U.S. Embassy Update

Since I've signed up for the State Department's STEP program, I receive emails from the US Embassy. If you are interested in signing up, just Google search: State Department STEP. Schools are closed nationwide all week, so I'll be finishing up my site analysis report and just generally getting to know my site better!

U.S. Embassy Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Security Message for U.S. Citizens:

Reminder National Day of Protest and Additional Demonstrations

October 28, 2014

The U.S. Embassy in Burkina Faso reminds U.S. citizens of the upcoming demonstrations planned in downtown Ouagadougou October 27 – 30.

The U.S. Embassy will remain open during this period.  

Planned Demonstrations:

October 28 at 8:00 am: The political opposition plans to hold a day of protest to commence its “civil disobedience campaign.”  The march will likely proceed along the following route:  Place de la Nation-Avenue Gamel Addel Nasser-Avenue Monseigneur Joanny Thevenoud-Avenue de la Cathédrale-Avenue Kwame N’Krumah-UN Plaza, and back to Place de la Nation.  In Bobo-Dioulasso, a rally will commence at 8:00 am at the Place Tiefo Amoror (Station Square) and proceed to City Hall.  Additionally, the opposition calls for the closure of Burkinabe government facilities, commercial establishments, and schools. 

October 29 at 6:00 am: The Coalition Contre la Vie Chere (Coalition Against a High Cost of Living) or the political opposition hold a march and gathering in downtown Ouagadougou

October 30: The National Assembly will reportedly vote on the proposed constitutional change.  The opposition has called for a sit-down strike surrounding the National Assembly building to block voting members from casting their vote.

The U.S. Embassy anticipates additional spontaneous demonstrations will occur with little to no advanced warning throughout Burkina Faso until a resolution is reached.  Additional organized events are also expected.

It is reasonable to expect large demonstrations similar to those supported by the opposition in January and July 2014.  The National Police have increased patrols and established fixed positions throughout Ouagadougou to enable a shorter response time to spontaneous demonstrations.

The U.S. Embassy urges all U.S. citizens to maintain situational awareness and exercise good judgment.  The U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.  Please remember, even demonstrations or marches intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.  Be alert and remain aware of your surroundings.  Stay informed and abreast of local media reports.

The closure of roads and businesses associated with the “civil disobedience campaign” may limit the purchase of supplies.  The U.S. Embassy urges all U.S. citizens to stock enough food, potable water, and other essential supplies at your home for your entire family.

Update on Burkina Faso's Politics

We've been receiving security texts more often about avoiding the big cities in case of protests. October 28 has been decided to be an official day of protest. No volunteers are to travel to the big cities that weekend. Here's an update on what's going on from Reuters, with the link below:

"(Reuters) - Opposition parties in Burkina Faso called on Wednesday for nationwide protests against moves to lift a two-term limit on the presidency, accusing President Blaise Compaore of preparing a "constitutional coup d'etat".

In power for over 27 years, Compaore has positioned himself as a senior regional mediator and his landlocked country is an important base for Western counter-terrorism operations in West Africa. However, the referendum plan has split his nation.

Opposition leader Zephirin Diabre urged people across Burkina Faso to close market stalls and walk out of private and public sector jobs on Oct. 28 to launch a civil disobedience campaign to prevent a referendum being organized.

There were pockets of unrest in the capital Ouagadougou late on Tuesday after the government said it would submit a bill for parliament to call a referendum on constitutional changes to allow the president to stand for re-election next year.

The streets were calm during the day on Wednesday. But as night fell protesters, most of them young men, set up makeshift barricades, blocking several of the city's main thoroughfares before police negotiated an end to the protests in the early hours of Thursday morning.

"Twenty-seven years in power is too much. What you haven't done in 27 years, are you going to be able to do it in five more years?" said one protester, asking not to be named.

There is concern that other leaders in West and Central Africa may be tempted to seek constitutional changes to prolong their mandates in the coming years, and events in Burkina Faso are being closely watched abroad.

"The government is in the process of carrying out a constitutional coup d'etat," Diabre told a news conference, flanked by leaders of Burkina Faso's main opposition parties.

"Burkina Faso's political opposition reiterates its rejection of a referendum," Diabre said. He accused the government of preparing to pay off members of the National Assembly to vote in favor of a referendum.

A government spokesman was not immediately available for comment. The government has not yet said when it will table the bill in the assembly, where it needs a simple majority to pass.

