Journal Post 12/21

Welp, today marks my first time in the bush! I woke up tired as hell, cold, and dying to pee so that is always an alarm clock that I can’t ignore. I left one of my bags unzipped and freaked out because I thought mad bugs would’ve crawled into it during the night… nope, thank God. Got ready, went out to study for a bit to wait for everyone else to get ready, my host brother gave me half a bean sammich, score. A bit later, my grandma told me to wear socks and change into pants… she cares! It was so cute. I did and we went into the bush. It was me, my host brother’s wife (who’s the same height as me… rare), and my oldest sister. We greeted some people along the way and some guy… my younger uncle I think, and he complimented me on my Serehule for only being here for 2 months. Score. It was far away and windy as hell but I was able to make small conversation with the ladies. 

We got there and my younger brothers were already there working. By working I mean all the younger kids are on the ground picking up peanuts while my older brother who’s in his mid-late teens are packing all the peanuts up and waving them in the wind to get rid of the sand. They basically told me to pick up all the rest of the peanuts on the ground and that’s what I did! All these peanuts will later be shelled, pounded, and made into food. The older of the brothers kept on saying “hey” to get my attention and I told him my name was Mariama so he started calling me that, haha. I hate when people call me “hey.” JUST SAY MY NAME. I really like my sisters because they understand me and are silly/joke with me. I saw this really crazy gross squirmy centipede that was lime green with yellow legs and gross small dung beetles. My shoulder hurts fiercely and I can’t believe these women and kids do this all day for a couple of months. The boys are very sweet and tucked a metal bowl (flipped over) like a makeshift chair under my butt while I was squatting, haha, so cute. I’m still learning everyone’s names… pretty hard. 3 hours of squatting later, my shoulders officially kill but my mom comes by and feeds me a piece of a bean sandwich again and my sister gives me a piece of her panketos! This one was interesting and had some stuff in it and was salty. Good nonetheless. OK so then we came back, my family was so happy that I went into the bush, I fetched water and did some laundry. Lunch comes and it's... PUMPKIN AND FRIED FISHBALLS. Hell yes, Jesus I was fed good today. If this is what I get for going into the bush then they're doing a good job bribing me. 

After lunch, I went out to study, barely stayed awake, fetched well water again (bad tap system here...), exercised (feeling damn proud and damn sore), studied, and dinnered. I sat out for a good 40 minutes before retiring. Although I'm studying, all I'm doing is recopying notes to try and learn Serehule again! I'm trying to learn 5-10 new phrases a day but I'm really trying to look for a female teacher to take me under her wing. Tomorrow, HM, my community representative, is going to visit me so hopefully he can help me find a place to put credit on my phone, map out the way to the gele gele garage park, bring me to the Alkaloo to formally say hello, and find me a woman teacher. It's a lot but it'd help me tremendously. Oh, and go to a carpenter. It would make my life if I could get a table with wheels so it could make cleaning a hell of a lot easier. 

It's weird that across the sea, my friends and family are engulfed in the commercial Christmas spirit. I was so happy receiving a package but the gift giving hype really eluded me. I can't even put myself in those shoes anymore. I'm happy if I get through the day not sick, people understand me, I don't poop my pants, I finish my agenda, if no one dies, if my food is good, and I don't get weird bug bites. I feel like I'm appreciating the small things so much more and it's a great big lesson I'm thankful to be learning. The smallest things give me the greatest joy and they're usually not bought. Anyways, I'm going to give it until Monday/Tuesday to officially compound hop... I need to get my name out more, dammit, but I need to know what to say when I'm sitting there!