The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
Trip Start
Jul 18, 2006
1
18
Trip End
Sep 2008
Copargo,
Benin
Thursday, September 14, 2006
First, I need to explain this Beninese French concept of "doucement." Literally it means softly, but here, the Beninese take it to a new level. They use it sort of in the place that one would say "be careful" or "watch out." It's actually pretty polite and they say it when you happen to trip accidentally while walking, or drop something or when you just need to be careful. But, to me (and Amy, too) it's taken on a sort of different meaning. To us, it's a bit rude because it's like you're in that moment when you're a bit embarrassed because you've just tripped and you hope that no one has noticed and then from way across the street someone shouts "doucement!" and then you realize that your little tumble has not gone unnoticed. I mean, you have to be here to really understand the full impact of "doucement" on one's pride, but I think this general explanation will help to make my story better.
Okay...now that you have been educated on the "doucement," please allow me to continue...Well, the morning started out alright. I slept really well, woke up nice and early and was ready to have a bit of extra time to read my new book, "Baby Catcher" that my friend Emily lent me. So, I take my bucket to the well in the morning to fetch my water for a shower. Afterwards, I walked to the shower area, put my shampoo bottles on the ledge and I felt a bit of something funny from the wood when I tapped it with the back of my hand. But, I assumed it was my imagination or some bug and carried on without giving it much thought. So, I start with my shower and fill a cup with water to throw over my head. This always takes me a little while in the morning because I really have to psyche myself up for the initial shock of the cold water. Well, today, I was in for a real shock because, well, I got shocked - literally, shocked. As I threw the water up over my head, it touched the metal roof to the shower area which was apparently electrified this morning. The water itself then became charged and came pouring down on me in an electric shower leaving me startled and a bit scared. I quickly realized what was going on and ducked down as far as possible to finish my shower. I made it through the rest of the shower without harm and let my papa, an electrician, know about the issue. He quickly fixed everything and now it is once again safe to take a shower, thank goodness. Sadly, noone was there to "doucement" me.
So, after having my morning tea and bread, doing a little reading and a bit of a crossword, I headed off to the school on my bike ready to take on the day. As I'm approaching the school and going through the gate, I see my friends hanging out waiting for class to start and all the sudden there's a spiderweb on my face. I mean, we've all done that at least once. But, I have to say, this time it was a whole big spiderweb covering my face and bike helmet. As I was trying my hardest to get the thing off, I felt the spider crawling on my forehead. I got really startled at this point and perhaps a little frantic because Emily asked me what the heck was going on. I managed to steer my bike to the school and finished the spider/spiderweb removal there. Again, no one gave the good old "doucement," and I was mildly pleased.
My morning French class went well, but afterward I really had to use the bathroom. So, I head off to the latrine during our break and was just chit-chatting with Amy as we walked through the soccer field to the latrine. As we walked under the tree shading the latrines, I managed to, so gracefully, walk into a low branch of the tree injuring my forehead and leaving a red bump. Fortunately, Amy never fails on a "doucement" and after checking that I was genuinely okay, she busted out with the "doucement" making me feel like even more of a clutz.
Luckily, I made it through the next session alright (aside from a little boredom and my pen running out of ink as I was mid-doodle) and went to the nun's house to look at some crafts they had brought in from Burkina Faso. As I was getting off my bike, I fell over. You see, the side bag on my bike is full - perhaps too full - and I guess it weighs it down some making it easy for my bike to tip. So, I fell down causing a bit of a commotion and the nuns came running out to see what was up. Luckily, Amy "doucement"-ed me and all was well.
We ended the day with our final language interviews. Fortunately, that was about it for the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things that happened to me. I did pretty well and so did everyone else! All of us 11 health stagiaires will swear-in together next week and we are the only sector to have made it through stage all together - the other sectors have all had at least someone leave early. That makes us a pretty prideful sector right now and we spent the night celebrating at the buvette! So, it was a good ending to a not so good morning. And that's alllllllright.
Comments
Amy's parents
Hey, Rebecca! We are Amy Shebeck's parents, & she told us about your blog. We have enjoyed reading it as we are quite sure it mirrors Amy's experiences in many ways. Thanks for sharing and we look forward to the next time you are able to upload.
Bob & LaRee