Compaore has not publicly said he wants to stand for re-election but his party has. The proposed constitutional revision has raised political tensions in the cotton- and gold-producing nation of 17 million people, living on the edge of the Sahara.

Compaore, who took power in a 1987 military coup, won 81 percent of the vote in the last election in 2010 but was confronted by protests by the usually loyal military in 2011. Dozens of members of his party have defected to the opposition this year, underscoring the potential for crisis.

(Writing by David Lewis and Joe Bavier; Editing by Daniel Flynn/Ruth Pitchford)"

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/23/us-burkina-politics-idUSKCN0IC11120141023

Harvest

Rice

I got to harvest rice for the first time with my community counterpart. I followed him on my bike to someone's rice fields and helped harvest rice with 30+ other men. I was way slower at it then them, obviously. So after 20 minutes, someone took my tool so that someone else could work more quickly. Fine by me! They managed to harvest all of the fields in one morning since there were so many friends there to help.

Look at me go!

It was seriously the most bizarre sight for me. Watching PBS and the Discovery Channel and any other informational programming, it always seemed to be Asia harvesting rice. I had no idea that riec was harvested in Africa, too. I'm not quite sure which type of rice it is because, as you can see, the fields aren't submerged in water. But, the rice still grows. So, I'm not quite sure about that! It's in the works. But, the soil is fertile because these fields have been producing rice for this family for over 80 years!

The harvest starts by grabbing the groups of stalks and chopping them, then placing them in piles. After that, the women and children follow to bundle together the piles.

Many hands make light work!

The women and children bundle together the piles. 

The tool used to chop the stalks!

Peanuts and corn

As I explained in an earlier post, my community planted peanuts and corn in my courtyard before my arrival over 2 months ago. Well, they're harvested! I'd never eaten raw peanuts before, but they're really good!

The peanuts grow in the dirt. Once the leaves turn yellow and start to wilt, they're ready!!

The corn didn't get very big because it was planted too late in the year, but that's okay! Corn is corn!

You can tell that rainy season is over. This is what my courtyard looks like now, after 2+ weeks of no rain, but continued 100+ degree weather. I don't even notice how much I sweat anymore. This heat...man.

Penny and my new rooster Leonard in my drying up courtyard

Speaking of Penny. I would just like to mention that my crazy hen is like a cat. She flies up onto the 5ft. wall and goes into my neighbors' courtyards as she pleases. She then returns whenever she feels like it. Leonard, my rooster, is too heavy to fly over the wall. He likes to crow and wake me up at 3am some mornings. Thanks Leonard, but the sun won't be up for another 2.5 hours.

Sesame

My neighbor grew sesame this year. The sesame seeds are in the pods.

Tabaski: Feast of the Sacrifice

The men pray in the front and the women pray in the back.

Wikipedia's story behind Tabaski:

When Abraham attempted to cut Ishmael's throat, he was astonished to see that Ishmael was unharmed and instead, he found a dead ram which was slaughtered. Abraham had passed the test by his willingness to carry out God's command.^[1][13]

This is mentioned in the Quran as follows:

100 "O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!"

101 So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.

102 Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!"

103 So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),

104 We called out to him "O Abraham!

105 "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" – thus indeed do We reward those who do right.

106 For this was obviously a trial–

107 And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:

108 And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:

109 "Peace and salutation to Abraham!"

110 Thus indeed do We reward those who do right.

111 For he was one of our believing Servants.

112 And We gave him the good news of Isaac – a prophet – one of the Righteous.

—Quran, sura 37 (As-Saaffat), ayat 100–112^[14]

So, every year, Muslim families sacrifice a sheep as part of their second largest religious celebration after Ramadan. Aïsseta's family is Muslim, so I asked if I could go with them to pray and celebrate on Tabaski. She was more than happy to bring me! 

Their family purchased this ram for the equivalent of $70 USD a few days before the celebration. 

I'd just had a new dress made by the tailor across the street from her boutique. The material cost the equivalent of $4 and it cost $5 to make. $9 for a perfectly fitting dress? Yes, please! I take full advantage of having a tailor here! I wanted to buy a scarf I found in the market. The vendor asked $4 for it. I brought Aïsseta with me and I only ended up paying $3 for it. Win! It's very helpful to have a local come with me so I don't get the foreigner's price.  I'd also had my hair braided the day before the celebration. I was ready for a world of pain after watching the little girls cry while getting their hair braided, but I think all of those years of sports increased my pain tolerance because it really didn't hurt that bad. The hair dresser asked every 5 minutes if it hurt because it hurt all of the other whites she braided. But, it was totally fine!

