Housekeeping (and football)

This week started with the chemical cleaning of the wastewater treatment plant in Jordan (the Jordanian Formed Police Unit at Takrouna camp where I work in Daloa). I did no cleaning, but I did take pictures of my crew as they cleaned, and I climbed up a very dirty ladder to look inside the treatment unit. I'm on the front lines of sewage control here - or at least just behind them.

I was a bit more actively involved in the annual maintenance of the water treatment plant on Thursday and Friday in Seguela, a pleasant little city about 120 km (80ish miles) north of here, via what must be one of the worst roads in the world. It took us three hours to get there, but on the return trip I sacrificed the suspension and the backs of my two passengers to get home in 2.5. It's election year, so they're working on the roads. I learned on this trip what that entails: filling the potholes with more dirt. They use steamrollers to compact it, but it's still just more dirt. The construction crew have made it about a quarter of the way to Seguela. There are a lot of potholes on that road, it's going to take them a while.

Back in Daloa, my cleaning lady, Naomi (yes, I have a cleaning lady. Being a UN volunteer is very demanding - and surprisingly well paid), is off sick, so I had to clean my own house and wash my own clothes yesterday.  You'll be happy to know that I survived the experience, and that Naomi should be back on Friday.

Today at the market, everyone was gearing up for the last two quarter finals in CAN 2015. Lots of people were wearing orange, and there were plenty of flags and hats and such for sale. Côte d'Ivoire was up against Algeria, who did the best out of all the African teams in the last World Cup, and were favorites to win this tournament. I didn't give much for the Éléphants' chances, and I decided to buy some team socks, because I figured they would be hard to find afterward if the team lost and was knocked out of the tournament. The vendor at the sock stall was a young woman, and as she gave me my change she mentioned the game. I asked her if she thought they would win and she said yes.

It turns out she was right! Wilfried Bony of Manchester City put CdI in the lead in the first half, and then again in the second half after the Algerians equalized. Gervinho (of AS Roma) put the last nail in the coffin, in the third minute of extra time. It was quite a game, especially for Ivoirian fans! Bring on the semi-finals!