Burkina Faso, Oct. 2
– 18 1989
Oct. 2, 1989 6:20 NY time
I’m
sitting in JFK airport in New York looking out at all the traffic flowing
through the tangle of streets that weave around any large airport, made up of
taxis, buses, limos and people. It is wet
here but not raining, and very foggy. An airport is a busy place. My plane is boarding for Paris now, gotta
run.
Oct. 3, 3:00 a.m. Paris time.
Been on
this Air France plane for a god-awful long time, and it will be even longer
before I get off. We just ate – it was
alright – duck, peas, shrimp & mayo, salad, apricot pastry.
The
lady on the end of our row is very well educated in the school of life. She knows 6 languages – English, Spanish,
French, Mandarin Chinese, an African dialect, and Swedish. She’s been all over and is actually concerned
about world problems and interested in all sorts of topics, with good ideas on
all of them. She’s obviously a thinker.
The people behind me don’t speak English; they’re an older couple, and
so they didn’t check their dog in, instead they hid him in a picnic basket and
carried him on. Once he barked and
everyone looked a bit concerned. Even
the dog has a passport. The people up one and to the left are drunk as we
speak. They were pretty uptight at the
beginning of the trip, but after two bottles of wine apiece (there’s three of
them) they were much more loose and seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.
On the
flight to NY I sat next to a girl who is a Mennonite. She was born near Champaign-Urbana, now lives
in Waukesha, WI and goes to school in Goshen, IN at a Mennonite school. But now she’s going to St. Andrew’s College
in Scotland (it’s an Episcopal college) just to travel and get away. Mennonites are pacifists, naturalists,
purists, back-to-basics-type people who believe we should live the way Christ
wants us to – simplistically, I guess.
Everyone
just turned off the lights, I see the main movie is on. I guess it’s too bad I can’t get my ridiculous headphones in the little plug. Maybe
I’ll saw some logs.
Oct. 3, 6:34 a.m. Paris time
As we
speak we are descending from our cruising altitude of 27,000 ft. into gay
Paris. I did catch a few zzzzs and am a
better man for it. We just had breakfast
– bread, O.J., tea, and some sort of airplane Jell-O slop w/ fruit inside. It was decent.
The
guys to my upper left are sleeping it off.
Sleeping like the dead, mind you.
I’ve
been remembering a little more French as we go, and was working very minimally
on language relations with the stewardess, who’s cute. Too bad I keep embarrassing myself, like
talking to Jeff about something and throwing my arms wide just when she
happened to be walking by – no appendix and lower liver damage there. Ah well.
Safe
trip so far, and still some more air miles to go, not to mention land travel in
Burkina Faso. Last time I peed was in New York. Come on, Paris!
The
Lord’s been watching and protecting us with His faithful vigilance (Psalms 121:
? – neither slumber nor sleep … see thy going out and thy coming in.)
Contacts
are kind-of burning – call it quits for now.
8:25 a.m. – Paris
De Gaul
Aero port lounge for all ticket-holding passengers. I’m sitting here in a chair made of bungee
cords, waiting for the restaurant upstairs to open so we can finally dine on
sumptuous fare, watching a bank of 3 T.V.s, all showing dif. things. One is rewinding a tape and has been doing so
for at least 10 min., one is tele-shopping, the French Home Shopping Network,
one is some French cartoon.
We
landed safely to an overcast French day, but on the way down the sun on the
field of clouds was beautiful. Sure was
great to get off that plane. Yeah, sure,
we’ll get on another one, a DC-10, mind you, and will be on for just as long,
but still, you get sick of one plane, you know?
The movie last night was some Phil Collins movie – ‘Buster’ – I believe.
This
Japanese guy was just cursing on the phone.
I’ve no idea who he was cursing or what he was saying, but boy, it’s
times like that that your imagination comes alive isn’t it?
Remind
me to take my anti-malarial pills today.
It would be bad to forget. I’m
pretty tired at this point. Good thing I
won’t have jet-lag or anything. I’m in
France – Paris, to be exact, but it sure doesn’t seem like it, because I can’t
see a bit of the city. Ah, well. C’est la vie.
Oct. 3, 9:55 p.m.? Ouagadougou time
Wow. What a nightmare I’ve just been through.
First off, disembarking from the New York – Paris leg in Paris, my little
travel wallet tripped the metal detector.
I guess it was the zipper. So,
here’s John, like a dufus with his wallet under his other shirt, has to
strip down in De Gaul Airport, Paris, France, like some sort of side-show. It was funny.
Then we sat forever, then went around to all the tourist trap shops with
naked mannequins and C.D.s for 360 francs.
We then all got in a line to board our UTA DC-10, identical to the one
that got blown apart over Chad 3 weeks ago.
They let us in by fives and searched our carry-on luggage. We stood in line forever. Oh, did I mention I last peed at 9:15 a.m. in the Paris airport?
Remember that time.
We
boarded the DC-10 and sat for 1 hr. 45 min. It’s not like any of us were tired or
anything, while they counted the passengers 3 times. Finally we took off. Somewhere, two rows ahead, a baby was
screaming. Somewhere, music was
playing. Somewhere, someone’s head was
pounding – mine. I figured if I stopped
chewing gum (I’d been chewing 4 pieces non-stop from Chicago), my nausea would
go away. It was a lie. Oh, did I tell you that before we took off, I
had to take a leak? Remember that.
The
flight lasted forever. I thought we’d all die of old age before we
landed. But, land we did, after going
over some beautiful red dunes on the Sahara desert, with the clouds dotting the
sky below us, their shadows coasting silently on the ground. It was a thing to remember. By the time we landed, my eyes were floating,
I was so full. ‘Finally’, I thought, as
I disembarked into the humid 80 degree evening in Ouagadougou, ‘finally, I’ll
find a place and let it all hang out. And it will feel soooo gooood’. Yeah.
Another lie. More lines, this
time in the heat. We had to go into
little cubicles where Marxist army men searched our belongings, jabbering away
in French!? Then more lines to have the
police stamp it (our passports) – remember, I still haven’t gone to the
bathroom – then more lines, plus carrying heavy luggage. I almost lost it. Then more lines through customs, where they
searched our belongings again and made us leave our solar panels and workings
behind. Finally, I ran behind two empty
gasoline storage tanks and let fly for at least a minute, maybe more.
All
these black guys kept asking to take our luggage. We told them a definite ‘no’, but they picked
them up and carried them anyway. Then
they demanded payment. Ah, well, a man’s
gotta make an honest living. We then
loaded the stuff in a pickup truck, which I rode in with a black guy who spoke
about 10 words of English to my 10 words of French – we hit it off fine. There were more mopeds on the road than I’ve
ever seen. And all the drivers are either really good, really lucky, or awful,
I’m not sure which. Then we came to the
mission home where we will spend the night.
We met Ruth, Wightman’s daughter, and a lady from Australia with a cool
accent, and some other people with a million kids. We had African beef (tough as leather) and
potatoes – it was great.
Now I’m
turning in – got to beat jet lag, you know.
At least I’m going to bed with the knowledge that yes, you can hold your
bladder for 10 hours, 15 min. I think
that’s a record.
Oct. 4, 3:14 p.m., Ouagadougou time.
Remember
the time I told you last night? It was
an hour fast. It should have been
8:55. It only seemed like
9:55.
