Un week-end bien amusé

First lesson of the weekend : never intake l’huile de palme (palm oil) and water at the same time. I learned the hard way. I had eaten a meal at a friend’s house that had palm oil in it and then headed off to mass. During mass I started getting these horrible stomach cramps and figuring I could tuff it out, I hide the pain by looking like I was intensely praying. But at one point we were standing and I just couldn’t take it so I told the guy next to me that I was sick and needed to head out. Luckily, he followed me out of the aisle because suddenly everything closed in on me and I couldn’t stand up. I was the one white girl making a commotion in church. I was helped out of the church and by this point I had a staff of clergy all around me. They laid me down and the most memorable part was the nun standing above me, fanning me off. I was so thankful to be at church where people could take care of me. They gave me a nice quiet room with a bed and a real toilet. After an hour or so, everything passes (you can guess what that means) and I was back on my feet.

Friday after work I went to the track and did a work out on my own. Today will be the first real practice for me. I’m amazed how willing the coaches are about including me. Given it is just a club team, but still they’ve already got their hands full and didn’t think twice about letting me join in. I also went to the beach this weekend and hung out with “the guys.” It’s such a treat just to listen to them sing and play the tumtums, especially when the ocean is your view. These guys really like to talk and explain everything to me, which is good because I’m gaining a better insight into the culture. The subject of unemployment came up again. People who are stuck doing manual labour for private entrepreneurs have it hard. They can work the entire day for two dollars. I asked Jazz if this was how much they were paid per hour and he just started laughing at me. Hard work all day for just two dollars… but if you don’t do that, then you have absolutely nothing. I’m curious if there are any labour unions or laws in the process of being passed to help this situation. I’m going to find out.

I also hung out at the university this weekend with Coura. We spent a relaxing day hanging out in the dorms, eating lunch, drinking tea, listening to music, chatting and braiding my hair. I wasn’t quite sure what I was in for, but it felt really good to have people playing with my hair so in no way was I going to protest. By the end, I had a bunch of little braids but they didn’t stay in too long because that night while trying to sleep my head was in a lot of pain. So close to midnight Khady and I took them all out.

I no longer have sympathy for anyone who complains that a dorm room is too small for two people because here the university is so crowded that some people sleep four to a room, meaning that two people share a twin bed. They weren’t really complaining about it, just stating how it is. I really like the campus, lots of trees and greenery. I learned that it is home to the largest library in Africa. I thought that was an impressive claim to fame.

This morning I was given one of the best compliments. Mamadou said that he has never seen an intern at CRS who has been as open to integrating and experiencing the culture as I have. I'm always battling myself trying to have confidence in my ability to make the most of my time here, and I really feel like there was some divine intervention in his compliment.

D'accord, il faut que je commence le travail. To all who are reading, I hope that life goes well and that you are taking the time to live this day out! God Bless!