el mismo hecho de interrogarse

these days i spend all of my time staring front of a computer driving to the corner buying cigarettes in the metro with my electric stove i have to wipe the fog off of the mirror in the bathroom this new cleaning product removes oil stains from tupperware i need baking soda to put in my refrigerator look at my online statement separate trash for recycling. other days we drive up the muddy road sitting on laps of women with artificial legs and broken windshields to get the the internet club where the cab driver stops in the middle of the road to buy two cigarettes from the child crossing the street open sewers in bafoussam, sidewalks in dschang, close my eyes and have a song in my head the moment the cold water soaks my hair we wash dishes in a bucket of rainwater with a 400g solid block of soap that also washes your clothes and body this when the water doesn't work you boil everything you left out overnight which is as good as refrigerating and all trash goes in a pile whose smoke on burning drifts over the gentle hills

we have all left mbo now i am in dschang waiting until the roads dry up enough to take the car to lewoh where i can install myself. as usual i will just show up, unload my trunk and suitcase at the bar then wait for someone to recognize me and give me the key to my house, then several children will carry all of my things for me to wherever my house may be. palm wine continues to ferment and within three days or so it is mostly vinegar if you leave it in the bottle too long the carbon dioxide is too much and it is like champagne the difference is we don't use champagne bottles but used plastic water bottles, like we eat roasted peanuts out of used whisky bottles, we eat grilled suya off of used radiators, we drink honey with bees still in it out of coca cola bottles et cetera. there is a university here and a centre climatique, so named because the french set it up since the weather was tolerable to them and they could live there. i am staying in the surgeon's compound on a hill after the valley and the other hills is my area.

the best thing about dschang is that the open sewers aren't big enough for you to fall in at dark, the people are more mild-mannered. moto drivers don't yell "woa woa le blanc!" and i don't have to yell back "que puta queres le noir?" there are italians, muslims, an iranian shopkeeper, ubiquitous sourdough bread, cheaper and faster internet, warmer, a sidewalk even on the main street... dont acte