Oooo,
some good stories today. I woke at 7:00 (actually
6:00) with a full bladder. Weighing my
chances of getting to sleep again w/out having to get up, I finally jumped off
the top bunk, without waking anyone, freed myself of my burdens and slept again
till 10:00 (actually 9:00) when breakfast was being served. We had bread.
And water. It was just fine with
me. Then we all walked over to a school,
just down the street and across a soccer field made of rocks, showing our
white, rich faces for the first time. We
got stared at quite a bit, and I did quite a bit of staring at the goats, the
rags for shirts a couple of kids were wearing, the dark holes in the wall that
they call a tailor shop and bakery. We went to this school and Wightman got
change for some vouchers. Then we came
back and hopped in the van for a little marketplace fun.
Speaking
of fun, driving here is a blast. There’s
at least 25 mopeds for every one car on the streets, and they are all over the
place. We went to the market and it was
an instant rush of black merchants vs. rich white folks. It was awesome. I just stood back and took it all in,
wide-eyed, refusing a trinket now and then, rubber sandals, sacred necklaces,
hats. Then we hit the food section. Wham!
The smell hit like a fist, only to get stronger. The combination of dried fish, onions, and
excrement was intense. It was
great. We went all over, with a
veritable entourage, mostly the same people all the time. It’s funny, a person will assign himself to
you, being your helper, guiding you along, all innocently faithful to you, then
when you’ve arrived where you wanted to go, or are finished w/ your business,
they want dough for their services, when you never asked in the first
place. Nothing is given. It’s dog-eat-dog.
One
little guy attached himself to me, not trying to sell me anything, but actually
trying to understand me. He spoke
literally about 3 words of English. I
spoke a lot of French today and it felt great.
I don’t know how well I did, but I sure had fun. He guided me around, sticking by my side. He
was wearing a painter’s hat and I gave him my bandana. He was very happy about that and went
about showing his friends. They were all
jealous. They all came up to me wanting
to trade things for my passport pouch – my Eddie Bauer, $20 passport
wallet. I laughed and said “Non, non, je
besoin de”. Whatever that means, I’ve no
idea, but it sure sounded good, and they left me alone. All day I kept saying
‘Non’ or ‘Ne l’argent pas’. This kid’s
name was Accent and he was pure-D cool.
He could hold his own in a fight and come out smiling. When I gave him
my bandana he held my hand with a big grin.
We were pals.
We left
that hellhole and went to buy electrolyte for the batteries. Then we returned home only to leave again to
buy lunch. We had meat on sticks, spicy
as hell, and bread. Tres bien! While buying the sticks I saw a vulture up
close. Ugly! But they are a
protected bird because they eat garbage & dead things. There were a lot of them circling the market
place. Did I mention that the marketplace
looks like something from Chicago? All
glazed rock and cement. Very nice, not
very fitting.
We’re
packing up to leave for Fada N’Gourma now.
Be back soon.
11:20 p.m.
Well we
packed and sat. And sat. Then we sat.
I was so bored I started reading Swiss Family Robinson. Just as it got good, we went to the local
grocery store, where there wasn’t even enough room to go in. Then we went and paid for the room. Paul, he’s
the guy that drove me home from L’Aeroport and is getting our things out of
customs, came and told us that we could probably get our things tomorrow, for
about $400, much less than we’d expected.
Praise the Lord! We then left for
Fada N’Gourma.
It was
a hellish ride. For 2 -3 hours we were
bombarded by the nightmarish quality of the Ruten’s (the people who drove us to
Fada N’Gourma, and are missionaries out here) kids screaming, crying,
whimpering, shouting, asking questions incessantly – “Dad, do we have our
lights on? Do we have our brights
on? What’s that little blue light?
Andrew went pee-pee! I’m thirsty! Are we almost there? Just a few more ways to go yet, right?” AAAAAAAAA!
There
was a storm brewing on the south, the lightning flashing, illuminating a few
dark, piled cumulonimbus clouds. It was
powerful and gorgeous. We finally
arrived and had supper – bread – it was great.
We saw a gecko lizard on the wall and heard it speaking Tic! Tic!
Tic! Pretty neat stuff. Then we (Jeff & I) returned to our room,
on the way asking Ruth what kind of tree was outside. It’s called a flamboyant tree and it looks
like great fun to climb, all long, smooth-limbed and wavy. Then Jeff and I took showers and here I am.
Now, to
summarize the trip so far: traveling a
long ways sucks, but the place, while hot and not really sunny, has a certain
aesthetic beauty about it, even though it’s all scrub land.
An aesthetic beauty
The people are friendly, but still, we are white strangers
and don’t know their language or customs.
It’s great to be here, and I definitely couldn’t have done it without
the help of my friends and family and definitely the Lord. I haven’t spent a lot of time w/ Him
lately. It seems I’m using Him more as a
crutch or a name to hide behind, or only to say a quick thanks and maybe
sometimes mean it, maybe sometimes not, or call in times of trouble.
Au
revoir et bon soir.
Oct. 5, 3:36 p.m.
You
know, I just realized that you really don’t need a nice comfortable
home, good food, instant, pure water, transportation, entertainment, a cool
room, electricity, and a common language to live. BUT IT SURE MAKES LIFE A LOT MORE ENJOYABLE!
It boosts morale, makes you smile more, makes you want less, and makes you not
hate your surroundings the way I hate this grubby little room, with its cracked
walls and hard beds, a toilet that’s a block away, you want me to go on? I sure do miss my lazy, comfortable
surroundings in Wheaton (but not my job).
This
place is pretty hot, I’d say about 90 degrees or more, and it’s way humid
too. The bugs aren’t very bad, only the
heat, although I’ve felt worse there too.
I’ve taken no pictures yet, but I think I’m about to take a
self-portrait in my grubby hellhole.
Stir crazy
Paul still hasn’t
come with the panels, so work still can’t begin. I’m going stir crazy.
We got
up at 7:00 this morning, ate oatmeal & bread, then drove out to the Bible
school where we will put up our panels.
I’ll take pictures of it. I got
up to stand in the back of the truck, with the wind whipping me at 60 mph, and
a few bugs dying as they struck me at that speed also. I thank God none hit me in the eye. We spent the morning at the school, poking
about. I climbed a tree and got a spider
bite or two on my leg – no worries, they’re not poisonous. A guy named Andrew, from New Zealand, showed
us around. We then returned, ate a
snack, and Jeff, Wightman and I went walking about to find the infirmary. After several vain attempts at communicating
with the villagers, we finally just walked around and came back for lunch. The lunch, served by some missionaries here,
was excellent, tomatoes, cukes, and an Italian dish, then cake w/ frosting. Then it was siesta time, till Paul came. Well, he still hasn’t come, and this is the
warmest siesta I ever endured. I think
I’ll take a walk.
Oct. 5 11:25 p.m.
Never
took that walk. I went to help with the
cutting and drilling of the frame. This
is a serious fly-by-night operation. No
sophisticated equipment for us. A 10
cent angled piece of plastic and voila!
We know where to angle our panels. We drilled it, rust-proofed it, and
let it dry. Then I had some time to kill
so I tried to climb the flamboyant tree.
I never did get up it. So I
practiced handstands and flips in the yard.
