Nerd Camp!

After a year of nerdy dreams and endless planning, the Peace Corps Volunteers put on a Science Camp.  Here’s a little shout out to all my friends and family that donated to our project; thank you yet again for your contribution!  The camp took place the first week of September and lasted for five days in the city of Koudougou, the third largest city in Burkina Faso!

Throughout the week we did experiments demonstrating different scientific concepts and discussed important health issues like malaria and HIV/AIDS.  My counterpart and I did a chemistry session involving the production of liquid soap.  This paired up perfectly with a hygiene discussion and it’s a great activity kids can do back in their villages.  They also dissected toads, played with electrical circuits, observed plants under microscopes and a variety of fun experiments with pressure.  Throughout the week there was also time for them to break up into small groups to create their own science projects, which were presented in a Science Fair at the end of the week.  It was incredible to see how proud they were of their projects and how they were able to apply basic science to their daily lives.

Of course there were also camp songs, team chants and many a silly game.  It was moving to see the students from different regions of Burkina get to know each other.  Many of them had never had the opportunity to travel much outside of their own region.  It was also interesting to see the interaction between kids from the city and kids from villages.  They do not realize the differences, positive and negative, of even their daily lives.

Anywho, camp was fun, camp was great, yeah camp!  Click on the link below to see a slideshow of what we did!  As they always say, a photo is worth 1000 words!

Science Camp Slideshow

Chanting to the Crocodiles

A couple weeks ago my friend Kelsey had a friend visit from the states and invited me for some adventure time.  We decided to hit up the city of Pô for a couple days, to forget our volunteer lives and to become the good ole tourists that we all wish to be.

After a relaxing evening with the volunteers in Pô and some cold beers, we woke up the next morning, jumped into an awesomely janky pickup truck with our driver and guide and headed to the lands unknown.  We started at the Peak of Nahouri.  The peak is considered sacred, so upon arrival we had to visit the Chief of the surrounding village and ask permission to climb.  Three young boys were assigned to be our escorts.  As we huffed and puffed up the small peak, they sauntered barefoot at a rapid pace in front of us.  The peak is no amazing feat, but unlike the switch back paths we enjoy on our mountain journeys, this path shot straight up forcing you to almost rock climb at points.  The view at the top was impeccable allowing you to see miles across the Ghanaian border and the landscape surrounding Pô.  The peak used to be used for military training, where trainees would have to run up the peak with a flag and claim there victory like astronauts claiming the first arrival on the moon. 

Leaving the peak, we jumped into the back of the truck for a bumpy ride in search of crocodiles.  As we were driving down the road, two gents on a moto came up behind us and shouted a greeting.  We thought it was a little bizarre when they didn’t pass us, but as it would turn out they would be our call to the wild.  Arriving in a small village we walked down to a pond where the children screamed, splashed and swam with glee.  Here we were to find the crocodiles?  But the children! Was no one worried for their safety? Oh, none at all.  There is a biannual chicken sacrifice to appease the crocodiles and the children are protected from any danger.  Anywho, the two gents went off to get toads and attach them to makeshift fishing poles.  The anticipation for croc fishing was building, but it twas not to be.  Gent number one yelled to the children to exit the water, waded in a few feet himself and began to chant.  I couldn’t help but laugh, but lo and behold within five minutes a small crocodile emerged from the depths and began to approach the waters edge.  At one point, gent number one stopped chanting, causing the croc to stop in its steps, not to move again until the chanting recommenced.  Emerging from the water, gent number two taunted the croc with the toad.  The snapping sound of the croc’s jaw can only be compared to a 50 pound dumbbell being dropped from a two story window and hitting the ground.  Upon receiving his snack, the croc was rechanted into the pond.  We were informed that more could be chanted to the surface, but each crocodile has his or her day and once one has left the depths of the water, no others will step onto the dry ground.  Although we did not see any other crocs that day, we invited our friend onto shore again for a second toady snack.

