And I start to complain that theres no rain

So you know how after a blizzard the naked trees are left with a beautiful coat of powdery snow on top of their branches? It is truly a wonderful scene isn't it? Yeah, well its not the same with sand. The Adamawa is currently in its dry season. This means a few things, most of them not good. Where do I start?

The very arid air allows the sand to lift easily with even a footstep. A gust of air will direct the dust absolutely anywhere it pleases. It is even worse when none of the roads are paved and the trucks and motorcycles catapult all of the sand into the air. The entire village inevitably turns into a a red shaken snow-globe. All of the plants near the roads are covered in red sand. Everything you wear gets dirty and you can only imagine what this does to your throat and lungs. Actually you don't have to imagine, let me explain it to you. The already dry atmosphere ensures that your throat is almost always dry, well it is even more fun when it has a coat of dust around it too. My house used to be painted half white and half blue, now it is purple and red. Needless to say, I can't wait for the wet season. I regress though, it was even worse in Niger.

Let me change the tone a bit.

I am now moved into my new home! I am no where near being done. My stove is currently on the floor, I have three empty rooms and the only piece of furniture I have is my bed. I do have modern toilets though! Too bad the water doesn't work. Its cool though b/c there is a faucet right inside my concession (concession means compound). It is only about 10 feet from my front door. I share my concession with about three other families. I still haven't figured out who is related to whom. I can tell you though that there are about 12 children and I share the building (not house) with 5 of the boys. One is sixteen and the rest are between 9 and twelve. They don't know their ages either. There are 2 middle-aged women and one elderly, neither speak French. I have the boys translate for me. They are also teaching me Fufulde. I am a fan of the boys, not the toddlers though!

Holy eff the toddlers are a hand full.

In the last week I had to stop little Sarifa, Sadia, and Oumarou from eating the plastic wrappers from the candy I gave them, not lick my soap, put down the knives from my kitchen, not play with everything (and I really mean everything), prevented them from crayoning my walls and reminded them constantly to stop leaving their shoes in my house. Seriously, send me some tranquilizers.

In terms of work, I haven't started anything serious yet. And to be honest, Peace Corps told me not to start anything big until after my first three months so I'm going to stay chillaxed. I have however met with the Chef of my village (as well as his sons), started going to my health center and began work with some organized groups in Meidougou. Nothing too crazy. Not yet at least.

I am not in Meidougou right now though, I am currently in Ngaoundere (hence, my ability to update this blog). I'm here for some banking and getting some supplies for our Christmas celebration. The national Olympics are currently taking place right here! I actually just got back from a soccer game where I went to go cheer for my region, it was Adamawa vs. the North. We tied, but it pretty fun. I will say this, and excuse my French, fuck vuvuzelas. Like Caleb said, I now understand why they were almost banned during the World Cup.

My first night in my house I discovered that I have roughly around 100, maybe even 500 (probably more) spiders the size of iPods nested in my ceiling. Luckily Claire told me that after spending some time in my house they will slowly get scared off. I certainly hope so b/c I'm positive that they are capable of reproducing faster than the rate of which I kill them.

So I thought I was going to be able to post some pictures for this entry. Unfortunately you're going to have to wait for the next. Trust me, it'll be worth it. In the mean time, Peace Corps out people.

Carlos