A Third Year!

Burkina Faso has been treating me really well! I have been loving the activities going on in Silmidougou. We started a girls' mentoring program at the elementary school with 20 incredible women. The preschool has been thriving with the addition of free lunches and the teachers going through another training. We just had a big four day party for my chief where my volunteer neighbor and I received two guinea fowl - that was quickly consumed. Hot season has started up again, it is in the 100s at night (it has hit over 130 already), but luckily everyone is just as exhausted so a little break at noon to 3pm is seen as the norm.

As some of you have heard, I am extending my service until June 2015. Yes, Katiepalooza will be happening for then. I will be coming home for Thanksgiving through New Years this coming year, so hopefully I will get a chance to visit with all of you.

The preschool project is going really well. I have posted two albums of photos on my facebook page (and Mom posted some while she was here as well). The two classrooms are built and classes have been going terrifically! Thanks to the support of my neighborhood (Holmes Run Acres), we also got enough support to also build to latrines and a kitchen hangar. I was also sent books, toys and games for the children and so the teachers are learning how to incorporate that into their lessons.

Sadly, I must be off and back to site, hopefully I will be more specific with what is going on in the near future.

Mom in Burkina!

       Silmidougou December 11, 2013 Burkina Independence Day

Wow, I am finally here with Katie in her village. The day started well before the sun came up with the very loud braying of donkeys and all the local goats chatting each other up. That was before the chickens got started. The people were quiet maybe trying to eek out a few extra minutes of horizontal time. It was cold but I was too lazy to try to find my fleece. Tonight it will be better positioned.

 

Katie with teacher's daughter. Crazy Wenceslaus, Sophie's son. Hajji writing with saliva at the Bisongo.

Katie called over to me at 5:45 and asked whether I was ready. I was. I just want to see it all and feel what her life is like here and that starts with an hour long hilly run with the sun coming up over the trees. There were few others up and it was desert beautiful. I couldn’t quite keep up with her but I tried. We came home to a comfy chair where we ate some of the most juiceless oranges known to man—but the type that can grow in these arid conditions. That and a piece of watermelon that we got yesterday. The cats offered some terrific entertainment. This before we ate prosciutto and Italian cheese wraps with our last bagel—yum. I can’t seem to get enough water but I keep trying. Then Katie took me for a coffee at her coffee guy’s shop and the gentlemen there enjoyed talking with Katie. Everyone does and they just love her and keep telling me how she should stay forever. It’s all nice to hear but I hope she doesn’t.

Then off across the village to get water. She hooked her two bidons up to the back of her bike and we greeted everyone along the way. Her regular pump was locked so we went to the pump near the health center. After leaving our bidons “in line” we visited the nurse and midwife and a few others. Everywhere we go we see the cute little kids who attend her preschool in the silliest outfits—fur coats and knit caps and leggings. Back to the pump and Katie patiently waits til they tell her it is her turn. Lucky thing Katie is there because her funnel is better than the others so it makes the operation much more efficient. Kate is an excellent pumper and our bidons are full in no time. Back to the house.

 

Market day: Katie with the Primary school PTA pres, with Asseta and Lukemon, with Sophie at the dolo cabaret

Time to get showered for market day. Our bucket has been sitting in the sun so while not warm, at least it isn't freezing. I go first and try to remember the dark arts of bathing with a bucket. Not bad results. Very glad I brought my own lamba as it serves as both towel and coverup. I come back to my hut (in the kitchen and look at my piles of clothes which do not include a complet so I will be underdressed for the market. As I sit down to write the yeasty smell of dolo comes through the little windows. That takes my on a little trip down memory lane.

Our Christmas tree is up—a very modest bow to our family traditions. We got that all set up after dinner last night. The stockings are hung and our few presents are spread out on the snow. Katie has added her tiny nativity. It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. I am over the moon happy to be here.

Christmas in Silmidougou, Santa in Ouaga, My desk/bed.

On the bus coming here yesterday afternoon with the West African soundtrack singing loudly I couldn’t help but feel back home. I have a deep sense of being embraced by Africa. My heart seems to find it’s beat very naturally with the rhythm of the road, landscape and sounds. So glad to be here. Now off to the tailor, market, Katie’s friends and maybe a visit to the chief.

Katie on the bus. Katie's bus stop (yes, it is just a tree). Berama and Christian help us get Christmas to the village.

