Sugarcane

This week was a very long and intense few days of research, so it was such a relief to get to Saturday and have a chance to get into the rural areas. The smell of exhaust and the glare of the computer screen are just no good for the soul.

About half of the group decided to check out the only rainforest in Central Africa, called Mabira. We saw monkeys and butterflies in the forest, and the whole area is surrounded by the greenest sugar cane fields. The closest memory to it that I can recall is seeing the rolling hills in Idaho with the grass rippling in the wind, except that sugar can is so much more exotic.

Walking around we passed a school of kids who wanted us to shake their hands and to "camera me". Then we ran into some women playing a dice game who wanted to talk to us about having white skin. Then there was the group of kids kicking a ball who wanted us to play and, the littler ones, to hold them. Our word of the day was conspicuous, but we are growing accustomed.