This attracted the attention of several villagers, 2 of whom came to try
with me. It was great fun, and it turned
into a contest of sorts, to see who could do the best flips and
cartwheels. Then they left and Andrew
(from Christchurch, New Zealand) came over for dinner. We had peanut stew, a serving of rice with,
well, peanut stew on top. We had salad,
& water. Peanut stew has meat,
tomatoes, spices, and peanut butter in it.
It’s great.
Wight
showed Jeff & I a plant called lemon weed.
When you crush it, it smells strongly of lemons. After we ate we played Rook till 11:00, so it
was for about 3 hours.
Paul
came! With the panels and all. It was great and lifted our spirits
tremendously.
Got to
turn in, breakfast at 7:30.
Oct. 6 6:30 p.m.
Worked
all day today! We’re almost finished.
Jeff & Wightman wire it up
Tomorrow we wire
& put up the lights. Got to take a shower now.
11:01 p.m.
Well,
I’m tired. As I hurriedly stated before, we did get much of the work done on
the school, and will finish tomorrow. I
got to speak a little French to the guy that was helping us, but am not very
confident as far as rapping w/ someone.
On the
way home from the school, I rode in the back, as usual, (a very fun
experience, out in the air, the wind whipping in your face, waving to
kids).
Riding in the back - I could do this all day
The sun was setting and the dark storm clouds loomed
overhead, and I was tired and it was very peaceful. Then Jeff hit a puddle and splashed the
windshield. The wipers didn’t work, so I
crawled on the roof and wiped it with a bandana, then a glove to stop the smearing. Then he did it again, so I took off my shirt
and wiped it. It was fun, on the roof of
a truck going 60, holding on w/ my toes.
There
are 3 lanes of traffic here. Bikers
& walkers on either side of the road, and cars in the middle. We ate and it was good. It’s a dish called saamu and tikpindi. The
saamu is a millet dish that looks like chocolate Malto-meal that’s cold. The tikpindi is a hot sauce that you dip the
saamu in. It was real African food. Then
we played Rook again. Andrew was there
(he has the coolest accent – “got a wee bit of a nap this afternoon, did ya?”).
Awesome Kiwi Andrew
He and I lost big time.
When I left at 10 min. till 11:00, I was 260 points in the hole.
Well,
must rest now, work demain. (Very cool today, very comfortable).
Oct. 7, 7:34 a.m.
Something
very weird happened last night. I woke
up after having fallen pretty much unconscious.
There was something hard under my back.
I retrieved it only to find that they were my shorts! I had absolutely no recollection of taking
them off, and still to this very minute it remains a mystery. Secondly, it was cold enough to warrant
covers. Strange doings in wild, untamed
Africa, my friends.
8:50 p.m.
Well,
well. A day with ups, a day with
downs. We ate breakfast and headed for
work. The day had dawned clear and
sunny, and we were anticipating a short day.
Actually,
I just lied. We didn’t head for work, we went to the market. It was neat.
We bought nails and hinges and more angle iron. While in the market we saw some dancers and
drummers doing an awesome dance. They
would throw their shoulders back & forth very fast, while lifting their
knees high one at a time. Then we went
looking for the right size screw at the woodshop in the market. They had nice
things there! The best was a picture of
Arnold Schwarzenegger that was framed.
It was very cool. Then we went to work.
Man,
the Africans are sure aware of us. A
white face sticks out like a sore thumb.
They’re still friendly though.
Riding in the back of the truck (one of life's real pleasures).
There’s only one paved road in Burkina Faso – this one
I always wave to
people, and no matter how serious their faces look, they will smile and wave
back almost immediately. There are all
walks of life here. The little kids are
very cute, and the old men and women are very ugly. There are no fat people here! Yeah!
One or two obese women or policemen will waddle into your vision every
now and then, but they are few and far between.
No, everyone is skinny as a rail.
We went
to work and got hung up on some snags, which made Wight very distressed,
impatient and angry, which affected our work.
Wired & ready to mount
We worked till one,
then Wight cut his hand on a nail in a rafter, so we went home for lunch. We returned at 3 in the hot, hot sun, and
finished up.
Into the spider-infested crawl-space
All the lights worked
but one, and after some experimentation, we decided the fixture was bad, so
Wight and I drove the 10 miles back to the mission to get a new one, then 10
miles back and put it in. We then took
pictures and went home.
A woman
did our laundry today, so I had clean undies again, not that I was ever
out. Everyone on the mission had dinner
together, with hamburgers (with real ketchup!
The Big Treat for missionaries), potato salad, shrimp chips, roasted
African corn, tomatoes, cukes, & water.
I lost my appetite when I bit into a tomato and a bug at the same
time. Talk about a lousy taste in your
mouth. I mean, that bug burned. I went searching for a place to spit, found
it, spit, and returned, leaving the remaining tomato slyly on the counter. Then
cake & pineapple for dessert.
Wight
asked me if I’d like to live in Africa and I said no. I’m very spoiled to the luxury of
America. However, I believe it is a
blessing from God, and while I shouldn’t flaunt it or think too highly of it, I
think since I have it I should appreciate it and enjoy it. My comfort and privileges, that is.
Wight
almost hit a sheep today. I was so close
I could have touched it.
It was
hot today, damn hot.
Andrew
told us today that Burkina Faso means ‘Homeland of the Fathers of the
Courageous Men’. Kind of neat, huh.
Sunday, Oct. 8, 10:15 a.m.
10 more
days to go! I can’t tell you how much I
miss home. The season (my favorite),
plus the cool, crisp air, the clear days, turning leaves, my bike, whipping
along the road, strong, warm showers, people that don’t smell, friends to talk
to, shopping at Stratford. Mostly I
guess I miss my own age group. My peers,
if you will. I have no one to talk to,
so I don’t talk much at all. I try to be
serious, well, I don’t want to be serious, but the kind of humor I have
doesn’t go over well with these people.
Sure, I crack a couple of jokes, throw a little sarcasm here &
there, but mostly I’m quiet. I’m pretty
unsure of myself, as I don’t know where I stand with Wight especially, but also
Ruth, Jeff, and Andrew. I’m the
youngster, I’m the liability, it feels like.
If there’s a holdup, it’s my fault.
They do all the work and I’m the lackey, because I don’t know what I’m
doing. It irks me, but mostly at
myself. On this trip I can honestly say
I’m a loner. I’m pretty much on my
own. It’s good for me to see how I act
in a grown up world, and how I relate to people.
To be honest, I’m not completely sure why I’m
here. To get out of working? Well, I’m
sure glad not to be metering, I don’t miss Tyndale at all. To travel and see
the world? That’s pretty good, but
there’s not too much beauty around here.
It’s mostly like living on the farm, the heat, the bugs. Or like summer camp, only no friends to play
with. I miss the youth group a lot, all
the kids, laughing, enjoying each other’s company.
The
good points of the trip? Seeing other
cultures, practicing French and knowing I want to be fluent in it, getting to
know some missionaries, seeing how missions really is, how it works, how they
live, learning how to wire lights, seeing how to raise support on my own,
seeing how I react to being thrown in with people I don’t know, working and
living with them in a poor, strange culture and land, realizing I’ve been
blessed, I’ve grown up with plenty, I appreciate that bountiful blessing, a
great home, church, school, health. I
might have been born here, but I wasn’t.
Is this what I’ll be like when I grow up and move away from home? I doubt it.
I will have matured much more by then, and will cope with change much
better.