December 12, 2013 Silmidougou

So I don’t want people to think that it is all milk and honey, peaches and cream. Africa is still Africa and it is dirty and dusty. Here in the sahel what is remarkable is that it is so dry that it doesn’t get quite so stinky and gnarly as it does along the ocean. It reminds me of conversations I have had with Maasai Mike when I have asked him about the bright red blankets that the Maasai wear. I wondered if they all had a chest of blankets at home for when they have to wash their dirty blankets. He said, no, they didn’t need to have more than one because these blankets never get dirty. The dust comes off with a good airing in the wind. I am beginning to feel that way about my dirty clothes! However I will send some of them off to the neighbors for a washing today.

I am enjoying meeting Katie’s friends and counterparts. The first two I met were Christian and Berama who came to meets us at the bus stop. Or should I say the tree. There were no other markings that would have led one to believe that this was a bus stop but there was Christian and his moped ready to take us back to the village! We tried several iterations of how we could get my two giant suitcases plus two smaller bags on the moped and two bikes. Christian was ready to start off when the whole load just tipped off sideways. Boy we were glad when Berama came to the rescue with a full sized motorcycle and some local bungie cords to herd my two big bags. He is a shopkeeper so he is used to hauling big loads around. They sped on ahead and Katie and I followed behind on the bikes. It was so beautiful.

The next friend I met was Sophie, the dolo lady with her young and very energetic son Wenceslaus. Sophie is very regal—tall and strongly built with a wild hairdo that looks like she has some fierce black worms coming out of her head. It is a very popular style in Silmidougou. We pulled up a bench and caught up on what had been going on since they had last seen each other. We had a calabash of pre-dolo. Very tasty but definitely not strong. We sat there and urged the 4-7 children to sing the songs they had learned in preschool (bisongo). They were quite reticent at first and then became rather competitive as it was clear that they had learned them well. And then when Katie promised them a bisket they were downright enthusiastic. Wenceslaus just came by this morning for his bisket!

Then we went on to see Assieta at her shop. I was introduced to a number of girls who live with her (some unmarried mothers and others schoolkids who are somehow related). And the star of the show is the four month old Jalissa who is the apple of Katie’s eyes. She is a gorgeous little girl with alert eyes and a crazy wardrobe which has changed every time I have seen her. After hanging there for awhile we went around the village saying a few more hellos and then begging off as it got dark to head home for a very simple but tasty sausages and bagel with hot pepper cream cheese. That was the night we put up our Christmas tree and stockings.

Some well deserved pasteque after school with the teachers. Lukemon, hommes des affaires!

Yesterday after stopping at the tailors we walked around the market. The tailor told us to come back later when he would have more models for us to look at. When we did stop by two hours later he had no new models to look at and suggested we go to Asieta’s and go through her closets to find a model that we would like. This turned out to be a quest and we finally found one that seemed it might work. We picked out some cool embroidery patterns and we will see what Alain comes up with by Friday (inshallah). The market had limited goods but plenty of watermelon. We bought a mat for Luke to sleep on and a machete for Deb. Also two types of piment and then later some greens (VERY bitter) and some rice and beans for a late lunch. After lunch we rested until Mariko came for a visit. This led us back to the marche where we bought two large watermelons for $1 each. Mariko loves watermelons and has been known to eat a whole one her own. We split one sitting under the shade of Katie’s one tree. And along came the “bad chief’s” son with two chickens for us. Katie was surprised but appreciative. They were housed in her rabbit/chicken cage while we continued to gnosh on our watermelon. Then we decided that since we were not going to eat them tonight we should untie their legs. Well this led to some good, old, clean village fun. Those chickens ran for their lives! The three of us tried to catch them but they were far too smart for us. We called over two young girls, one named Katie, to help us. These girls were just enough more clever than the chickens and it wasn’t long before they caught them and then they escaped again and then one got out of the compound and then we finally got them truly locked up and we sat back down to our watermelon again. After Mariko had gone home the bad chief came to greet us and Katie was gracious. I thought he seemed fine but I don’t know all the stories. There are so many stories!

With Alain, the tailor. Buying our pasteques with Mariko. Enjoying our pasteques.

Another visitor we had was the pharmacist who came by with a mosquito net for the kitchen bed. How nice of him! He didn’t even charge us for it. This required quite a bit of elbow grease and some tattered pieces of torn cotton in lieu of string to get it hung on the rafters. Would have been nice to have a tall person around.