And we were off!  Back down the road we stopped at a goldmine encampment, where a temporary village was set up.  We watched people grind rocks and wash and rewash soil in search of the tiniest flecks of gold.  We met a Canadian that has been in Burkina for almost five years.  He is an engineer working on making grinding machines at low costs for miners.  He informed us he does not eat rice or tô, the two staple foods of the Burkinabé, and I wonder how he has managed these past few years.  He plans on moving to China next, the true spirit of a vagabond. 

We made a brief stop in Tiebele, famous for the painted houses.  The royal compound contains over 100 houses within it’s courtyard walls with over 300 inhabitants.  Many of the houses were shaped in figure eights with small arched doorways with a second barrier just on the inside.  We were informed this was implemented to force visitors to enter the house head first, so the dwellers could see if it was friend or foe.  Beware if you be a foe, for you have put yourself in the ideal position to have your head chopped off.  Cheers!

 As the day came to an end, we headed back to Pô to grab dinner and head toward the Nazinga Game Ranch to sleep for the night.  The park was already closed when we arrived, but the guard helped find a place to sleep near by, so we would be ready to go first thing in the morning.  With the raining season and all the foliage, it is difficult to see wildlife, so I kept my expectations low.  Within the first fifteen minutes driving into the ranch, an elephant sauntered across the road.  The driver sped into reverse, shouting the dangers of temperamental elephants during raining season.  Continuing down the road, we saw a herd of large antelope loping in the distance.  Dark specks in the road ahead ended up being a pack of baboons, which charged into the brush as we approached.  After breakfasting at a restaurant on the side of a manmade watering whole, we took an hour-long tour within the ranch.  Elephants and no bears and no tigers oh my!  There were more elephants, baboons, and the antelope, which I must say were quite the large fatties, an oddity when observing the livestock in this country.  Heading back out of the park, our adventure came to an end.  I got on a bus, got back to work, and put my tourist shoes back in the closet.  Until next time my friends, I will be forever the Maren.

Ney Taabo!

So, I’m in Ouaga, I’ve been kind of sick and the first thing my mom says is “Why don’t you write another blog post…it’s been awhile.” Okay, so that wasn’t the first thing she said, but close.  Anywho, I know I owe everyone a little update; it’s only been four months.  So, here’s what I’ve been up to:

1. The Mayor of Lalgaye gave me the key to the city

2. Three giraffes walked by my house the other day and I swear one of them winked at me

3. My latrine was broken for over a week, it was a fiasco and I never want it to happen again

4. My friend Marisol came to visit and I traded her to my neighbor for five chickens

5. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and threw them at children in the marche

6. I spend an hour pumping water each day, my arms will be ripped when you see me next

7. I rode my bike into the dam and got chased out by an alligator

8. Natu, my 12-year-old best friend, taught me how to beat an African drum

9. Joan Cusack came through to donate a solar panel to my school and we shook hands

10. I taught the teachers at my school the YMCA and now we do it every morning as the flag is raised

Although none of the aforementioned events took place, it’s the little things that make you smile that are most important, right?  Now I’m going to pick up my fantabulously pink journal, page through and see if anything interesting has actually happened to me.

November

The Borne Fonden, an NGO by my house, has a TV, so on weekends, if there is a good show on a group of people will gather to watch.  I was invited to watch the finale of a show called Faso Academy, aka American Idol Burkina style.  There were three male and three female contestants.  Each went through and sang two songs – all the females sang the same songs and all the males same the same songs.  Also, unlike the abbreviated versions contestants on American Idol sing, these were full length songs.  To say the least, three hours later I was more than ready to go to bed. 

