étude de milieu and tabaski : autumn in lists
I’ve been at Tioyo for about two months now; it sometimes feels like so much longer, sometimes so much shorter. The days are long. I’m constantly stressed and guilty about being in my home and not being out in the community making friends, but socializing in village in French and my rudimentary Lobiri is draining in a way that I am unfamiliar with.
The past month has been hellish, a slow torture, punctuated by brief moments of levity with friends and this little cat. Hard things this October:
delayed school start by two weeks
lack of a 6ème classroom for nearly a month, until we just crammed them into a small church
frustrating hours trapped with Cissé in meetings; I want to scream when I’m around him and his condescension and arrogance
a head-on motorcycle accident while on my bike I still haven’t completely healed from
a fairly traumatic event the same day involving female genital mutilation at my school
70,000 CFA went missing and it turned out that a little girl stole from me. Police got involved, her father got arrested. Deeply messy and unpleasant affair.
I tell myself that these are all mere growing pains. I’m just adjusting and it will all pass. Little things that kept me sane:
a three week old black kitten I adopted named Zelda, nuzzled against my chest
cooking in my makeshift kitchen
my home coming together, painting the walls with Kambou. It’s sparse but it’s all mine.
Edwige and her girls
Ruby and Jess and Jesse
stars spread thick over my head and cool water running down my body as I take a bucket bath
a sachet of frozen bissap pressed against my lips on a sweltering day
being able to travel to Diébougou and Gaoua so easily
an end of the month Halloween gathering in Bobo
Jesse in Diébougou
Ali, my host and the village’s halal butcher
Alexis in my home for dinner
The view of Tioyo leaving my compound
Sibiri preparing the sacrifice for Tabaski
Diébougou Marché
