tenkodogo (-go)

Today, I am in Tenkodogo. That is my regional capital- the closest city near my site. It's only an hour by bush taxi, and the ride's quite scenic. Plus, you have the exciting danger element every time you ride in a bush taxi. I am here today because I need to buy a gas tank for my stove so that I can cook so that I can eat. And feed my pets.
Yeah, so, I moved into my house! It's really wonderful. I've been thinking of it so much for the past couple of months that it actually feels like home already. Liz left me all sorts of wonderful things in the house, too- a huge bed, bookshelves, magazines, kitchen supplies, chairs, tables, pets.... I'm not nearly done decorating or even organizing, but I'm going to have plenty of time to work on that, there's no rush. Seriously, none. I have a month until school starts. I have plenty to fill my time, and have been trying to work out a little schedule. It's something like, Tuesday: gardening (if it doesn't rain and if the neighbor boy comes over to help and if he has gardening implements or if I can find said implements at the hardware store in town if there is a hardware store in town and if someone can tell me what the plants in my garden actually are and it's not too hot out.) Wednesday: bike to the big marché (if I'm right about the schedule and it's marché day on Wednesday and if my bike tire isn't flat or if it is if I can buy a bike pump in village or should I buy that today in Tenkodogo and if I have enough small change to buy things at the market and if not then where to break the large bills the bank gives me that are basically useless in village.) Thursday: too far ahead for me to even think about right now.

So like I said, I have some free time. No real schedule whatsoever. And not too many people to talk to. My neighbors are super nice, and I've started meeting people around town, but I don't really know anyone yet. And while I feel fine about that right now, I've heard some sad things about the first month being alone at site. So, feel free to call me! Anytime. I promise to come up with something interesting to tell you. And since I won't have much access to internet or mail for the next month, it's the best way to stay in touch! So if you're sitting on your wrap-around porch in a rocking chair some fall afternoon, the leaves falling around you, wearing a cozy sweater and drinking a pumpkin spice latté and eating apple pie, and you happen to think to yourself, I wonder how many gallons of sweat Carolyn has produced today, and if she has yet mastered the art of picking rocks out of rice... you can find out! I will answer as honestly and with as much detail as possible.

volunterrific

Group photo!!
Me and Lorena, another future teacher.


I'm a volunteer!! Finally. The ceremony was really nice- everyone got super pretty and we went to the ambassador's house. We were outside in the garden, all seated in rows like a graduation, and several of us (not me) gave speeches in local languages and french. The acting ambassador gave a really wonderful talk, and our country director, Doug, gave a speech, and so did a government minister, then we all took this oath to uphold the Constitution and we were volunteers!

Then we ate and drank and later we went dancing. It was genuinely a really enjoyable and kind of inspiring ceremony, and it was great to hang out all together for one last night in Ouaga.

And now... I'm still in Ouaga. Krystle (my nearest neighbor) and I don't get moved until tomorrow morning. Which is actually pretty nice- we've been able to do some relaxed shopping in town, hang out with other volunteers, and eat cheeseburgers for almost every meal. Seriously, every day, sometimes twice a day. And sometimes, instead of a side of fries, I get a side of chawarma. Or a side of pizza.

ouagadougouagadougouagadougou

Oh my gosh I'm in Ouaga and life is amazing. I ate pineapple chicken at a chinese restaurant for lunch, then I had chocolate ice cream, then I went to the hotel and took a hot shower and watched tv and now I'm sitting in the air conditioned lobby using the wireless internet. And tonight I think we're going to drink wine and, I'm just guessing here, eat more.
Tuesday is swear-in, when I become a volunteer and actually start living here for real. I got a dress made for the occasion, and apparently they cover the ceremony on the national news. It's kind of a big deal. But of course the thing I'm most excited about is that it's at the American embassy, where they also have cheeseburgers and onion rings and milkshakes.
My schedule for moving to site is pretty good- I'll be staying in Ouaga until Friday morning, then the Peace Corps takes me and all the stuff I buy to my house in Bagre. So I should have plenty of time to shop, and maybe even the opportunity to make Skype dates with interested parties on Wednesday and Thursday. (i.e. let me know if you want to talk!!)
Hey, time to eat again! I'll post soon. It'll probably be more about food.

tour de badass

I would like everyone to know that I am now an awesomely skilled mountain biker. Hard to believe, I know. But I'm pretty sure all biking here would be considered mountain biking at home. And I have become an expert in changing bike tires (front AND back, thank you) and can ride on all surfaces: mud, dirt, sand, two inch deep gravel, water, mud caked into tire track formations, and, on special occasions, pavement. And I do so with school books hanging off of my handlebars, while dodging chickens, goats, dogs, children, donkey carts, motos, cars, pedestrians, cows, and more goats. I'm going to go now and ride my bike home through some gravel and a couple of water holes, while trying not to hit the cows on my street.

the fam

Can I just say how great my host family is? They are wonderful. My dad is super dad-like, fixing my bike and making sure my water filter works properly and watching the news with me. My mom is completely adorable, talking fashion with me and taking me to the tailor to get dresses made and giving me a necklace! My brother, who is six, shows me his karate moves and tried on my glasses (which sent him into uncontrollable laughter) and is fascinated by my painting. He watched me painting a mango like a globe to use in a class demonstration, then got some of his friends together and found me three really good calabashes (dried gourds) that I can paint like the world and which won't go bad. And my baby sister, Malika, who is now seven months old, has learned to crawl and started to talk and when you say my name she looks right at me, and laughs when I make faces at her. I'm going to be so sad to leave them this week, but I have an open invitation to come back whenever I want to and I'm hopeful about our mutual desire to keep in touch.

