Friday 10 April - Day 18

I've been working really hard today in an effort to get my room clean and cockroach free. I pulled out all the lino and swept and dried the floor and the lino out, lino in the sun for a few hrs, before sweeping again and putting it all back in stages, cleaning the lino as I went. Moved the bed around and deep cleaned the bathroom. Samba is going to give me a different mattress as well, one from his house which hopefully won't be nearly as saggy in the middle. My back will feel the difference!

Just had a cheese crepe, made by a French woman who runs the internet cafe I'm in, near the compound. Very nice, I needed it after the hard work cleaning today. I hope I don't get visited by any cockroaches tonight! I don't know what to do with the food I have in my room, although it is in tupperware boxes, sealed, but that and the bathroom attracts the cockroaches. I don't like them at all, but thankfullt these seem a bit dopier and easier to catch than the ones I had in my basement flat in Toledo, Spain. Next time I'll get a chocolate crepe - yum. It'll probably be made with the tasty chocopain choclate and peanut spread that keeps my sugar craving at bay. No biscuits! Well there are biscuits available, but they're pricey and don't fit into my daily budget, and while I was in London I developed quite a refined taste for biscuits, not having been used to such choice when I was living in Spain. Tesvo Finest triple choc are my favourites! Alas, no tesco biccies or medical dramas on TV for a while now. I hope my mum is remembering not to delete each episode of Casualty and Holby City that I'm missing. I expect to have a 24 hr tv session of all 12 weeks of the programmes when I get back!

I managed to squeeze in an impromptu interview today with a woman who has been attending English classes for the past year in a free school in Kafountaine - free as in no charge for attendance. Very interesting information about schools in Kafountaine, challenges for women in access to education and dicussing possible solutions that Abene Karantaa may be able to help with, such as laying on free transport for women to get to school in Kafountaine in the mornings every day. Just a thought to look in to, as I gather all the information we will look into when I meet with the trustees of Abene Karantaa when I get back.

Just saw Youssou N'Dour on the TV while I ate my crepe in the cafe, talking about education. He seemed to be at a meeting attended by political leaders. I didn't get all of it - I must study French again! Tomorrow I'll do more, but I have been speaking Mandinka today, since I got up to get bread and a cafe Touba from the Auntie, Auntie Dei who has a 'stall', as in a small table and pressure cooker she keeps the coffee warm in. Just 50 francs (CFA Francs) for a cup. I brought my own cup and put some condensed milk in it at home. I don't drink coffee in the UK, but I seem to be able to sleep here despite the caffiene, and the coffee is so tasty! It's quite a social gathering around Dei's stall, with a wooden bench along side her, there are always several people hanging around here and my chocpain sandwich that I brought from home is not out of place with other people eating their brekkie baguettes too. I expect they bought them at the shop next door, that sells all sorts and as I have seen will sell a half stick of buttered bread, pulling out a knife and bringing out butter from the Jadida boxes, kept unrefridgerated, it doen't taste like any butter I've eaten before. I've seen people go in in the morning starving. I don't know where they must live. I've also seen a guy who I'm told sleeps by whichever fire he finds first, to keep warm. People, just like the cows, goats and the few - unwelcome - pigs, just wander through any compund at any time of day. A fire will attract a crowd, and so many people come by at meal times. There's always enough food for guests, and I'm told if there isn't guests will eat first and those from the compound will cook again if necessary. I on;y cook for myself because I'm vegetarian and they cook meat and fish every day. But I love churro and the peanut and millet sweet dish I had a bit of earlier. Tasty dishes.

I started writing about the interview earlier i n my notebook, I'll type it up at Sainey's tomorrow I expect. I did really plan to write a blog today, and am just writing it now after a beer in the internet cafe, I thought I'd check the news and read the Independent online edition, but I read an email from my mum saying to keep up the blogs, so here I am.

My half an hour is up, and after the 1,000 f for the crepe and the 600f for the beer, I will limit myself to half an hr on the internet today, not an hr and come back tomorrow instead. I'll be soon to bed, I'm reading an interesting book I borrowed from Samba - about a guy's journey following the trail of an explorer in the 1700s, through Gambia, SEnegal, Mali and Nigeria. The Road to Timbuktu I think it's called. He talks about it being strange to see a car going down the road, very different from his home in the UK. I know that in Abene. Bikes are much more usual to see on the road, and the cars are all 4 wheel drives, except for the bush taxis. Only the 'rich', aka Europeans in the village generally have 4x4s. I heard a small child crying in the street behind me as I walked here this evening, I spoke to him in French to see what was up, and he spoke back in Mandinka. We walked together for a bit and I left him with a 'fuñato', until later.

Fuñato. Bonne nuit.