As I lay in my bug hut last night…watching the rain fall less than five feet from me, I thought..”wouldn’t it be interesting to post about the random stuff I’ve seen, heard or done while here?” And so this post was born.  I don’t have a set number but as they flow forth I will number them… Bon!

1. There are more people in Washington D.C. living with AIDs than there are in the entire country of Burkina Faso.

2. People use the bathroom anywhere here! It’s nothing to see three or four men using the bathroom in middle of a field at anytime of day.

3. It is extremely culturally inappropriate to do things with your left hand here. Fyi…I’m a leftie….

4. When people use the bathroom they don’t use tissue; instead they use their left hand…hence random fact number three!

5. Domesticated animals are viewed as pets/food.

6. Dogs here don’t bark, run, or move for that matter. They are relatively too lazy to chase anything.

7. Burkinabe love repeating random english phrases that they heard from some random commercial or person; like, some one told me..”guinesse (the beer) is good for the body” but it sounded more like “guinesseisgoodforthebody”.

8. I am a nassara because I: a. speak english, b. don’t speak moore, c. don’t speak french fluently and d. can’t cook to (pronounced like toe). This is how it was put to me by a very young Burkinabe girl last night.

9.  It’s nothing to see Burkinabe wearing hats, gloves, scarves and coats in eighty degree weather. Meanwhile, they’re shivering  like it’s a Chicago Winter. Simultaneously, I’m about to pass out from dehydration.

10.  It’s completely appropriate for women to be topless, but they can’t show their knees.

So, I’m going to leave it at ten. As they come to me I will write them down and put them in future posts. I would like to add a few things to the list of things that can be sent to me in a care package. I have recently had a craving for American junk food like gold-fish, chips, cookies and all other non perishables. This was spawned after winning a pack of chocolate chip cookies for answering a question about STI’s in our health session. This pack of cookies became a hot commodity among the other stageiers. I also think I’ve been craving junk because I don’t have access to it. This has been happening a lot lately.  Also, I hear Jill Scott has a new CD. If some one could send me the song in an email file or however, I swear I will love you forever!  Or until you make me mad…whichever comes first. Lol. But seriously.

If you have any questions about life here, or anything you want to know about that I have yet to touch on, please ask. I would love nothing more than to expound upon any topic. It would actually help me create better post because so much happens in one day I don’t know what to talk about. Also, if you would like for me to send you something from this side of the world, that can be done too.  Here are some random pics. from my camera and the fourth of july celebration we had. I can’t explain all of them so just infer what’s going on. When I become more stable I will work on being a better photographer…promise!So, as you can see….my time here has been very random thus far. And it took FOREVER for me to upload those pictures onto this post! I should run now. Please don’t forget, if you send something to let me know so I can track how long it takes to get here and I know to look for something in the post. I will constantly update my wish list and the address will always be the same until I change it. To my friends and family, I love and miss you all. Thanks for all of your comments on my posts. It makes me want to update more because I know you all are following. So keep commenting! Be well!

Peace and Blessings

Song: Mark De Clive Lowe- Quintessential