One Wrong Step

Yesterday I got a radio call from one of my guards. At first I thought he asked if I would like to eat a chameleon... I asked him for a repetition. Would I like to see a chameleon? 

Yes. 

I walked out of my office toward the compound and found a chameleon larger than my hand just lounging on the ground. This was strange. I took a few photos before I realized it had broken its leg after falling out of the tree. He was so scared, mouth open whenever my camera lens got close, poor little buddy didn't even know what color to turn. This was clearly the first, and last, time he'd ever be photographed. 

I asked my guard to take him into the forest... to a "better place". We did not eat him. 

Makes me wonder how many are watching me from the trees as I pass beneath their individually moving eyes.

Easter Eve

The week ended in a manner I should have anticipated, given how it began. I spent 4 hours talking to 5 men who were talking over me about installing an HF radio. It is hard for people to accept that a young woman might know a thing or two. In the end I had to call over a UN technition, explain what my plans were (that I have been working on all week) and have him tell me I was exactly correct... THEN everyone agreed with HIM. I was pretty fed up. On top of it all, to prove I knew what I was talking about, I had out my iPhone, on which I recorded the whole thing being assembled by Clément this time last week. In all of my distracted brilliance, I put my phone down on the very very magnetic black box of the heart of the antenna. iPhone down, forever.

Gone are the recordings of conversations I have had here that I was hoping to reference. Gone are photos I had yet to post. Gone are any hope of podcasts while in Ango. Gone are recordings of thunderstorms. Gone are games of Words With Friends with my parents and friends. Gone are my midnight news checkups when I cant sleep.
Gone. All gone.

Maybe it is better this way. Everything I brought with me to the Congo I knew I might loose to the Congo... just didn't expect it to be my own lame fault.

I contemplated taking a long shower at the end of today, after Skyping with (aka complaining to) my mom while everyone else played volleyball and left the broadband free for my use. Instead, I went out and sat next to the volleyball match, hoping some of the endorphins might waft over in my direction. No endorphins wafted, but the children did... I counted 40 in a matter of minutes.

I made them all sit down, as they were kiiinda making me feel claustrophobic. I began to make rings with grass and toss it onto a stick I stuck into the ground. A few of the kids tried to play ring toss with me, but really, it didn't go over as well as I might have hoped. Mostly the kids just stared at me and ran when I extended my hand.
Eh, well, cant win em all... especially this week.

But tomorrow is Easter. I love Easter. It always feels like my own personal new year. A day to remember that I am indeed washed clean. That I am indeed under the watchful eye and protective hand of my God.

I have spent many Easters brunching on the beach, hiking mountains at sunrise, spending time staring at the horizon. Few Easters have I spent in church, well, in the buildings we refer to as churches. I don't quite know what to expect tomorrow. No horizons or beaches or mountains in the jungle. There are churches. Perhaps I will mix it up and go there.

The glory of it all is, no matter what, tomorrow will be an excellent day to remember that I am so fresh and so clean clean. That despite the battles that defeat me in an instant, in the end I have the victory. To remember that I am given strength for each new day by the One who knows exactly how much I will need. That His mercies are new every morning, which is good, because mine are not. I can remember (as I should daily) that I have every reason to declare God's loving kindness every morning and His faithfulness every night.

Happy Easter Eve

Issues of Today

Finance issues
Electricity issues
Internet issues
Shipping issues
HR issues
Tree branch issues
Transportation issues
Communication issues
Computer issues
Paperwork issues
Water issues
Health issues
Training issues
Insect issues
Radio issues
Excel issues

Really, today? Seriously? Fine, if that's how it's going to be... bring it on.
You know what, today? Today, I saw a kid walking with a backpack made of palm leaves filled with fruit.
He was dancing as he walked, then stopped and smiled at me. Today, I smiled back at him. Today I smiled still.

PPTSD

Poultry Post Traumatic Stress Disorder


You can't plan your days... OK, maybe you can, but you can't expect it to go as planned. Ever. 

Take for example, Monday morning. I woke up and there was a tree on/in our chicken coop. A big tree. All plans for the day just went on hold (and there were an over abundance of plans). Not only would we loose our lunch, but having our fence down poses a decent security risk - thus the priority shift for the day. 

Over night we had a storm that knocked out our power (generator), took down branches from our heavy laden mango tree, kept us all awake with rain so loud on our steel roof we literally could not hear ourselves yelling (we tried), wind that blew dirt from my window through my mosquito net and onto my face... by morning it was completely calm.

