The Khady and Mami Show

Deenba is a saint, a generally hilarious person, and a workhorse. Without here our house would be in complete and utter shambles like it was today. Per usual I was the first person up and out of the house this morning. I was also extremely happy because the water was back and I got to wash my face! Deenba is usually up and sweeping the compound by the time I get back from my run so it was a little unusual that she wasn't when I returned. Sometimes coming back from the village takes a while and I assumed that was the problem. I showered and got ready for my day and left the compound for the morning a little before 10am. I had not seen a single solitary person up and moving around and the doors to the big house were still locked.

Deenba works her ass off each and every day and while I've noticed in the past, it became glaringly obvious today. She drags herself out of bed early each day so she can get her chores done in peace to a certain extent and so she can be free at night to hang out with her boyfriend. She literally holds this house together and makes sure everything gets done. And she does a lot, especially now that Jeenaba has Abdou to worry about. When I returned home three hours later after going to my office, the post office, and meandering around town absolutely nothing was done. Khady and Mami were sitting in the living room watching TV, the courtyard was a mess and lunch wasn't even started. It was 1pm and it takes hours to make lunch. That's probably why we ate at 4pm today.

Khady and Mami trying to run the house is like asking my dad and brother to run the house. It just doesn't work. I should say Khady trying to run the house doesn't work because Mami wasn't even pretending to try and help she asked me for my nail polish so she could re-coat her nails. My mom was not happy. That also could have been because this teenage girl showed up who introduced herself as my dad's daughter. Apparently my host dad has another family? I have no idea because Deenba's not here so I have no one to ask. Deenba come back! I'm still very confused about this other child/ maybe complete other family so I'll have to work on that one...

After a highly unproductive morning at my office teaching my boss how to use Skype and sitting around to make people happy as they worked on a presentation about child abuse, I spent a highly unproductive afternoon talking about clothes for Tabaski, the upcoming holiday. The women's group that I've started to work with with Emily is not in a convenient location. It is really far away and by absolutely nothing. It's practically out of Thies on the road that leads to Katherine's site. I went out for our usual Monday meeting only to find myself locked out of the meeting area because I was the first person to arrive. 20 minutes later the first woman arrives who happens to be the kick ass Treasurer who I really like. It takes over an hour for half of the group to arrive. The president never shows up and all we do is talk about Tabaski outfits for two hours before the "meeting" ends and everyone leaves. At least it does seem as though the women are going to save some money to use for after Tabaski. Fingers crossed.

The only good thing about Khady and Mami running the show is that we've been eating really well. They would never debase themselves by not making the most delicious meals so we had a non-rice meal for lunch (heaven, I can't even look at rice right now) and chicken for dinner!