Water Woes Wasted

Hey I think it was my Dad’s birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Well, in some strange twist of fate, the pump at the mosque has been completed almost exactly on time! I couldn’t believe it. When I heard a couple of months ago that it was going to be finished July 31 I got my hopes up but quickly pushed them down because nothing EVER gets finished when people say it will in Guinea. But sure enough, someone came by my house a couple of days ago and said the pump is working! And people keep walking by my house with water on their heads so I know it must be true!

This gets me really excited. Because I don’t have to worry about water anymore! That was pretty much my biggest problem before it started raining all the time but now I won’t have to worry and I can have a dry season garden! Yay! I have already started trying to decide what I will plant. I will also need to make an enclosure just for the garden because cows keep jumping my fence. So I think I will plant: sunflowers, tomatoes, beans, zucchini, cucumber, soy and hot peppers (hey somebody send me jalapeno seeds I hear they grow well here!). I might try for bell peppers again, too. Will have to buy a couple in Conakry and make sure I properly dry and store the seeds this time.

Yippee!!

In other news, Ian made the mistake of foregoing John’s site (because John wasn’t there) and continuing to my site day before yesterday on his way back from Conakry. He spent all day trying to get a taxi out of here yesterday and it never happened (most taxis and all the trucks were going to the other village North of here whose market day it was). Yep, le transport est dificil ici (the transport is difficult here). Instead of waiting around again today he asked to borrow my bike, strapped all his stuff on the back and took off. When people in my village realized he was going to bike all the way to his village possibly in the rain their mouths dropped and they let out the infamous African “Heeeeeeey?” He is sending my bike back to me on the mail run Monday and then I am going to send it to Conakry and have them replace some of the gears whose teeth are worn down and don’t work. Hope he made it!

Then I had a rather productive day. I cleaned my water filter which I almost never do and certainly not the recommended every week (don’t tell Sue!). I also washed all my bandanas and hand/kitchen towels (tomorrow: underwear!). Then I made tortillas and fried them to make chips which I tried to eat with this cup of nacho cheese sauce I had but it was awful so I just ate the chips instead. Then I was sitting on my porch making organic fertilizer out of leaves again (yesterday at the carrefour as we were eating keke for dinner this kid was chopping branches off a gliricidia tree in front of his boutique so I asked if I could have them) when Ousmane II came over with his friend from Conakry and they started to help me and then the dude who took me on the epic expedition to the banana trees also stopped to help. I explained to them (as I have to Ousmane II before) that the leaves of this tree are a really good fertilizer and you can use it instead of chemical fertilizer more often and for longer (indefinitely, really, whereas chemical fertilizer gives diminishing returns after a couple of years and ultimately is bad for the soil, water and environment in general). I don’t think they believe me. They talk about it in Pular and I can understand them saying “leaves” and “fertilizer” and then laughing like I am some small child who they are just humoring. They don’t believe me when I tell them the tree is called “gliricidia”, not “cassia”, heck my HOMOLOGUE barely believes me when I tell him that and only sort of started to believe me when Abdoul was here and was like “yep, that’s gliricidia. It’s good for fertilizer.” Anyway while they don’t believe me at least they know how to do it and maybe one day someone will be really desperate for fertilizer and not have the money for chemicals and just say “what the hell? Might as well try it! Maybe that crazy white lady was on to something!” Maybe.

It’s a nice thought.