Megan, Kate, and I standing on a mushroom termite hill with our guide, Alfar, in the area surrounding Dindenfelo.
Kate, Ed, and I taking a quick reprieve on the way up "mountain."
A custard apple tree!!! This is for you, Pintos!
The whole crew at the top of a hike: Kate, Me, Megan, and Ed.
And welcome to our life: one week absolutely crammed full of peanut-butter. Mind you, this is even more hard-core than organic! This stuff is straight up; no sugar, salt or nothin! Yum! We ate the whole tub!
Jocie!!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, hello from all the Pintos! We're so glad to hear you're doing well. Mary Ellen has joined my ballet class, so I'm going to get to see her every week now!
I just read all of your blogs, I'm glad to see them all up again! I loved them all, your pictures are amazing, and you look so happy. I could have posted a comment on all of them, but I'm just going to touch on some of my favorites here:
1) CUSTARD APPLES!! My mom was trying to explain this inside joke to your mom, because she just didn't get it. Mom and I were so excited when we heard about your custard apple picture and your mom is standing there looking at us, giving us this blank expression like "I don't see the big deal. It's a fruit." It was priceless :)
2) The Guinean boy. Oh my goodness. Jos, this made me cry. My dad and I were talking about instances like that in India, and how that's why he's so happy to be here. I think it's amazing that you are having all these experiences, and that you can connect to another human being's experience so strongly. And you have a beautiful way of writing with that connection, so that the rest of us can share in a piece of your experience. We love you, stay strong.
3) Your inspiring seashell tree house. :) I vote you publish a book one of these days!
4) The dialogue from Lu et approuvé. I'll check out the film, any idea where I can find it? I don't know much about Africa, but I'd love to learn, and your political posts are very insightful.
One final comment, because I could go on and on: "Speaking from Senegal. Focus on being, not having." How lovely. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes: "Creation is a better means of self-expression than possession; it is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed."-Vida D. Scudder.
Thank you for your creations: your ideas, your experiences, your passion for understanding the way other people live. And just for being you :)
I love you so much!
-Rachel
Rachel-
ReplyDeleteYou are a stunning individual. Thank you so much for your heart-felt responses.
Regarding the short film Lu et approuvé, it is currently impossible to find a copy of it. Personally, I would love to get a copy when Kan-si makes it available. In the meantime, this website is the only one referring to the film. It has a couple of pictures on it: http://www.tortorgallery.com/exposition/lu-et-approuve.html
You might notice that I've hijacked your quote. :-) I really like it.
And yes, get ready for it....CUSTARD APPLES!!!!!!!!!!!
PS Now both of us are engaged! I've got myself a man all lined up down in a little village in south-eastern Senegal! ;-) We should get married to our foreign boys side by side! And we should have our dowries of cows lined up as bridesmaids!!!