Beef, Mosquitoes, and Hunger

Yesterday morning I said 'good afternoon' in French to a man carrying a machete. Oops.

There is so much more to tell than time to tell it. Here a few highlights from Saturday...

Yesterday I ate beef for the first time in 9 years. A friend of Tom's from the World Food Program picked us up from the factory and took us to his house for lunch. His name is Mohamed, he is from Algeria, and he is my friend now too. I know he is my friend because he took us to a World Food Program party last night where I became very sick even though I was only drinking water.... I was chatting with some fancy person and began perspiring profusely. And I mean profusely, not just Haiti-style sweating. It was dripping from my face heavily. My arms became numb and I had to excuse myself from the conversation to sit on some steps. Mind you, I have no idea where I am and there are many, many people around. I could hardly hold my head up and couldn't move my arms. My mind started racing about how I would get back to the factory or back to St. Louis if this was some sort of intense tropical illness that my inferior immune system could not handle. Maybe I wasn't cut out for the tropics or this whole thing. Luckily, my new friend Mohamed took me and Tom home. I don't know too much about Mohamed but I know enough to like him. I have to admit that last night was pretty scary-- there's nothing like being sick in a place where you cannot speak the language and a UN security official has just described the latest kidnapping and how not to make yourself an easy target for criminals. In any case, I made it home and woke up alive and feeling much better.

I went to fill the water tanks on the roof and fond a frog in the water supply. So, I waited until the water level was high enough that I could reach in to scoop the frog out with a plastic bowl. Then I put the bowl-with-frog down and poured a bit of bleach into the water tanks since the water was looking pretty brown. While I was carrying the bowl with the frog downstairs to release it outside, it escaped (unsurprisingly). I am not, in theory, grossed out by much- but there was something about this little wet frog squirming in and out of my hands as I tried to catch it that made me squeal over and over. Instead of helping, Tom ran to get the camera. I love that a frog was living in the same water I use to brush my teeth. Just a little bit ago, Dumel (the production manager here) told me that having a frog in the water tank is actually a good thing because it will eat the mosquitoes.

Speaking of mosquitoes, I rolled over on some juicy ones while I was sleeping. They were so engorged that they couldn't fly away and instead left polka-dots on the sheet.

I am finding that constant hunger is a state of being here, even for me. We do not have our own means of transportation (yet, at least- it may happen within the month). Nor do we have a refrigerator or kitchen for cooking. Before I arrived, I knew that there was a restaurant about 1 mile away. I thought, "no problem, I can walk a mile for food." But it just isn't that simple. It is so hot, and the roads are terrifying to drive on, let alone walk on. And I can't walk alone. So, the situation proves to be very tricky. But, today we took a cab into town with Dumel. We bought a huge amount of diesel fuel and some cheese that doesn't need refrigeration along with some yogurt that similarly does not require refrigeration. Yum. Seriously, yum.

It also turns out that Tom and I make a good TV. It's not like we are TV stars-- just a TV. A good example: while we were waiting on the road for Mohamed to pick us up yesterday, a man walked up to us and said nothing. But he stood about 5 feet away and just stared, took the scene in, for about 10 minutes. It wasn't scary or anything, just different. I guess that is what a TV feels like.

One more thing-- I changed the 'comment' function on this blog so that you don't need to sign in to leave a comment. I hope it's helpful.