Tabaski (Muslim holiday): got up early to go pray with my neighbor Abdulaye and his family.  They all jumped on his moto, while I chased after on my bike through town.  We passed the masque and then stopped in the middle of the road.  Apparently there were not enough people there yet, so Abdulaye rode off and left his wife (who does not speak French), his two youngest children and myself to stand in the road for a good half hour.  As people gather, I am given a white hijab to wear.  I joined the women, separated from the men and we pray in the middle of a dirt field under the beating sun, oh the sweat.  The rest of the day I spend visiting neighbors, who each in turn feed me chicken and rice.  In a matter of three hours I had over five meals and there were more to come.  I need to learn how to say no!  At night there was a dance at the “hotel.” I went for a bit, but as it was all the young people, aka my students, I felt awkward and left.  Happy Tabaski!

Gave my first test at school.  My counterpart and I teach the same classes, so we decided to give the same test.  This meant that I wrote the test and then he made it easier.  The test for my 6^th graders was cheat proof, told them that I would catch them cheating, told them how I would know they had cheated and do you think they still cheated? Of course they did.  I ended up taking off points from fifteen student’s tests and I know there was more.  I felt horrible and mean and I wanted to give them the points anyways, but what would that teach them?  Interesting difference from here and the states: to pass a test you need to get a 10/20 and the desired average on the test is a 10/20, so this usually means that almost half the class did not pass.  This is also something that I hope to change!

I bought chairs for my house!  When people come over now they can sit in them and not on the ground.  I did have to get them back to my house from the marche, so I was the entertainment for a few minutes as I awkwardly wobbled on my bike with them stacked on the back.  People here can seriously bike with anything and everything strapped to the back, I don’t understand it. 

Made a new best friend, she is twelve and wonderful.  I go and sit with her most marche days.  Her dad has a table where he sells coffee and tea.  It was watermelon season, so she always gets me a slice.  We sit and she trys to teach me Moore and Yana.  I also gain insight into the people of my village, who I should accept gifts from, who I should avoid, what other kids are saying about me.  I’m starting to get the feeling that her dad is feeding some of it through her.   It seems like her mom is not around much either, so I’m pretending I’m being a positive role model; she’s a bright kid and there is definitely potential!

Went on a bike adventure with my counterpart, Marcel, to the village 7km away.  It really was not that far away, but as he drives around on a moto everywhere and bikes here aren’t that great, it was an adventure.  I wish you could all meet him; he’s kind of awkward and dorky like me and he laughs at everything I do.  The students really seem to like him and from what I’ve seen he’s a good teacher.  When we got there, we headed to the school where a bunch of teachers were waiting and brewing tea.  We turned the last 50m into a race and they all started cheering, the winner will not be mentioned.

Thanksgiving in Africa, there’s really not that much to say.  My neighbor gave me a pineapple (note: he did not know it was any sort of holiday).  I had been planning on making a bunch of food and inviting people over, but I actually had a fever and didn’t really want to move.  So instead, I laid around all day and did nothing.  I almost think it was better that way (not the being sick part), but trying to make a big deal out of it would have made me miss home.  My parents did call and I got to talk to many of my wonderful relatives. 

There was a meeting with all of the functionaires to create a panel.  I’m still not really sure the purposes of the panel, but all the functionaires give money each month and then if someone gets married or there is a death in the family we give some as a gift.  Anywho, for the panel, they asked for volunteers for each position (president, secretary, treasurer, etc), but no one wanted to volunteer.  Then they moved on to nominations, which turned into people nominating their friends as jokes.  Each nominee was asked to give a speech and each person stood up and stated why they did not want or was not qualified for the position.  We voted and a person was elected.  The minute the nominations started, I could see what was about to happen, and when the called for nominees for treasurer, the guy next to me pointed right at me and goes “Her!” My speech was short and I got three votes, thank you very much.  I was mortified, but it was a good laugh. 