Consequently, we unwrapped and fired up our new (giant) chain saw. Some local workers had already hacked off the branches and tree top with machetes, but the trunk was too wide for manpower alone. Clément (Bioforce trained dude who started up the base in Jan and just handed over its management to me) took on the trunk and major bits, but I got to work through the smaller bits. Having never used a chainsaw before, I was pretty intimidated... but I am fast getting into the habit of doing things that throughly intimidate me.

During this whole process, I asked that the guards (who also help out a lot around the base) if they could get all the chickens into our fenced yard while we worked on their fence. Sometimes you need to say things more than once around here (especially when you can barely speak French). While I was in the office trying to catch up on emails later that morning, I got a radio call from one of my guards that went a little something like this:

''Mike Romeo Un, Mike Romeo Un'' (base manager's call sign)

''Je t'écoutes''

''Eh, il y a des pouls à l'extérieur''

''D'accord''

''   ''

''Donc, je voudrais tout les poules dans l'intérieur''

''OK, bien copie''

Basically, it was a radio call to tell me there were some chickens outside... I told them I would like them inside. 
Ah, all in a day's work.

When all was said and done, three chickens hadn't flown the coop fast enough and were the dinners of the guys who helped us chop up the tree. Our cooks don't have to go into the jungle for firewood for a while and our chickens have a stronger coop. I did feel a bit like I was ushering a crisis affected population back into a post disaster zone that was once their home... but they still taste the same, so no real harm done. 

Today is Friday

As do most people, around here we thank God that it is Friday... but then we laugh, knowing that just means we won't force ourselves to wake up before 8am. Much like the people in the villages around us, we see that there is work to be done that can't wait for the weekend to finish.


That's alright, work around Ango is pretty fun.

Today was a variety of tasks. I filed HR documents, filled in expense sheets, installed a scanner, read dozens of emails, drove to the depot to pick up black plastic tubing and re-bar for a new well and latrine project, ate lunch, drove to Dafia, where we have the water and sanitation project going on, delivered the needed goods, drove back over bridges made of two logs that I had to drive exactly right on, picked up our health supervisor and delivered medication and mosquito nets to the local hospital, answered emails, finished the cash count, put up a volleyball net, worked on a schedule that I messed up on before, made cous-cous for dinner and am now aimlessly recounting my day to my computer screen from under my mosquito net. 


I still can't drive here without the Indiana Jones theme song running though my head.


A palm tree fell today, just on the other side of the building. We saw it, then heard it then went to it and realized it was due to thousands of rather diligent insects. Random timing. 


Rainy season has begun, it will continue through December. 


I really enjoyed the meat we had at lunch yesterday. I asked what it was, and not knowing the name in French, she said it was not goat, not lamb, but like that, but not antelope, though it was hunted. I don't know, but I was happy when we had it again today.


The top of my right big toe has been numb for days.


I haven't been sick since I left the States. In fact, I got traveler's sickness when I was home for 3 months.

Large termites are my least favorite thing here... they are loud and stupid.

I had a craving for Jamba Juice all day today. 

Today was Friday.

Transitional State Stopped

I have my own room. My own space. I am not living out of a suitcase for the first time since October.

It feels amazing. 

It is nice to be in a place where I can fall into a new rhythm of life, knowing I will be here long enough to appreciate it. I am now a night showerer, after a lifetime of being a morning showerer, because it is so nice to go to bed clean... and kind of unthinkable to bring the funk of the day into bed with me. I have yet to integrate a good exercise routine into a good part of my day, am working out how my body will cope with more carbs than veggies, also wondering if I will be able to ever stay awake past 10pm again.

However, we are installing a volleyball net, I can go running in town, my slack line is ready to go up, seeds are ready to become a vegetable garden next weekend and I don't mind going to bed by 10 when the roosters wake me up every morning at 5am anyway.

After my first week in Ango, I am pretty sure I will enjoy my life here. It is remarkably challenging, but I feel like every one of my previous life experiences is directly correlated with even the smallest daily victories (like driving to the depot to help supervise the unloading of 25 drums of fuel from a WFP truck to our depot and being able to tell the difference between petrol and diesel by smell alone).

Today was my first day off in two weeks, though, to be fair, this was my first week working at full capacity since coming.We work 6 days a week and I haven't worked less than a 12 hour day yet. The thing is, there isn't anything else to do and I came here to work... so, it makes sense. Also, this is so fun. Really. Yesterday I learned about how the generator and back up systems work for our base, then I installed electricity into an office... lights, light switch and outlet! It is so fun. Even making the schedule for the guards (we have 2 on duty 24/7) is like playing Sudoku.

I am home for now. I like my life, I like it a lot. 

Old Found Film: circa 2002

Old Found Film: circa 2002, a photo by Wendkuni on Flickr.

Testing flickr's new uploader... 

Hey, their site now says 'flicker' and it better be an April Fool's joke because I am old school and like it that way.