Black Soap and the Great Sausage-Foot Saga

Bon dia!

I've been thinking about all of you heaps and continuously wishing I could share what I'm seeing and experiencing with many of you who would appreciate different types of things...

Anyway, here goes...

Living in Ingore, here's a few things I've seen or discovered...
- if you build a new petrol station, what do you do?  You have a party and invite the whole village!
- if someone is carrying ice, or noodles, or both, it means they are going to have a party
- if teenage boys can't go to school because of financial issues, they cry.
- to enroll in school, you look under the tree beside the school building where your name will be on pieces of paper stapled to the tree, or to wooden boards
- school is between 8-12 or 2-6pm, plus English classes as an option (which is what I'm teaching)
- if you just bought fruit from the market and you're on your way to introduce yourself to the local police, give the fruit to someone to take home or else the police will ask you to share the fruit and you will be obliged to do so.
- you need to introduce yourself to the local police because otherwise, if you get into trouble, they will want to know why you didn't bother saying hello when you arrived and will be very unwilling to help you.
- if you don't want to walk somewhere, and you haven't got a bike, you can go by donkey and cart.
- bikes are handy things for carrying pigs, wheelbarrows, firewood or just about anything.
- ladies can carry many things on their heads including large tubs of water, a machete, plates of peanuts to sell, folded washing...
- you can make black soap.  It involves charcoal and burnt cashew fruits and other things we don't have enough Kiriol to understand, but it looks like rich black dirt and lathers up nicely.  Haven't seen it used though, the old lady next door makes it.
- if you are a girl and living with ten boys, being able to catch and throw a ball is a distinct advantage but playing cards is also helpful.

Kiriol Learning

I am practicing hard.  We have lessons every day which are supposed to go for an hour but usually last longer.  Timotiu, one of Titu's boys, is very patient with us.  He tries to explain grammar to us but we don't even understand what it is in English so he has a tough job!  We sit outside the house in the shade and work, and sometimes the other boys wander past and shout the correct phrase at us.

You need to be careful though because so many words have double meanings.  For example, 'bafa' can mean 'to simmer' or 'to ripen'... or 'rape'.  So you don't want to get this wrong!  Also, the word for 'say goodbye' sounds the same as 'ten farts' so if we want to say 'I want to say goodbye to you' which is a phrase used at the end of a meeting... we need to be VERY careful re pronunciation!!!

The dreaded lurgy, sausage feet, and other exciting health issues

I'm doing good.  I had a few issues for the first few weeks.  Well ok I've only been here a few weeks but up until a week ago I had heatrash, another blistery heatrash on top of that, AND... sausage feet.  I tell the truth.  My feet were huge.  I'm talking NO ankles at all, and when I bent them towards me it was like bending an uncooked sausage.  It grossed me out... I couldn't even squeeze them into my 'good' pair of jandals!!  Fortunately they finally went down.  The guys assured me they didn't look that bad but the other day one randomly says,' Oh hey, you do have ankles!' which sort of burst that bubble.

So now my feet are normal and the heatrash is mostly gone.  Hallelujah for that because it's very hard to feel pretty in calf length skirts and baggy shirts as it is, without having spots, lumps and fat feet as well.

I was also fairly violently ill last Friday but hallelujah it was the night the generator was switched on and the boys were watching a truly cheesy movie that made the original Shortland Street look like an Oscar winning performance.  But it meant I could barf in peace with no one listening in so that's something to be thankful for.  Also that I was still at Titu's house so I could sit in the nice clean bathroom instead of in a dark concrete one which is what I have now.

But I'm all good now, yay.

This little piggy went to market... and never went home again!

- have seen lots of goats on ropes but am still trying to get a photo
- there are pigs everywhere and they are often bought live and then dragged home by a rope round one foot. They don't like this much.
- there are giant crickets, kind of like huge wetas, but fortunately they don't really show themselves much
- Quelumtam (pronounced Keh-LOONG-tahng) has warned us about the scorpions which come out in the rainy season.  If one bites you, in his words, 'you will cry all day'.  If a millipede bites you, it's not so bad - 'you will cry, but only for four hours'.  Gee, that's a relief.
- there are lots of lizards around which remind me of Australia.  The boys tried to scare me with them (the local boys) and were impressed when I held them and told them I'd held a big one in Vanuatu.  They're scared of the big ones.
- we have one chicken, Diana, who is a survivor; Titu killed the rest before I came because Poppy couldn't sleep from their noise and they poo everywhere.  But Diana is quick and sneaky so she manages to avoid Titu - and Quelumtam's machete!