I went to the mosque with the family in the morning. Everyone was dressed in their new clothes for the celebration. Since it's such a large community, the prayer was held on a soccer dirt field. The boys went to the front to pray with the men and I followed Aïsseta and her daughter and small son to pray with the women. We shared a prayer mat and it was time for me to follow the masses. The prayer ceremony was short and silent. I followed all of the bending and kneeling and bowing. There was one point where everyone starting humming at the same time, breaking the silence. It gave me chills, it was so beautiful. I'm easily moved by large groups of people sharing moments together. The silence of the prayer was incredibly powerful!

The women finishing praying on Tabaski in Burkina Faso

After the prayer, the festivities began! All of the children ran over to the side where people had setup their carts to sell homemade snacks and candy and toys. I took full advantage of this time to take a ton of pictures!

Aïsseta's mini boutique to sell goods

And then I took a lot more pictures!

My favorite people to hang out with in the evenings in town :)

The females of the family...and little Abadou!

The day of Tabaski was also the day of the market, so I went with Aïsseta into town and sat at the boutique for a little bit. That was when the dad had gone home to kill the ram. Again, so glad I didn't have to watch. Around lunch time, we headed back to her house and I sat under a tree with her neighbors' kids and my puppy. And then we FEASTED! And I say 'we' because Simba was so excited about all of the bones and meat to chew on. My body was just so stoked to have so much protein! I spent most of the afternoon chatting with people and enjoying the shade.

Later that evening, there was a dance at one of the main restaurants in town for the teens and young men and women. I stopped by to check it out and those kids were having so much fun! They'd been looking forward to it for weeks because one of Burkina Faso's rappers would be performing there. I was exhausted and gearing up for the celebration the next day at the Catholic church, so I hung out at the boutique and then went home.

You would never guess, but these are actually some of the happiest people I know. Smiling for pictures is not a thing here...

Me and my friend who is a volunteer in Boussé from Japan

I'm the proud new owner of a hen!

I have been at site for over 4 weeks now! In the mornings I go to Souley's family's boutique. I sit and talk with Aïsseta and practice Mooré whenever people stop at the boutique to buy things. I then head home for lunch, which I either make myself or eat next door at my neighbor's house. Then, I head back to the boutique, read with Souley, chat with people nearby and then head home for the evening. 

Aïsseta talks with a man who stopped by to buy some handmade soap.

On market days, it gets pretty chaotic in front of the boutique: motos, bikes, sheep, wheel barrows, etc

One morning, Souley stopped by my courtyard with a hen in his hand. He held her by her feet so she was hanging upside down. Aïsseta sent her as a gift and I was a little overwhelmed because a chicken's are not inexpensive. Souley asked if I have something to prepare it with and I told him that I'd just prefer to not eat her and keep her for eggs. Was he expecting me to chop her head off? No thank you. 

So, he untied her feet and let her run around the courtyard while he made a cage for her. There are a bunch of random cement blocks and rocks around my courtyard. He stacked them against the wall to make the side walls of the cage. Then, he broke up some clay blocks in my courtyard, added water, and then used the wet clay as glue to hold the cement blocks together. Let me remind you that Souley is 11 years old. The children are so crafty here!

Souley stacks the bricks and a broken water carrier

Souley smashes the clay, adds water and makes clay glue!

Souley told me I needed to catch her so we could trap her in the house so she'd learn that's where she goes at night. I laughed at him and told him that I have never trapped a chicken before. Guess what? I trapped the chicken!! It's really not hard. She had run into my house and was watching Souley. I came from behind and grabbed her legs and the rest is history.I expected a mess of feathers in the process, but the minute I had her legs, she submitted. I can't believe I know how to catch a chicken. The random things I've learned here...

Penny ran into my house and of course found the kitchen! 

Well, if I embraced the true spirit of Burkina Faso, I wouldn't name my chicken because they don't name animals. Why would you name your food? Penny popped in my head, so now my chicken's name is Penny and she's a hot mess. She fully embraces the term "bird brain." At all of my neighbors' houses, when they make cluck noises and throw grains out for them to eat, the hens and roosters come running to eat. When Souley and I make cluck noises and throw food, she runs the opposite direction. Over the peanuts and through the corn, away from Kathleen she runs. Seriously, this hen is terrified of me. But, my neighbor said she's going to find a rooster for me and then the hen shouldn't be so confused all of the time being by herself.

