for a year and counting.

Confessions of a gaseous man

So I have this problem - I pass a lot of wind. One problem specifically is at work, I pass gas when no one's around, but then my boss comes by as it lingers and it's really embarrassing. It's incredible too that this mostly only happens when she comes around (and it's a she so that makes things worse) and it's almost as if she times the once or twice a day when she comes over to my desk for when it stinks, and I mean it really stinks. She doesn't say anything but I know that she knows and that probably she know's that I know which is even worse since normally she just leaves as soon as possible after arrival with no comment and cutting her agenda short. I think I have a few options to remedy this situation and would like your opinion on this debacle:

1. Take beeno

2. Change my style so as to avoid the "time bomb" and make it somehow more instantaneous

3. Excuse myself and publicly acknowledge it

4. Walk the 30-40 ft. from my desk to the bathroom

I don't know if man has yet to find a solution to this but it truly is awful

Nudity: Not always a good thing

Yesterday a very large girl with a very large butt mooned me in Newport. It was not a pretty sight. She even asked beforehand, along with my two friends, whether it would be ok, to which we replied quite simply, "no," and she went ahead and did it anyways. I mean did she think we would enjoy this? It made me think that there's this perception that nudity is always a good thing and everything naked is more fun, and well I do believe there's some truth to that, this was a stretch (yes I know there's a double entendre there).

Speaking of girls (and not mooning) Danilo, my roommate in Jamaica Plain, said a great quote tonight. We were talking about how we really needed to start composting and he commented: "yeah, girls here love composting." After laughing about it for a bit we sort of thought it could be true. "They would be so impressed and we would be drawing them all in" he commented. While we were at it we could start using rain barrels and vermaculture - all very interesting ideas I suppose. It also made me realize how Jamaica Plain has changed me and how I would never have thought like this in the past.

I do wish I could write about girls more (since that's where most of the good stories are anyways right) but in the wishes of not defaming anyways I refrain in this blog. Suffice it to say that if I did I would probably embarrass myself more than anyone else.

If this song said "Andy" instead of "Dandi" it would be my theme song:

http://s0.ilike.com/play#Nortec+Collective:Dandy+Del+Sur:453729:s27492597.9571032.7360331.0.2.17%2Cstd_41e09a8dcfdf49e582f7434e308991bf

(does it bother anyone else that this stupid "Ilike" thing only lets you place the song once. We can obviously search around on the internet and find it somewhere -pandora, youtube, grooveshark, last fm, vimeo, the options are limitless these days. They can't stop us! oh wait, shoot, I don't want to tempt fate - I take it back)