Things I'm enjoying about Ingore

- getting water from the well behind Titu's house
- handwashing my clothes.  Cold water on a hot day!!!
- showering in Titu's shower; it's open and outside, and there's a banana tree next to it with a nest of baby birds that get fed while I have my shower each morning.  Very cool.
- listening to Quelumtam (works in Titu's house, is about 16) squeal like a girl when I beat him at a card game.  (I taught him Speed which he really likes).
- playing catch with the local boys. God has miraculously imbued me with catching and throwing skills I have previously only dreamed of.  VERY useful in bonding when there's only boys to bond with!
- the salad Claude prepares, made from cucumber, onions, chicken stock and lemon juice.  Sounds gross but is refreshing and tasty.  They eat it by the bowlful but it's a great sidedish.
- prayer meetings when you have a translater!  The room is dark, hot, lit by one light, but it's cool to pray together for things that really matter to the church and the community.
- going to visit a new Mum who just had twins, and taking her a present of baby oil.  I actually managed to ask a few intelligent questions in Kiriol so didn't have to sit there struck dumb which made a nice change.
- being given gifts of chickens when we visit other churches!!  This is the only positive of being a girl here that I have found so far!  Apparently if there are no girls visiting they don't give you a chicken as a gift.  So the boys are happy.  It's a live chicken though, so I let Quelumtam kill it for me.

Things I enjoy about Ingore not so much

- confusing names and faces
- being hot and sweaty most of the time
- realising there was ALOT of stuff I could have brought that I didn't!
- seeing kids suffering and being unable to help
- struggling to construct sentences that are relevant
- fish heads
- being the only girl
- living on my own now
- frogs interrupting my stargazing (a nightly ritual; you go outside and lie on grassmats and Kunda makes hot tea a special way, and you sit around and talk, covered in a towel to avoid mosquitoes.  But sometimes the frogs come and jump on you.
- yagu - a tea so strong and sweet that it makes your eyes cross and your toes curl

A HOT DRINK MIRACLE

Ok so are you sitting down?  Are you ready for this?

I, Abby, hot-drink hater from way back, have found a hot drink that I like!  Not just put up with, but actually like!  In fact, I want to bring it back to NZ to introduce you ALL to this delectable delight.  It's made from a flower of a spinach type plant, and it's deep red, and when it's made by the boys, with much pouring to and fro between tiny shot glasses, with excessive amounts of sugar added, it's FABULOUS.  If you drink more than a couple of glasses you can literally feel your teeth begging for mercy, but it's YUM.

The boys are happy because they go through a process that takes about half an hour, to make it, and then they take it around and offer small glasses to everyone.  And when it's yagu, the normal tea, I usually decline, which is fine to do.  But they have learned that I like this type, and seem very pleased that I hardly ever say no!

It's a pleasure to watch them make it, as when they light the little charcoal stove to heat the water on, one of the young boys whizzes it round in large arcs as it burns, to get oxygen into the coals.  It's such a cool thing to see esp at night.

Awkward Moments

So I moved into my new house yesterday; concrete, quite dark, cleanish, with furniture but very sparse. No running water or electricity except sometimes there's light if the solar panels are working and if the school hasn't used the solar power up.  (It's next door to the school and they just run a plug through the window!)

Indira, who's 13, is sleeping with me overnights. We can't speak to each other properly and she doesn't have anything to do there so the girl bonding thing didn't happen so well.  Motivation to learn Kiriol quick!

Also had our first prayer meeting together - just me and the two boys.  We don't really know each other so well yet and we all come from such different backgrounds that it was kinda funny trying to suss out group dynamics... 'so.... do you want to...?' 'oh, only if you didn't want to... ' etc etc  But it was good to pray together and we're trying to do that each Monday evening.

INTRODUCTIONS - if you want to know a bit about who I live with or work with...