My corn has grown so much since my arrival!

During lunch, I sit under the neem trees to avoid the heat and read a book. The short plants to the right are peanuts and the taller ones in the back are corn. The plants to the left are the dang weeds that just never stop growing!

One evening, I came back from the boutique and Penny wasn't in her house and we couldn't find her hiding in the weeds. Granted, my courtyard is huge and the weeds are high, so she has many hiding options. The next day, we never found her. I lost a chicken. Who even says that? You know you're in Africa when you walk around your neighborhood asking, "have you seen my chicken?" I mean, I expected one day I'd have to do that to find a cat or a dog. But, a chicken? Hilarious.

Well, that evening, Souley and I went to a neighbor I hadn't yet met. I asked if they'd seen my hen and they were like uh ya she's right there. Sure enough, she was running through their corn field with all of the other chickens. That was easy! He went into the house to grab some millet and threw the grains for them to come closer and then we could snatch her. Well, he threw the millet, the chickens came and Penny ran the opposite direction. Ha! Penny. You are such a crazy chicken!

So I proceeded to watch Souley and two grown men running through the cornfield, trying to trap her. It was going to happen, so I just came back later that evening after she'd gone in to the chicken coop with the others. She's still terrified of me. We're working on our relationship.

Penny says, "Haters gonna hate." 

I'm Officially a Peace Corps Volunteer!

Swear-in

You don't officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer until you've successfully met certain criteria. Before I was placed by Peace Corps HQ to serve in Burkina Faso, I had to meet specific legal and health requirements. Check! Next, I arrived in country and needed to pass a medical questionnaire about how to take care of health while in-country. Check! Then, after 10 weeks, I needed to be at a minimum Intermediate-Mid level in French as determined by the international LPI test. I received that level upon arrival in country and I was very happy to have tested as Advanced-Low by the time training was over. To reach Superior, you need to be able to use all formal speech and be able to talk business, politics, economics, etc. Well, Burkina Faso won't necessarily teach me THAT much French, but it's a great feeling to be an advanced French speaker after being here for 10 weeks. Other requirements included integrating into my host family, attending and understanding all technical education sessions, proficiently teaching during summer school, passing the safety/security exam and meeting with program managers throughout to ensure successful service.

So, swear-in was more to us than heading off to serve in a site. Swear-in meant we had finally finished 10 weeks of 8am-5pm sessions and early curfews with host families. Most of us hadn't been students in an intensive 8-5 student environment since high school. But, we made it through and we were so excited!

Before we left for the capital, all of us trainees purchased green pagne that we then took to the tailor to make swear-in outfits. I wish I had better internet to post pictures, but my pagne was a dark green and I had a complet made. A complet is a fitted top with a skirt. I'd asked for the skirt to be full length, but he somehow missed the memo and the measurement his daughter took from my hip to ankle, but ça va aller (literally: it's going to go, meaning: it's going to be ok, life goes on).    

Ceremony 

Swear-in was Tuesday, August 19, 2014 at the US Embassy in Ouagadougou. Before we entered the building to check in and go through security, we greeted all of our language teachers who had come for the ceremony. Without them, we wouldn't be able to be successful volunteers. They taught us French and local languages, how to get a good deal at the market, how to get a bus ticket, what gestures were/weren't appropriate and general cultural dynamics. It was so great to see them there.

We waited in a holding room for an hour before the ceremony started. Hey, we were in air conditioning, so no complaining from me! We were then escorted out of the holding room, through a hallway into the atrium of the embassy. Everyone was ready for us. We walked down the aisle to our seats in the front, passing embassy employees, our language teachers, Peace Corps staff and current volunteers who had made the trip to come see us. There were probably around 200 people in attendance. We filed into our seats and the media followed. Talk about distracting. We knew that we'd be on national television, but I never realized how close the camera men get to people they're videoing. I did my best to just focus on the ceremony and not look at the camera, even though I could totally see it filming MY FACE.

The ceremony started with the Burkina Faso and USA national anthems. I looked across the stage to see His Excellence Tulinabo Mushingi, US Ambassador to Burkina Faso, a man filling in for the Minister of Education of Burkina Faso and Keith Hackett, our Peace Corps Burkina Faso Country Director. After our Country Director gave a speech about what we're here for and what this ceremony means, 4 of my friends went on stage to give speeches in 4 different languages: French, Mooré, Jula and Gulmancema to represent all of the ethnic regions our group will be serving in. Then, the Ambassador gave a speech and swore us in as volunteers. He explained that the oath we were about to take would join us with the Founding Fathers and countless others who have served our nation and the oath was as follows:

I, ______________ do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps, so help me God.

