It is fun to have a festa in Guinea Bissau.  It happens after funerals, or weddings, or sometimes just to celebrate the championship game of the futbol season.  So Chad and I, both leaving in December, decided to have a festa as a bit of a blessing and celebration for our friends and the Mission Compound.  The initial task involved finding a goat of suitable quality for such a festa, and that was not easy.  My friend Ebraima volunteered to look for a goat for me, and do the negotiating in price, so that we wouldn’t have to pay the “branku” (white man) price.  Well, he found several suitable goats out in the neighboring village of Sedengal, about 10 miles away.  So several days before the festa, we hopped aboard a car, and went there to look.  On the way, I remembered to my dismay that I had forgotten the extra cash that I was bringing, so I only had 25,000 cfa with which to buy a goat.  So the question was this–could we negotiate the price down that far?  We went on a trail about 1 1/2 miles from Sedengal, and found a suitable goat there.  It had a limp that concerned me, but otherwise was a very nice goat.  It immediately became obvious that Ebraima was going to use all of his powers in negotiating, as he was saying that we needed this goat for ceremonies and also that we did not have much money….My Kiriol was not good enough to contradict him, so I kept quiet.  Despite the sob story, he could only succeed in getting the price down to 28,000 cfa–56 dollars, which was an improvement from the intial price of 40,000.  However, I did not have enough money, or rather, Ebraima did not have enough, since I had given him the money so that it would be more authentic that he was buying the goat.  I think the guy was pretty sharp however, and saw through our subterfuge…so it became obvious we would need more money than I had.  So we told him to have the goat out by the main road by 5 pm, and we would bring the rest of the money, and pick it up.

Here is my friend Ebraima, posing with me

So we went all the way home, rested for an hour, and then headed back to pick it up.  We got there by 5 pm, and surprise, there was no goat by the side of the road…or person for that matter.  So, there was nothing to do but to walk down that same path again, 1 1/2 miles to get the goat.  Well, the goat was there, but the fellow who sold it was out in the matu working.  So we sat and waited, and waited, while the ladies there fed us some delicious roasted peanuts. Finally, after 6 pm, the fellow got back to the house.  I was concerned, because it was getting dark, and there is a possibilty that you would not be able to get a car that late…But we paid the rest of the money, and took goat on a leash back out to the road.  By the time we got there, it was dusk, and a car was not a sure thing.  But finally one came along, and it was packed out.  They had room for the goat on top of the car (I say car, because we call them that, but they are really vans used to carry literally everything, people, animals, produce, whatever), but there was absolutely no room in the car for 2 more people.  However, it was probably our last hope so we hopped on the bumper, and held on as we went down the bumpy road back to Catel. (Africans often ride back there, but I had never seen a branku there before.)  It was fun, and it was not too cold, and we delivered the goat to Ebraima’s house in fine shape.  We still had a few days until the festa, and we didn’t want it eating Adrianne’s garden at our house!

For the cooking at the festa, I enlisted the help of Mai and Aminata, 2 sisters who go to church.  We told them to cook everything just as they would normally, and not to make it “toned down” just for us..so here is what happened

Adrianne killed the goat, although I missed that process.  Here Pete and Ebraima are skinning it

Here is the large kettle cooking the goat meat.

Cleaning the insides, or tripa.  There was nothing wasted in this goat.  The only parts thrown away are the gallbladder and the trachea and the hooves.

The ladies doing the cooking.

The pot over the open fire with goat inside

Well, I should update just a bit.  Today is the day before Christmas, and I am back in AL.  It was good to see a lot of my friends yesterday in church, and it was a reminder of how long I had been gone.  I had no real issues on the trip home, with all the flights leaving on time except the last one.  Sean Fitzgerald picked me up at the airport and I was able to give him another suitcase of his things from Guinea Bissau.  Then I went to my parents home, for a couple of nights, and then drove them in their car down here to AL for the Christmas Holidays.  It was great to see everyone, and although the time that I had been gone did not compare to some of the other times that I have been gone, it seemed the reunion was a bit sweeter…So it is great to see all the children, and to see the new baby bump that DIL Michelle is sporting!  I did post some pictures online, on Picasa web albums, so if you would like to view photos, you may check this out…

https://plus.google.com/photos/101410363747604056143/albums/5825488465344675873?authkey=CPfQ8ZDpp_S15wE

I plan to update later with some more stories, maybe after Christmas, so that will have to do for now.  To my friends in GB, hello, and Merry Christmas…You keep the faith, and continue to trust in God…

