I'll be adding photos when I get the chance...
On my second weekend since my arrival in Ziguichor, I decided to stay in the city to discover it a bit – and because they were predicting rainy weather. On Saturday, I spent the day at home trying to learn how to be an African housewife. Man! Is it a full time job! They don’t have they appliances we have and take for granted: dishwasher, big sink, washer, dryer. I learned how to wash dishes. The operation is performed first thing each morning and there are a LOT of dis
hes. It takes about 45-60 minutes and is done in pails rather than in the sink (because there are too many and the dishes are too big). The pails are set out on the balcony and you either stand and bend over or sit on a small bench. Its tough.
hes. It takes about 45-60 minutes and is done in pails rather than in the sink (because there are too many and the dishes are too big). The pails are set out on the balcony and you either stand and bend over or sit on a small bench. Its tough.(Image left - they have very bad back posture when working here... the women spend their days hunched over like this. BAAAADDD ergonomics!)
The next thing a housewife does is clean – but we have a maid so Astou doesn’t do this part. However, she goes to the market almost every day. I came along with her and it was quite an experience – the smells, the close quarters, the abundance of people, the colors, the small corners. Just being there and watching how things happens
makes you dizzy! There is no order in the way the goods are displayed. The merchants set up shop on a tarp they lay on the ground and lay or sit beside it all day, selling their 3 square meters of veggies or whatnot. There were a lot of unidentifiable goods to my realm of knowledge. There is a huge seafood section (very stinky) and I spotted shrimp. I bought a bundle of them (about 15-20 medium sized) for 500 CFA = 1.25$ and had that for lunch : pWhile near the market, Astou helped me find material for my boubou.
Boubou: the traditional African clothing (you know…the wacky large patterns from head to toe). The way it works is you buy the material from one vendor and then you bring it to a tailor and have it made to your specifications.
I ended up buying two types of print to make two boubous. The abundance of choice and lack of experience with the fashion made the decision quite hard…
I must admit I was pretty tired after my trip to the market. I prepared my own lunch with a carrot salad and my shrimp. It was delicious. That night, Marie-Claude came over and we watched a movie on my computer: The Secret. I recommend this movie to you as the acting was good, the story original and the movie well made + it has David Duchovny J
On Sunday, Rama and I did the dishes together and it took us at least 45 minutes. My back killed after! I found out that they always eat bread and tea for breakfast… that’s pretty much it! Apparently, they vary what they put in the bread; I was served bread with margarine. I can think of a plethora of breakfasts I’d rather have, but anyways! Its weird how they don’t dig fruit and veggies here…
My day was relaxing: I went to the internet café and then met up with Marie-Claude to go for a swim. We payed 2.50$ for our entrance at a sports complex and swam in a rather small pool (standard outdoor in ground pool in a private home size). The exercise (although not strenuous) felt great. Even better, there was a HOT male who, it turns out, is the lifeguard and is quite agreeable to talk with (but even better to look at). Did I mention he was hot? J
After the pool, Astou showed/prepared me a recipe with lait caille (curded milk? Its like yogurt), fresh coconut and dried raisins. It was delicious and I’ll be making some more soon. For supper (at 10 pm), we had fish maffe; a Senegalease dish which consists of a bed of rice (of course!) and a sauce made of peanut paste and tomato (Voyez-vous les Lamarches, c’est pas juste moi qui agence arachides et tomates :p ) As usual, it was a very good meal. I very much enjoyed my relaxing weekend.
On Monday at work, I got a nice idea of what the conditions are like for patients who get hospitalized in Senegal. Part of my mandate here is to provide a formation to the porters of the hospital to ensure their safety when transporting patients. Hence, during the “observation phase” I had to follow them around the hospital and watch them transport patients. I could go on and on about the things I saw…
Compared to Canada (even Quebec, Mom), the facilities here are abominable. The rooms are very basic: about four beds to each small room. There are no fans, no air c
onditioning, no bed sheets, no meal service, no bathroom nearby. There are two inpatient floors with a flight of stairs separating the two; no elevators (curiously, ortho and trauma are located on the top floor…) There are about 4 nurses for about 60 people. Much of patient care is delivered by their family or friends, termed “accompagnateurs”. (Image left: view from within the hospital. Its very ... there are cats, goats, dogs, lamb grazing between the buildings and sometimes within...)
