Post Visit Part Deux

It was marche day in Guering Kouka so we moto'ed there and bought necessary items for my house. Half the market is made up of Tchook stands. A word on Tchook. Tchook is an alcoholic drink made of fermented millet and some other stuff, what exactly I'm not sure but it's damn good and extremely popular in the north. I drank it 4 times my first day in Nampoch. It's interesting the way they drink here. It's an all day affair as drinking is just spaced out throughout the day. Tchook, wine, Pastis, sodabi (moonshine), beer (there is no cold beer in Nampoch :( sadness) I drank it all during my week at post visit. It's a bit of a hike to get water because most of the pumps are spoiled but they're repairing a pump near my house.
My french improved greatly during the week as I was forced to constantly use it. My Konkomba could use some work though as most of the people in my village don't speak French. They were all very nice and several were nice enough to offer me their daughters, the children sometimes kicking and screaming. As nice of an offer that is I had to decline. I met the chief (who is quite young), met the students at the school, the gendarmes, and the police, and ate lots of pate and fufu during that week. I also fell sick so I slept alot. Spending time out of the sun is necessary because the sun is absolutely oppressive in Nampoch, I got one hell of a tan. I also got dehydrated superquickly. Highlights of the week, hmmm lets see. I learned how to call pintards (in English Guinea fowl) a stupid bird, that run around foolishly intimidating chickens. I also got to kill one and then eat it and it was delicious. They wanted me to use my swiss army knife to cut it's throat but I insisted on using another knife. It struggled as I bled it but soon enough it was dead.
Another highlight would have to be the voodoo ceremony I went to in the sacred forest located next to my compound. (Cue "The End" by The Doors) You drop your shoes when you enter the forest. Kodjo and I joined a group of men sitting facing a giant tree. At the base of the tree there were three fetishes and two men dressed in robes crouched near them. They said a few words and rang a bell. Then they took a baby chick and slit it's throat. They threw it front of us and we watched it's death throes until finally went limp. Then Kodjo pointed out to me there was a lamb tied to a tree. Well I knew what that meant. After the chick quit squirming they went for the lamb. They brought it before the fetishes, said a couple words and then cut into it. First they removed some hair which they then put on one of the fetishes, then they cut it up in numerous places. They cut out the lambs throat and put that on a fetish as well. One of the men in the robes rubbed the blood of the lamb all over a fetish and then they tossed the lamb away and men began to make a fire. During all this shots of sodabi (moonshine) with sugar were offered. The men laughed when they saw my pained expression after downing a shot. I've drank some terrible tasting liquor but this takes the cake easily. I took a nap and Kodjo led me back to the forest where they had saved some of the lamb for me to eat. How thoughtful. Wraped in a leaf was lamb intestines and other parts of its inner workings. I had some of the intestines while Kodjo ate what looked like its bladder. Hey T.I.A. (This is Africa). I must say it was pretty cool witnessing the whole ceremony as well as trying new cuisines. Afterwards we went by Kodjo's place and drank more Tchook.
Kodjo has three wives and the youngest one is pregnant and he informed me that when I return in December and the baby is born I must name it, an American name. That's a lot of pressure. Most of the suggestions I've received so far aren't exactly American (Schwarzeneggar, Hasselhoff, Slobadon) so I've got some thinking to do. At night we ate fufu with sauce so spicy that I was in tears as the sound of Lil' Wayne on someones radio drifted through the night air. Weezy is everywhere.