Its a boy! again

I was happily asleep last night on my cot outside, in the fresh night air, breeze rustling my hair, the chirp of insects serenading my dreams, stars casting diamond sparks across the sleeping landscape when a couple of goats forced their way through the gate and came prancing into the compound like they had an invitation from God herself. I woke up to one of them with a bleat that sounded like it was run over with a cheese grater.  I just bought new batteries for my flashlight so is like a spotlight.  Goats don’t like it when you shine a light on them at night.  Most of them made tracks for the gate.  The one with the annoying bleat got confused.  then lost.  Then he felt abandoned.  He sounded like he’d just been separated from the sheep and cast into the left hand of darkness.  He couldn’t find the gate and stumbled around bleating his gravel crushing bleat.  I got up.  Opened the gate.  Found something heavy.  And threw it at the goat as it ran for the gate.  He was lucky I was not wearing any of my corrective eyewear.

Then I couldn’t sleep for the 3 hours so I finished Team of Rivals. It is really good.  After my grad school debacle I never thought I would actually read a history book again.  

Yesterday I got home at 1330.  I said hi to my host mom, then went to say hi to some other people.  Then I came back my house and slept until about 1445.  At which time Kodjo came over to see if I was ready to go to this funeral.  Oh, he said, by the by, your host mom just had a baby.  What. The. Hell.  I’d just seen her an hour previous.  In that time she’d gone to the dispansaire and popped out a baby.

 

Kodjo and I went to the dispansaire and sat with Petite.  David was there.  We joked with him and told him that he was replaced as the baby of the family and that he had to go sleep with his dad now.  David is like 2.5 and does not understand any French.  But Petite and Kodjo thought this was hilarious.  Such is Togolese humor.

 

Then I went to a funeral for Nikko’s brother in Kpamboa.  He was a bit older and died suddenly.  They had the dance in this ring of trees that the deceased had planted.  He apparently loved planting trees.  I amused myself by buying candies and giving them to random kids that I caught staring at me.  

I went from eating 3 good meals a day in Lome/Kara/at D’s house to eating at my house.  The night I got back I had bread with hot sauce.  Last night I had bread with hot sauce and cheese spread.  Then I had bread with peanut butter and cheese spread.  Then I couldn’t sleep after the goat incident because I was hungry. 

I cant be bothered to really cook anymore.  I am too tired

I need to get back to my house.  Jacques killed some kind of rat in his field this morning and gave it to my family for the new baby.  Namo rotisseried it.  they are waiting on me to get back to eat it.   

Petite asked me what I am going to name the new baby.  I am thinking "benjamin" after my little brother.  This, however, its problematic, yet it might be fitting.  I dont know if this is a francophone thing, but in Togo "benjamin" is a noun, not a name, usually.  It means the youngest child.  In this case, it might work since Petite was like "i'm done having children" yesterday.  I am running out of family members to name children after.  It doesnt help that most of them have been male babies.