December

The first weekend of December I headed into Ouaga for my first official VAC member.  I am a committee member for the Volunteer Advisory Council.  Basically if anyone from my training group has any complaints, concerns, or compliments that they would like to have discussed with the Bureau, they tell me and I pass the info along to the appropriate people.  The first day the committee meets and goes through all the commentaries collected from other volunteers and determine what needs to be addressed with the Bureau staff.   The second day, we meet with the staff, go over what we have to say, they go over feedback they have for us, we leave and report back to everyone else.  Good fun.

The day before we left for In Service Training (see following paragraph).  My friend Elena came to visit and it ended up being a traditional holiday, Nabaska, aka party for the chef.  The night before they started drumming and dancing outside of the Chef’s courtyard and didn’t stop playing until ten the next morning.  The men did this crazy dance where the jumped around sporadically, but when there was a particular beat of the drum, two of them would suddenly jump in sync.  That afternoon all the functionaires got together and put together a sum of money to give to the Chef.  We all went to his house, where we ate and drank while different people gave speeches and more drums were played. 

Second week of December and I’m back in Ouaga for In Service Training!  First time since moving to site that I have seen the rest of my swear-in group.  It was weird because some people I talk to a few times a week and some people I had not talked to at all, but it felt like nothing had changed.  We had a week of sessions with just us and then our counterparts came in to do a three day workshop on project planning.  It was a lot of help to work with my counterpart to create a project idea step by step and to start brainstorming possibilities for my village.  Training ended on the 22^nd, so back to site for Christmas!

My friend Marisol came home with me for Christmas.  On Christmas Eve, there was an APE, basically the PTA, meeting to elect any vacant positions.  The whole meeting was conducted in Yana, but every so often the President would shout “Haas” and then translate into French for me.  For lunch  we made a Mexican feast, so delicious and baked lots of cookies.  That night we lit candles, grew this funny crystallizing tree my mom sent me, listened to Charlie Brown’s Christmas and opened presents, cause I’m not a patient child! I would like to give a shout out to my Uncle Randy and Aunt Allison, my neighbor Chris, and all of my mom’s lovely coworkers for sending me unexpected Christmas packages.  Such a fun surprise, and I feel more spoiled than ever.  As my community is primarily Muslim there was not that much going on Christmas Day, but we ran around giving cookies too all my neighbors.  We called it the “Donne and Dash” (donner means “to give” in French), aren’t we clever ha.  And that was about it.  The day after, we went on a bike adventure to Ouargaye, 20km south of me.  We found a beautiful dam and frozen bissap (juice made from hibiscus flowers, sugar and other flavoring).  There are rarely cold drinks in my village, so this was a thrill!  Also discovered that I can get oatmeal there, so may have to make a return trip to run some errands.  Marisol left the next day and I hung out waiting for the New Year.

New Years Eve came and just like in the USofA, the day was very anticlimactic, everyone hung out, chit chatted, listened to music and talked about how everyone was going to dance that night.  Night came, I headed down to the marche, the music was bumpin, but no one seemed to be at the hotel dancing.  Everyone was eating chicken, while most other days people eat goat meat, apparently New Years is a chicken holiday.  There was no explanation, but you couldn’t get anything but chicken.  I quickly learned that people didn’t want to pay to get in.  I personally wasn’t feeling it, so I headed home early (plus I was going to bike the 40km to my regional capital the next day) and did not dance my way into the New Year.

January

I was sitting by the kiosk with my friend the old man, I don’t know his name and everyone calls him old man, when he got a call from the mayor saying all the elderly men were going to gather and talk about the history and culture of my village.  Tagging along I found out that a radio station was there to record an interview.  All of the old men sat on the ground while the mayor, the radio people, and myself sat in chairs – it felt very weird.  Instead of a discussion, one man read a statement into the microphone and as he was facing away from me, I didn’t catch much.  I’m hoping to get to talk to some of them to learn the history of my village.  There was only one other woman present, which even the radio people commented on because normally there are no women.  Apparently at all traditional gatherings, it is custom that a certain young woman and man always be near the chef (who is also the mayor).  Who they are and why, I’m still not really sure. 