I made us some fabulous ratatouille last night with eggplants, squash, onions, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms and black olives topped with the last of our cheeses. And healthy doses of Tabasco. Katie managed to beg a few tomatoes from Asieta who had a big basket of them hidden behind her house—the only tomatoes in all of Silmidougou. The evening cooled off and we sat out in the courtyard chairs appreciating the big light of the moon. Cocktails first and then some chardonnay. Kind of like roughing it! We were in bed by 8:30 and awake several times during the night for nature’s call (it seems I need to answer nature’s call more often when answering it is less than easy!).

Katie has just taken the laundry to the neighbors and is asking for some assistance with water today so that we can go sightseeing on our bicycles. This afternoon there is supposed to be a work group at the bisongo so we hope to be back in time to check it out. What fun!

December 13, 2013 Toujours au village

Yesterday I let “Katie’s BOOT camp” overdo me! We had our early morning run for over an hour and came home for some breakfast. Leftovers from the night before with the VERY last of the cheese. Yummm. Well that had me feeling so good that by the time we did our errands and our visits I was ready for a bike ride. The original plan was to bike into Mane and see Mariko and go to the market. I didn’t feel like I would really get a feel for the region without a trip to the gardens by the dam so Katie included that in our tour. That meant a 30 km bike ride. So let me just tell you a little bit about riding a bike here. Thirty kms in BF is not 30 kms in northern Virginia. The roads are bumpy and sandy and rocky and windy and up and down and long and did I mention hot. Yes, choosing to go out at 10 o’clock was not the best choice. I did admire the markets and was disappointed at the money that CRS had thrown into a huge gardening project which was not being used. It is really unconscionable. Or maybe just stupid. The road to Mane was very hot! And lots of motos and a few cars that made it pretty miserable dust wise. We stopped at the bus stop for a much needed granola bar and some water before continuing on. I was so glad to get to Mariko’s little house. When we arrived she was making lunch for us—garbanzo beans, cabbage, tomatoes, onions and rice. It was delicious! And then she produced some banana bread she had made!! Woohoo. One interesting thing she reported is that there was a seminar at the high school where they were specifically discussing violence against women who are accused of sorcery. Whew, we may need some help here on this! Then we went to the marche where we scored some cadeaux vegetables for Katie’s mom. I am still stunned at people’s generosity! Amazing. Plus we got a much coveted papaya and cabbage. Today I made a delicious salad involving all these delicious ingredients.

Lunch at Mariko's. VERY cold beer in Mane. Our first beers in Mane after LONG day at Katie Boot Camp.

So then the girls decided to take me to the coldest beers in the region. And they were SOOOOO cold. And they were the perfect size. I hate small beers. So as we were drinking these beers a man came over and showed us this HUGE scar on his leg and they were all talking and he seemed to be very thankful to Mariko. Then he left and before long three new very frosty beers arrived at our table grace a le monsieur! Apparently Mariko had come across this man when he had fallen off his moto while quite inebriated. She and some other people pulled his moto off of him and contacted a health center to help him. He is still grateful. I looked at those beers with some dread! I was already hurting in terms of my butt and legs! So finally after getting some yoghurt en sachet, a lock for my kitchen bedroom and a visit to some people to introduce me, we were back at Mariko’s and hydrating for the ride home. I must say that the ride home was TOUGH. Since Katie had not packed a backpack (yes, I had the only water and granola bars strapped to me) I was carrying about 12 pounds on my back and not feeling as fabulous as I had been thus far. We took a little break under the shade of an acacia tree and Katie took the backpack and I struggled the uphill battle through Mount Silmidougou and home. I was officially pooped.

There was a cleaning up operation at the bisongo (preschool) next door and I had really wanted to help out but I focused on preparing dinner and resting. And taking a blessed shower of water warmed by the sun all day. That felt SOOO good. Last night I made Katie such a great salad and foules madams with tons of cinnamon and garlic. All the witches will be scared away from us. Last night was the best sleep I have had so far since I now have a mosquito net and a little latch on my door so I didn’t have to worry about every little sound.