This
morning we got up at 8:00. We went to church, a small brick building with
concrete benches, full to bursting with hot, sweaty, smelly black people, all
singing and clapping. We sat for an hour
and a half, while the guy talked in French about Nicodemus & Jesus – “Go
and do likewise” was the message. I got
a lot out of it. It was god-awful hot.
2:05 p.m.
You
know, it seems that when you get everything figured out, God, whether or not
you ask Him to, sends something along to change your mind. I was lying on my bed, reading, when Jeff
came in. He flopped down on the bed and
asked a few questions, and I did the same to him, and eventually we got to
talking, and I unloaded how I felt and he was very understanding and told me
he’d try to help out more in the future. Thank you, Lord, for such a kind
man. He really is about the nicest guy I
ever met. He was very understanding, and
told me he feels some of the same pressures I do, with Wight so stressed out
when he works & all.
Jeff Vandermolen can read
He said it’s good for him to see Ruth again, because they
were pretty serious in high school and college, and now that he’s married it’s
good to solidify their friendship. He said he’s got one brother, Ed (Alyssa’s
dad), and four sisters, the oldest being 52 yrs. old! His mom is 72! He’s the youngest. When he lived in Wheaton, he lived on Geneva
road in the mushroom house, right next to where the LeMares used to live. He worked at a hardware store for a while
after 8th grade, and worked for BFI (Browning Ferris Industries)
garbage collection for a couple years in high school. He says after he and his
wife move from their ranches in Wyoming to Wheaton, he will work with Ed in
real estate development, especially their Jellystone campground in
Wisconsin. His wife will try to get her
teaching degree and teach 2 – 5 graders, maybe at the Grammar School. He went to Letourneau College in Texas for a
semester, then moved back and went to C.O.D., graduated from there, and went to
Bethel College for two years.
Then we
went to lunch, where I got to understand Wight a little better. He said he grew up in Columbia, SC. His one
brother was killed when Wight was in high school. He drowned in a creek. He might have been murdered for his
money. He was drunk at the time. His older brother was killed when he and a
friend, both drunk, hit a bridge abutment.
He said his older sister smoked herself to death, died of lung
cancer. He accepted Christ in 1950.
So the
noontime was a great success in our becoming a team and getting along better by
understanding each other. Now it’s nap
time. Tomorrow we leave for Piela and Nindangou.
This way to Nindangou
I feel
better now, about where I am and why I’m here, and what good I’m doing
here. I still think I like France
better. It’s more civilized. The air and
the heat out here make a person sweat, but not only that, there’s something in
the air that makes you stink, no matter how much deodorant you put on. It’s a unique smell, but everyone smells the
same, if that makes sense. It’s a very rank, rancid
odor, that’s almost unbearable. So you
think to yourself, “Since we all smell the same, who’s to complain?”
11:30 p.m.
We cut
the angle iron into sections we can travel with, 79 inches long. Then we rested
some more, and went out to the school that we worked at. We turned on the lights in the dark and it
felt really good to see them go on. We
were all grinning, and we took some pictures too.
It’s working!
Then we returned, ate
some soup & bread and went to church at 7:30. We sang some songs and then I
gave a short testimony, then songs, then Jeff spoke, song, Wightman spoke. He spoke at length and got very emotional.
Then we went to Ruth’s house and played Dutch Blitz and sucked lemon drops.
Early
tomorrow morning we leave for Piela.
Oct. 9, 9:27 p.m.
Halfway
done! We got up this morning, ate
breakfast and left for Piela, with the back of the truck full to bursting and
the head of the Church of Burkina Faso at the wheel. Ruth, Jeff & I sat in back. We played a quick game of “I’m going to France…”,
but Jeff caught on right away. We rode
in the back of the truck all day, talking about pizza, clothes, and having a
blast. The sun beat down, then it rained
a bit, and the ever-present red dust swirled behind us.
We
reached Piela, had soup & bread, then went out to the school in Nindangou. We took some serious back roads to get
there. We got there, measured and put in
some wires.
Storing the sun
The buildings are relatively new, only 2 years old, and very
nice.
New school
After about an hour and a half there, we came home as it got
dark. All along our trip, we waved to at
least 80% of the people, and they exploded into waves & smiles & cries
of “Ca va? Ca va?”
We
returned home where the generator had been turned on, so the lights were on,
and we went to Cathy’s – a girl from Australia, Melbourne, to be exact, for
dinner. Erica, from Sweden, with a most
beautiful smile, and another woman were there too, and the meal was absolutely
delicious: rice, a ground bean (not ground up, but from the ground), peas, then
chocolate cake w/ cherries, & tea for dessert. It was excellent, and we played with the six
puppies that are the cutest things I ever saw.
They roll around and chew your finger and your shoelaces.
Best. Puppies. Ever.
Then we returned to
the house and cut and drilled angle iron until 9:45, when they said they would
shut off the power. I just started
writing this when the lights went out, but I got a flashlight and that’s how I
continued writing.
This
place is a pit, and the dogs are howling outside, the mosquitoes are inside,
and I’m quite sunburned, all-in-all a good day.
I learned a few Australian words from Andrew and Cathy: ‘sussed’, i.e.
to suss something out – work it out, solve it, ‘burke’, a stupid person, dufus,
‘pontiferous poohbah’, a bothersome
person.
Have to
get up at 6:15 tomorrow.
Tuesday, Oct. 10, 12:15 p.m.
I’m
sitting outside the school at Nindangou, where the sun is shining very
brightly, it’s about 95 degrees, and the flies are all over the place. I’m very sunburned and I feel fine. I’ve got an African child standing 2 feet to
my right, just staring at me. Now he
just sat down. He doesn’t say anything,
he’s just near me. It’s kind of cool.
Things
are going very well today. We (Jeff
& I) put up the panels and got some more sun. I took some pictures.
Jeff, slowly cooking
Me, quickly cooking
The drive out this morning was beautiful, the sky crystal
clear, and the sun beaming down, as we rode in the back of the truck. A Piela woman got on outside Piela for a ride
into town. The whole trip she had one
breast out nursing a baby. It was rather
embarrassing, and I didn’t know where to look.
I got a picture of her from the back.
As Nature intended
We just
ate lunch with the teacher here, along with our driver and another guy. It was rice and chicken. It was good.
I made a paper airplane for the kid.
His dad took it and threw it on the roof. He didn’t mean to, ‘cause the thing didn’t
fly. It was funny.
Airplane rescue
Oct. 11, 9:20 a.m.
Haven’t
had time or lighting to finish up yesterday.
They got the paper airplane down, by the way.
After
lunch we hustled our buns and finished up by 4:30. You want to talk about pride! We were all so proud, we was fit to bust. We held a dedication service for it, just a
time of prayer. Then we went home,
seeing a beautiful sunset on the way there.
I wanted to snap it, but couldn’t get a clear shot.
Yesterday
I ate raw peanuts too, straight from the ground. They taste like raw peas. To
celebrate last night we had sirloin steak (African steak – very tough) and
mashed potatoes, as well as tea and cake.
Then we played Rook, and I ate gorp (peanuts and raisins) till I died. Then the power went out and we got out a
hurricane lantern and played w/ that. I
lost every time.
A complete ass
This
morning we woke up after a night from hell. The cacophony of donkeys, roosters,
dogs, pigs, children, geckos, and birds was loud all night. It was a nightmare.
We had breakfast – bread and tea – then drove out to a school for girls.
