Well, it’s been an exciting and exhausting couple of weeks here, culminating in yesterday’s oh-so-lovely stomach bug (at least I had mike and our friend that we’re staying in an apartment with to take care of me and make sure I was appropriately drugged up- yes, I took medicine! and it was good…), which seems to be passing (crossing fingers) already thanks to levoquine (mom, you should’ve brought this to Ecuador with you!) and whatever those little blue pills were, hmm… So far this week, the computer lab was constructed, inaugurated, and put back to sleep for a few days while we try to troubleshoot a slue of probs (mostly having to do with limited resources/waiting on equipment that’s 2-4 weeks late, and trouble with our service provider, etc), mostly a bit too far out of our control.
In the meantime, we do have 20 computers with internet awaiting a bit more software (office, cyber cafe pro or something like it) and another 15 computers that will be online as soon as we receive and install the network cards (that supposedly came a week ago from france and we assumed were buried beneath the 600 cases of books that shipped for the book fair that began on friday (no such luck) as part of a big opening ceremony with the NGO including the computer lab).
The book fair was a whole nother crazy ordeal, the moral of which was that these students (at least the medical ones) really really want books. I tried to stay out of any leadership positions for the book fair, as I was (somewhat) jokingly named the “grand patron” of the computer lab upon their thinking that I knew what I was doing. then I had a crazy amount of mostly self-assumed) responsibility 
(to make sure everything worked/works. it was actually pretty cool that Prof N gave mike and I so much responsibility cause we felt really invested in seeing it through and making sure the space lived up to all of the preparations that had been made for it. Now I am trying to turn the side room into a little multimedia station (the ngo shipped hundreds and hundreds of interactive medical cd roms.Well, the bug kept me from finishing this post yesterday, so sorry for the interruption. I thought it was over, but it came back for a final kick in the stomach, forcing me to sit around and do nothing but watch tv and eat colorless food. I attempted a nice walk along the Corniche (beautiful road along the coast that people often use for jogging and walking) and got about 20 minutes out before I had to stop and collapse and buy some mango juice. mike took the opportunity to eat his 4th meal of the day (it was only 6pm, which left him with another 2 meals to go (the boy is trying to make up for not eating for the month after dengue fever & antibiotics, I think, but I’m amazed by how much he eats and still manages to be hungry!). I came home, took my levoquine and crashed in front of French tv, while mike went for his 5th meal with our housemate, ‘Bec,’ and some other friends in the program.
Today I woke up quite hungry and actually managed to eat something green (!!) and also lots more bread and oatmeal and other non offensive, colorless stuff. Bec took me grocery shopping, and I had enough energy to buy all the ingredients to make “white bean patties” from the veggie magazine that mike got for Christmas. they were excellent, thanks to some fresh herbs and lots of garlic, and so easy to make! (recipe below) I was just happy to be well enough to eat something with protein in it and have enough energy to cook, too! meanwhile, mike’s been at the computer lab most of the day with laye, and managed to get the network working a lot better. That will be a relief.
Above is a pic from the Senegalese holiday called Tama Xarit, which is a mixture of Halloween, new year’s, and something more religious (A lot of people fast the next day). It happened last Thursday, and we spent the evening at Laye’s mom’s house, eating the special couscous dish that they make for it and watching the kids going from house to house asking for money or treats. (the boys in the photo have painted faces and are dancing and playing the drums for us to give them some change, but many kids traditionally cross-dress for the holiday, too).
My parting picture for you all is of the cat of the friend, C, whose apartment we crashed in for a week before returning to Bec’s. C had pulled it in off the street, when it was close to dying, and rehabilitated it and given it all kinds of shots and whatever else so that it could be her pet. However, the cat was by no means a domesticated animal, and mike was scared to death that it was going to scratch his eye out or the like. Over the week we spent there the kitty went from scratching us (for any or no reason) and pouncing on anything that made the slightest hint of movement to “fearing” us (in the biblical sense). We even learned to love the psychokitty, who is actually quite cute when not clawing you. We even miss him and his craziness a bit, but don’t tell him we said that.White Bean Patties: originally from Vegetarian Times Jan 06
-1 can of white beans (15 oz is what the recipe calls for)
-3 tbsp flour
-2 tbsp olive oil
-3 cloves garlic
-1 large egg
-juice of 1 medium lime or lemon (or 2 tbsp lemon juice, as per recipe)
- fresh cilantro, parsely, & green onion as you like, chopped (I used about a _ cup)
-1/2 zucchini, shredded or diced very fine (recipe called for thawed frozen peas, but I had zucchini and it worked well)
-1/2 c. Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (or just add salt and pepper to your crumbs and use fresh herbs)
Instructions: puree all ingredients but herbs, zuc. and breadcrumbs, fold these in, and then add salt and pepper to taste. if the mixture is too wet, add more breadcrumbs (too dry- add oil). Shape into patties (about 6) and saute on medium-low in a greased skillet for 4-5 min each side, until golden. Serve as a veggie burger with tomato and lettuce on crusty bread, as a cutlet with pasta, brown rice, or spinach salad, or top with warmed pasta sauce and more herbs for garnish.
Finally, here is Mike, after debraiding:
