The next few days were spent wondering around the monastery trying to pick up any hint of an idea of what we were supposed to be doing at the time if anything and trying to make our stay a little more exciting. Being that the prior (Bernard) and the former prior (Boniface) had not come up to Kara with us, we really had no idea as to who was in charge if anyone. Our “boss” so to speak is Fr. Benoit, but he was sick for our first few days at the monastery and we didn’t see him until Wed or Thurs. When we did finally meet him his answers were somewhat more satisfying than those that we had been receiving. But we were still somewhat unclear about what we should be doing until that time. The answer as we later found out was, drum role please…nothing. We had no obligations to anyone or anything until school started. Nice. Except not really.
For those of you who know me, I acclimate myself fairly quickly to a situation and if I become comfortable enough I have been known to cause a little well-humored mischief. Well I am not acclimated yet and nowhere near comfortable enough to do anything like that on purpose, but I still manage to find myself in certain situations that could be interpreted as causing a raucous. I’ll explain…
So the water here is freezing, and since there is no power there is no running water. AKA It’s not like I’m telling you to walk a half a mile to the well to fill up a bucket of water, yeah well you kinda are. Colin and I were unawares of this for the better part of a week. We also had no idea (but gradually gained an inkling) that the monks each have their own bucket. Again, we were not told or presented any of this information. In fact life seemed to go on around us without much attention given to us at all with the exception of the very common and brief “Bonjour, ca va?” Well we had been using some of the half-filled buckets in the shower rooms, which I think were meant for us or to flush the toilets (still not sure on that). Either way we used them, and the water was cold, and it was unpleasant, but we were clean; I think. It just so happens that one day after playing soccer for the better part of the morning, I returned to my room to find a large metal pail filled with water placed closely to my stoop in the sunlight. “Boom roasted!” I thought. Warm shower here I come. Since no one had used the bucket for over half of the day (very uncommon), I consulted Colin and decided that it was up for grabs. Nope!
I later found out, as it was raining and I was helping to fill buckets from the dripping shingles that the bucket belonged to one of the monks (Mathieu, who turned 44 on the 22nd; and I am happy to say that we are now great friends) who was working out in the fields that day. He wasn’t too happy to say the least. He explained to me in very rapid French, about the bucket situation (that everyone had their own), and stormed off to take a cold shower. I didn’t use all of the warmish water, but the rainwater diluted it somewhat making it slightly cooler. This is the point in the story where I about lost it – internally. I was so confused as to what was going on around me, what I should(n’t) be doing, who I should talk to (other than Colin, who was dealing with his own issues – not serious, but everything gets amplified in an unfamiliar place), and whether or not I had made the right decision in coming here.
Meanwhile, Colin was doing his laundry in a bucket labeled “Poubelle” (trash can for all of you non-French speakers) when Fr. Benoit saw him and became deeply distraught over the fact that we had not been given buckets yet and that we had been largely left in the dark as to the inner-workings of the Monastery. Along with realizing that his clothes probably weren’t that clean, Colin was having a difficult time dealing with the language barrier. My French was/is somewhat more advanced than his, and being an English major who had never had a problem communicating on a very deep and thoughtful level was difficult for him as it would be for anyone in our shoes.
Alas we received our buckets, but were thrown for a loop when other monks began using ours for their needs, which we were fine with so long as they were returned. Mine wasn’t. It was being kept in someone’s room and as it turns out, he had three buckets! This place is crazy. But we soon realized that unless a bucket was full of water, being filled, or being kept in a room, it was up for grabs. Now we know, and it took us just under a week to figure it out!
We were also dealing with feelings of isolation, being so far away from any major city or other people remotely our age. Lomé was nice because we were at a monastic site, but still had the freedoms afforded to us by the city and some of our friends. Agbang is different. More than 25 km from Kara, it is a 30 min ride in and up until this point we thought of ourselves as burdens to whomever was chosen to take us in. (this is no longer the case, I am happy to say)! We were also still dealing with the very major issue of getting used to the food and its drastic effects on our internal systems. Let’s just say that we have been working on both ends of the spectrum on that one.
Aside from wondering about those more pressing issues, Colin and I played a lot of football in front of the abbey. This provided quite a bit of entertainment to some of the monks and local workers who are in the process of building the guesthouse. We also spent a ton of time just wondering around the woods and the monastery.
Upon finishing this post it is extremely important to remember that Colin and I are ultimately having the time of our lives here. Any issue that we have dealt with has been both an opportunity to learn and reflect upon our current situation. Things are going well. And part of that is due to the fact that I have someone to confide in, Colin, who is also experiencing some of the same problems. I could not imagine having to deal with and resolve many of these issues without his aid.
Also some of you have expressed interest in participating in a program like the one that I am in, and I am doing my best to paint a very lucid picture that is representative of my experience, which is to say that not everything is going to be sugar-coated. You’ll thank me when you are prepared for some of the same trials as opposed to experiencing them ignorant and blind of the goings-on.
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