Rockstar status
It was
hilarious. I guess they hadn’t seen a
boy for 3 years. I felt like the most
popular kid in school after he made a great speech. There were so many hands to shake, I didn’t
know which one to grab. Then we went to
the infirmary.
It made
me sick and sad to see all the sick, poor, hungry, filthy, old and young
people, none smiling, all wanting something.
I felt even worse because, as we left this morning, I saw a puppy
writhing on the ground.
Always check under your tires for sleeping puppies
I thought we had run over him. I was proved right. He was dead, and I saw it happen. I didn’t
tell anyone, but I guess it’s not my fault, as I couldn’t have done anything
after the fact. I should have checked
under the tires, dammit. I’m
pissed. What with the sick people there,
w/ little hope, the 50% infant mortality rate, and a dead puppy, I’m very
pensive and sad. These people live in mud & grass hovels all their lives,
and can’t do a damn thing about it. They don’t know any better.
I’ve
been blessed beyond understanding. So
has everyone I know, everyone in the U.S. almost. We have so much compared with these
people. Yet we don’t appreciate it. But I realize now that I also love my worldly
possessions, and it would be very difficult to give them up. I’m not as tough and rugged as I
thought. I like to have the comforts and
luxuries of life. I like them a
lot. I’m glad I have them and can go
back to them. How in the world to these
missionaries stay happy and satisfied, living in these conditions, working with
these people and working all day in an infirmary full of dying people? It’s a mystery to me.
Wednesday, Oct. 11, 9:09 p.m.
Just
got back from a Bible study. We read several verses on the topic of why our
prayers are or are not answered. It was very helpful. I saw some things I can improve on, such as a
clear conscience, obeying God’s will, pray wholeheartedly, in other words, pray
hard, concentrating on God.
There’s
a new girl here from Switzerland. She
looks Italian. She’s pretty. We’re
taking her to Mahadaga tomorrow with us.
We left
Piela at 10:00 and travelled all day. We stopped in the market once, where Ruth
and I bought Cokes, then we drove down and bought a case of Coke. I got sick of everyone staring at me, there
in the back of the truck. I’m sure
it would be better if I spoke French.
Then I could actually communicate with these people. Ruth bought Jeff & I some baked peanut
butter rings. They were great. You can get 5 for 6 francs, or a penny &
a half. Then we left, and I took a
picture of a bus w/ about 20 goats on top.
We came
back to Fada N’Gourma at about 1:30, unloaded and Bagandujua, our driver (the
president of the Church of Burkina Faso) left.
We had French bread pizza for lunch, then I went back up to our room and
read till about 7:00, when we went for supper, which was soup and bread.
I’m pretty badly sunburned on my face &
thighs, and it hurts some. I put Solar Caine on my thighs and skin lotion on
both, to keep it soft and flexible.
Andrew,
from New Zealand, is a great guy. He
shook my hand and told me “Ahl sey ye latah”.
I feel
sad about the dog. I’ll never be able to
forget seeing him die, waving his legs in the air, then falling over on his
side and laying still. At first I
thought he was playing, but he kept it up for too long. It’s not my fault, I keep telling myself.
I made
a bet with Jeff on how many people would comment on my face. He said 8 out of 8, I said 5 or 6 out of
8. I was right, I got at least five
comments about how red it was. My new African nickname is ‘RedMan’.
RedMan
So many impressions go through my head every day that it’s
impossible to write down every thought and word, no matter how much I’d like
to. Africa is different, very, very
different from where I live. It’s somewhat beautiful, in a scrubby kind of
adventurous way.
Adventurous scrubland
The people are dirt poor, and will let their children die of
malnutrition, rather than give them peanuts, which are plentiful,
because peanuts bring them money – less peanuts, less money. They ship all their supplies in from France,
so you can buy surprising things in the market, stuff you wouldn’t expect, or I
didn’t expect anyway: calculators, pens, pads of paper, water, real food,
kerosene, just everything. Too bad no
one has money to buy it with.
I think
next time I go on a trip I’ll bring either a camcorder, or a micro-cassette
player, and / or a nicer camera.
Tomorrow
we leave for Mahadaga, stay till Sunday, come back Sunday, stay O.N. here
(Fada) till Monday morning, have the dedication service at the Bible school
here, leave for Ouagadougou, arrive Monday afternoon, then shop all Tuesday and
leave on the plane Tuesday night.
I’m
pretty confused at this point, about most things in general, like what I’ve learned
on this trip, why I learned it, did I mature at all, how come I feel far away
from God, when I know He’s right there, with us all the time, watching me right
now, caring for me. Have I changed at
all? Should I change? Is there something I’m missing? I guess I’ll be confused all my life, so if I
get some basics down, I can make it.
It’s just those basics that are tough to nail down. I guess that’s where the Ten Commandments
come in, huh. The Lord is watching and
constantly blessing us all here and wherever we go. What a strong prayer base we must have!
I’m
once again feeling the pressures of being overweight and disliking myself. It’s a very mild case though.
I dread
going back to work. Ah, well, 5 more
days.
Oh yes,
before I forget, Wight said a funny quote. His cousin’s mother used to tell
them when they were bad, “I’ll beat your eyes out!” I thought that was new and
funny and useable.
We
leave early tomorrow.
Thursday, October 12, 10:21 a.m.
I’m
sitting beside the road to Mahadaga, in the sun that’s just starting to get
hot, waiting for the engine to cool down.
We threw the belt for the fan a few kilometers back, and now the coolant
cap blew. The engine is hot enough to cook eggs, as is Mr. Sun. This is great. A real African unexpected
adventure.
Not a mechanically-sound vehicle – amazingly, better than most
We woke up at 6:00 a.m. and packed for Mahadaga. We ate
breakfast, bread & tea (what else?) and got everything packed on. We’re taking a motorcycle, a Swiss girl, and
a black dude. It’s crowded. We left at 8:30 and have been driving ever
since. We did stop to buy bread in Fada,
as well as gas, where I met my friend who knows a little English. We asked each other’s names, and I already
forgot his. Then we stopped later on to
buy a belt, but the small town we stopped in only had motorcycle belts so they didn’t
fit. Oh well, this is cool.
5:30 p.m.
We
drove w/out the fan belt for a long ways, so we had to stop every once in a
while to let the engine cool off. Ariel
(the Swiss girl) and the preacher (the black dude) were very cool about it. We
finally got to a small town where the preacher got off, and we got a
replacement hose, after stopping in town and finding nothing there. Ruth bought
some roast beef chunks, which were all right.
Then we went to a real repair place, run by two Frenchmen, who gave us an
old, wasted belt that worked all right for a while. We were there for a while,
then left, racing along the bumpy road to Mahadaga.
We
stopped at a fruit plantation, which grew bananas, pineapple, mangoes,
grapefruit, guavas, and all sorts of other goodies. We bought a huge bunch of green bananas. It was very cool. We went into the banana tree forest, which
seemed like the jungle, with big bunches of the fruit hanging down.
Where bananas are born
He just took a huge machete and chopped it off, then carried
it back, weighed it and washed it, then packed it in the truck.
We went
on to Diapaga, where a mission station was.
They gave us a new fan belt, as ours had worn out again, and some cold
water. We left off some boxes and mail,
then went on to Ruth’s house.
