In order to save time and get my money’s worth, I have pre-typed this post. This will give me the opportunity to write in detail and not commit as many grammatical errors because it is being typed on my laptop. I actually went through the motions of paying for internet, typing out a post and with three minutes left, the internet froze up and I lost everything.  Needless to say, I was extremely pissed off. So, I decided to attempt to pre-type out my post to save time and money. Bon!

Now that I have (somewhat) ample time to type out a post, I can explain what exactly is going on with me here in Burkina. So, as many of you know, I am currently going through training right now or “Stage” as it’s called in French and it is HARD!! Stage consists of technical trainings, language training, field service trainings, Technical language training and cross sector training. Because I’m a health “stagieier” or trainee, we have lessons on the different health topics and projects we will probably undertake once we arrive at our site. Site is the village or city we will be placed in for the two years of Peace Corps service.  Many of the topics we’ve covered so far have included food security, malaria and preventable diseases, female genital mutilation (a really big project/problem here), HIV/AIDS, Sexually transmitted diseases and safe sex, hygiene, malnutrition and all of the other topics that fall under the health umbrella. It’s really difficult sometimes to discuss some of the topics, especially when the discussion is accompanied by extremely graphic photos and posters. I think one of the hardest topics was female genital mutilation (FGM).  I have yet to decide if this is a project I will attempt to undertake once I reach site. Nevertheless, it’s a very serious issue here and deserves much attention.  Once I swear in as a volunteer, I will work closely with the CSPS….ok….let me preface the rest of this blog and all of my future blogs by saying…there are a lot of words that we use here all of the time in French, but have no real translation into English. So I will try my best but franglish has become my dominate language over the past month.  OK…CSPS, it’s like a village hospital. That’s the best I can do in explaining that.  But this is where I will get info. to do sensibilizations (talks) and weigh babies, and give nutrition talks etc.  Quite frankly, I’m ready to swear in as a volunteer and get to work. But even after I swear in, I won’t be able to truly begin working until I gain the trust and respect of the villagers and see what it is they really need from me. This process generally takes up to a year. Of course , this  whole taking up to a year thing is a concept I just don’t comprehend in theory….now, once I reach site I’m sure I will understand it a lot better as a reality.  The first three months at site are just for getting to know your village….did everyone get that? It’s suppose to take me THREE months just to learn my neighborhood essentially. Again, Peace Corps has been extremely mind-changing and challenging so far, so maybe it will take that long but I guess I always think I’m different from everyone else J

Ok, back to training. So during training, trainees are supposed to live in villages with host families similar to the kinds of living situations we will have once at site. This also involves biking to and from site every day. That’s why my first host family experience was completely raw- no electricity, running water or any modern pleasantries.  But after the change of program, we were moved to new host families this past Thursday.  I will say, this new host family situation is nothing like how I presume I will be living for the next two years.  We have electricity (how I’m typing this right now), an indoor bathroom, refrigerator, television and all of the other western amenities. The funny thing is, it only seems so great because I’ve seen the complete opposite end with my other host family in village. Everyone speaks French in my house  (wasn’t the case with the first family) and this time they put us two to a family because of the time restraints in finding new host families for almost 80 something people.  Even the biking situation is better this time around. Where it took me an hour to bike one-way to training with my old host family, it’s now a 30 min. bike ride (still one way) to training. All of that being said….I do still miss the simplicity of living in village. I think I would have made going to my site all the more easy to handle because now, I’m going to go from an indoor toilet and shower, back to a latrine and bucket bath…although bucket baths actually aren’t that bad…I would have preferred to not get accustomed to living like this for a little over a month when it’s not a simulation of how I will really be living for the next two years.  But I guess we will see.

With regards to language….I took an exam this past Saturday to gage my level of French and determine whether I was fluent enough to being learning my local language. The exam was in the form of an oral interview for about 15 mins.  So, when I first came to Burkina in June, I tested in at a French level of Intermediate mid. which isn’t bad. After the interview the other day, I moved up two spots to Advance low, two spots from complete fluency.  I don’t know how this happened, but I guess, I’m  glad it did. Although it’s still extremely difficult to understand sometimes and exhausting trying to formulate conversation at times. Not to mention, all of this franglish has completely messed up my ability to speak and write in English without spelling errors or using random French words/sayings. I can’t wait to see how bad this gets once we incorporate another local language into the mix.

Food is a very interesting thing here. I have had some dishes that were extremely delicious and others that were like….”what the hell is that?”  So these are the dishes one can find on the menu at almost all of the restaurants/street eateries here: Riz Gras, Riz Sauce, Spaghetti, omelet sandwich and that’s it. And a lot of the time, they only have the spaghetti…and the spaghetti  always comes with about 3 or 4 random pieces of meat…what kind of meat? No one ever knows. Also, you can go to the same place, order the same thing, and each time it will come out completely different than the last time. So yea…I never really know exactly what I’m eating…I just know it’s very natural and not processed. I guess we pick our poisons one way or another. I will say that the bread here is so good. You can buy it fresh from the boulangerie or baker and it’s like a long baguette. I have bread with like every single meal…for a while I was only eating half a baguette for breakfast with tea….speaking of tea…the drink choices are also very interesting. There are three types of soda: coca cola, sprite and orange fanta, that’s it. I was never really a soda drinker in the U.S. but I will say that the first few times you drink the coca cola here, it’s so amazing, it doesn’t even taste like the coke in the U.S. I was told that it’s because they use real sugar and not high fructose corn syrup but who really knows? But after the first 5 or 6 it starts to taste like the same old coke in the states.  Then there’s the local drinks like zoom koom, bissap and dolo. I really like bissap, zoom koom made me sick and I gave up alcohol so I don’t drink dolo (a local beer made from millet). And yes…I said I gave up drinking! Only for these two or three years…then it’s back to happy hours in the U.S. J

Because my days are so long and jammed pack full of training Monday through Saturday, I am extremely exhausted and must end this post. I will begin working on another post tomorrow because there is so much I would love to discuss but I don’t have the energy to divulge everything in one sitting. I have tons of funny stories (because I’m such a funny person) and interesting theories that I’ve concocted about the plight of the human race and how inextricably connected we are….lol….But seriously, I will try to repost again this week, if not def. next week.

Also, some of you have asked me what types of things I want specifically in a care package…and the answer is and will always be…it doesn’t matter. I would just be happy to receive anything from America land. And if I receive something that I don’t necessarily eat (which would be hard to do if one sticks to the list I posted) I know plenty of children here who would LOVE it. So whatever you send will be greatly appreciated…I promise.

With that, I must close out. To my family and friends…I miss you all terribly!!! I look forward to receiving your letters in the mail…Be well!!

Peace and Blessings

Song: You Move Me-Cassandra Wilson