Out and About in Duekoue

This morning sr vicky and sr yvette had to go to a meeting so there was no clinic/dispensary. So i was kind of sitting at my desk thinking about the english classes and wondering if i could somehow make verbs interesting. As much as i was enjoying the homesick fest/pity party i was throwing for myself i decided to go out and walk around and take pictures.

I took some pictures around the house/school and then went out on the road and started walking toward the center of town. It was really intimidating and everyone was staring at me because i was the only white person. Also I was wearing my unicorn costume from halloween last year. No so I wasnt wearing a costume but still everyone was staring. I guess it would be like seeing an albino squirrell. You know they exist but you dont see them often so when you do its kind of neat/weird and staring for at least 2 minutes is very necessary.

I had been walking for a few minutes when this woman said 'ma soeur' (my sister) to me. Im still not sure if thats a regular greeting or if people think im a nun since i live with them. Then this woman said my name so i turned around and shook her hand and then she pointed to her friends baby and told me that they had tried to go the dispensary but it was locked. I explained that sr vicky was gone but the woman was like 'but look' and the babys eye was all big and swollen because something had gotten in the eye. There was nothing I could do so i just told her when sr vicky would be back. This conversation took place outside the hospital but i guess she couldnt afford to go there.

At this point i was feeling supremely out of place and stopped taking pictures. I decided to buy a phone so I went to a store i had seen that looked nice. Air conditioned! They had a phone but no sim card so i left the store and some guy about my age was like 'ill help you buy a phone'. He had heard there was an american in town. cha ching! i knew i was about to get horribly ripped off so i said 'ok great!' and proceeded to walk around town with this guy to buy a phone and sim card and credits for the phone. I knew it was much more expensive than it should have been but it was hot and i was flustered and compared to prices in the US it wasnt bad. So after awhile I had a phone and my new friend had been kind enough to program his number into my phone. So thoughtful.

So I walked home after saying no to a taxi he tried to call for me because 'the sun is big' as he said and i guess he thought i would get burned. I was about to go into the compound/mission whatever you want to call it and this older guy was like 'oh ca va?' and started asking me how everything was going. Unfortunately I had my phone in my hand so he says 'oh you have a number? we can exchange numbers!' I have so many new friends.

Although i was majorly swindled, everyone was very nice while they were doing it and being in a small town is nice because i never felt unsafe or anything. plus everyone knows there is a 'blanche' in town so no one will mess with me. My large stature helps too.

ok well thanks for reading this and sorry if there are a lot of spelling errors but the keyboard is different. bye!