The road got really
bad, and we splashed through some puddles and across some bridges, seeing
smiling shepherds with their slingshots around their necks like necklaces, and
of course the ever-present bicycle riders.
We stopped on top of a hill to picture a beautiful mountain and a
beautiful plain.
Wild & wide
Then the bumpy road down which ran along some gorgeous
cliffs, and waving to everyone, the dust in my contacts, the truck
bouncing along, hunger gnawing my stomach, sun casting shadows, the wind in my
hair. It was awesome.
We
arrived at Ruth’s house and unloaded Ariel, then ourselves. Wight showered and Jeff, Ruth, and I walked
down to the infirmary to find Ruth’s dog. We didn’t find the dog, but we met a
couple guys and saw women feeding hungry children.
I just
showered and am writing this by candlelight and lantern. Ruth’s dog just came in, Wight and Jeff are
fixing something, and I’m hungry. Jenny
(or Ginny?) from Australia that we met in Ouaga has invited us for dinner. Let’s go!
8:30 p.m.
Well,
we ate. It was macaroni w/ a spicy meat
and veggie sauce. Classical music was playing softly and Ariel was there in all
her tan, Swiss glory. It was great.
Wight
and I went to fix Ariel’s bathroom light, but it wasn’t broken, so we
left. I took out my contacts, thank God,
as they were dusty and had crap in them all day. Man am I going to soak those babies.
Ruth
told me today that she was glad that Wight chose me for the trip. That made me happy. I want to learn French so bad, it hurts. I just want to be able to talk and understand
people, to handle myself in a situation.
I feel like a baby, not knowing what to say. Ruth told me that if I want
to study French where people speak it, go to Switzerland, because they speak it
well and are more tolerant of Americans.
It’s
very hot and humid tonight, but it’s cool because I am writing this by the
light of a solar-powered fluorescent light in Ruth’s house. I put on lots of
suntan lotion, so I didn’t get burned again, and feel better. My cheek and chin are a bit blistered, but
don’t hurt. I’m pretty tired, but I
didn’t do anything but travel for 8 ½ hours.
Huh.
5 more
days to go.
Oct. 13, 6:08 p.m.
Hey
hey! Got to sleep in late today. 8:00 I finally rolled out of bed, after going
to bed at about 8:45 the night before. I
got up, shook the weasel, and read a book by J.R.R. Tolkien called ‘The Father
Christmas Stories’. He wrote them to his
kids every Christmas. They’re neat.
We had
breakfast, soft bread, delicious Earl Grey tea – my favorite – and Burkina Faso
honey, very rich, dark, and delicious, plus a grapefruit half, which I
sectioned. They were great. All-in-all a
great breakfast.
We
tooled around a little bit, then Wight and I wired up the new solar panel. I tooled around a bit more, then read a
Calvin & Hobbes book, which was funny, then ate lunch, which was German
macaroni & cheese, cukes, & canned beans w/ Accent, a seasoning salt.
It was great. Oh yeah, before lunch we went next door, and picked some
grapefruit, limes, & lemons. The
guavas (or goyavas) aren’t really ripe yet, and the mangoes are past
season. We (or Ruth, rather) made
lemonade from that. It wasn’t so
hot. After lunch Wight & Jeff worked
on the inverter, which doesn’t work, and has Wight in a tizzy (“That’s disgusting”). I read more Calvin & Hobbes, tooled
around, read U.S. News & World Report, tooled around, and started reading
the C.S. Lewis book Mrs. Plueddemann gave me, when Ruth suggested we go to the
waterfall. Yeah! Something to do!
We
drove out there, and about halfway there the right rear tire went flat. Jeff & I quickly fixed it, with an
audience of about 20 natives, and a little help from a couple of them. We went on our way and drove down a trail,
left the truck and walked to the waterfalls.
They were beautiful! Several
black boys were swimming & fishing.
One spitted the catfish, scaled & gutted them, then put them on to
fry.
The
cliffs out here are beautiful, sheer crags rising about 100 feet.
Short falls
The falls fell into a lake, and we jumped a small stream and
as I jumped it, I landed and made kung-Fu noises and waved my arms about. The boys thought this was hilarious. Of course, I realize now, they had no idea
what I was doing, having never seen a kung-Fu movie, or even an oriental
person.
A perfect place for contemplation
I tried
to climb the cliffs, but they were pretty steep, and they had a lip that jutted
out, besides being a breeding ground for snakes, scorpions, baboons, and a huge
hive of bees, lizards, and other foul creatures. So I climbed to the falls, got
some great snaps, one of a kid jumping off the cliff,
Jumping local
Idiot
then we all went up to the other, higher waterfall, a few
hundred yards away. About 20 kids went with us and laughed the whole way. Ruth said they had never really seen white
people, that’s why they laughed. They’re not jealous of our wealth, we’re just
something new. The higher falls were even more gorgeous.
High Falls
Finally we came back and it was just becoming dusk as we hit
the road. I asked Ruth why she wanted to
be a missionary, and she said that she liked the pioneer spirit, she liked
making a difference in people’s lives, and she liked to get a different view of
people, and then see how the U.S. is different.
She understands people better now. She says it’s interesting to see how
people apply scripture to their lives socially, culturally, &
personally. She chose Burkina Faso
because it was less developed and more needy, so it was more receptive to
Christ.
Earlier
today, Wight showed me a scorpion. It
was about 3 inches long with its tail curled up, small & brown. Wight stepped on him. All this milky white poison came out. He found another one and did the same thing.
Ruth’s
dog is an African dog, short haired w/ a big chest. He got hit by a car about 3 weeks ago, and
his leg is dislocated. I don’t like him. He has the nastiest temper. He’s always growling and barking like he’ll
tear your head off, then he’s friendly and wagging his tail. The cat is cooler. It is also an African cat, and it’s got long
front legs, a big chest and a thick neck, and it’s sleek and powerful like a
cheetah. Looks like one, too. He likes me.
Well,
it’s almost dinner time, I believe the menu is Chinese beef.
I want
a shower. It’s god-awful hot &
humid.
Oct. 14, 12:30 p.m.
The
days go fairly fast, when you go to bed at 8:00, rise at 7:30, and read all
day.
Last
night I showered, which felt great. At
first the water is cold and you think “this sucks” but after you get used to
it, you wouldn’t have it any other way, it feels so good.
Then we
ate. It was rice and a beef topping that
was tres excellent, plus peas and guava Jell-O.
It was good. Before every meal
the French say “Bon appetite!”
I
turned in at 8:05 and slept restlessly, as the bed was hard, as was the pillow,
I had no sheet to keep out the mosquitoes which, by the way, ate me alive. Woke when that damn dog set up a howl to
raise the dead when the night watchman came round.
Got up
at 7:30 and did pretty much of nothing till breakfast, which was grapefruit
(sectioned by me), bananas, banana bread, and tea. Very nice.
Then we sallied forth to the infirmary, where we saw several sick
people, as well as a blood transfusion and a worm infection through a
microscope. We then left for a hike to a
different waterfall, which is where I am writing this now.
We drove
a small ways down the road, then turned onto a donkey and foot path from out of
perdition, and stopped and left the truck in front of a fifteen-foot high field
of millet,
Millet: the official grain of the optionless
then hiked over hill and dale, rock and soft ground, through
field and plain, over a creek, which that damnable, slavering killer of a dog
wouldn’t cross (why did we bring him, why
did we bring him!) and finally came in view of the most gorgeous waterfall
I’ve ever seen.