After my Boot Camp hazing yesterday we did a power walk this morning and had a very simple breakfast before getting ready for Bisongo. OMG. Nothing could have really prepared me for Bisongo! I was prepared to document this so I went with both cameras. Honestly, I could have recorded the two hours non-stop but I was worried about my film time. So I tried to be selective. The chaos levels are almost incomprehensible when you have 140 kids in a small room and four adult teachers including Katie. There was pure cacophony at times but at other times there appeared to be some order with children singing along to songs in French (me of course wondering if anyone had any idea what they were signing) but by the end of each song I could sing most of the words. There were dance contests. And some of the most interesting interplay was watching the kids learn good manners. For example, there was a little act they had to parody where they had to go up to a teacher and bow, curtsy and ask for a beaded gourd and then once they got the beaded gourd they had to take it to another teacher and bow and curtsy and give it to her. Some kids were better at this than others needless to say! At one point Sophie went over and bent down and curtsied in front of Christian showing the subservience of wife to husband. Not too sure how Katie and I felt about that one!!

Then we went outdoors for activities mostly involving racing while walking like a duck. While these exhibitions and races are going on the kids are doing all sorts of things like, heading across the path to poop or pee, or choose to just pee in place. Others were getting into little fights and punching kids right and left. I intervened only one. Others were taking naps or just sitting there with tears rolling down their cheeks not understanding why they were apart from their mothers. We finally went back inside the tiny room after an extended pee break and have your snack break. My battery is getting low but I can only sum it up to say that my smile never faltered and my cheeks hurt after being there for two hours because it was just so comical!

Came home to underwear washing and then a bit of housekeeping. Katie has a cute house but it needed a little Mom TLC so I put on my gloves and cleaned off a lot of stuff and threw out a bunch of stuff and reorganized her new stuff—Katie had never had glasses, cutlery or good plates prior to our arrival. So I started with my pink gloves on but by the time I did the final sweep of the floors, I was just up to my elbows in dirty water. With her new paint job it looked good when I got here but now with the cleaning and the Christmas area it looks fabulous! Need to find some Christmas paper for some last minute buys! Tomorrow we will pack up early to get the 6:30 AM bus.

Katie had a LONG meeting after school so I made us a delicious lunch with more of the veggies. And a big fruit salad. There is not much but it sure tastes good.

December 17, 2013 Banfora

Lots has happened since we left the village. Michael and Luke arrived safely and now Luke even has his bags. I made a big mistake and left my WHO card and credit cards in Silmidougou. Thanks to Sophie and Assetta for rescuing me. Yesterday we finally managed to get our rental car (a story in itself!) and by 12:30 we spent another 30 minutes trying to get out of Ouaga. It was a long schlep to get to Banfora but we got to our hotel (described in the guidebook as an enchanting fantasy of a place where no expense has been spared—not really what we have found but not so bad!). Here are some last minute photos!

All good in Ouaga. Trip adventure photos to come soon. Love to you all. Xoxo nance

Life in the Bisongo!

Classes in the bisongo started up on the 4th of November! It was exciting and exhausting for all involved. This post will be more photos than anything else, since I wrote a post early today and it deleted itself.

The teachers were nervous but did a really great job.

Christian has gotten much better at playing games with the kids outdoors and has become much more comfortable with his singing voice!

Sophie is a natural at all of this. She loves to sing and knows so many wonderful songs.

Mamounata is more quiet but has been great with all of the kids. She has her hands full with Setou on her back, but she is very good about helping the kids learn to count!

Catholic Relief Services donated some great outdoor equipment, kitchen materials and will also be bringing books and other great stuff!

It is great to have a place where the kids are healthy, safe and learning! They sure do know how to have fun!

A Literacy Project in Burkina Faso - Success Story from my Peace Corps Reporting Form

A Literacy Project in Burkina Faso

                Earlier this year, in January, three Peace Corps volunteers and I found ourselves in Ouagadougou, discussing small projects that we are doing at our sites. One volunteer brought up how he wanted to start collecting local stories, while another brought up that the volunteer that he had replaced had collected a few stories – he was attempting to put them into book form so he could read them to children in his village. I mentioned that while working with children in my village, I had come to realize that few of them had ever even held a book and that even those who attended school were baffled by the idea that written text could be transformed into spoken words; I had been sharing American magazines with the children, but as these were, of course, completely in English. Yet another volunteer had recently been assigned to work at a community-based preschool, with a class of one hundred and fifty students; while his preschool was relatively well supplied with playground equipment, it had almost nothing in terms of print or reading materials, and the idea of reading aloud to young children was completely foreign to the local counterparts. Both of these problems were aggravated by the fact that the resources that were available in Burkina were all in French – there was extremely minimal resources for children in their local languages. All of this made us remember the statistic we had heard time and time again, that Burkina Faso has the lowest literacy rate in the world. We realized we all wanted to find some way to bring affordable, language and culturally appropriate resources to schools, and maybe in the process convince our counterparts that reading aloud was not something only done by priests and imams. The four of us realized that our needs and wants were surprisingly synergistic; that we would be much more effective working as a group. This led inevitably to our creation of the Early Childhood and Community based Education and Literacy Working Group (ECCEL).