The man representing the Ministry of Education then spoke about what it means to have Americans here to help the education system. Then, the ambassador, interim minister of education and Peace Corps country director cut the cake together and then we went on stage to take a picture with them to end the ceremony.

Cake 

Let's talk about this cake for a second. The French word for "cake" is "gâteau." If you walk into the marché or down the street asking for gâteau here, you will receive a muffin sized ball of fried dough, and sometimes this dough has fish in it. Cake? I think not. So, when I saw a traditional American birthday cake, I got very excited. Again, it's the little things here. It's amazing how just eating a familiar food can make my day! My friend Chloe was sitting next to me during the ceremony and we made a B-line to the refreshments once the picture was taken. We're food soulmates…if a volunteer brought us cookies during training or the American restaurant in Léo made banana bread, you could count on us to park ourselves in that area. "Well I already ordered one piece of banana bread, so I might as well order another, right?" It was pretty hilarious. Anyway, we grabbed our respective pieces of cake and mingled with our friends and those who came to the ceremony. Another girl friend asked, "so do you think they'll notice if we take a second?" Girl, you just read my mind. There was so much cake and a group of us went back for seconds. Mind you it was 10am, but is it really ever too early for cake? (The answer is no, btw.) Another girl friend came up to me, knowing I'm a sweets person like her and asked, "so what do you think would happen if I got a second piece?" I laughed and replied, "well, I seem to be doing just fine, go get a piece!" We were all so on the same page, it was awesome. We also knew the extravagance of American and European food would be limited or completely gone once we left for our sites in 48 hours.    

BBQ and Swimming 

After the cake feast, we were escorted out of the atrium to the swimming pool. Yes, the swimming pool. Peace Corps reserved the pool and bbq area for us. We ate burgers, hot dogs, chicken, pasta salad and the list goes on. It was wonderful. Then we jumped into the pool. I had not felt so refreshed in Burkina until that moment. When it rains here, the temperature drops and if I get caught in the rain, it feels nice to be soaking wet (for about 5 minutes until I'm over it), but it was the nostalgia that made me appreciate that swimming pool so much. We splashed around for over an hour and then headed back to the convent for the rest of the day. I wanted to rest, but I also wanted to get a leg up on my shopping, so that's when I went to look at the solar panels and go to Burkina Pas Cher, as you can read in my previous post.

Clubs in Ouagadougou

That night, we went out to a dance club to celebrate. Okay, I was super impressed. I've been to cheap bars with dance floors in Pacific Beach, San Diego to the luxurious XS club in Encore, Las Vegas. I would say this was on the luxury side of the spectrum. There's not a whole lot of luxury in this country and I didn't join Peace Corps to be in Posh Corps (as volunteers joke about placements in other countries where electricity and running water are givens). So, whenever I experience something remotely westernized, I take as much advantage as possible because I don't know when I'll come across it next. Well, since we can't leave our sites for the first 3 months, my answer is 3 months. The DJ worked his booth in the back and played a lot of electronic dance music (EDM), a lot of which we recognized, which made the dancing that much more fun. There were semi-circular couches setup to form booths. And we had the place to ourselves for about an hour until local started to arrive. You should have seen all 30+ of us when "Call Me Maybe" and "Macarena" came on. No shame. We sang our lungs out and danced that Macarena like we were still kids in the nineties.

Food

I haven't talked about food a whole let yet, right? Just kidding. I do want to detail my food experience in Ouagadougou, though, because it was definitely a highlight of the week for a lot of us!

Dany Ice

The first day we arrived, Sunday, I ate lunch at the same place I'd eaten when I stayed at the convent for site visit 6 weeks ago. I ordered a café au lait and a "cheese burger," which has a patty, cheese, egg, fries, coleslaw, mayo and ketchup. Afterward came the ice cream. Everyone was just staring contemplating if they wanted to get ice cream with lunch or dinner. There was no deciding for me, I wanted the refreshing coldness of the ice cream. I gave my order to the lady and I turn around and everyone had followed. It was hilarious. You can't deny the ice cream. It's just not possible! Well, you can imagine I was stuffed, so I snacked on granola bars as a light dinner.

