An ADD version of the power or a bounce dryer sheet during a stressful time:
It was the second day of the new year, the Islamic lunar calendar, and I spent the past two days in my hut/bed with a head cold (kids and their germs!), so I didn't participate in any of the activities. Apparently there were professional Senegalese wrestlers in town (not the same thing in the USA, these guys are a lot of work up and a lot of style) and dance parties galore.
I have been feeling lazy, partly due to being under the weather and partly because I am a little "depressed" about gaining so much weight here.
I quote depressed, but I think it is an adequate but dramatic description. Most of the day I don't think about about my weight gain, only when I am showering, laying down or trying to find clothes that fit me-- that's one problem when getting clothes made to fit you, ever since coming here I've been gradually getting bigger and thus my wardrobe is decreasing despite the increase in clothing. I can't even fit into the stuff I had made one month ago, let alone my big expenditure (6 new articles of clothing) in Thies with the coveted tailor, Aisattou. I'm kind of (read:very) nervous to come back to the States for vacation because I won't be able to fit into any of my clothes! I can't really diet because I have little control over my food, but I'm starting to exercise more to help counteract all this darn rice!
I digress, I haven't been that motivated despite my planner being full, except a few days for repose, up until I come home in December. October 15th was World Hand Washing Day, and I was "stuck" at the regional house until late that evening so I didn't make it back in time to do a Hand Washing Causerie that was supposed to kick off my big Tippy Tap, hand washing station, project. Well, since then I changed up my plans and Annie came to visit for a night ( refer to previous post ) and then I ended up staying in Kolda an extra night (ok, it was actually two extra nights) to relax and get some work done. I bought all the soap making supplies the first day and the second day I bought the Michelle Silvester Scholarship girls' their school supplies.
I also bought all the fabrics for the aprons and change purses that I am going to be selling when I'm back in the States for fundraising purposes for my Health Hut. (I'm so jealous of all the fabrics, I can't wait to get a new outfit made when I get back from vacation in January!) if you're interested in buying them for Holiday gifts, the aprons are going to be $15 and the change purses are going to be $12. Once I get a few aprons and change purses made, I'll post pictures. I'm so excited about this project! I tried to take the fabric to the tailor but everyone discouraged me from dropping that much at one time, so I ended up going down with enough fabric for one apron, but he wasn't there so I need to go back tomorrow to try to get the project up and running. I've been holding off because I've been waiting for a package my mom sent to arrive with an apron I liked for the model and the clips for the change purses. Since I don't have the apron model or the change purse clips, I printed off a picture of another apron and I'm going to have some of the change purses be zippered instead of clipped. It will just add variety, I guess. I can't wait any longer because I run the very high possibility that they won't be finished in the 6 weeks before I leave for Dakar and to the States.
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| Espresso not helping at all. |
Ok, back to the point of this post...
I've been sick with a cold. Nothing abnormal, just a head cold. But, I think it just put the cherry on top of my lack of motivation phase. In the past three days, I've read two books, made a flip chart visual aids for my hand washing causerie and my soap making formations, wrote scripts for my trainings, and did a practice run for the soap making since I've never done this type of recipe before.
Actually, I haven't even made soap since I was in 8th grade and went high up in the rankings of the state science fairs. It was all my mom though, she had the idea and we did the project together, we used different animals' lard in our recipe rather than recipe I have here that just uses oils. Last minute before returning to village, I had to delete pretty much everything off of my phone, photos, texts, etc., so put this new playlist Annie made me, it was only 79 songs, but my phone would not accept I had space until I got rid of everything. Well, this included my instructions and recipe for the soap. I knew the ingredients, I just didn't know how much of the carbonate and how much of the coco butter to mix in and the cooking time estimates, I called another volunteer that helped me with the local names of the ingredients so I could buy them in the market to ask if she remembered. I forgot to ask about the coco butter so I put it all in. It turns out, I should have only put half of it in. I'm still waiting to see if it will work out and dry appropriately, I hope it will. At least I learned from my mistake before I taught others how to do it. (update: did not work out)
I made the soap New Year's Eve's Eve, and that was the last time I went out of my hut for the next three days. I did a little bit of laundry on the second day, but it never dried because the sun didn't dry it fast enough since I waited until late afternoon to put them out to dry. That night, it seemed like it was going to rain, the skies darkened, thunder roared and the winds gushed. I had to bring everything inside, all my outside mattresses, the drying soap, my bike and my damp clothes. The night got a little "chilly" and I covered up with a blanket. When I woke up, I peered outside and the ground was dry; it never rained. But, the sky was darkened and I knew it would start raining soon. My hut, as most things do here during the raining season, smells musty from all the dampness. The winds came and so did the rain, making it the coldest since my arrival in Senegal, and I'm sure it is no lower than the mid 70s. I was reading, got a chill, and remembered I had a Roxy sweatshirt, one of my favorites from the States. I semi-recently washed it because it was hanging up with my rain jacket and bookbag, and my roof was dropping all sorts of debris from the termites living in my thatched roof then when it started leaking in that spot, I had to take action before my hut became fetid. Washing clothes here doesn't give the same sense of a clean and fresh feel, normally, they still smell and are still dirty even after double rinsing in buckets. I can't figure out how the water can turn so dark so fast after all the washing, scrubbing and rinsing! Well, anyway, my grandma, in her first care package she sent me a box of bounce dryer sheets. I have been putting them on my sheets and other things to dry on the clothes line. I put a few sheets in this sweatshirt for storage, awhile back.
When I got up to put the sweatshirt on, I got a rush of freshness and comfort. Not only was I wearing one of my comfort clothes from back home, but it smelled like home too. I guess that means home smells clean! Never thought I would describe it that simply, but it is true: Home = Clean.
Mind you, I only wore the sweatshirt for 10 minutes before it got wayyy too hot and the freshness faded and my body odor appeared. And, unfortunately, they are not one in the same. I took my sweatshirt off to preserve what I could of the glorious smell, since I've been out of dryer sheets for awhile now, and I lathered on another layer of deodorant. BUT, those 10 minutes of feeling clean and smelling clean, it helped me get out of my funk and now I've been a busy bee trying to make up for lost time to keep on schedule. If only it could get rid of my cold, too. (update: I'm healthy! yay!)
