|
From: Hannah Koenker <hannahkoenker@yahoo.com>
Subject: april update
hi everybody,
the email is slower than a couple months ago, and yesterday it went out entirely - i think the demand keeps leaping ahead of the phone lines, or whatever it is. nonetheless i have time now to write.
a lot's been going on lately...after my last trip here i went home and graded tests, and got the runaround from the school about my aids exposees, so that has been continued into this trimester. i got a chance to ride around and see dibouangi, near lebamba, whjich has a big fancy missionary catholic church, odd in such a teeny town (big village, really). i went with
jenny as she gave out the embassy scholarships, to girls that had gotten good grades and not gotten pregnant that year. we went down to tchibanga where we picked up carrie, who was going back to the states for homeleave (she mailed all the christmas cards).
on the way back to mouila we went up through moabi, where ora is stationed. she had broken her wrist at ist and was sent home for treatment, so we were rescuing some of her valuables from possible thievery. the road up was full of cute little villages with solar panels and environmental murals painted on the mud brick walls. there were some crazy bridges and a beautiful view down into the valley south of moabi - you'll see pictures in may, when jason goes home. i don't trust the gabonese postal system with my photos.
after that it was the end of the term and i did grades, one of only a few profs - the foreign ones (half the profs are from west africa) went on strike and wouldn't fill out the grades. this because the state wasn't going to pay their visa fee, which is stupid, because they're employees of the state. it all got resolved last week, a month later.
we had the young women's seminar in tchibange which was fun, more fun that i thought it would be. the girls were funny and learned a little of what we tried to teach them; the barbeque had burgers, and they got to watch caspar the friendly ghost at a video club we rented out (some guys house, with a tv and vcr). a lot of people, if they're middle class at least (profs, police, state employees) have tvs and some have vcrs, so there are always video rental places in towns to serve them, especially since it's not always easy to get a good signal. if you have a satellite, like my malien family, then you're set. at the seminar i had a grab bag of questions, some my own about myths of pregnancy and catching diseases, the others from the girls, anonymously, so we could air things without embarrassing people. i also showed them a few ways to hurt rapists, which they enjoyed. a fun weekend.
kara and i went down to mayumba to see amanda and peter, who have a pink wooden house ON THE BEACH (we're talking 50 yards, folks). it was fabulous. we did nothing. peter tried to skin a sole, following the joy of cooking's simple diagram (make a cut and peel it off) - but after fifteen minutes of tugging and slipping and pliers and swearing he cleaned it
normally and fried it up. pretty good. they have good pizza down there too.
upon my return the guys were finishing my terrace and i made benches with the wood left over from pouring the concrete posts. they did a halfassed job with the floor, and the roof is a little tenuous, but hey, it's a terrace. i got a basket from my gabonese family and have to inaugurate it when i get back by going en brousse with mama to get manioc. that will be a blast, i hope, more fun than the last time i went en brousse, where we cleaned up ashy roots and got dirty for no good reason. it'll be nice to go with peoplethat i like and know.
jeff thorn sent pop rocks in a package. i gleefully rubbed my hands together and then called the kids from next door - bonbon! they came running. i poured some out and they ate it and then their faces crumpled up and their eyes filled with terror - ca c'est quoi!!?? mike was there and we laughed. once they got over the shock they enjoyed it too.
chikwang ran off with some dogs so i think she'll be pregnant soon. kids these days. however, i can sell the puppies for ten mille each, about fifteen bucks (the price of the yummy indien buffet we had last night, all you can eat, i was so sick after).
now i am in libreville, duh, this morning four of us took the foreign service exam. it seems like an interesting career and the people i've met at embassies have been funny and interesting and intelligent, but mostly i took it for kicks and for an excuse to come to libreville. it was a lot easier than i thought it would be, especially given the practice book questions i found in mouila (from 95). 90 questions, of which 20 are on the US government (bombed that part - what kind of majority do you need to amend the constitution? who ratifies treaties?), and 20 are on management (too easy, poorly designed questions - which of these is an example of positive feedback - immediately praising someone after they do something good; waiting a few days, writing a note in their file, etc). the rest are the political questions, the pop culture questions (holden caulfield is the central character in which book?) and these goofy email/tech questions - is a program that attaches itself to your computer and copies itself a plugin, an attachment, or a virus?
that was part 1. the written essay was bullshit, to see if you can write fast and organize your thoughts. bullshit broad topics like immigration and welfare and nafta. you pick one. then the autobiographical info part, which was the worst - do your friends think you are poised under pressure? to what degree? list four leadership positions you were nominated for. have you helped others in projects where you did not receive the benefit (altruism). i guess they check your answers if you make it further, when they do your background check. or something. the last part was correcting poorly written paragraphs. i breezed through it (go english major!).
our tester was the consular guy, jack, who was a pcv (english) in kirgystan. he says they are trying to get officers so we have a good chance of getting placed in a class, if we pass this part and the oral part. i am in no hurry. i'm still looking for fun things to do and i'm sure they don't lie in the state department, at least right now.
i took the plane up here, which was great. our new country director seems nice and goal-oriented and stricter than jan, which some people may not like but i respect. we'll see how she settles in. she said she had checked out the webpage, which was neat (way to go mom!).
things are good in ndende and i have a lot of work planned. my friends are good and the students and i are getting along, and that's a big part of why i'm in a good mood most of the time. i'm getting geared up for the grand vacances - summer vacation - and stage and traveling around gabon and going au village and my parents coming. should be good - cooler, no rain, plenty of crazy parties.
kristen asked about religion so i'll answer it here for everyone. christian alliance has a lot of
churches here, so do the catholics. the foreigners are all muslim. church services are long and full of singing and chanting and sermons, or so i hear. if you see anyone walking around with reading material it's always a psalm book or jehovahs witness flyer or other light religious material. the muslims study arabic. people try to get me to come to church, to show me off ( the same way kids want their picture taken with me, so they can 'prove' i was their friend) but i refuse. maybe one of these days i will go, christmas or easter, just to have a torturous story to tell.
most people are pro US, even the muslims, but jokers will yell 'bin laden!' to get us riled up. seems like people could care less about israel, but i'm sure the muslims support their brothers. no one has brought it up with me. the other night the big news was (and still is) that nigerian pirates killed a policeman, and were then shot. they display the corpses on tv for like ten full minutes, turning them around, close ups, yuck. the dead policeman is a hero and got big play the day of his funeral. gabon is like a small town sometimes, and that was libreville.
michelle got a package from the states with friends/will and grace/west wing episodes. i can't believe the commercials - who thought adult baby wipes were a good idea?
all righty, i'll mail later if there's anything new. mail is working again so send those letters and packages! not sure what kind of goodies to send? -- clippings, nyt magazine, fluffy magazines, chocolate, candy, anything peanut butter, sugar free koolaid or crystal light, kashi go lean bars, cliff bars, luna bars, anything goes! chocolate is always good though. m&ms make it through the best but with the fridge i can make any melted candy bar whole again.
hope you all are safe and happy where you are...enjoy the spring, unless you're brandon, where the heat hunts you down.
take care,
hannah
|