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Jan. 13th, 2006 10:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amalthyaFriday 6:21 am
It's a funny thing about French -- some words, when translated into French, are just the English word with a ridiculous, pretentious accent. The tough part comes when you're not sure what a word is, so you say it, in English, with a silly French accent.
It's almost never right, but I can't get over the amused look on others faces.
************************
I spent the entirety of yesterday with Ben². I'd been sorely taunted when Jungla brought me paint and no paintbrushes. I was half-tempted to just finger-paint the walls for lack of anything better to do. It's sort of frustrating when you really want to get things done, but you have nothing to do because of a lack of something or other.
Anyway, Ben² and I scoped out the house and I realized that instead of the traditional putty holding the windows into their frames, it was actually cement. Usually, this would be Bad but the cement seemed poorly mixed and it was barely set, if you could even use "set" as a word when the cement comes off in big wet strips.
So, we set upon taking the glass out of the window frames as our first task. I loved being busy, and it was nice to learn more about Ben² and what he was doing in Goma (when really, what is anyone doing in Goma?)
I guess the nicest part was having someone to laugh and communicate with. With Goma being sort of wild and unstable, I'm trapped in the compound of the Chateau. And yes, the chimps are adorable, and fun, but it's exhausting paying attention to them all the time, and always being alert, which I feel somewhat validated in griping about since Ben, after half a day at the Chateau, was like "Shit, I'm exhausted."
Anyway, we removed most of the window glass, which felt good. I was still feeling sort of stifled, and the thought of another night on the floor, alone in the cold chimp house, worrying about the chimps after turning down an oh-so-delicious meal of Fufu and Mystery Meat that I don't have the language capacity to reject was fear-inducing.
So I checked with Carol to see if I could stay with her at Karibu and have dinner there and then spend tomorrow [ie today, Friday] in the office, getting work done and getting my visa at the immigration office.
Then, Saturday morning, I'll head back to the Chateau and continue working. I think if I take off every third or fourth day I'll maintain my sanity.
It turns out Shaga, the new older chimp, has been very melancholy since I left. I want to attribute it to my leaving, but hey, I'm silly like that.
I guess I'm already sort of tiring of Goma -- I bought some Ceres juice (the same kind I buy in Uganda) at that grocery store last week and drank it yesterday, and it made me really sick. It was probably expired or something. When I told Carol, she told me the Ceres juice she'd bought at the same store had made her sick for two days. So, my one evening makes me feel lucky, but at the same time, yuck - selling expired juice? Skuzzy.
There's this very fancy muzungu grocery store near Karibu that sells everything any muzungu would want to eat. It's so coveted that it's in a compound with a big-ass gate and an armed guard. The reason? They have Hagen Daaz ice cream.
Of course, it's $15 a pint.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pattiejoe, I think even you would go broke living here.
Being at Carol's last night felt like exiting some sort of POW camp and being housed in a hotel or something. Sleeping in a bed not on the floor, no mosquitos, no faint smell of urine, no running toilet all night long, no getting woken up at half past five by the bongo drums from the local church. I took a BATH -- with HOT water this morning. It's really just lovely!
At the same time, it's funny, because Carol is transitory here, and sure, she carries her iron, a printer, a power strip and various sundries in her suitcase, but she doesn't bring pots, pans, dishes or forks.
So she's staying in this gorgeous apartment at Karibu, and to eat our (overpriced) pasta with pesto sauce last night, I had to cut the top off my old water bottle and use the bottom half as a bowl as I ate spaghetti with a spoon. Delicious and funny. The way I like it!
It's a funny thing about French -- some words, when translated into French, are just the English word with a ridiculous, pretentious accent. The tough part comes when you're not sure what a word is, so you say it, in English, with a silly French accent.
It's almost never right, but I can't get over the amused look on others faces.
************************
I spent the entirety of yesterday with Ben². I'd been sorely taunted when Jungla brought me paint and no paintbrushes. I was half-tempted to just finger-paint the walls for lack of anything better to do. It's sort of frustrating when you really want to get things done, but you have nothing to do because of a lack of something or other.
Anyway, Ben² and I scoped out the house and I realized that instead of the traditional putty holding the windows into their frames, it was actually cement. Usually, this would be Bad but the cement seemed poorly mixed and it was barely set, if you could even use "set" as a word when the cement comes off in big wet strips.
So, we set upon taking the glass out of the window frames as our first task. I loved being busy, and it was nice to learn more about Ben² and what he was doing in Goma (when really, what is anyone doing in Goma?)
I guess the nicest part was having someone to laugh and communicate with. With Goma being sort of wild and unstable, I'm trapped in the compound of the Chateau. And yes, the chimps are adorable, and fun, but it's exhausting paying attention to them all the time, and always being alert, which I feel somewhat validated in griping about since Ben, after half a day at the Chateau, was like "Shit, I'm exhausted."
Anyway, we removed most of the window glass, which felt good. I was still feeling sort of stifled, and the thought of another night on the floor, alone in the cold chimp house, worrying about the chimps after turning down an oh-so-delicious meal of Fufu and Mystery Meat that I don't have the language capacity to reject was fear-inducing.
So I checked with Carol to see if I could stay with her at Karibu and have dinner there and then spend tomorrow [ie today, Friday] in the office, getting work done and getting my visa at the immigration office.
Then, Saturday morning, I'll head back to the Chateau and continue working. I think if I take off every third or fourth day I'll maintain my sanity.
It turns out Shaga, the new older chimp, has been very melancholy since I left. I want to attribute it to my leaving, but hey, I'm silly like that.
I guess I'm already sort of tiring of Goma -- I bought some Ceres juice (the same kind I buy in Uganda) at that grocery store last week and drank it yesterday, and it made me really sick. It was probably expired or something. When I told Carol, she told me the Ceres juice she'd bought at the same store had made her sick for two days. So, my one evening makes me feel lucky, but at the same time, yuck - selling expired juice? Skuzzy.
There's this very fancy muzungu grocery store near Karibu that sells everything any muzungu would want to eat. It's so coveted that it's in a compound with a big-ass gate and an armed guard. The reason? They have Hagen Daaz ice cream.
Of course, it's $15 a pint.
pattiejoe, I think even you would go broke living here.Being at Carol's last night felt like exiting some sort of POW camp and being housed in a hotel or something. Sleeping in a bed not on the floor, no mosquitos, no faint smell of urine, no running toilet all night long, no getting woken up at half past five by the bongo drums from the local church. I took a BATH -- with HOT water this morning. It's really just lovely!
At the same time, it's funny, because Carol is transitory here, and sure, she carries her iron, a printer, a power strip and various sundries in her suitcase, but she doesn't bring pots, pans, dishes or forks.
So she's staying in this gorgeous apartment at Karibu, and to eat our (overpriced) pasta with pesto sauce last night, I had to cut the top off my old water bottle and use the bottom half as a bowl as I ate spaghetti with a spoon. Delicious and funny. The way I like it!
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Date: 2006-01-13 08:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-18 07:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-18 02:43 pm (UTC)