this is from 1/24/10

Once upon a time I remember feeling cold. Now, I don’t. Harmattan, once again lasted 3 days. And it was really only “chilly” on day two. And now, we enter the “chaleur.” This means I will be sweating gallons of sweat until…May. Cute, huh. On the flip side, my face has never been clearer, perhaps due to the Doxycycline (anti-malarial medication) or perhaps it’s due to the fact that my sweat glands are constantly excerised and don’t have the opportunity to be clogged.

I heard about the Haitian earthquake a couple weekends ago. I really don’t know any details whatsoever. I can only imagine that it is chaos over there. I hear that Haiti is poorer than Benin. Did you know that the people of Haiti descend from the Beninese? The Haitians are the children of slaves brought over from the kingdom of Dahomey…aka Benin.

This April I am going to the ancient capital of the Dahomey Kingdom, Abomey. The Dahomey kings were horrible, tyrants. They would have like 50 wives. And when they died they had their wives killed or buried alive…with them. Or maybe it was their slaves that that happened to. I forget what I heard. I guess I will find out in April. Also, the castle or whatever, is a mud-type structure that was mixed with blood and body parts. And the king’s throne is made of human skulls. I feel like I am going to be creeped out when I see this.

Apparently 8, 9 o’clock PM on a Sunday is a great time to have a birthday party. Nevermind that I (or they) have to wake up early tomorrow to start the work day.

This week is devoirs, once again. This means that the first semester is essentially over. That means I have almost less than half my school year left. This is exciting yet sad at the same time.

Today, I my little buddy, Janvier came over with his machete to chop away at the overgrown foliage in my terrace. I was hoping to have it trimmed so that a little light and a slight breeze could waft in, however, my neighbor chatted with Janvier too, and told him to chop away everything. I was a little hesitant, but I let him at it; only because I know that the flowers will grow back. It’s probably a good thing that this old flower tree/bush thing was thinned out. it might give it a little life back.

Initially I asked Janvier to come to do some trimming because yesterday we were sitting around and all of a sudden we catch a whiff of a horrible scent: a rotting little mouse corpse. I check all around my terrace for a possible hiding place for a little mouse carcass, but to no avail. I thought that maybe the little guy kicked the bucket up in the flowers. Janvier hacked away to find the smelly body. But again, no luck. The little stinker is still out there somewhere.

On that note, I don’t know how to put this, but I love that children in this society actually WORK for adults. I only briefly mentioned to Janvier to come chop the flowers away and the next day he shows up and does A LOT of work. Not only did he chop, he hauled away the brush and swept up afterward. And I didn’t even have to pay him. I did however, give him a couple of pens and a pencil for his devoirs. I didn’t want him getting the idea I would pay him.

It’s just amazing that kids almost enjoy working for adults, more so probably ones they respect.

Last Sunday, this kid rings the doorbell and when I answer the door I don’t recognize him. He’s obviously a student. But I have a moment of panic where I think, “oh gawd…who is this kid? Is he a student of mine from last year? This year? …and I don’t even recognize his face? I’m such a horrible teacher!” But it turns out he is not nor ever has been a student of mine. He tells me with a heavy heart about how he lost 3500cfa, aka a little less than ten dollars, to pay for his school contribution (school fee). He worked all summer to pay for his school fee and his “big brother” (probably a family friend) paid for the small remainder (3500cfa). But the week before, during the 10am break where the kids go get breakfast, he lost or was robbed of the 3500fca. And his “big brother” had him searching all day since 8am to replace the money. He got to my house around 7, 7:30. I was on the phone with my sister. To make a long story short, I gave him some money and told him he had to work it off by coming to do laundry for me four times. So far he has been really honest; he is tardy, but he arrives. Which leads me to believe that he was telling the truth. And it makes me feel good that I trusted my gut and decided to help him out. Normally, I would NEVER just hand out some money to any kid that knocked on my door. Tha’