Fun fact, I learned the last Chef of my village had twelve wives and over fifty children.  Can you 

imagine?  In addition, it used to be traditional that when it came to marriage that two men would trade sisters, so if you didn’t have a sister, it was pretty challenging to get married.  And if there were two sisters and four brothers, only two of the brothers could get married.  Obviously, this is no longer legal nor does it occur in the more developed areas, but it is so interesting!

School started again and everything was getting back into gear.  A week in a student died.  Two friends had been in a fight, and that night one entered the house of the other and whacked him over the head with a board, resulting in his death.  The student was obviously arrested soon after.  School was cancelled the next day, and I went to the burial with the rest of the teachers.  In Islamic culture, it is traditional to bury the deceased within 24 hours.  The next day school started up again and it was as if nothing had happened.  I was fascinated to see the reaction of the village because violence is part of the culture, which meant that there wasn’t a reaction.  They also don’t show any emotion, so not many people talked about it. 

A group of other volunteers and myself are planning a Science Camp to take place at the end of next summer.  We want to get students involved in doing experiments, as they have no lab or materials at their own schools.  Our main committee met up in Ouaga last weekend to get things organized and I came in with a nice fever and body aches.  Both continued for several days, hence why you are getting this lovely blog post.  I’m in the clear now and will be heading back to site tomorrow!  Hopefully February will bring more excitement! See ya on the flip flop later.

Do the 180 Twist

I’ve been in the lovely country of Burkina Faso for almost four months now and everything has
changed over night. I’ve gone from spending every day with my amazing fellow trainees and
having practically every moment of my life planned out to no Americans (that I’m aware of)
within 80km and my own life to lead. This is it, this is what I’ve been waiting for; what I signed
up for in the first place all though I think most of us had forgotten. I didn’t come here to live at
summer camp for two years, but to live, work and integrate into this gracious country.

Two weeks ago, myself along with 46 other lovely new volunteers took the same oath as our
very own president and became official Peace Corps Volunteers! As the Peace Corps 50th
Anniversary group, we kicked off a three day fair, sharing fun, Peace Corps history and current
volunteer projects. The Burkinabé artist Floby debuted our very own Peace Corps song at the
culmination of the fair, graced by the presence of the First Lady of Burkina Faso herself. (hear
song at link below – video editing by yours truly)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUO2ZPiwMRM

Followed by a few quick days to room the capital and pick up things for my new home, I bid
farewell to my new fellow volunteers as we were all shipped off to our sites. I was prepared to
be a nervous wreck, with my French not where I would like it to be, even less local language
and honestly nothing to compare to for what was about to happen to me. Everything went
surprisingly calmly. There was one moment when we dropped off my nearest neighbor, when
I realized this is it, I’m on my own, but the moment passed. Ever since receiving my invitation
for the Peace Corps I’ve managed to maintain the mentality that this is what is happening in my
life and it’s going to happen one way or another, so let’s just go with it (fingers crossed I can
maintain it for the next two years!).

Arriving at my site, we awaited the director of the school to lead us to my house, only to find out
that the man with the keys was 45km away and wouldn’t be back until the evening. No worries,
my driver took the next hour to break into my house, which works out since he was going to
change the locks anyways. Locks changed, my gas stove set up, the driver asked if I needed
anything else and he was off.

Quick note about my house, I feel so spoiled. I have my own private courtyard with two little
mango trees, a porch, an outdoor latrine and “shower” (no running water or electricity), two
bedrooms, an indoor “shower,” and a living room. There are also steps up onto my roof, which
has become my favorite place to lay at night, watch a lightning storm in the far off distance
and gaze at the millions of stars above me; it is truly spectacular. After a week the place is still
basically completely empty. I have a cot, which I use for my clothes, and I sleep on a thermarest
on a mat on the floor. The carpenter stopped by and I ordered a table for my stove and water
filter. When they arrived the next day, I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited. It’s going to
be a process, but I’m excited to make this my own place. My first official house!

