the 13th day

wow am i exhausted! right after we got back to the hotel i had to take a nap! i got up at about 0730, showered, and went downstairs to eat some eggs and rolls. then we went to ojo for the fair. and we walked around the compound with a huge truck that was playing drums and a trumpet and people were singing and stuff while they threw condoms and hiv/aids pamphlets to people. there are really gross pictures in those little books too! and, of course, i got sunburned. i didn;t bring my sunblock because it was in a big container and i thought since i only had a carry-on they'd make me throw it out before getting on the plane. yeah, right. they wouldn't have ever known or cared. and now my face and neck (yes, i'm a bonefide red-neck) are on fire. and that was about it. i'm about to go get some food with dooshima too. but first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my 26yr old husband! yay! too bad i'm not there and he never got my birthday card because they wouldn't process my cc from a forgein lan acct. o well. any way, i've been making some observations today and now i'm going to share...
-it's a huge deal that a new condom has to be used at each sex act. this is a constant shock and complaint by people
-there's lots of trash on fire here all the time, even in the median. it looks like trash gets dumped wherever and then toasted to take up less space. there are huge feilds like this along the road too; it looks like they get raked and then more gets dumped and set ablaze, repeat...
-a the overpasses there are lots of things going on (besides the cows mingling with the horses) including football (soccer) games, markets, and auto mechanics. they bring to mind the term "shanty town" although i don't really know what a shanty town is or looks like.
-i had to pee and the lady at the hospital walked me off hospital grounds accross a few streets to her apartment in the baracks to use hers after she gave me tissue. and then had to flush with a bucket after. the room was dim and sparse and depressing (to me) although the people were very kind and friendly.
-during my walk to the lav i saw 2 barefoot toddlers as well as big shards of broken glass and a half burried bic razor.
-some walls actually have "no urination here" painted on them. i'm not sure if anyone cares.
-they don't have home deopt here per se but i saw a guy covered to his shins in sawdust at a table saw by the street as well as big wide lots of various sincer blocks and designs and a carry-out service where the attendant will help you position you newly purchased lumber atop your head once your settled onto your hired motorbike. yikes.
-no one on those bikes wears helmets except the ups delivery guy. but on base they have to wear them, it's just that they're hard hats, no dot approved helmets.
-there is a beautiful orange and purple sunset shining into my room right now. it makes my sunburn look really bad.
-people sell the little mesh bags of like 6 hard boiled eggs on the street. convenient for breakfast, i bet. then you just need the bread guy, the mint guy, and then the toothpaste/toothbrush lady. and the plastic water bag guy.
-lots of the people stopped in the middle of the road are just trying to decide if they want to go another way. they just stop and think about it rather than make the wrong turn.
-my power fluctuates a lot. off. on. off again. on? just kidding. off. no wonder everyone hates NEPA and uses generators!
-there's lots of firewood for sale around here. i assume people need it for cooking or something. i have no idea but there are piles everywhere being sold. and lots of people are walking around with big bundles of really long pieces on, of course, their heads.
-today i heard an ad on the radio that said something to the effect of "millions of nigerians eat pancakes every morning that are made with mill flour. now is a great time to buy stocks in flour." ok. can i pay in cash?
-i saw a really pretty bright blue bird today. it was eating breakfast in the trash pile.
-it's funny to looks over and see a motorbike that has a crazy looking 16yr old driving with an older, distinguished-looking business man in a suit on the back. transportation for the masses.
-there are tons of radio ads and billboards for powdered milk. i never knew there was so much difference between all the brands (that i've never heard of).
-plant nurseries are fun with their plastic bags filled with soil and a plant all lined up in neat rows. i really want to get a picture one day. they have lots of common-to-florida plants too like ixora, crotons, crow-of-thorns, various palms, alamanda, and lots of other really common hard wood shrubs. i like the nurseries.
-there are tons of yellow mini buses here; the old vw and toyota ones. i mean, tons. all lined up along the highway (because the don't go til full) and weaving in and out of traffic. some don't have doors or bumbers anymore and most are scratched all along the sides from running up along other cars. our mirror was hit 2xs today.
-the radio plays a lot of really old r &b and new christian music; weird combination.
-there's a lot of pollution here. that's not fog in those pictures; it's smoke. or smog. it's bad.
-i saw a tiny kid, maybe 2, who was picking up each key lime in his display bowl and quickly wiping it off with a towel so it looked pretty. it was really cute and a little sad at the same time.
-palm and banana trees seem to undo all ugliness here. there can be trash on fire while an emaciated steer and child dig thru an unlit pile and if there's a palm tree in my line of sight somehow it doesn't seem bad at all. like the folage softens everything. or offers hope. or gives me something else to focus on. something.