My neighbors, Deborah, Ali and Kabore (the two boys are twins), enjoying the books and drawing

                At our first official meeting we formed a plan to make ten storybooks from local stories in six months. We decided that, with this initial group of books, we would use primarily local and traditional stories; we wanted the books to be culturally and linguistically appropriate. After some work at site, we collected over fifteen stories and legends from our various communities. We narrowed this down to a final list of ten stories. For each story that we included in our final list, we wrote a list of ten post-reading questions, both comprehension questions as well as questions that hopefully would help the listener think critically about the story they had just been read. Once we had finalized our stories, we started searching for illustrators, and found several volunteers and two Burkinabe who were interested in illustrating. We we gave the illustrators our finalized stories and they began their incredibly creative and exhausting work.

An example of some of the wonderful illustrations that people did

                We scheduled a conference for the translation of these stories for the beginning of May. We had settled on four target languages for the stories: Fulfulde, Gourmantchema, Jula, and Moore, all of which are spoken in areas of Burkina with high concentrations of volunteers. We had found four Burkinabe translators (one each for each of the languages); with them, we sequestered ourselves in a conference room in the Peace Corps bureau, and, after much trial and tribulation, we emerged triumphantly four days later with each of the ten stories in the four local languages, as well as versions in French and English.

The only European story we did: Little Red Riding Hood. This version is in my village's local language: Moore

                All eight of us in ECCEL (as well as many other volunteers) have been using these storybooks in small groups with children across the country. The reaction from the children has been incredible: almost without exception, children in Burkina love to be read to and adults in our communities, once they became comfortable reading aloud and understood how important it is, love reading to children. The children (and the adults) all seem to learn from the books – both from the stories themselves and the post-reading questions. Many volunteers have said that kids don't just sit and listen but also ask questions. The books have been so popular with our communities that we've decided to start the process over again; we're in the initial stages of producing another set of books – this time focused on preschool aged children.

                We all look forward to having these storybooks available when the elementary schools and preschools start back up in October. We have found them invaluable in the effort to encourage children and adults to work to become literate. The importance of literacy in our communities will have a powerful impact on the development of our communities and on the future of Burkina Faso.

The Adult Literacy teachers - they teach teenagers and adults how to read and write in Moore (guy on the right is Abel, my counterpart)

Thanks for the Support!!

I have completed my first year in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso! A lot of things about me have changed since I got here, the biggest one is that I've decided that my interest for my work life in the future is in literacy and early childhood education (I had thought I was going to be focused on sustainable agriculture). I am extremely happy in Silmidougou (my site) and so excited about all the work I'm doing with my community. My village and I have taken on a huge undertaking: to create a community-based preschool. This project is now getting support from my wonderful family and friends through the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP)!

 I would like to give a little background of how this project came about and the real support the community has put in to see this preschool become a reality. The parents in my community have always tried their best to support their kids in school, but the kids still struggle the first few years because they are not prepared for elementary school. When I started working with the younger kids (ages three to six) their parents were supportive but nervous because they know I will leave and that the children wouldn't be getting the support anymore. After discussing the different options of how to prepare the children of Silmidougou they decided that starting a community-based preschool (called a bisongo here) would be the best thing for the kids and feasible in our community. Three community members quickly offered to teach at the bisongo. The community offered an old building (with two rooms: one for a classroom and one for storage), an old permanent hangar (which they will be making all the repairs to including a new roof and add a wall and door), and food for the first month of school. They have also created a community group (similar to a PTA) that will manage the school and inform the community of what is going on. The community will be partnering with Catholic Relief Services and Action Sociale (a branch of the Burkinabe government). CRS and AS have paid to train the three teachers (and myself) in a ten day workshop that we attended in September. CRS will also be bringing outdoor toys, classroom materials and feeding the preschoolers lunch every day.