Festival de la Glace

On Monday we were provided breakfast and lunch, but were on our own for dinner. Well, Monday was bank day and we were so hangry after our sweaty, 45-minute ride to the bank that we were ready for an early dinner. We went to Festival de la Glace, which translates to…wait for it…Festival of Ice Cream!! The ice cream strikes back. The third-year volunteer who'd taken us to the bank recommended it and it sounded great to me! When we walked into the ice cream parlor, it felt like a piece of western Europe with its interior decoration, tiled floors, glass cases filled with pastries and sweet smell. We sat in a booth and when I looked at the menu, I was instantly overwhelmed: salads, sandwiches, crêpes, burgers, pizzas, egg rolls, EGG ROLLS? I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm at a European restaurant in a West African country that offers "Cuisine Chinoise." Is it worth the gamble? Egg rolls sound so good. So I ordered a croque madame (grilled ham and cheese with an egg on top) and egg rolls.  And boy was I glad that I did. I lowered my expectations from the amazing egg rolls my boyfriend's mom makes and I was extremely happy. They were simple veggie egg rolls with a sweet and sour sauce. Well, then I HAD to get ice cream because who doesn't get ice cream at "Festival of Ice Cream?" This ice cream blew Dany Ice's ice cream out of the  water. I ordered a coffee truffle truffle scoop with a banana scoop. Amazing. I revealed that I could eat even more ice cream and my friends pressured me into taking some ice cream to go with them. Well, it didn't take a lot of pressure since I secretly wanted more anyway. They were impressed with how much I'd eaten. I remember when I used to eat like that all the time when I was running track and field in college. It had been a while, but the athlete in me came out at Festival de la Glace!

Tuesday night, the night after swear-in and our bbq, I went to Dany Ice because it was raining cats and dogs and it was close to the convent. Wednesday night, I came back to Festival de la Glace with friends for our "last supper" in Ouagadougou before we would all be separated and sent off to our sites. I ordered the kingburger. As you can imagine it was large and had lots on it and was delicious. We got even more ice cream than Monday night to-go and thoroughly enjoyed our ice cream binge. But that's the thing, it doesn't feel like a binge when you know you aren't going to have it for a while. I've been reading about great harvest festivals and feasts in fiction and nonfiction my entire life. I never really understood and appreciated a feast until I came to this country. On Ramadan, it was a FEAST for those who had been fasting for the past month. On the holy day of the Assumption of Mary, it was a FEAST and celebration that rivals Christmas and Easter. After living in a small town in a developing country for 10 weeks and then having access to western foods for only 4 days for the next 3 months, we FEASTED and it felt amazing.  

This would never happen in California...

Weather in Burkina Faso

We arrived in Burkina Faso at the beginning of rainy season.  For the first two months here, the temperature on non-rainy days was almost always in the 90-100 degree Fahrenheit range with ranging humidity. I grew up in Northern California, so I know hot summers. But, it's a dry hot. And I could escape after 2 hours of soccer practice to the comfort of an air conditioned car and house. Nothing could prepare me for the amount of sweat I would produce on my first week in West Africa, alone. It's not that it's hot and I'm not used to humidity. There is absolutely no hiding from the heat. After about a week of being here I just stopped noticing my constant sweating. In the US, after sweating, we have this immediate desire to clean ourselves before we can meet people or be professional. I had to get over that real fast because if I practiced that here, I'd just never leave the shower room. I'm in a constant state of sweat. Electricity is incredibly expensive, so I'm very fortunate that my host dad brought a fan into my room my first night. Sometimes, it makes a world of a difference to help me sleep through the heat in my 90-degree room. Sometimes, it just blows warm air.

I have never appreciated rain as much as I appreciate it here. It cools the temperature at least 10 degrees and sometimes the new cool temperature lasts for the rest of the day. I'll never forget the first day it rained here in Léo. After a session, it was time for language class and I saw the group of language instructors walk over. Half of them were wearing layered coats with fur-trimmed hoods. It was probably 75 degrees, at the lowest. I was happy to stop sweating. They put on their jackets because they were cold.

There was a storm Friday morning morning. After it ended and I biked through the mud to teach my final lesson of model school, I passed a group of moms, with babies strapped to their backs, on their bikes heading to the market. I like to pretend these are the running stroller moms of Burkina Faso. Voilà groups of moms chatting while going somewhere; some things are just universal. Anyway, Friday morning, all of the babies had beanies on their heads and extra blankets around them. It was probably 75 degrees. This will never get old, it's too funny to me!

