Monday was a HUGE day at work! I had patients every hour and the presentation for the porters which lasted three hours! I ended up finishing work at 6 p.m. which is unheard of here (seeing as how I had started at 8 a.m.). Intermixed with the larger than usual workload, was the unfortunate fact that Marie-Claude got robbed at work.
We always put our personal belongings in an office, behind the desk but this office is not locked. As of the first week of work here, I had asked my supervisor for an appropriate place to store my bag but he never put his words into action. So we sort of got used to putting our bags in the best place we could think of. It’s no surprise that one of us got robbed. What’s unusual is that our three bags were one next to the other and only MC’s things got robbed – wallet (60$ worth plus driver’s licence and ATM card) + camera (with all trip pictures) + cell phone. The robber could have very easily taken stuff out of my and Claudine’s bags. Since MC was the only target, this generated a sort of a witch hunt; trying to find out who would steel from her but not us. We tried thinking of all the staff, patients and patient family members who could have done this to her. What a terrible thing to have happen! We looked at everyone as though they were a suspect and doubted everything. This is hard on one’s mental health :(
Disturbed by the whole situation and unproductive at work, MC went home for a nap. The lady whose home she lives in woke her up to bring her to the Marabu so she could get her belongings back. Marabus are spiritual workers who use their powers to fix situations. When you have a problem, you go to the Marabu and he’ll tell you what you have to do, get you to pay him and he’ll work his magic. It’s kind of like voodoo. Very unconvinced but nonetheless open-minded, MC accepted to go see this Marabu person and we came along with her.
The experience was unbelievably far-fetched. We were welcomed into the guy’s nice home and he asked MC to explain what had happened. He told her she first needs to declare the robbery to the police. Then he explained that if she accepted to pay him 30 000 (75$) and bring him a kolobass (a dried fruit you can shake like a rattle) he could get the robber to bring her back her stolen items. He said that he could put a spell on the robber which would disable him from evacuating (pee and poop). The person in question would become very uncomfortable and grow a big belly. Eventually, he would realize that this is a spell and that he must return to give back MC her things so the spell can be removed. He told this in such a serious way that laughing was not an option… but come on!
After visiting the Marabu, we met at a resto with a colleague who had invited us to eat facko cherr (wild pig). I had never eaten this before and it was quite good (in a most carnivorous way). They served the pieces of meat with some chopped raw onion. Very basic. During the day and still during our evening meal, we made many futile attempts to call MC’s cell phone but it was as though the chip had been removed. After supper, Claudine tried once again and got somebody! He gave us his name and told us that he had bought the phone earlier today from a man who also had a camera for sale! The events of the day were really starting to resemble a
Lucien, the colleague we were eating with, spoke to the guy in possession of MC’s cell in Wolof and they set up a meeting point to further discuss the situation. Given the mysterious circumstances and the late night, we felt it was inappropriate for us white girls to go to the meeting + inappropriate for Lucien to go all by himself. We therefore recruited Abo, Stephanie’s boyfriend – Steph is the girl from last year who lived where I do now. He came with his motorcycle to pick up Lucien and they sped off into the dark night to meet our number one suspect. Unreal. Meanwhile, us now four white girls shared a bottle of bissap juice and expired chocolate. The night ended in disappointment since our number one suspect did not show up to the meeting spot :(
I still think the day’s events are
The next day, MC went to declare the robbery to the police. At work, things were calmer since our second presentation had been cancelled at the porters’ request. The day was nonetheless long given that I had new patients. After work, I went on internet and then rushed home in time to see the sunset on my balcony while sipping a beer I had bought over a month ago ! It was oh so peaceful. When I came back downstairs to eat supper, I got a call from Steph (who did not get along with Astou and Landing because of Abo) as she wanted to use my computer to transfer her pictures. Seeing as how I was at home and Astou heard me say their name, the situation was most awkward and tense. Since I have nothing to do with their whole charade, I simply told Steph it would be a good idea to bite the bullet and come say `hi` to Astou. Once done with my computer, she did so ; it was extremely awkward but now its done. Hopefully I won’t hear of their conflicting stories again…
1 comment:
j ai ete volé moi aussi. Mon Ipod alors je compatie avec vous.
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