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July 13, 2001
Lambarene
#2
Dear Mom and Dad,
This week has flown by. Our first weekend wasn’t too eventful, except that I felt pretty sick on Saturday and couldn’t go out dancing. Sunday was great – I did nothing :). And because I wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t have to do my laundry myself!
Overall I’m pretty healthy, and I’m eating better now that my family understands that I need veggies and chicken sometimes. The weather is perfect – 70, breezy, cloudy. My aunties (I think they’re sisters – they’re the same size and shape and have the same hairdo) came over last night with down coats on! I guess it’s unseasonably chilly, so I’m trying to enjoy it while it lasts. During the rainy season the walls sweat from the heat.
I’m keeping culture shock at bay, for now, except for my constant disappointment with alcohol abuse here. It’s everywhere. My mama and her friends (my aunties) gather every evening on our porch and drink steadily until bedtime (11:00). The other day I got up and they were having beer for breakfast. Drunkenness is just accepted and tolerated. It’s not like my mamas are getting tanked every night (and I’m sure they don’t see it that way) but they are alcoholics. Other families are similar – Jim and Nate’s dad is your classic drnk, and there were fights and stuff at their house, so they’ve changed families. The only thing I really can’t stand chez moi is the way Begonia is spoiled. I mean, I thought Moustaf was bad but Begonia is far worse. Her mom can’t say no to her – last night we went out to dinner and there were cups of fruit salad for dessert. I got one and Begonia started demanding some. Then her mom got her a whole one, which she ate part of then just played with and spilled everywhere. Then her mom got one for herself. Begonia started whining because she wanted the bigger bowl. So her mom traded bowls. I wanted to scream! Carrie and I talked about it (she lives with Mama’s colleague, so we hang out a lot and she was at the dinner too), and we decided it’s because Begonia’s the baby of the family. I can’t wait to get to post where parents have less means and their kids are well-behaved.
What else this week… we went to a dispensaire, which is where you go if you have diarrhea or malaria, or simple stuff, and get this – you pay 1500 CFA and get treated and medicine for all your ills, 1500 CFA is like $2. 5 years ago it didn’t cost anything but now there’s the oil crisis, which I’m still not sure about. But everybody always talks about "la crise" and how it’s made things worse. We’re finding out more and more about Bongo and how people feel about him, but I don’t think I’m supposed to talk about that stuff. They still open letters and stuff, and this aerogram is practically transparent. But our language instructor was in the marches and manifestations in 1990, right in the thick of it, so it’s fun to ask him questions.
Days are up and down here but mostly up, or at least not down. Our days are so packed with French class and health stuff and skills and methods that there’s very little time to think – which is probably good for most of us. Every time we have a cool health session (how to start a Peer Educator Group; explaining pregnancy) I got psyched up to get to post and start doing stuff. Having French is definitely a big advantage, and I’m so thankful that I’m not struggling with that on top of everything else. It’s really great to be able to hang out with the facilitators. Yesterday we had class at a bar, and then more people showed up and it was a nice big party after school. Anicet and Arsene (our facilitators) were there, and about 10 stagieres. They’ve been switching our language groups around which lets us spend more time with different people, and the group seems like it’s hanging together a little more.
Abigail, our PCV trainer this week, led a yoga session Wednesday and I am still sore. I hope I’ll be able to keep it up – she says it really makes you flexible and helps digestion – the whole body. We all bought prayer mats for yoga at the marché and I wonder if the town thinks they’ve been invaded by White American Muslim Women. The marché is pretty small – maybe a block long. On the waterfront there’s a couple blocks of little shops, boutiques, a couple grocery stores, several lunch places, and a salon de thé that welove. They have pain au chocolat, and café and thé and Bob Marley and even gateau and other yummy stuff. It’s small but clean, with plastic chairs and tables outside and wood ones inside, and mirrors on the wall. I think it was the first time I’d seen myself in 10 days.
I’m not too up on world news, but I’ve figured out the radio, which is great – small and powerful. I’ll definitely be using it more at post. Good things to send me are granola bars and cliff (?) bars and Luna bars, because sometimes I think I’ll puke if I see another fish. Also Lifesavers and mints. We can get decent cookies in the grocery stores. I think Sunday I’m making peanut chicken and couscous for my family. They’re already plotting to take me to Libreville for a marriage at the end of July, and they’re going to write letters to get me posted in Coco Beach or Ntorem or Lambarene. I’m not really sure I want to be so close, but I appreciate that they want me close by and that I’m part of the family. But it’s kind of weird too – Peace Corps gave you to us, and they should keep you nearby for us too! I’m getting more interested in the Haute Ogooué region, near Franceville, and in the mountains between Moula and Tchibanga. There’s a post near Abigail, and she says it’s nice and cool.
Love,
Hannah
Please send KoolAid/Gatoraid!
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