In the aftermath of Tabaski - or Eid al-Adha - we had a couple of pairs of sheep horns boiled in Dakar so that the stuff from inside the horns would come out. This was the easy part of the process and now the idea is to make some new snappy objects out of them, but preferably without the accompanying smell! Washing the inside of the horn with strong tea or beer are the suggestions we have come up with so far, but somehow I doubt the effectiveness of these methods. We already tried bleach but the horn aroma still triumphs…  How on earth did the cupper get rid of the smell of her cupping horns in the old days? Or did she? If you have any ideas - preferably based on experience - please help!

 Somewhat belatedly I’m wishing you all a very happy, inspirational and bacteria-free New Year!

I’ve been off line for the past weeks firstly because of my trip to Senegal and secondly because I fell ill upon my return home. I caught a typhoid fever, which is a life-threatening illness caused by bacteria. It is typically passed from person to person through food and drink or by drinking from contaminated water supplies. The bacteria multiply and spread to the bloodstream and cause high fever, headache and other nasty symptoms. After a week in isolation in the hospital with impressive daily doses of antibiotics and paracetamol intra vena, all the every day trivia at home and small errands here and there simply seem delightful now!

Sandra’s love letters - or parts of them - are now hanging on our wall. Sandra, the former tenant of this apartment, had abandoned her old PC in the corridor, apparently in the hope that it would somehow evaporate and disappear forever. I volunteered to carry it down to the street rather than have it gather dust in our corridor for all eternity. I only wondered whether she had emptied the hard disk and when I asked her, she said that there was nothing in the first place - ”only love letters.” So we removed the hard disk and dissected it and took out all those colourful plates with tiny soldering seams and transformed them into an artistic apparatus…    

Yesterday I went to see my ten-year-old godson, who just like all the ten-year-old boys is now having a well earned summer break from school. His mother had put on the wall some of his drawings, one of which I now proudly present to you here. Considering his age, I think this is quite fantastic piece of work!  

Recently my laptop was contaminated with a virus and now it seems that there are hidden organisms slowly taking over all life in the house as well.. No wonder I had a flu and all sorts of oto-rhino-laryngal problems about 26 times last winter. I know from my previous doctor, who is Kongolese and specialized in sports medecine, that there are all sorts of fungi around us all the time and only the more vulnerable of us create a more intimate relationship with them. In my case the fungi had neatly settled between my toes and because I had most likely got it from the same gym in which my doctor too was a member, he was not able to hide his disgust very well. When I wanted to show him my athlete’s foot he quickly shouted no! no! no! and took a book from the shelve and showed me pictures of other victims that the medicine had catalogued. I pointed out from the book which one of the fungi in impressive colours looked closest to what I had - and got a prescription. In a week’s time the thing was beaten.

But what is the medicine against mold in the house? There are hundreds if not thousands of discussion groups and help forums on the topic. I almost forgot that my sister - who lives 3000 kms further North - has herself trained her dogs to professionally sniff dangerous humidity and fungi in buildings. Well, there is no longer need for fungologist dogs or any other specialists - the evidence is in front of you and our remedy against it is to move house, the packing starts tomorrow.

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