 Now for the part that family and friends will be helping with, there are some things the community wants but cannot afford and are not a part of the budget of the partners we are working with. The old building is in need of repair before it can be used and while the community is in the process of fixing up the hangar, the funds for the old building seem unlikely to come from Silmidougou. It needs a roof, windows and some small repairs. The majority of the money will go into fixing up this building so that food and materials can be stored and there can be a large classroom for classes.

 The next largest section of the money will go to additional learning materials. After seeing other preschools, I've realized that even with the donations of CRS, educational materials are still lacking. There is a great handicap association that makes a variety of puzzles for a wide span of ages. I would like to get a large set of these so the children can work on the motor skills and critical thinking skills individually or in small groups. I'm working with a group of other Peace Corps Volunteers that have been collecting, translating and illustrating stories for kids. These books will allow the preschoolers to be introduced to books in a fun environment.

 This project is a really big undertaking by the community and I am so glad from the help my community has received! The development of Silmidougou could drastically change with children being better educated and giving the community the chance to put the education of their children into their own hands. All of your support has been greatly appreciated!

Quick update and life plans changed!

Hi family and friends,

The last year in Burkina Faso has been a whirlwind! From three months of training, to doing three months of doing my community study, to four months of 130 degree weather, and then two visits from people in the states! There is now liquid soap and tofu in my market every three days now. They sell out and my auntie who makes it is making great money and her kids are gaining some weight!

Grandpa Wirth is here visiting me for two weeks right now and while he has learned that he may not be as young as he used to be, we have been really enjoying ourselves. He visited my site for a few days and after struggling the first two days came to the same conclusion I did: the kids in my village are amazing. From everything from finding him lost wandering the village because he couldn't find his way back to my huts to teaching them how to whistle he had a great time. I am now having my first 'vacation' experience with staying in some very nice hotels (what a different side of Burkina than the one I have been living for the last year).

I have actually planned my first real vacation since I have gotten here: a trip to Morocco! I will be going with Zach and a wonderful friend from home, Alex (female). We will be traveling all over for the last two weeks of September. I'm excited about seeing the coast, deserts, non-Burkinabe food, and having a little break from life here.

The 'New Katie' with an education focus

So as some of you have heard and gotten a whiff of in my other blog posts, I have been getting very interested in early childhood education. My plan is now to go get my masters in early childhood education / literacy / curriculum development. It is a huge shift from where I was last year at this time (with my life revolving around food security) but I think it is a much better fit. I'm thinking that I am likely to want to go into working with community based education programs (from community based preschools – which is my main project and interest at site – to community based education programs for adults and to literacy programs with elementary school children) and helping elementary school cirriculums be more student centered and include more critical thinking and cultural activities.

The community-based preschool (called a bissongo here) is officially happening! The community of Silmidougou has offered a huge old granary (two rooms – one for classroom and one for storage) and a big permanent hangar to help. The three future teachers, two women and one man, will be going off to a two to three week training next month with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Action Sociale (a branch of the government responsible for social programs and human services) they will be paid by the community every month. The buildings need a lot of repair and the community is taking full responsibility over repairing the hangar and making it meet the requirements of CRS. The granary doesn't have a roof and will be very expensive so I am writing my first grant to ask for money to help with the repairs and also get some extra materials for the classroom (storybooks in local language, puzzles and paint for murals). It is a lot of work but I am hoping that I will be able to get the project funded and then Silmidougou can save some money for future needs of the bissongo.

Well, I will try to be better about posting. Much love to you all!

Michael's Day by Day Impressions of Burkina Faso

I just had my first visitor stay with me for almost a month! These are his thoughts and experiences!

Day 1: Arriving in Ouaga, seeing the skies darken and an utter downpour commence then getting some precious pizza.

Day 2: Taking a camion (bush taxi) to village. Fortunately our camion was livestock free. At one point in the trip the camion broke down and the windshield wipers began moving on their own accord, which was dealt with by restraining them manually (the windshield wipers won) and lifting up the dashboard to twiddle with the rest of the wires there (which somehow worked). Also biking around Ouaga and almost dying a couple of times.

Day 3: Fish pasta, yum (yuck). Then dohlo, the local millet beer, more yum, then bunny slaughtering. Towards the end we didn't know what to do with the head and entrails, Katie suggested seeing if the neightbors want it. I brought it over and offered it to them. They took it and gave me back the pot completely empty. A man excitedly yelling, “I love you,” in a bad Burkinabe accent (he thought he was saying good afternoon).

Day 4: Formation in a smaller village and being treated like an honored guest simply because I am white, lots of photos. Playing some random hip banging game for woman with some random Burkinabe man who dragged me into it.

