Friday, February 5, 2010

Can I just throw some pictures at you??

It seems easier for me and...much more fun for you than my long work-related post below. Win-win!


Marita and I being silly at swear-in. My god, that was so long ago!

This is vaguely what a part of my house looks like. View from the "living room/kitchen" out into the "courtyard". Cement and as many bright colors as possible, basically.

During a Halloween vacation in the Gaoua area, we caught an archery competition! This guy knew how to put on a real show. Those white people in the background are some French nurses who were kind of touring the village and donating stuff. As per usual.


So, after the Frenchies left, we went up and actually talked to the archers and asked them if we could try it. It was really fun and really difficult - the bow and arrow were made completely naturally, as one might expect. :)

Picture of part of the Halloween party in a corn field - very Octobery and looking vaguely like a boy-band.

These are two awesome middle-school girls from my village who I followed to a regional competition to qualify for National Culture Week. They competed in the culinary arts category...AND THEY WON!!! Not necessarily the best photo, but I have like a million and couldn't choose the best one...

The two oldest boys from the family I live with/next to. Saduna has the Shakira shirt and is smiling on the left. Kafaru is workin the Christina Aguilera tee and sitting on one of the family cows. This is right next to my house.

This is Fatimata, the mother of this same family, who is most likely trying to explain how to make a picture look "bien jolie"... She may be suggesting we both get dolled up to take a nice, formal picture - a favorite pastime of villagers here.

This is Sylvie, the oldest girl who lives with this family (I'm still not truly sure if or how she's related to everyone else). She's laughing because I'm awkwardly sticking a camera in her face. Notice how she's covering her mouth. This is, unfortunately, a common stance for girls here when they talk, laugh, smile, etc.

This is Barriqui. Let me tell you how much I love this girl. Tons. That's how much. She's so sweet and honest and plunky. I think she's the cousin, technically, of those boys up there.

Here are the girls doing laundry. Stooped over. By hand. As they do every few days. It's all of the family's laundry, I think. Life ain't easy, yo!

This is Fatimata using an ingenious (time-tested) method to sift out food that is no good. It's lighter, so you just pour it from one receptacle into another and let the wind blow away the unwanted stuff. This day, there wasn't any wind so she had to walk while doing it to make her own wind. I think this is crazy cool. Who said ingenuity had anything to do with technology? The kids were marching amusingly behind her - just to be in the picture.

Kids are cute, huh? I mean, until they're crying and tooting incessantly on whistles right outside one's door during naptime. But, other than that...delightful little buggers.


And this is me deciding that while posting pictures is technically easier than a long, wordy post, it's definitely at least as time consuming. And I'm sleepy. Special thanks to Kyle for donating the time with his adapter that made this post possible. Love you all and hoping to talk to you soon!