She also took me to a hole in the wall African Art distributors house/store. Five rooms of the most amazing art. most from Mali i was told. Prices are of course a fraction of what you would pay in the US. let me know if you see anything you want...
I hosted poker night last weekend - a truly big event here in Ouaga. Eighteen people showed up and it was standing room only, a couple of people had to wait on tables. My neighbor (the Gunny - he is military) won nearly everything. It was his first time coming to poker night, he didnt know about it and i only invited him because he lives next door. At first, he was worried he would never be invited again...but i told him, that he is required to come in the future so we can all earn our money back. i am so funny about gambling, people were teasing me that i have a gambling problem because i have now lost a total of $36 over the 2 months I have been playing. i think i need an intervention because i just cant stop!!
Otto is great, but excited for his visit home in a couple of weeks. He is very active here and i hardly see him on weekends because he is hanging with his friends. he has so much more freedom here. he will just hop on his bike and head over to someone's house. very little traffic where we live, and it is so safe. reminds me of my childhood ages ago. kids dont seem to get that freedom as much anymore.
i hitched a ride with a colleague last week and finally got a chance to eat at the Indian restaurant. it was quite good. I am getting sick of pizza, which is the main food served at restaurants. I had a chance to go with a group of like minded vegetarians to a veggie buffet restaurant (the owner makes tofu), but i had a work emergency so i missed it. they promised we would all go again sometime.
We have some new, and welcome faces here at the embassy. people i feel more connected to. although of the 3 new long term people that have just arrived - ALL of them are from the PNW. one from Oregon City, one Eugene and the last Vashon Island. what are the chances of that. Currently in Ouaga we have 8 people in our small American community, all hailing from the NW. And here i thought i would be surrounded by east coasters.
There are still a few things here that are bringing me down, but i am trying so hard to stay positive. It continues to be so busy at work...but with busy work. Although i had a more serious case this w/e that took up a bunch of my time - i feel best when i am providing health care. but i think i am done, at least for the coming week, with paperwork/report type stuff. i have big projects, but never time to even start them. When Otto is in PDX, i will probably spend some weekend days in the health unit getting project type stuff done, when i have a number of quite hours available to me to focus on one thing.
I did site visits to the National Hospital and a very well equipped private hospital last week. the differences were stark and shocking. i will save that for another email.
and i know, what you are all dying to know. what is happening with my vehicle. ...Nothing... it sits in customs. the head of customs, who is the only person who can release it, appears to be MIA. Tanks rolled into town last week (and sadly, there were a bunch of casualties, so that sure puts my issue, wanting my car, in perspective). i have pretty much written it off, but the powers-that-be at the Embassy think they may still be able to get it. The Embassy in Abidjan has been evacuated because of the situation, but someone with the embassy who is well connected is heading back there at some point soon and he will make an attempt to contact the right people and get the vehicle released. my fingers are crossed.
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