Quelumtam: shy, works hard, 16, goes to school locally, (cried when he thought he couldn't go cos his father couldn't afford to buy him books).  Has some English but doesn't like practicing it with us.  He is warming up to me slowly; it's nice to see more of his personality.  Titu said when he became a Christian his parents would beat him and force him to make sacrifices etc, but he refused.  That takes courage and guts I reckon. Eventually they gave up as they saw that he was different.

Tim: 28, pretty good English, has been with Titus for about 8 yrs.  Teaches us Kiriol and helps Titu cook.  Very patient with us!  Admired by all the teenage girls locally - funny to watch.  He's enrolled to study I.T at university level in Bissau, but there isn't enough computers or teachers so he can't go; he's very disappointed and doesn't know where to go when Titu goes on furlough.

Kunda: 18, staunch, one of those guys that has a glint in his eye and always looks like he's dreaming up trouble!  Not a Christian, but getting interested.  Loves Michael Jackson.  I managed to answer him back when he was mocking me the other day, in Kiriol, so now he's alot friendlier!

Claudinhe: (Claw-DIN-yeh) 16ish, called Claude except in his tribal language that means 'death' so we try to call him by his full name.  Very staunch, goes to school with Quelumtam, took ages to get him to talk to me, but if we're alone he will now.  Not a Christian but when the other boys are praying he listens in from outside and has started going to church with them. A softie at heart.  I gave him a pen when he was trying to suck the ink out of his to make it work again, he seems very grateful!!

Besna: lives next door, looks 10 but is 15, very small and wiry (was sick for 2 yrs as a child).  Over at Titu's house alot.  Has a little brother named after Titu.  Very good at cards and laughs at me when I can't figure out the rules.

Moses: another local boy who hangs with us.  Gentle smile, lights up whenever I ask him to join us for anything.

Ester, Milagre, Ivanete, Junior, Gideon:  neighbour kids, come over and terrorise us for a while each night.  Very cute, very rough and tumble, smacking each other around etc.  Ivanete is the youngest at four, Ester is about 10.  We enjoy playing with them although they can see us but we find it hard to see them at night so sometimes we stand on them or bump into them by mistake.

Betty, Claudina, Balantea, and a few others: girls who have adopted me, all about eight years old.  Were very excited to be invited into my new house yesterday.  Our friendship is hampered by my lack of Kiriol.

Titus: runs the house, and the youth centre, and is my host.  Indonesian, always telling us fake stories to scare us and then cracking up and punching whoever's next to him (not usually me though).  Comes from a  difficult background so what he's doing is a huge sacrifice.  He gets very angry at any kid or adult who calls us 'Branku' (white) because usually they add another word that is rude...

What I'll be up to until you hear from me again...

- starting English teaching.  The resources are VERY basic, and the style is very basic too.  I will have about 12-15 students, aged 8-30yrs (!) and I will have two different classes each day, one from 8-10am, the other 2pm-4pm.
The resources are mostly from Gambia with some ancient books from the UK which are pretty dated and not so useful.  Am wishing I brought a whole lot of resources with me now!  There's no photocopier, no readers, no equipment.  Just each person with two notebooks and a pencil, and some text books to share.  We shall see!  We're all very nervous as our Kiriol is pretty bad.  I'll be teaching level 3 or 4 which is maybe Yr 3-4 level texts. The class is a concrete room, with mosquito netting and bars on the windows, but no glass, nothing in them except tables, chairs and a blackboard.
- Jenny and Pauline are coming; they are missionaries who go around all of Senegal and Guinea Bissau, visiting missionaries with WEC, and checking how things are going for accountability etc. They'll stay in my house so that will be nice. Girls!!!
- We will be visiting different churches and maybe different villages overnight.  Titu preaches at different churches.  I'm hoping that as our Kiriol gets better we can too.
- All the teams around here are getting together for 'Christmas' and a combined Day of Prayer in the end of November.  It's a big deal and Ingore is hosting it this year so we'll be preparing special food, songs, etc.

I know this is waaay long but thanks for reading!  So much else I want to say but thank you in advance for your emails once again and I think maybe we can come before another month is up, to Bissau...

Abs