It is hard to believe that there are only a few short days left here in GB, and then I will be heading back home.  Chad Kilheffer and I will be leaving GB on December 16th, and taking the ferry to Dakar, and then both flying out late the 17th and for me the 18th.  I arrive back in Harrisburg on the 18th as well, since we gain time flying west.  Chad was involved in one of the latest medical episodes.  I feel a little like this is Trapper John, MD, or some other medical show, since I always have a medical story.  But that is what you get here with me.  Saturday, December 1st was a day like many of the recent days, cloudy and cooler.  I saw the usual stragglers on a Saturday morning that do not realize that there is no clinic, and then I fried fish for lunch for the crowd that was here.  I had a lot of help with that, as Josephine fried french fries, and Lia had some rice balls that were also fried.  The rice balls tasted as much like hush puppies as you can get her and it reminded me of Davids Catfish, back in Atmore, where most of the good foods are fried.  A different meal for us, but one that was very enjoyable.   So everything was normal, until the late afternoon.  One of our neighbors was expecting twins, and the first child was born without the lady having a lot of pain around 2 pm in the afternoon.  But she then stopped having any pains, and so they called me.  I am not quite sure yet what all I am allowed to do here, but she gave me permission to check her.  Her bag of water for the second baby was bulging, but I really couldn’t tell about the presenting body part.  I ruptured her bag of water thinking it would help her go on into labor, but nothing much happened.  We decided she should go to the nearby hospital, and called the doctor there to tell him we were bringing her.  So we loaded her along with the living twin and another lady in the Peugot, with Chad as the driver. It was Chad up front driving, the lady with the undelivered twin in the front passenger seat, and the other lady and I on the floor in the back of the car. On the way, the lady in labor had to urinate, and she just asked the lady in the back for a container.  We asked her if she wanted to stop, but no, she   tried to go while the car was still going.  So we kept going, but I don’t think much happened, anyway.  So we made it to the hospital okay, and had a bit of trouble finding the doctor.  It turned out, he wasn’t there but was at a rather large party nearby.  Although he never came, I think the decision was made to transfer her on to Bissau.  It turned out that the baby was breech, and they ended up turning the baby before delivery, so it all ended well.  I think God directed all that.  She was exactly where she needed to be at the time.  She arrived back in town the next day, and Chad and I heard through the grapevine that they are going to name the 2 boys Chad and Jon!  Oh well, it is better than a lot of the names around here.  It is common to name children bad names so that evil spirits won’t want to bother them.  For the example, the other day, we had two men visiting our house whose literal translations of their names meant Poor man, and Death.  So, maybe our names are better than that.

On the Friday before the above story, after clinic in the morning, we were getting ready to eat, and Meghan and Kati came running up to our house with white faces, and said that Steve Jablonski (the new PA here)had been burning the trash in the pit, when something exploded and that he was badly burned.  I grabbed a bike and raced over there to find Steve with Pam trying to cool him down, a more difficult process when there is nothing but water, and no ice.   He was burned on the R arm, the R face, and also both legs.  Initially, I was thinking the worst, but most of his wounds were 1st and 2nd degree.  The right arm was the worst burned, and of course, 1st and 2nd degree burns are by far the most painful, so I was glad that I still had a few strong painkillers in our repertoire here in GB.  With the skillful work of Meghan and Pam, they were able to dress everything with Silvadene and wrappings, but 6 days later, he is still not able to work due to the sloughing off of the skin, and the pain with the stretching of the joints.  He is doing better, and we are hoping by next week that he can start again in the clinic.  I think it was an answer to prayer that he was not hurt worse.  We never did find out what exploded, but think maybe it was something from the shed, as there were some men cleaning out in preparation for the cashew operation that is starting up this week. God is gracious to protect his eyes and other vital organs, as they could have been damaged with the explosion.  

I now have a Balanta name.  I am not sure who decided it, but mine is Pansal, with the emphasis on the last syllable, and spelled phonetically.  It literally means, the house/it is finished, but not in a good way.  It means that everyone is dying off, and that only a few are left…?  So Pansal it is, and I respond to that or whatever else you want to call me.

Yesterday, we were glad to welcome Troy Landis, EMM representative, who will be here for instruction for the YES team and also speaking at church.  It was great to see him again, as he was one of the ones in orientation who helped a lot, and that everyone had gotten close to.  So, yes, there are comings and goings….so Chad and I are planning to celebrate our going with a festa, a party.  Unlike most of our meals here, where we can safely say that there were no large animals hurt in the making of this meal, we are having real meat….we think.  A kabra (goat) somewhere in Catel is going to die, and hopefully, a few chickens or two.  So, if anyone is around, join us on Saturday, the 15th for real Guinea Bissau treat.  We will say, Bin kome, which means come eat, as we do whenever anyone is there to assist with eating our meal……

There are many untold stories here….and so those will have to wait until later.  Thank you all for praying, and look forward to seeing a good number of you in the next several months….God bless….until next blog..