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the music stopped and everyone turned to face Mecca to pray. Afterwards, the entertain-
mentresumedbutsinceIwastiredfrommyday'scycling,Ireturnedtothevolunteercom-
pound to sleep.
Thenextdaywasveryexciting.Aftercelebratingmasswiththesisters,theyinvited
me to breakfast. I returned to the volunteer compound and waited for Andrea. While he
slept, I prepared a public relations package for SCOTT bicycles in the US (I was hoping
to pick them up as a sponsor) and for George Gross, the sports writer at the Toronto Sun
newspaper.
I assumed that Andrea and I would be going in the morning to visit his projects but
to my disappointment Andrea wanted to go after lunch. We bumped into two Peace Corps
volunteers and had lunch together in a local restaurant. I absent-mindedly drank the water
that was offered by the owner (I would soon pay for this error.)
At around 4:00 p.m., we took the COMI car, an old Fiat, to visit one of the eight
worksites11kilometresaway. ItookseveralphotosoftheprojectinNdoune(withpermis-
sion of course).
A Cultural Explanation for Everything
While in Ndoune, I had a little culture shock. We walked by a water-well to see
the local women drawing water while carrying their children on their backs. Large plastic
containers filled to the brim with water were placed on their heads in one swift move and
carried down to their homes. Meanwhile, the men sat under a tree relaxing, drinking palm
wine and chatting (These men were behind me as I took the above photograph). The men
weren't helping and the women were doing all the work. I asked about this. The reason, I
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