Now that I've given you all my excuses for not blogging, here is a wrap-up of the past couple months in my world:
First, Burkina Faso is HOT. I thought coming from Florida would help me out a bit, and in some ways I guess I have suffered less than others in our 'stage' (a group of trainees/volunteers...we are G30 - the 30th Group of volunteers in Burkina) but the Sun here is just so intense with no cool ocean breeze that everything shuts down at lunch time for a 2-3 hour repos (nap time) and people try not to move. And forget about looking half decent anytime here, by the time you make it to the end of the dirt (or mud with the rainy season going on right now) you no longer have dry clothes or a clean face.
Secondly, throw everything out that you think you know about West Africa because unless you have physically squatted above a latrine hole filled with a cesspool of everything horrible while bats attempt to fly in and out of your legs, you have not experienced true West Africa. One of my fellow trainees had an epic battle with a bat while he was squatting down with diarrhea in the middle of the night (read here: http://ryankennedyburkinafaso.blogspot.com) and that was just a normal Burkinabe evening.
Also, I have become a vegetarian again for the most part since I've been in Burkina because you're just never quite sure what kind of meat you are getting when you order it. Another fellow trainee (and Floridian!) friend of mine was enjoying his meal with his host father one night and because the electricity in our training village of Leo (about 15km from the border of Ghana) is spotty at best, he was blindly eating his rice, veggies and meat with his hands and finally realized that the unusual taste in his mouth was coming from the meat in the dish. He asked his father what kind of meat it was and the response was a shrug and a nonchalant "c'est de la viande"...its just meat...My friend insisted for a straight answer and finally his host dad confessed that it was chien. For my non-franglais speaking friends out there, his host family had cooked him dog meat. Now, in the states that is a terrifying and unethical treatment of our beloved pets, but in Burkina the concept of "pets" is nonexistent. Animals are food, simple as that.
Not to make it seem as though Burkina is this terribly difficult and scary place, it is definitely rough but has many perks. The Burkinabe people are extremely welcoming, treat guests with all the best parts of 'southern hospitality' and the fascinated children are a joy. The constant cries of "Nasara! Nasara!" or "Tubaboo! Tubaboo!" or "Le Blanc", which we hear shouted to us wherever we go anywhere, terms meant to distinguish us as foreigners, have become just something we have learned to ignore or even joke around with and are not usually shouted in a malicious manner. The children have learned to use those terms as a way to receive our attention...they love to run along or behind your bike as you go by and laugh when you wave to them or attempt to say hello in the local language. Just like the old men at the corner who grab your arm when you stop at a light with your bicycle and insist that you MUST marry him, these are all things you have to smile and have a good sense of humor about here and everything else will seem easier. As they always say here, even when deathly ill or recently hit by a moto, ça va aller.
Burkina Faso is a very peaceful and welcoming country and I have full confidence that I am in safe hands here with the locals. :)
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| Some of my neighborhood kids near my house in Leo where we had training and their mode of transport |
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