Monday, January 10, 2011

So Many Fêtes!

Safi and Daoda on my porch helping me haul the giant sack of potatoes that my courtyard family gave me. They also gave me 5 delicious watermelons. I went to visit them at their other courtyard en brousse where their cotton fields are. It's actually only like 4 km away, so it's kind of strange that they have two courtyards. The one I live in with them is smaller, I assume because they live in it less often. They actually just moved in on Thursday, but I left Friday for a girl's camp meeting in Bobo, so I don't really know them yet. The mom seems really nice though. And the kids were super respectful of my kittens (more on that later).
Hooker and me at the Domes de Fabédougou, which is near the Cascades. A natural wonder!

That's my laundry, those are my kids: (L to R) Fatu, Safi, Mama.

Mariam in her courtyard where we made liquid soap! This was the first time we made it. She's chastizing me for taking too many pictures of her. Look at the beautiful blue soap! She's gonna be ballin' because of my imparting this soap-making knowledge unto her.
Don't tell Mariam I posted this, she'll hate me. She's on the right. That's Sougué in the middle. He's a nurse in Padéma who hosted a New Year's Eve party. We ate delicious chicken macaroni at midnight and I called Mariam an old lady (muso koroba) the whole time because she was sleeping in a chair. In my defense, Mariam kept saying I was drunk because I was acting silly, which was probably due to being tired and/or being a weird person in general. I'd had one glass of sangria, which would probably get her a little tipsy, but which does presque rien for me. That night I also went over to Minata's house and helped prepare some delicious chicken spaghetti that we ate around 8. Then I biked in the dark over a scary bridge to Djénéba's house for some more spaghetti and tea. I bonded with her sinamusow (co-spouses) and we had a nice low key time trying to stay warm by the fire. Overall, not a crazy New Year's, but a good one.

KITTEN PILE!!!! These babies' mama died and the kids next door brought over the runt (dinosaur baby) to see if I wanted her. I didn't, because I had already acquired a cat-son on Christmas Eve. But then the next morning, after sending off a stool sample to be analyzed in Bobo, I went and collected the kittens from their dried tobacco storage room where they had temporarily found shelter. They were disgusting and whiny! But obviously cute as kittens!

Christmas kitten! That's little Luca Léé Pizzatime Marshall! And that's my Christmas set up with pictures of family/cats and WRAPPED Xmas gifts compliments of Aunt Judy and Uncle Pete. Merci beaucoup! It really made my Christmas seem more festive than I had previously thought it would be. It was great!
Also for Christmas, I partied with the Catholics after going to Mass for a grueling 3 hours. I wore a fancy red complet that my host sister in Koudougou made me. Everyone loved that, because I typically don't wear them. Several of my friends are Catholic, (Blandine, Sabine, Victorine, Rosalie), so I decided to fête with them for Jesus day, which turned out to be the best decision ever! I definitely look forward to Easter. They served me rice with pork and plenty of dolo. Guys with drums started playing and we danced while rotating in a circle, Burkina-style, until sundown. We moved from courtyard to courtyard every 30 minutes or so and free dolo was given everywhere. The drums were passed around so everyone got a chance or several to play them. At one point I had a lady's baby on my back while drunkenly dancing around in the dust. :) I hung out with my friend Blandine and her family/friends most of the time, but I feel like I know all of the Catholics better now from partying with them all day. They loved it. I passed out by 8 pm that night. Very good Christmas.

Les Cascades de Banfora! Pretty huh? The of BF does not look like this... There are also diseases in the water (shistosomeisis)!

This is Habia nd me on Tabaski, the Muslim holiday that passed in November. I wore a complet that day too, as did Habi. Hers is much nicer.

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