I Want Tabaski Clothes, Too!

So tonight I was out staring at the stars. It’s amazing how many you can see when there are no lights around for miles. It’s beautiful, and humbling, and existential.

Some women walked by and invited me to go chat in another compound (after them saying it slowly several times I understood it). I told them thank you but I am going to stay here. Then I decided to venture over to the circle of people around a little light over by my host father’s corner of the compound. I went over and lots of people offered me their chairs but I ended up just sitting on this REALLY low bench-like contraption. It was all women and some children. There was a metal plate in the middle and some coins on it. I asked what the money was for and discerned that it was for clothes for Tabaski. Which might be next week. I don’t really know. So I was like, “Well *I* want clothes for Tabaski! How much is it?” So we spent a long time trying to discern how much money it was (because in Bambara, like lots of west African languages, you have to multiply the figure they give you by five in order to figure out how many Francs it actually costs and since I have a hard enough time figuring out what it was the first figure they gave me, it was a bit of work). So they finally just put the amount of money I would need to give onto the plate: 3 mille 750 francs, which is what I had finally worked it out to be in my head and I went back to my house to retrieve the funds. So, inshallah, I will be getting a Tabaski outfit. Which is great because I don’t have very many clothes (and NO African clothes – all should be on their way from Guinea – inshallah). Plus I’d hate to be wearing a western outfit during the biggest holiday of the year. Which, this year, happens to be a day or two after Thanksgiving (if I knew when Thanksgiving actually was I could pinpoint when Tabaski is but without my calendar I can’t remember if it is supposed to be the third Thursday in November or what. If that’s the case, then Thanksgiving is a week from Thursday and Tabaski is…Saturday maybe. Life is hard without a calendar.

In Guinea, for 3,750 francs, which is like 37,500 Guinean Francs, you could get a HELLA nice complet. So I am excited to see what I will get. If somebody doesn’t take my measurements soon, I might not end up with one. But we shall see.

The other highlight of this conversation was that Abi, who I believe to be the first wife (turns out she is the second wife) of my host dad, Moussa, who has three wives (exactly which three women who live here I still have to discern) said they are going to help me find a cat “sisan”, which means “right away” or “early”. I thanked her and pantomimed my problems with the mice by pretending to sleep, then knocking on the bench with my fingertips to mimic their noise during the night, then plugging my ears and letting out an “auuuuugggghhhhh”, which elicted peals of laughter. Not sure exactly how they figured out I needed a cat, probably Khalifa told them (he’s my language tutor). But maybe I will get one soon! That would be sweet. Although I have not noticed the mice getting into my foodstuffs yet, my experience has shown they WILL. And they are robbing me of good sleep.

Plus I read in my Water and Sanitation manual that fleas they carry and their poo can spread disease. So KILL ‘EM, I say!! Or at least run them out of my house.

When I came back inside, the cockroach problem I thought had subsided has NOT and I spent the next 10-15 minutes killing every cockroach I could get my flip flop on (maybe 15 or so). Some got away. I feel like even if I did spray this place, it wouldn’t get them because a. they are cockroaches and can survive a nuclear holocaust and b. there’s plastic covering the ceiling (except around the edges) so it wouldn’t really get to them in there, which is where they dwell.

As I write there is something crawling around on the plastic, evidently confused. I am assuming it is a mouse. Even after prodding the plastic with my broom handle several times, it is still wandering around aimlessly.

Basically, I am religious about my mosquito net for MANY more reasons than just malaria. Seriously.