Last week I saw my 1st snake - there are heaps around, I just haven't gone looking for them. I was a bit disappointed when I saw this one cos it was only about 30cm long. But then I found out it was a viper so size doesn't matter! The snake was dead because the cat, Tui, is awesome at killing snakes. (Big ones, small ones - no worries). Then we saw the frog a metre or so away, & so we think that the snake was attacking the frog when Tui saw him and took his chance! Unfortunately the frog wasn't quite dead, so I put him out of his misery. (Cats don't usually attack frogs because they spit poisonous stuff at them). Frog: 0 points. Snake: 0 points. Em: 2 points. Tui: 10 points. I don't usually like cats that much, but Tui has shot up in my estimation. Makes me even want to get a cat for myself.
Someone recently asked me about what I eat, & I figured others of you would be interested in that too, so here's the deal. Guinea fowl is pretty common (think of a small and skinny chicken) and that's nice, although sometimes they can be very tough. Meat is very dear, but in Gaoua (where I'm living) you can get pork, goat, beef, chicken & fish so that's a good variety. However, the meat market is open to flies and every other type of insect so yeah, that can be a bit off-putting. Whenever one of us missionaries go to 1 or other of the 2 main cities, it's usually with a shopping list for the others too. Pretty much all the fruit & veges are seasonal. At the moment there is cabbage, yam (kind of like a HUGE potato), cucumber, onions, guava (very nice stewed), okra (slimy if boiled but pret
ty good when chopped & fried), bananas, oranges whose skins are green and whose taste is rather tangy, and even apples (1 variety). There's also things called custard apples, so named because of the texture of the flesh I think. They're nice, very sweet, and not to be eaten when in a hurry because they're filled with big black pips. In the market I've also seen big green leaves for sale, which are used to make a sauce to go with the staple diet of tô (this is kind of like a solid porridge made from ground maize or millet). I don't know if I'll ever like tô, but if I can get to the point where I can eat enough of it so as not to offend those who have generously shared it with me, I'll be happy. My tolerance is improving though: the first time I managed only 1 mouthful, the 2nd time I probably had 2 or 3 mouthfuls, and the 3rd time I had what I would call a good helping, but was still probably only 1/3 of what they'd eat. If I keep increasing the amounts like that though I'll be rather overweight in a year! If ever someone's hungry while travelling, apart from being able to buy hard boiled eggs from the road side, you can also buy roasted maize - pretty healthy takeaways eh?
The rainy season is nearing its end, which is a good thing because in several places there has been flooding due to unusually heavy rains. Actually quite a few people have lost their entire maize crops this year, and if it rains much more in the next week or so everybody's millet will rot. Heavy rains also means that lots of houses have collapsed (most houses are made from mud bricks, which although cheap aren't sturdy). The other problem affecting nearly everybody in the country is the fact that there's no gas. The price of charcoal went up so much that it was cheaper to cook by gas, so demand went up and then supply ran out. A couple of lots have recently come into Ouagadougou (the capital city) but fighting ensued as demand far exceeded supply. In the meantime my supply is OK, but if the gas crisis lasts much longer we'll have to buy charcoal (which has gone up by at least 300%) and cook over that. It's alright for me, I can afford to buy the charcoal but many many others can't. Think about running a restaurant without gas to cook with, or how hospitals will cope without gas for the gas fridges.
Someone recently asked me about what I eat, & I figured others of you would be interested in that too, so here's the deal. Guinea fowl is pretty common (think of a small and skinny chicken) and that's nice, although sometimes they can be very tough. Meat is very dear, but in Gaoua (where I'm living) you can get pork, goat, beef, chicken & fish so that's a good variety. However, the meat market is open to flies and every other type of insect so yeah, that can be a bit off-putting. Whenever one of us missionaries go to 1 or other of the 2 main cities, it's usually with a shopping list for the others too. Pretty much all the fruit & veges are seasonal. At the moment there is cabbage, yam (kind of like a HUGE potato), cucumber, onions, guava (very nice stewed), okra (slimy if boiled but pret
ty good when chopped & fried), bananas, oranges whose skins are green and whose taste is rather tangy, and even apples (1 variety). There's also things called custard apples, so named because of the texture of the flesh I think. They're nice, very sweet, and not to be eaten when in a hurry because they're filled with big black pips. In the market I've also seen big green leaves for sale, which are used to make a sauce to go with the staple diet of tô (this is kind of like a solid porridge made from ground maize or millet). I don't know if I'll ever like tô, but if I can get to the point where I can eat enough of it so as not to offend those who have generously shared it with me, I'll be happy. My tolerance is improving though: the first time I managed only 1 mouthful, the 2nd time I probably had 2 or 3 mouthfuls, and the 3rd time I had what I would call a good helping, but was still probably only 1/3 of what they'd eat. If I keep increasing the amounts like that though I'll be rather overweight in a year! If ever someone's hungry while travelling, apart from being able to buy hard boiled eggs from the road side, you can also buy roasted maize - pretty healthy takeaways eh?While staying with Alice, a Swiss missionary, I asked her to pass me the purple bucket - at least I meant to. I said: "Tu peux me passer le peau pourpre?" instead of "...le seau pourpre?" So what I asked for was the purple skin! I'm sure there are many language mistakes awaiting me... I start studying Dioula next week with a friend of a friend. I'm looking forward to it though! (As long as she's got a good sense of humour). I'll keep you posted.
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