Women (et al.)

People might have noticed that I don’t talk much about women in this blog, and there’s a good reason for that— I don’t really know any down here (hmm, maybe that’s not a good reason, but it’s a reason). That’s about to change thanks to a gender-neutral post I put on Blada yesterday. I put up an ad looking for people to converse with in Guianese French Creole (the local creole), offering to either buy them a drink or do an even exchange, half an hour in creole and half an hour in English (OK, I admit it: I gave into the French tendency to call it ‘American’). At around 8 a.m. this morning, I received a phone call that roused me from my sleep. I had hoped that it was for an apartment, but alas, it was a woman looking to meet this weekend for an English conversation. A few hours later and after my first time running on the streets in an attempt to exercise, I received a second call. This call was even better, because the woman asked me what I was doing here, and I told her I’m here to study how Haitian Creole changes when Haitians have started to interact with people speaking the local creole. And she was very happy to hear this, because she is in fact of Haitian descent. She says she speaks Haitian and Guianese Creoles and also Guadeloupean Creole, the native language of her baby-daddy (her words, not mine).
The rest of the day was fairly low-key. I made some phone calls to find an apartment, with most telling me that the apartments have been rented already. I saw one today which was really nice; it had everything (except, curiously, a place to keep my clothes). If I take it, I’ll put up pictures of it. It’s on the pricey side, but it’s less expensive than the tiny room I had and is twice the side. The neighborhood, like most of Cayenne, isn’t pretty, but at least it’s safe and fairly easy to get to from the bus. It’s also right near the Montabo hill, which in an earlier blog post I called the first really pretty spot I’d found in Cayenne. The biggest problem is that it’s only available for a month, though there’s a small possibility that the person who wants in April might be willing to put it off for a month. If I don’t like the place I’m visiting tomorrow, I’ll sign up for one month and continue to look for a place starting in April. At least I’ll have a three-week start, and with any luck, I’ll find one that’s a bit cheaper and have it even out.
I also bought an umbrella after getting soaked from head to toe on the way to the apartment. It cost 6 euros, and broke the first time I opened it when the button that you press to open it popped off. I then spent another 8 euros on an umbrella that I’d seen a bunch of other people carrying around. It seems to work well.
Oh and I still haven’t received any requests for postcards. I promise, the postcards make French Guiana look really pretty, and it’s nice for me to have people to write to.