Day 8

January 11, 2008

Today was a day of ups and downs. It started on a major down.

I woke up having not showered (as we all know) for two days and it immediately put me in a bad mood because not only could we not shower, but we had nearly no water in our bucket so we had to severely ration our usage for washing our face and any other necessities.

The whole morning was spent running around the hospital trying to find people, who had no cell phones. It was literally like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Of course, I couldn’t go around screaming people’s names like some crazy American because, let us not forget, it’s a hospital.

When GamSolar showed up 2:45 to begin work for the day, we realized that there were some major water pressure problems with the hospital. The main problem being that there was no pressure. So we had to open several manholes and loosen the pipe so the water would get through. After that, the water was not only working, it was FLYING. However perhaps the most difficult part of this project will be convincing staff that they can just turn on the faucet instead of carrying massive buckets of water on their heads. Some of the staff seem completely content walking outside to get water.

Later this afternoon, I met up with my friend Aminata (the lady who we lunched with yesterday) and walked over to the field to play soccer. The field is not a traditional American image of a field though. It is an open lot, with no grass. Just about 4 inches of Bwiam’s finest dust. It was basically a game of boys vs. girls, but the most miraculous moments of the game didn’t even happen during the game, but rather, during stretching and warm up. Ami led it, and it was entirely in Mandinka. So for instance, when Ami barked out that a whistle blow signaled a sprint, I found myself coughing up GambiDust many feet behind my teammates. Not because they were so fast (though I will admit, they were mighty speedy, especially for not wearing shoes and running through sand) but because I had no idea what was going on. Great- now the only white girl is slow and stupid. When we moved onto stretching, I wasn’t totally sure what to do. We started by doing standing stretches, which of course I was able to mimic. This worked out just peachy, until Ami started yelling at them to touch their head to their knees while they were doing hamstring stretches. That was NOT going to happen for me, especially since I hadn’t even run in 3 months. And then the real fun began: we had to stretch on the ground. (In case you had forgotten, may I remind you that the field was 4 inches of dirt)

The game itself was a dust bowl. I had quite a bit of trouble adjusting to the surface as I accumulated sand castles in my shoes. Of course, I could have easily avoided the problem, like everyone else who was playing, and just not wear shoes. Maybe next time.

I walked off the field as dark-skinned as all the other players. I may have been the only white person playing but you couldn’t tell because there was so much dirt and dust on me. I don’t think I’ve EVER been as dirty as that. Walking home to jump in the shower was not an immediate option as a post-game ritual. Ami wanted desperately to take me to meet her husband who was in town for the weekend. Going to see one person in Bwiam means you will have to talk to everyone. Furthermore, you must greet EVERYONE you see with the following:

Me

Salaam Malekum (Peace be with you!)

Person

Malekum salaam. (Peace be with you, too!)

Me

Soumolay. (Where are the people? (meaning your family))

Person

Ibije. (They are there. (meaning at home))

Me

Cortenante. (How are you?)

Person

Tenante. (I am fine.)

Quite a long way of saying “Hi, how are you?” In any event, Ami forced me to greet everyone which means you have micro-conversations with everyone within eyes’ reach, about 10,000 people.

After meeting her husband, Ami told me she wants me to marry him and be his third wife. She was so excited about that idea…and I honestly think she was being totally serious. I was wildly uncomfortable with that thought and didn’t know how to respond other than to laugh. I don’t think she was offended at all, but I may never understand this culture.

Though it’s only 11:30 PM here and I should be writing this with electric light, the belt on the generator broke at 9:30 this evening. And so, we’ve been without power ever since. The generator, which is about the size of a truck engine (heck, it might even BE a truck engine) powers the entire hospital because the other two, which are larger, are broken. Nevertheless, the addition of soccer and water to my day managed to salvage it.

With that, I think I’ll speak off.

with african love,

jz

P.S. Bucket shower #2: complete. Still a miserable experience.