My first night, a neighbor girl helped me get water and took me to the marché. I quickly learned
that not that many people in my village speak French, and Mooré the local language I’ve been

learning is understood, but they respond in Yana, which I definitely do not understand. Oh the
joys of communication. That night the director of my school took me out to dinner at the only
kiosk (“restaurant” - basically a little shack with some tables and chairs around it) in the village.
We talked about the school before he started talking about how much he loves science fiction
followed by a narration of a whole science fiction novel - something to do with people going to
Mars in the future, robots and telepathic Martians…bizarre.

The next few days were a rollercoaster of emotions. I wake up around 5:30am (don’t worry I
go to bed at 8pm) and don’t want to leave my house. It’s terrifying thinking about approaching
people with little to say and a lack of ability to say things at all. I normally go for a bike ride or
walk to explore some other part of the village and greet people as I pass by. People always ask
where I am going and when I say I’m just wondering, they think it is tres bizarre. Here, people
are on the move with a purpose and destination. Their lives are so labor intensive there is no
need for exercise merely for the point of exercise. I’m happy to become the weird “nasara”
(local lang for “stranger” or “white person”), who loves to romp around the town. When I do get
the courage to enter a neighbor’s courtyard or to stop by a boutique (a little shack with a window
where you can buy packaged necessities), the people are always so friendly, open, and accepting
of the minimal exchanges we can make. The other day, I walked into my neighbor’s courtyard
and they were all husking corn. For the moment no one there could speak French, but I gestured
to help and they brought me a chair. I ended up husking corn for over two hours, even though
someone came and asked me if I was tired after ten minutes. It is extremely amusing that they
always think foreigners are quick to tire and we don’t know how to do anything correctly. In
this culture, there is also the standard to have children do everything – I know some parents in
the US wish it was like that. At the end of the day, I return to my house around 6pm as it gets
dark, make dinner and talk to some fellow volunteers. It’s fun to hear what everyone else is
experiencing as each situation is so different – the difference between replacing an old volunteer
or being at a new site (I’m the first volunteer in my village), having a site mate, having another
volunteer a short bike ride away, being in a big city with most amenities or remote villages.

This past week was the first week of school. I recently found out I would be teaching Math and
no science classes as I had previously expected. By Monday morning, I still had no schedule
or textbooks. Getting there at 7am my director basically said, “Okay, go teach!” I almost had a
heart attack. I had nothing prepared – I really had no idea what material the classes would even
be covering. Luckily I ran into my counterpart, a fellow teacher who has been assigned to help
me with cultural adaptation and to answer any questions I may have. He explained to me that
I would be teaching one class of 6e (equivalent to our sixth grade) and a class of 4e (equivalent
to our ninth grade). On the first day all I had to do was introduce myself and give them a list
of chapters to copy into their notebooks as the students themselves do not get the text books. I
was so nervous. My 6e had a wounding 75 students and I think their French might be as good
as mine. The following two classes with them was a little bit of a struggle, but I think I will be
able to make it work. My 4e class has only 50 students, which does feel small – so weird – and
some of the students are most likely my age if not older. With that class I have had to self teach
some of the material to myself as the notations used aren’t learned in the US until university. I
will say so far I love that class. They are very receptive to my French abilities, pay attention and
participate; granted it has only been one week, but let me keep my optimism up for right now.

I have a lot to learn about my village and it will take a lot of effort to put myself out there and
really get to know the people. I’m excited for the challenge and I am so happy to be here. The
other evening I went on a bike ride fifteen minutes out of town to a dammed lake, which has
trees growing throughout it (open water is a tragic rarity in this country). There was a ridge
along which to ride and as the sun set, white birds flocked in from all directions and massed on
four small trees in the middle. It was as if the trees were covered with white blossoms. I stopped
to sit for a moment and watched as a lone fisherman in a skinny canoe paddled along putting out
his fishnets for the evening. There is so much to learn, so much to see, let the real journey begin.