This is how women strap their babies to their back! I'm convinced this is why I rarely hear babies cry in Burkina...they have constant contact with their mothers and/or sisters!

Last week we had a series of days where it rained at least every single day or night. We had a few days in a row of 75-80 degree weather. It was beautiful. On one of the days, it was a little bit cooler than usual when the rain started again. I had just come home from a long day of sessions and a sweaty bike ride. My host dad told my mom to make sure she heated the water for my bucket bath and closed the back door because it was letting too much cold air in. I jumped up immediately and insisted that the back door was completely fine the way it was. The house could finally cool off! Every time it rains, I explain to my host family that this is the temperature in San Diego year-round. Well, that's cold to them. We always laugh it off. I'm happy when it's room temperature here and they're cold.

However, yesterday I actually got A CHILL during a rainstorm and put on a SWEATSHIRT after my nightly bucket bath. It was only 73 degrees. 10 weeks must be the mark for me to adjust to constant heat. Still can't believe I put a sweatshirt on. No, I'm not sick. ;)

Free Range Animals

A bunch of piglets live near the middle school and freely roam all over the grass between the buildings

Sheep cross the road. No herder in sight!

Burkina Faso hosts what is the definition of free range: sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys, chickens, you name it. They roam freely about the town in search of greens to graze or grub to devour in trash piles. And when I say free range, I mean free range. At the Peace Corps center, we'll be having a session under the hangar and then a chicken will casually walk through the legs of chairs in search of food goods. Sheep, goats, chickens and chicks and roosters will freely walk into my host family's courtyard in search of my family's donkey's lunch or the beautiful flowering bushes. My host mom gets pissed and shoos them away with a loud "ssss." I tried the "sss" once and it didn't work so well. I tried it again with an arm thrust pointing to the exit and they immediately left. So much pride. Another cultural gesture down.

A herding path outside of a hotel in my regional capital, Yako

Probably the funniest free range encounter was an evening last week. I don't know why these things always happen when I'm leaving the latrine to walk back to the house. But, I walk out in the pitch black darkness to find two, yes TWO, donkeys staring at me. WHAT the heck is going on! Where did you come from!?! I only had the mini light from my phone to see my path, so seeing those giant figures was definitely startling. My brother was outside and saw them at the same time and immediately started chasing the unwelcome donkey with rocks from his slingshot. What had been a typically calm evening became a spectacle within seconds. I've been here for 2 months, but I don't know when I'll get used to the stark contrasts of moments like that!

My host family's donkey after Saturday's rainstorm. Soaked!

Another animal encounter was a lot more casual between me and my host brother. We were sitting on the couches last night watching the news when we heard a thud near the bikes. It sounded like something fell or got bumped. My brother looked over the arm of his chair and dismissively said, "eh, mice." He said it in English before French, which I appreciated, but then he went straight back to watching the news. I went straight to my room. People freak out when there are snakes in or out of the house. But mice? Forget about it. "Harmless." Psh, no thank you! I plan to get a cat as soon as I get to my site.

Snakes in Burkina Faso

Mom and Auntie, you might not want to read this, but I promise it's a funny story! 

If there's one animal that Burkinabé are unanimously terrified of, it's the snake. Truthfully, I've never been very scared of snakes. However, I'm scared of snakes here just because I don't know how to identify them, though the majority are poisonous. For the most part, though, snakes universally behave the same. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. It is not common to see snakes, but when they're seen, they're dead. People here are so terrified that they will never let snakes live to go reproduce more of the terrors.

Well, I experienced this firsthand, at my house, in my room. I had just awoken from a nap. Before I got up, I saw the floor move. Now, this isn't the first time I've seen the floor move in my room. There's been a mouse, countless lizards, the furriest caterpillar ever, a terrifying spider and a giant dung beetle. Why was the dung beetle not outside with the donkey? Great question. Anyway, I look to the floor, and to my horror, I see a snake slither from one wall to under the four legs of my stand-up fan. He pokes his head out. Thank goodness he's small. I've never been particularly scared of snakes.  In my experience in California, it's either a harmless striped garder snake in the yard or a terrifying rattlesnake on the trail. However, being small doesn't make the snake less harmful. The baby rattlesnakes of California are potentially more harmful because they don't yet know how to release their fangs, so they inject all of their venom on the first bite. I have no idea if that's the case with the vipers, black mambas, cobras or boomslangs here in Burkina Faso.

