Jaxanke reunion! Chip and Janet came to my village and stayed the night, on our way to our Peace Corps language seminar in Saraya. Chip is my nearest neighbor in Samecouta, a great village with a beautiful mosque and a phallic tower, situated right on a river. Janet came all the way from Tambacounda (another region that Kedougou broke away from recently to form its own region).
I took them to the health post for dinner. The family at the health post wins for best meal in the village. (There was one day that I ate all three meals at the health post. I just couldn't face the dry couscous without sauce that my family was assuredly serving that day.) So, as a treat to my friends, I invited us over for dinner at the health post.
Afterwards, in my hut, sprawled on the floor, we stayed up late into the night talking. Soon, the sound of the yellow horned gonfleck* began, a bird that I only hear at night and makes a sound oddly similar to a grocery store check out line. Everytime we heard its cry, my friends and I would name an item that we wished we were buying at a grocery store in the States.
Beep.
"Cinnamon toast crunch."
Beep.
"Cheetos."
Beep.
"Pizza rolls."
Beep.
"Bacon."
Beep.
"Broccoli." (This was not me. Janet offered up the idea of broccoli. She's from Berkeley, go figure.)
If words were actions, we would have cleaned out every aisle of that Kroger's.
This is the Peace Corps experience. An hour of listing items we'd like to eat from home, in tune to a nocturnal bird.
*I don't know if this is actually the name of the bird. I'm no expert. Be looking out for a blog in which Peace Corps Volunteer and local birding expert, Patrick Hair, is interviewed.
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