It’s been a while, eh?

Training is over and I’ve made it to site (see following post) and I have not shared a single word.

There have been the obvious challenges of the rarity of Internet and the minimal electricity, but

that is no excuse and I duly apologize. A lot has happened over the past four months, I don’t

even know where to begin or really to end. There isn’t really the time or space for all of that

nonsense and I know you all have to get on with your lives in that far off place called America.

Anywho, here is a brief summary of what I have been up to and a few ramblings of the highlights

of training.

After a week in country we were brought to our training site and deposited with our host

families. My family consisted of two yabbas (grandmothers), Madeline (mother), Alphonse

(father), and my six host brothers Serge, Abu, Claver, Wilfried, Ives and Bertrent (aged 22, 19,

15, 10, 5, and 3 respectively – maybe, ages here are questionable). My four older brothers spoke

French and the rest were without. Wilfried became my ultimate partner in crime and my instant

new best friend; I do not know what I would do with out him. All 35 Education volunteers were

placed in the same village and the 12 Agriculture volunteers were in a village about 20km away.

Our group is unique in the fact that we have no married couples and only one person over the

age of 25, an interesting dynamic, but we are all so close and seem to get along wonderfully.

Monday through Friday we had training from 8 – 5 and Saturdays 8 – 12:30, so all of our time

was basically planned out for us. Sessions were broken up into language lessons, learning about

the Burkinabé education system, practicing teaching, cultural standards, and other random Peace

Corps rules and regulations.

Here’s a list of some of the highlights, I promise I’ll do better with blog posts in the future, bare

with me…

=My first night with my host family they took me to the closest bar. Another volunteer,

Marisol, came with her host brother and we ended up dancing the night away. It was a very

interesting dynamic as kids were drinking beer and girls and boys dont dance together but with eachother.

=I brought a deck of Uno cards and the minute I taught Wilfried to play we had to play every

night. He never quite caught onto the rules of the special cards, but we did use them to

practice English and Mooré colors and numbers

=The Fourth of July we got the afternoon off and food delivered from Ouaga to celebrate. We

danced the night away at the Belle Vie – our favorite restaurant in town, with cold drink,

salad and brochettes.

=One night my host family told me there was a celebration for the Chef of the Village. There

was lot’s of dancing and drinking going on at one of my neighbors and these masked men on stilts showed up and were running around. My host dad actually handed my baby brother

to one of the men – he immediately started crying and all the women began berating my

father. As the sun set the festivities began to move down the road with men on motos

cruising by and popping wheelies. My friends Emily, Alaina and I joined the procession

running around with children, dancing with the traditional dancers and shying away from the

motos cruising by. The Chef himself was traveling along at a snails pace in his vehicle and

would periodically stop to let the dancers perform. At one point we were invited to join and

everyone circled around us as we danced away.

= Stage music video; coming to africa cant change me that much! Nothing like a good rendition of Bycicle Race by Queen when all we do is ride around on bikes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVHr4dXPZzM

v My host family was located in a tiny village outside of the village where we had training.

There were about nine of us that lived out there

v Stage Prom – that’s right even in the Peace Corps we have prom, at least our stage did.

Dates were asked in wonderful ways, couples wore matching pagnes and we frolicked until

the wee hours of midnight. We even had a talent show, where people displayed their musical

and dancing talent. And don’t you worry, we crowned a wonderful prom king and queen.

= My friends discovered a cave! Which supposedly has a genie and a friendly snake in it. Unfortunately if you fart it will close for three days. One person told us that it goes on for 11km while another said it was a mere couple caverns. We obviously searched for the other entrance to no prevail. Another person told us that the cave was created by a giant porcupine. I love the legends here. Ill talk ,ore about beliefs and traditions in a future blog but Im currently on a French keyboard and its driving me bonkers

=What happens when you ask a friend to go for a morning bike adventure? Why an eight hour

bike ride of course. A friend and I decided to bike out one morning to see what we could see.