The snake is only about a yard from my bed, so, I slowly slip one foot into my flip flop, then the same with the other and tiptoe out of my cement floored room to find a family member. The snake doesn't move at all, even with the loud suction noise characteristic to the opening of my door. I tell my host mom, "There's a snake in my room." She looks at me like I'm using the wrong French word for snake, "Un serpent?" I calmly reply, "Oui, un serpent." She still doesn't believe me and asks, "you saw it?" "Yes, I saw it," I play along. "Un serpent?" she asks again. "Yes, it's in my room, I'll show you!" This time, she decides to play along and follows me to my room.

I don't know the French vocabulary for the parts of a stand-up fan. I don't even know the technical names for the parts in English! So, I use the universal language of gestures to show that the snake is underneath the fan's legs. Well, of course the snake is completely hidden, so she doesn't believe me and asks again, "are you sure you truly saw a snake?" To which I reply, "Yes, I saw a snake!" I throw my hand broom on top of the fan's legs and the snake pokes his head out. I immediately I point to his head, but it's too late, he hides back under the fan once he realizes there's no threat. My host mom decides to go get something longer for us to use to prod the fan. She still doesn't believe me.

She comes back with a tree branch as tall as me. I'm laughing in my head because I have no idea where it came from, though I really need to stop asking that question. Things just appear here in West Africa. My host mom refuses to come in the room, just in case, and prods the base of the fan with the branch. Off slithers the snake with a simultaneous yelp and jump from my host mom. She jumps back as I point to the table he slithers under. "What are you doing? Get out of your room!" She pulls me to the hallway and shuts the door and makes me wait with some random small girl that is at the house for unknown reasons. There was no point to close the door because there's a 3-inch gap between the bottom of the door and the floor, so the snake could come find us if he wanted to. In fact, that's probably the way he'd gotten inside my room in the first place. As we stand in silence, I hear my host mom across the street yelling for reinforcements. I laugh out loud and the girl looks up at me with a straight face and evil eye with the look of, "this is not a laughing matter."

My host mom comes back with her 5+ foot branch of safety and the first strapping young man she could find. Thank goodness my room wasn't in a messy disorderly chaos for this little rendez-vous. I stay in the hallway with the girl while my host mom speaks a mix of rapid French and local language to explain that the snake should be under the table, but possibly elsewhere. He can't find it. He asks her, "are you sure you saw a snake?" I laugh out loud again. He proceeds to move around anything that's touching the floor. After about thirty seconds I hear a yelp from him and my host mom as the snake makes his appearance. I'm ready to hear the sound of the tree branch chopping his head off on my cement floor. But to my amazement, he picks up the snake, takes it outside and kills it there. How kind of you to not kill the snake in my room!

The killing of the snake is its own spectacle. The man has the branch holding the snake in one hand and a branch in another hand to kill it. Well, he whacks the heck out of it, while my mom yells rapid local lang at him. It stops moving, but he continues to hit it. Once he stops, my host mom asks, "are you sure he's dead? Hit him again! Make sure he's dead!" The man just hands her the branch and she starts whacking the heck out of the lifeless snake in the dirt. In the chaos of it all, the donkey keeps staring at me because I'm holding leaves that had fallen off of my host mom's giant branch of safety. I give him the leaves while my host mom finishes her time with the snake. Then it's about a 3-minute spectacle of where to discard the snakes body. There's probably some animist (traditional beliefs) superstition about leaving a dead snake in your courtyard because she makes him finally toss the snake over the fence.

After the ordeal is over, my host mom is still in distress. She takes me to the side of the house to show me that I'm well protected: my window is sealed with metal mosquito netting and there are no cracks. We walk to the back door and look at some of the entry places. The truth is, I'm not really concerned about how he got in the house. They leave their front door open every hour of the day, except for when they're sleeping. He could've been in the house for days. My host mom explains that she's never seen a snake since living here in Léo, which I think has been at least 5 years, if not more. She comes to check on me about ten minutes later and asks if I'll be forever worried because she's very scared of snakes. "No, I'm not worried. Snakes don't scare me." She gives me a quizzical look, but is comforted that I'm not terrified to be in the house. I'm just comforted by how much she worries about me. What a great host family to be with! I'm definitely going to miss them when I leave for my site! But, I now know that if I ever come across a snake, the whole town will come running to help!