-today i got this awesome shot of a lady getting help putting her wares on her pillow on her head and then suddenly there are all these police pounding on the car window. woops. apparently the picture i took was right in front of the police headquarters and i guess they thought i was taking pictures of them or something. anyway, tori (the driver) can't figure out how they even saw me with the super-dark tint and i didn't use flash. but apparently they have no jurisdiction when it comes to diplomats (that's me) and were called off by their boss after about 20secs (or an hour, as far as how it felt). i felt really bad but they both blew it off as nothing and that was it. took about 30min before i'd take another picture and certainly none with police in them!
-appearances are really big here; everyone looks georgous and carries around big hunks of cash and builds houses barely within (and sometime not even within) their means. i'm guessing that comes from the fact that the only thing that really counts is what's actually yours, in hand, tangible. there is no credit system here and almost no one trusts/uses the banks.
-ads in general are really funny; too happy and smiling and really trying to convince you that "dirt is good" because the cleaner is so easy and fun and great that you actually want your kids to get their clothes diry. uh-huh. very different from our genX, ADD, cool cinematography and crazy round about ways of telling you that you should buy said product. it's really comical to here some of these like macleans toothpaste:"be successful. be important. use macleans toothpaste!" ok!
-people who live here drink water out of these little plastic bags. they bite of the corner, suck out the water, and then drop the baggie. i'll try to get a pic. apparently, though, it's not for forgeiners and they know it. they don't even offer it to me. but do i "want a coke?"
-i was told today that i'm the first white girl these people have seen with a bum. which, apparently requires me to shake it like an african, not an american. i have to "whirl it big." ummm. ok?
-i saw a naked person washing teir clothes in a dirty puddle in the road today. nice.
-apparently americans also don't have short hair. mine has caused many a conversation topice and confusion about where, exactally, i hail from. "why is your hair so short?" because i cut it.
-i saw a sign today that said "happy fasting to all our muslim friends" put up by an african restaurant (that i ate lunch at yesterday) called tantalizers.
-i felt like a celebrity today. everyone wanted to be "snaped" with me! i think i was in every other picture that the photographer took nevermind shakin my ass in the videos they took. even bystanders were calling me to get snapped with them "jess-EEEE!!! jess-EEEEE!!!" "i love america. america is dee best!" "thank you! god bless!" alright already!
-white people must look tired. or weak. or something. like 25 people asked me if i was tired today. and i wasn't. not even a little bit. i wonder what it is about me?
-people also sound angry and fighiting and accusatory when they talk. i think i know why. they use their diaphragms to really force out words from the depths for a really strong, heavy sound. i would only talk like that if i was really pissed but they talk that way whenever they're excited.
-you hear the "kissing" sound all the time and at first i was kind of offended but apparently that's how to get people's attention. everyone does it and it's percieved as nicer than yelling to someone.
-i saw a forklift driving down the road today. a fork lift. like that belongs in a warehouse.
-there are lots of things you can buy from your car; most notably, pruning shears, but also includes all manner of food and drink, socks and gloves, computer software, stuffed animals, dish towels, cologne, dvds, cds, and probably whatever else they can carry.

so i just got back from the cinema with dooshima again. we saw rush hour 3 which was ok funny. the crowd is funny though and i often laugh at different times than the rest of the theatre. but we got food before; her: 3 scoops of icecream and 2 chocolate muffins and i had a diet coke, a sausage roll (which had an uncanny resemblance to a mini snausage like comes out of a military boxed lunch - terrible) and a muffin as well. so not a real dinner but close enough. i have a feeling that she feels uncomfortable taking me places either because of how she feels or, more likely, that she thinks i'll be akward or uncomfortable, which would be anywhere. so i hope i'm not really boring her but i don't think so. we probably will go to a club tomorrow. and i think that's plenty. the only other things i wanted to add were the fact that i totally pay for convenience and that's one thing that isn't really for sale here. i can't go to "the mall" or even something like cvs to get all of what i need and a gallon of milk. that's just not available here. i don't like haggling. i like to know what i want, know where to get it (and a bunch of other things i need), see the price tag, not be harrassed about anything at any time, and then just bring what i want to someone who tells me how much (exactaly, what i have to pay) and then to be able to pay for it with a credit card. so that's my issue here. i can't get what i want, my way. you know, like americans are used to! finally, most of my pictures from today were taken out the window. there are lots of rooftops because i'm amazed by how many there are! and i forgot to turn some so they look sideways but it takes to long to re-upload with ethernet here. and it's a night!