Before the Comice, but after the Holidays

Its been quite a while since I last updated so I guess I am going to split this into two parts. After I got back from the Holidays, and before I left for the Comice I had a few more PACA meetings that went pretty well, but mostly more of the same. I don't know how excited I am about having to go through 10 more of them at this point, but I guess its necessary. Meetings here always seem to drag on forever, and before you can even start anyone who is “important” has to be paid respect to, which can take a while. At least there is always singing at some point, and some how everyone in my village has a pretty good voice which is a plus.

I was also able to start in on some actual work which was exciting. My first little mini-project was starting a compost pile in order to have some good soil for the tree nursery I will begin work on soon. It ended up being really great because a couple of people who saw what I was doing came over and started asking questions, and it ended up being a little hands on lesson in short term composting. They seemed to be pretty aware of what composting was, but they really had no idea how to do it in a controlled way so hopefully they took something out of it.

The sticks don't just make your compost pile look cool, they make it go faster.

I also started in on the school garden for the elementary school that is close to my house. The teachers and head master of the school helped out but most of the work was actually done by the students. This seemed really strange to me at first as the oldest kids in the school are still the equivalent of 5^th or 6^th graders in the United States, but let me tell you having a whole army of child laborers has its benefits, like the fact that the whole area was cleared in only two days (and without any injuries thankfully).

Pictured: Child Labor

Pictured: The benefits of child labor

Don't worry I helped too

It was really weird when I first got there and the teacher was yelling at all the kids who forgot to bring their machetes to class that day, seemed kind of backwards to me for some reason. The whole thing was coming along really great, and I drew up some plans to grow corn, soy, peppers, banana, and Manioc in a rotation, and use nitrogen fixing trees, and contour farming and all of these great agro-forestry techniques which I guess I am still going to do, only when I got back from the Comice they had burned all of the brush to make turning the soil easier (after several people specifically guaranteed me they would not do this).

Yay for traditional practices/laziness!

For those that don't know the whole slash and burn thing should really be avoided not just because it causes deforestation, but also because good soil should have all sorts of micro organisms in it, and burning it pretty much kills the soil and makes sure that the land will be infertile after only a few years of cultivation because everything that would put nutrients back into the soil is dead.

Life in village on the whole is something I am really starting to get used to. I was invited to a funeral one Saturday which was to say the least a little bit different than an American funeral.

The woman was catholic so they did a full catholic service

The traditional musicians

Each of the family members gave a speech

This particular funeral was well attended.

All of the members of the family did kind of a dancing line around the coffin and then did some sort of traditional dance in front of the drummers

I bet you can't pick me out of the crowd! Its like Wheres Waldo only not hard at all

The whole thing ended up being kind of a party and it seemed at least to me that it was as much about the food alcohol and dancing as as anything else. This became really obvious after the actual ceremony was over and the two kegs (where the hell do you find a keg in this country anyways?) and bottles of whiskey came out. I guess that a funeral is really more of a celebration for everyone that isn’t in the immediate family, but after a period of a few years in which they are supposed to mourn there is a kind of second funeral where they are allowed to celebrate, and there is of course more food, more alcohol, and more dancing. It was really cool to see the way that people here mix catholic traditions in with African culture.

As far as the rest of the country goes though, I am starting to have my doubts. Every time I get out of my village where people don't know me I get constantly bothered. Everyone assumes that I am either a tourist or a businessman, and in either situation I should have a lot of money to spend (and or steal). Small things like constantly being referred to as “le blanc,” getting quoted ridiculous prices for things, and constantly being stared at get really grating after a while. Really integrating into the culture here seems like it would be completely impossible for the sole fact that you are so obviously different, so obviously from some place else. You are always treated differently everywhere you go, and even when its something that seems like its positive, like being called to the front of the line at the bank, being given the best seat on the bus, or getting a little extra attention from females, (I need to buy a wedding ring and start telling people I am married because its getting ridiculous) the fact that you know its not because of merit, its not because of who you actually are, its just because you happen to be white ends up just making the whole situation feel embarrassing. All in all I guess I am just really happy to be back in my village (except for the moot moots), and I don't plan on leaving again until its absolutely necessary.  

Moot Moots are tiny biting flies, and this is what they will do to your hand

Once I get some more time and motivation I will write up something about the Comice and post all the pictures I took.