Last post was at the beginning of August... You'd think with all the free time I have (classes start again Oct. 1st) I would have been able to write a bit more. The thing is, life seems pretty boring here, at least from my perspective, and I haven't been able to motivate myself to write a "little things" post.
It looks like I'll be teaching the same classes this coming year. This will be wonderful since I already have the lesson plans ready. Now I'll have the time to make them better and more entertaining. :)
So how have I been keeping busy?
1. Reading:
- may I recommend "Supreme Conflict" by Jan Crawford Greenburg for those of you who love the US Supreme Court
- also McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses" for a quick western/horse fix (I'm only half way through).
2. Knitting: one sock with the second one started and a lacy shawl that could have used another skein.
3. Marilyn Monroe photo mosaic puzzle
4. Auditing my lycée's cyber café books from 2007 to the present. I have discovered that my calling in life does not include accounting! The spreadsheets I designed were a mess, but success was achieved.
5. Gardening: my courtyard is BEAUTIFUL. The moringa (arzan tiiga) I planted in April are thriving and I'm training the plants along my porch to block out the sun. Overall there were a couple casualties: a jasmine and a moringa from my second planting.
my courtyard with colorful laundry - notice the climbing plants along the porch
6. Visiting other villages:
Aorema (10 km north of Ouahigouya) - gold mines, coolest rocks, insect and barrage (separate post later)
Tangaye (12 km west of Ouahigouya) - beautiful bike ride with lots of birds, there is a stream with turtles.
Bougounam (25 km south of Ouahigouya on the highway to Ouaga) - really nice people, a school with round classrooms, a beautiful horse and fantastic crops.
Djibo (115 km northeast of Ouhigouya) and Baraboulé (30 km northwest of Djibo) - part of the Sahel, significantly less water, sandy with expansive views reminding me of Montana oddly enough and camels(!). So far my favorite region in Burkina, the desert must be in my blood.
7. Surviving "huge bug September": I've seen gargantuan dragonfly, praying mantis, wasp (who insist that my door is the perfect place to build a nest), and a whip spider in my latrine one night last week (not funny!). Check out the picture and for textbook info go here.
Update on the whip spider: after reading more about these guys (here), I feel really bad about killing the one that found me. Sure it frightened me with it's scary looks and it's uncertain nature, but I regret my actions now. I'm reminded of all the stories, fables and idioms about outward appearances being just that, outside. It really is what counts inside and I judged my whip spider on appearances alone. Evidently they are utterly harmless and may even show affection to their young! I won't forget my "whip spider lesson" quickly.
the harmless and missunderstood whip spider
dragonfly and gecko
1 comment:
Who wrote Supreme Conflict? And what are the other villages like? Will you be teaching the same classes this year?
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