We passed through several small villages, stopped for lunch and were feeling good. Minor

detail to remember that however far you go out you do need to come back. We really lucked

out with everything – there were plenty of places for us to stop and purchase water, it wasn’t

too hot and it didn’t rain. Let’s just say I wasn’t talking to anyone for the last two hours and

I did not want to bike home once we got back to the training center. Ultimately an excellent

adventure and a great way to see the Burkina landscape.

=On one of my last days there was a funeral. During the day the men prepared the burial

site and the women gathered under a tree and played calabash drums. That night, as is the

animist tradition (local religion), there was a mask dance. People formed a circle in the

dark and figures dressed up in these huge outfits that made them look like Gila monsters

with animal masks wandered around, swaying to and fro. We were told that there were five

different masks and only one would come out at a time. We asked the significance, but we

were told we were not allowed to discuss it there.

I have so much more to share but i am going to stop there for now. My next post is already typed so it will better formed. I hope all is well on the home front and I would love to hear updates from all

Let the Training Begin

Well, week "zero" has come to an end and now it's time to begin intense training.  I still feel like I have been superimposed into a movie set and that I'm not actually in Africa. Tomorrow we leave the capital to go a smaller village where we will be adopted into host families during training for the next three months.  Once we're out of the isolation of the compound, I think reality will finally set in!  With one mere French lesson through, tomorrow evening should be interesting.  I'm writing this post to let you know that this same little village has minimal if no internet, so there will most likely be no posts/emails/Facebook.  If you have time to send me letters I would love you forever and I would write back!  Any news is always good news!  I do have a cell phone, so with time permitting I may be able to dictate to the fam to pass info along.  I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and wish me luck!  Peace

Ready or not here I come!

After a three-hour delay at JFK (no hard feelings as this led to free wine and the ability to get some rest), and an unnecessary dash across the Brussels airport, I have arrived in Ouagadougou, and Burkina Faso is officially my home for the next two years!  I was the first to step off the plane into the humid heat and I couldn’t be more excited.  Leaving the airport we all piled into vans; mine proceeded to reverse full speed into the truck behind us in the parking lot…no big deal, with a little maneuvering we were quickly on our way again…only in Africa.  As we were driving, it began to rain – here in Burkina Faso, it is a sign of good luck if it rains during an arrival; the perfect start to this adventure!

For the first week (“Week Zero”) we are staying at a compound/hotel with running water, electricity and AC in the rooms…we’re really roughing it.  Most of our days are spent outside or in un-air conditioned rooms, aka sweat 24/7.  I already feel like 90 degrees is a cool day.  It is rainy season, so every so often we get a ten-minute dust storm followed by a torrential downpour for several minutes.

On our first night, my wonderful roommate Leigh was putting down her mosquito net in the dark when its cord got caught in the fan, not a pleasant sound to say the least.  After endless giggles, awkwardly standing on chairs, we finally had to untie the four corners of the net to get it down and then struggle to put it back up (= standing on top of chair on top of bed, real stable). 

Anywho, days are filled with hanging out, exploring (I can't even begin to describe it, hopefully I’ll take some pictures soon), vaccinations, sessions on health, and interviews (including an oral French exam – definitely more silence than speaking).  Walking around, we get stared at a lot and all the kids shout “Nasara! Nasara!” (“White person! White person!”), adorable.  We’re on our own for dinner most nights, a real adventure since “restaurants” are outside stands with little tables and plastic chairs, you eat what they’re making for the night and don’t ask what the meat is.  Most of it is pleasant to the palette and everything is so cheap by our standards!  Now we all wait to see who gets sick first…

Friday we get adopted by our host families, so let the immersion begin!  I don’t know the Internet situation yet, but hopefully I’ll be able to update again soon!  Miss you all!