What thunder looks like - not my best effort
It cascades over the
edge of a sheer, 60-foot precipice, tumbling, turning, and frothing past
crevice and fern, till it smashes on the rocks below and shatters into a
million pieces, each catching the sun in a rainbow of colors, as the mist from
its descent glides on the breeze across the lagoon. And that doesn’t begin to describe it.
Wight
slipped on a wet rock and broke his glasses and got a cut on his eyebrow. Jeff is one cool cowboy.
Cool Cowboy Jeff
I’m glad I got to
meet him. He’s very helpful and
caring. He’s kind of like what I want to
be when I grow up. Wight said the other
day that he’d be glad to have me as a son, if my dad ever didn’t want me, he’d take me in. I think he’d be a better grandpa.
I think
I went a little overboard trying to return home a bronzed god, as Vince
suggested.
Bronzed god? No, burnt sacrifice
My face is peeling, and my arms soon will be. They’re all blistered, little tiny blisters,
you know how it goes. I do have a little
color, but I don’t want to damage anything.
I really
want to kill that dog. He’s a menace.
I could
never grow a beard. I haven’t shaved for
a week & a half, and the little I have really sucks. Maybe I’m just not used to it.
I’ve
got 12 pictures left. That’s 4 a day. No
problem.
I’m
taking my vitamins regularly, and got more anti-malarial pills yesterday. I can’t wait to go back, but kind of dread
facing the questions, giving the talks, the rush at Tyndale, organizing
everything. But I do have moving in w/
Vince to look forward to.
Oct. 14, 2:45 p.m.
I’m at
another waterfall now, and if possible, this one is more beautiful than the
last.
Lush Lagoon
It’s a real, genuine
African lagoon, with tall, damp cliffs on either side, caves balefully glaring
out of their ledges, tropical plants bordering the whole pond, which is deep
and green. Yellow weavers flit here and
there, there are sunning rocks, and the skies are ominous and dark. On one
side, baboons bark down at us from atop a looming cliff. They’re cool, climbing
around and staring at us. These falls
fall about 80 ft., hitting several ledges that break up the fall and make it
achingly beautiful. Hanging vines trail up the side of the cliff, and moss and
ferns cling to the cracks. We did some real bushwhacking to get here, too,
going through trees and bushes over our heads.
Tall grass swished around us as we stepped on loose rock and over
logs. Thank you, God, for making such
wonderful places for everything to enjoy.
10:11 p.m.
I
decided to stay up later so I would be tired and sleep later, or better anyway.
We
stayed at the falls for a while, and I climbed up and went behind the falls. It
was wild. It’s like the worst rainstorm
ever, with the water pounding down so hard, you can’t hear. Then we left and mad our way back to the
truck, which was a 45 min. hike. We went
home then I showered and we ate. Ruth’s
house-boy cooked chicken over a fire for us, and we had peas and
applesauce. Then we sat around and told
Ruth of the changes in Wheaton since she’d been there, about 2 years. Then I read some in the People’s Almanac and
will now retire.
Oct. 15 3:20 p.m.
It’s
Sunday today, but we didn’t go to church.
We got up at about 6:30, after another hellish night of man-eating mosquitoes
attacking my legs even though I put Off! on them. Today I counted 20 bites. No malaria there.
We ate
breakfast, packed up and put everything in the truck. Ariel came to say goodbye. She reminds me of a movie star. She’s dark tan,
dresses well, and has dark eyes, dark hair, white, even teeth and a great
smile. She speaks English with a
charming French accent and has a beauty spot on her cheek. Wow.
We had
a black dude and 2 black women come on the trip. Wight’s running a fever and feeling bad, so
he sat up front, while Jeff & I sat in the back with the natives. I sat on
a wheel well till my seat went numb, the switched to reclining in the
luggage. I covered my face with a
bandana while we were on the paved road, to protect the already sensitive skin
from sun & wind burn. It was the
smartest thing I did all trip, and will save me pain and headaches in the
future. It worked so well I almost dozed.
We arrived in Fada after a 5 ½ hour drive. Wight looked like the dead, and he felt like
it too. Jeff & I unloaded, then went
up to the Ruten’s for a great lunch, with Coke! Then came siesta time, which is now.
8:26 p.m.
Just
got back from the dedication service at the first school we worked at.
It was very
cool. I went out early with Dave and Bagandujua
and we sat up front. All of a sudden,
one guy started singing. Everyone
boomed in on the chorus and started clapping in rhythm. It sounded awesome,
their deep voices ringing out in the fluorescently lit room. Then Ruth, Jeff, & Wight arrived and they
sang again. Each song lasted about 5 minutes, and on the second song, the
ladies sang the verse, and everyone on the chorus. They all clapped and one lady
had a large bowl made from a gourd with string around the top, and beads on
strings hanging down. She would spin the
bowl in the air like pizza dough, and the beads would clack a rhythm against
the side. Then Paul, the teacher there,
spoke in Gourma, and Dave translated for us.
The Wight spoke a little, then general questions, then we shook hands
with everyone and received a container of honey, real African honey, as a
gift. It was choice.
Earlier
this evening, Wight, Jeff & I went to get bread and gasoline. At the
station I met the guy that I rap w. every time I go. We spoke some, then he wanted my
address. So we swapped addresses and in
case I lose the piece of paper, here’s his:
Lankoonde Talada
Station Texaco
Fada N’Gourma B.P. 69
Burkina
Faso, West Africa
It was cool. Remind
me to write to him when I get back.
Tomorrow
we leave for Ouagadougou!
Oct. 16, 11:38 p.m.
I’m
sitting here in the guest house at Ouagadougou, saying everything in my mind in
an Australian accent, because Andrew is here, and I keep hearing him talk.
I’m the
only one up at this time of night, mostly because I was reading a good book, ‘Calvary
Scout’ by Dee Brown. I read Swiss
Family Robinson earlier today. I think I
want to read Tarzan when I get back.
Get
back. Wow. Every time I think about going back I get that adrenaline surge, as
I expectantly await returning, leaving tomorrow at 11:59 p.m.
We got
up today at 7:30, ate breakfast, packed everything up, and were ready to go by
9:00, the time the Dubises (the people taking us to Ouaga) said we would
leave. But they weren’t ready, so Dave
took us into Fada to the market to buy shirts & souvenirs. I bought the one I did because the fabric was
heavy and nice. I also got a slingshot,
the kind that all the shepherds use.
We
finally got off at about 11:00, after Dave & Marianne had us over for
Cokes. They’re great people, the
Rutens. We barreled along the road to
Ouaga, w/ the air-condo on full blast in their 4-wheel drive Toyota Land
Rover. We only had to push-start it
once.
We
arrived in Ouaga at about 2:00 and found that Ruth had to stay in another guest
house. Andrew was at our guest house,
and received us warmly. I set to work on
a cold Coke and Swiss Family Robinson. I
finished it at 4:30 and took a shower.
Then all the guys started cooking dinner for Ruth because she’d cooked
for us so much. We had spaghetti &
sauce, salad, French bread, cheese, olives, & fruit salad. It was very good. Then we broke out the Rook cards and played
till 10:00. I did right well.
There’s
a National Geographic here, Aug. 1966 that has an article on Upper Volta. I’ll
have to look it up when I get back.