The accompagnateurs basically camp out in the hallway and take care of their sick one: prepare food, accompany to bathroom or empty catheter or provide basin, make bed, position in bed, buy prescribed medication, change clothes, etc. It was explained to me that some sick people are refused hospital care if they don’t have the accompagnateurs to take care of them…Furthermore, if you arrive at the emergency room and cannot pay for treatment, you will not get it. For operations, patients have to provide all the medications, suture string, gauze, fluids, etc. that will be needed for the operation. For example, I saw a guy in the ER get transported to the OR on the stretcher (which is made out of metal with no padding and is rusted); he had two big boxes on him filled with items for his operation. What a scary thought! Yes, I saw the operating room and NO I do not want to get sick in this country! Like I said, I could go on and on…
I didn’t work too much because it was raining hard therefore my patients did not come. This means I finished work early. I had previously spotted a nearby restaurant which served food (AND alcohol) at lunchtime during Ramadan and was anxious to try it out. It took a long time for the food to cook, but the staff were very nice and the meal very good. I had a delicious and ample shrimp meal with wine for 9$. We have every intention of returning on a regular basis.
Tuesday after work, we returned to the swimming pool and luckily, the hot guy was there J This time, I brought Astou, El Hadj and Rama. They don’t know how to swim. I had not realized how hard it must be for an adult to learn to swim and how natural it is to me. El Hadj was pretty much fearless of the water.
The next night after work, we were invited to the couple with whom Claudine had lived with the first time she was here. The man is from here and is an artist who makes “batique” clothing. He will be marrying a French woman, Julie, this November who was able to find work at an NGO here after having fallen in love with him. We had interesting conversations about the Senegalease people and their way of life… the good, the bad and the ugly. After our meal, Omer started to show us his batique clothing but it a storm arrived and the power went out. We got a viewing of the clothing in candle light and we tried some pieces on. I placed an order for a sarouelle (a neat mix between skirt and pants – I still haven’t received it, but I’ll be taking pics once I wear it). The storm persisted way past bedtime. When it storms here, it’s not really possible to walk on the streets because the rain is very violent. We were stuck; ended up waiting out the rain and going to bed really late…
We had been invited to a Christian nuns ceremony on Thursday afternoon which we went to, figuring that it would be interesting to see how church is here. We ended up taking a taxi to a foreign part of town and walking around, looking for the church. We got there late, but this made no difference since mass lasted over 3.5 hours! Can you believe it?? I get ants in my pants when I have to sit through a normal mass at home…this one just didn’t seem to have an end. Plus, as usual, it was very hot. Wow! I was so tired of doing nothing for such a long time. The highlight was when I got to get up and walk 30’ for communion. I’ve never been so delighted to do the communion thing… haha. Apart from the length, mass here resembles ours. Their music is a lot better than ours; they mix the organ with the jembe (aka: tamtam) and have nice rhythms. All in all, the experience made me attain an as-of-yet unknown level of boredom. But, Mom, you must be proud of me – I went to church of my own volition!
I didn’t work too much because it was raining hard therefore my patients did not come. This means I finished work early. I had previously spotted a nearby restaurant which served food (AND alcohol) at lunchtime during Ramadan and was anxious to try it out. It took a long time for the food to cook, but the staff were very nice and the meal very good. I had a delicious and ample shrimp meal with wine for 9$. We have every intention of returning on a regular basis.
Tuesday after work, we returned to the swimming pool and luckily, the hot guy was there J This time, I brought Astou, El Hadj and Rama. They don’t know how to swim. I had not realized how hard it must be for an adult to learn to swim and how natural it is to me. El Hadj was pretty much fearless of the water.
The next night after work, we were invited to the couple with whom Claudine had lived with the first time she was here. The man is from here and is an artist who makes “batique” clothing. He will be marrying a French woman, Julie, this November who was able to find work at an NGO here after having fallen in love with him. We had interesting conversations about the Senegalease people and their way of life… the good, the bad and the ugly. After our meal, Omer started to show us his batique clothing but it a storm arrived and the power went out. We got a viewing of the clothing in candle light and we tried some pieces on. I placed an order for a sarouelle (a neat mix between skirt and pants – I still haven’t received it, but I’ll be taking pics once I wear it). The storm persisted way past bedtime. When it storms here, it’s not really possible to walk on the streets because the rain is very violent. We were stuck; ended up waiting out the rain and going to bed really late…
We had been invited to a Christian nuns ceremony on Thursday afternoon which we went to, figuring that it would be interesting to see how church is here. We ended up taking a taxi to a foreign part of town and walking around, looking for the church. We got there late, but this made no difference since mass lasted over 3.5 hours! Can you believe it?? I get ants in my pants when I have to sit through a normal mass at home…this one just didn’t seem to have an end. Plus, as usual, it was very hot. Wow! I was so tired of doing nothing for such a long time. The highlight was when I got to get up and walk 30’ for communion. I’ve never been so delighted to do the communion thing… haha. Apart from the length, mass here resembles ours. Their music is a lot better than ours; they mix the organ with the jembe (aka: tamtam) and have nice rhythms. All in all, the experience made me attain an as-of-yet unknown level of boredom. But, Mom, you must be proud of me – I went to church of my own volition!
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