shut it down

Last week in Ouahigouya!! That's... kind of weird. I can't really think about it right now, because there are so many things I still have to do this coming week. But I'm pretty sure I'm ready to be done with training and get going with my actual Peace Corps service. I know this training is really important, and I've learned a lot, and it was good to be eased into the culture and life here in general, but it's felt very much like kindergarten. It will be so freeing to finally have control over my own life again, once I move to site.
As for this week: the end of model school! I don't really have any more lessons to teach, it's just test reviews then tests then handing back tests then calculating grades then having an end of school ceremony. Most of our other training sessions have been finishing up, too- cross culture, safety and security, education, even language is pretty much over. Next weekend we leave our host families, hang out all together at a hostel here in Ouahigouya for a night, then go to Ouaga!! To swear in as official Volunteers at the American embassy and have wild and crazy parties. Also, to eat genuine American style food (or even chinese food- that you can have delivered. Ouaga is a magical place.) Then to do our shopping for affectation (moving to site.) I am planning to seriously exceed my budget.

bagre: a photo essay

The quarry near my (future) house! I will not be swimming there, due to the alleged crocodiles therein.
Jack!! My new badass African cat, on my future front porch.
My future school! Note the bull just hanging out.
My new house!!!! Fancy fonctionnaire style.

more!!

This was our fourth of July party game. Oh Obama.
Site announcement! We were blindfolded and led to our sites on a giant map on the ground.
Dust storm before the rain! (The sky is actually that color. I'm distressed.)

pictures!!!!!!

This is my host family's courtyard
This is their front porch
This is me in my room!

sugar sugar

One thing that's nice here is the fact that all drinks are sweet, and there is no shame whatsoever about filling your coffee cup halfway up with sweetened condensed milk before adding a teaspoon of instant coffee in the morning. Or drinking hot chocolate for breakfast, or just a cup of tea with tablespoons of powdered milk and cane sugar. I used to drink coffee black, and now I'm going to go home at the end of this and pour unbelievable (and way culturally unacceptable) amounts of sugar and cream into my coffee without even a hint of embarassment. It's going to be awesome.

boo serious

Okay, here's my issue. I'm trying to write interesting things, but the problem is that things that may seem remarkable back at home are usually completely unremarkable here. And I feel as though if I write about them I'm being culturally insensitive and making a show out of Burkina. Like, it would seem like I was being all shocked and amazed at a perfectly normal way of life for the people here. I know that that's not necessarily the case, but I think there's a line there that I'm trying to figure out. So if I'm not writing about the fact that, oh, there are no flush toilets, or... I don't even know now. The fact that there are roosters in my yard that crow most of the night? The fact that there are donkey carts competing with overloaded trucks competing with me on my bike on the main road? The complete lack of cheese in this country? The children (and occasionally adults) that are constantly yelling "Nassara" (foreigner) at me?
We all talk about these things here sometimes, just because we've been thrown into this new environment all together, but as time goes on we've started talking about them differently. Like, how clean are the latrines at this restaurant? Or, what do you do if you have bats living in yours? Or, so will I be able to hire a donkey cart to move my furniture to my house next month?
I know that one of the goals (maybe the main goal) of the Peace Corps is cultural exchange. And I don't want to be too hesitant about sharing my perspective of this culture, coming from an American background. But if I'm not telling all of the colorful details of my life here, it's because I want to understand it better before spouting off some random judgments about the country, especially when there's so much misinformation about Africa in general already.
Not that I'm trying to be all deep on this random blog that basically just exists so I can stay in contact with people at home. But I feel a little better about having this disclaimer about what I write.

ah, memories

I apologize- I have been so remiss in my blogging duties lately. But it's kind of become a trend to go out for a drink in the evenings after classes, then hurry home for dinner, then write lesson plans while watching my Brazilian soap opera, Au Coeur du Peche, then go to bed. That's right, I said lesson plans! I used to be kind of skeptical of my elementary education friends in college, with all of their "lesson planning" and "early mornings," but now I know. These are real things, that must be done. Because we started model school! It's a summer course for kids who want to get ahead in the coming school year (or whose parents want them to get ahead in the coming school year) and we're just finishing up our second week of teaching. I've been teaching the 6ème SVT (sciences de la vie et de la terre) class, which is about the equivalent of sixth grade biology, and I've actually been having some good fun with it. Tomorrow we're dissecting peanuts. And it's certainly making me feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of being in charge of entire classes on my own. But it's also pretty tiring, and I'm looking forward to being done in two more weeks.
So now for fun things. Uh, wait. Okay. I told you I was tired. I remember now. We've been having a ton of birthdays lately (birthday season!) and doing cute things for those, and for Lorena's birthday I baked a cake! It was all chocolatey and frenchy and stuff, and it was delightful. Or I think it was- there wasn't quite enough for me to have a piece- but it was so nice to get to bake. I don't remember if I've written this before, but my plan for the first month at site, before school starts, is to spend all of my time in my house, baking and listening to music and painting the walls and lesson planning. I'm very excited about this.
What else. A couple of my friends who are in GEE came over to my house and we hung out and had a sleepover and watched The Office on my laptop, which was totally fun. Except that watching it made me crave sandwiches. You know, I don't know that product placement ever really affected me that much at home, but it's amazing what it does to you once you know you can never have any of the placed products, ever. Or, in the forseeable future. Or, right now. For this, I hate Subway. I tried eating a "meat" sandwich today and was just not satisfied.