Tomorrow
we go to the market all day. I believe I
have almost $100 to spend. I haven’t
touched my money yet.
Oct. 17, 2:30 p.m.
It’s
awfully hot at this point. Yesterday
Andrew gave me his address in New Zealand.
My arm, which peeled, then got sunburned, has blistered up quite badly. It doesn’t hurt as long as I don’t touch
it. It is most frightfully ugly,
however. I slept on my back last night,
so as not to pop it.
We got
up at 7:00 this morning, and I read for about an hour. Then we had a bit of
breakfast, bread & tea. I read some
more, then we all went to the market. It
was a nightmare. Everyone is so pushy here, and they won’t let up no
matter how many times you tell them NO!
We went
to the Leatherworks of Burkina Faso. It
was very cool. Suede chessboards, maps, pictures, calendars, backpacks,
wallets, purses, keychains, notebook minders, diary holders, and on and
on. Then we went to the big market for a
while. It still smelled awful, and they
still pressed us to buy “cartes postales’ and bracelets. I saw the kid I gave my bandana to. Now he wanted my Hershey’s hat. I wouldn’t give it to him. I tried to explain that I had fond memories
of it. He still wanted it. Everyone
wanted my watch or my shoes or even my shirt. After a while it started to piss
me off how persistent they were. I felt
like saying “Get lost, get the hell away from me”. Then we finally left and came back to the
house, after a brief stop for Wight to check on fluorescent tubes. Everyone kept crowding around the windows,
trying to sell us sandals, cheap jewelry, baskets, cloth, bananas,
anything.
I also
met a guy earlier who was a musician. He played the Tom-Toms and knew 11
languages. He’d travelled all over and
knew English well. He was cool.
We
returned home and I grabbed a Coke and finished my book. Then we ate lunch and here I am.
Oct. 18, 2:05 a.m.
I’m
sitting in the lounge in the airport at Ouagadougou. The plane is scheduled to take off at 2:35
a.m.
I slept
for a few hours at siesta time, after hearing Andrew talk about New Zealand
some. The population of New Zealand is
3.2 million. There’s more people in
Chicago alone. After resting in that
god-forsaken hot room, I wandered about till we went out for dinner. We went to the Hamburger House, an American
burger joint run by Chinese, which had exorbitant prices, par example, a $4
milkshake, and $14 – $15 for a burger and fries. It was decent enough.
We left
there and returned home, I showering and changing, then we played a New Zealand
game called ‘Black Witch’. It’s
great. You play it with Rook cards. The 13 black is the black witch, and it’s
worth 50 points. You don’t want it. The
reds are point cards. The idea is not to
win points. He with the least points
wins. You must follow suit and before
play starts you pass your 3 worst cards to the player to either side of
you. It was great. We played till 12:45 a.m., then left for the
airport.
We got
through customs fine, although the woman who searched my luggage wanted to know
what my bug spray was. We hugged Andrew
and Ruth and shook Edwin’s hand and we’re on our way.
8:55 a.m. Paris time
We
waited a long, long time to board the UTA plane, but finally after standing in
line forever, going out to the tarmac to identify my luggage, having my carryon
searched again, then being frisked, we got on. The stewardesses let us sit where we liked,
as the plane was empty.
We took
off at 3:50 a.m. Ouaga time (1 hr. behind Paris, 5 hrs. behind U.S.). I
promptly fell asleep, and got to stretch out a little as I had no
seatmate. I was too tired to eat the
first meal, so I just waved my hand, “Non, merci Madame”, and fell back to
sleep. I’m very glad I removed my
contacts, as they would have probably gained life from all the protein deposits
and would have promptly proceeded to attack my eyes and bore into my brain,
rendering me to a blind, useless vegetable.
I’m
rather upset that at some point during the night, my blisters broke and stained
my shirt, damn it. Plus this light
cotton shirt is making my tan flake like a banshee. Oh well.
I just
ate breakfast: toast, a lemon pound cake, tea, apple juice, and peaches. It was awful.
10:50 a.m. New York time.
We’re
somewhere over the North Atlantic, cruising at 31,000 ft. on Pan Am flight 119.
We
arrived safely in Paris at 10:00 a.m. Paris time. Our Air France flight was scheduled for 10:31
departure. “We’ll make it”, we
thought. A lie. Someone forgot to call ahead for a stairway
to get out of the airplane. Oops. We stood around till 10:20 and, to make a
long story short, we missed our flight.
So we quickly booked on to the next Pan Am flight for New York,
departing at 12:45, boarding at 12. So
we spent some time and money in the shops there, finally got on board and took
off at about 1:15 p.m. Paris time, about the equivalent of 8:15 a.m. Chicago
time. The flight is scheduled for 8
hours. Welcome to hell, John.
I’m
peeling and it makes me angry. I’d like
to be home NOW.
We just
had a lunch from perdition, a beef bathed in wine, a dessert bathed in wine, a
dry salad, but the bread & cheese was excellent. Cheese was camembert, bread was French.
Plane
rides suck swamp water.
3:15 p.m. New York time
We are
just finishing our snack from hell, flying over Kennebunkport, Maine, heading
toward Plymouth, Mass, where we will begin our descent.
I’m
getting awfully tired of air travel. We
saw ‘Dream Team’, and you know, I believe it was worse the second time around,
no matter how incredible that may seem.
That’s just one lousy movie. Plus
I saw it w/out sound. But it
helped pass the time.
Jeff
& Wight are discussing Ruth. Jeff says it’s been a good two weeks,
solidifying his friendship w/ Ruth.
Wight said it was good for Ruth to be around 3 men for that time. She gets lonely and sometimes hangs out w/
the wrong guys. I need to pray for her.
She needs to get married.
I think
we started descending now. We should
land in Kennedy airport at 5 after 4.
The weather is gloomy and wet.
Sort of like it was when I came out.
Our flight for Chicago leaves at 5:45 p.m. NYT.
5:35 p.m. Chicago time (6:35 NYT)
We’re
sitting on the ground at terminal B in the Kennedy airport, New York City. We disembarked from Pan Am 119 and went to
get our luggage. It never came. So, we went ahead through customs
because we only had half an hour till our flight for Chicago took off, we thought.
We left Jeff amid confusion w/ the understanding that he was to file a claim
for our baggage. Wight and I ran through
the airport to get our flight, and were told to wait at the counter till our
names were called. Finally they were and
Wight gave a surprised chuckle and told me to wait till I found out where we
would sit. I figured the far back or something, as it was a full flight. But no, nothing but the best for us. 1st class all the way. When we found out, we couldn’t stop
giggling. Then later, a line of old
women came down the aisle, crying about 1st class vs. their scummy
seats, and Wight turned to me and muttered under his breath, “Peasants”. That sent us into gales of laughter, w/ tears
rolling down our merry cheeks.
Wait
for me, my humble home, here I come!
Home
Yeeaaah-hooo! I made it.
After eating the snack on the plane, I fell asleep until we approached
Chicago. We landed safely, got picked up
by the limo, picked up another elderly couple and we were on our way. Jeff had managed to get our luggage, so we
were set there too!
Thank
you oh Lord God, for every blessing you gave us. We deserved none of it, yet you gave it
freely.
Wight
gave me a ride home and told me he hoped we were friends for a long time. He let me out at my house after a prayer and
a handshake.
Thank
you Lord, I’m home at last.
Now
where’s that shower?
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