Day 5: Walking around in the sun and getting dehydrated then spending the afternoon in bed drinking Oral Re hydration Salts.

Day 6: Being offered wives, girlfriends, and fiances. A particularly unattractive and old Burkinabe woman missing several teeth telling me she would give me lots of babies.

Day 7: Big marche day, drinking dohlo, eating attieke with a large amount of rocks.

Day 8: Highway bandits stop and rob two buses (ten kilometers from Katie's site) one of which had a person who had gotten a lot of money digging gold individually. I fucking love Burkina.

Day 9: Sleeping outside lots, getting scared of the wind and running inside. Then being too hot to sleep because it is too hot inside. Weighing babies who peed and pooped everywhere. Working with kids, reading them stories in English (they do not even speak French) which they found utterly fascinating.

Day 10: Making tofu, dust and wind storm without rain. Lots of drinking, took three naps and guilt free.

Day 11: Went to Mane for a crazy marche day with so much stuff (in comparison to Katie's marche). Being abandoned for one and a half hours at a dohlo stand with Burkinabe who gesticulated at me lots. Drink three liters of dohlo. Lots of meetings. Having to ride on the back of a motorcycle while carrying my bike after getting a flat and feeling like I was going to die the entire way.

Day 12: Played with kids, threw a whistle ball. Met with lots of little chiefs but not 'the chief'.

Day 13: More tofu making and a pretend rain storm getting some sweet Burkinabe tailored pants.

Day 14: Quick trip to Ouaga, walking around the Grand Marche and then a long ass ride in a cramped bush taxi, that stopped for an hour (while still in Ouaga) because they didn't have enough money for gas.

Day 15: Travelling to Banzon alone and somehow not getting lost / killed even though I speak absolutely no French. Waiting for half an hour in a taxi while the driver argued with a gendarme (military) because he was parked illegally. Then riding in a bus that looks like it shouldn't be able to roll and having to get out to cross a stream to make sure the bus wouldn't fall over. Finally, meeting Tyler and spending a night in paradise.

Day 16: Thinking that I am in China with rice paddies. Seeing four hippos in the wild and eating mangoes straight off the tree. Meeting the Burkinabe Jack Sparrow.

Day 17: Having to run to not miss my bus, catching up on e-mails, eating tasteless fried things, drinking with Peace Corps volunteers and eating porc au four.

Day 18: More email and waiting a long time for an expensive dinner (as in nine dollars). Actually being able to use a toilet and a shower = winning

Day 19: Listening to a long repetitive argument with a jeweler, buying a daba (tool of all trades) partying with Peace Corps (which entailed drinking and getting a lap dance). Then going to a dance hall where you can only dance with yourself whilst looking a mirror. Stumbling back to bed and being woken up at 5am because the bus was supposed to leave at 4:30am. The bush taxi's early start was all for naught as we waited for two hours while a gruesome truck crash was cleared, walking to the bus right as the sky began to downpour. Then enjoying a nicely cramped ten hour drive back to Ouaga. Getting pizza again that tasted so much better after a couple of weeks in Burkina.

Day 21: Chillin' at the Peace Corps bureau, then getting Lebanese food at a swanky Burkinabe restaurant. Being accosted by a kid high on rubber cement who was asking for money then getting ice cream at a place that had way too many options.

Day 22: Heading back to Silmidougou on a uneventful bush taxi ride. Being greeted by people who actually knew me and speaking Moore which was nice. Then hunkering down for a rather impressive dust storm.

Day 23: Eating tasty millet and beans, playing with kids then listening to Katie talk to a chief. Then coming back and making our normal: macaroni with nido sauce.

Day 24: Heading back to Mane to get a wonderful t-shirt and complet, playing with kids and waiting for a chief for a while.

Day 25: Marche day and last day in village. Tofu and dohlo and putting up with drunk children (got to love Burkinabe parenting) seeing a pig strapped to the back of a bike and waiting all afternoon again for a chief. Then getting a kick ass boubou.

Day 26: Traveling to Ouaga solo, being overwhelmed by the artisan village and buying some Burkinabe crafts. Biking to a great interview and chilling at the transit house.

Day 27: Kaya, staying at a wonderful auberge run by orphans with air conditioning!! Drinking Nigerian Guiness (not bad) and and bad raisin wine and then going to a very legitimate club to look for Burkinabe dancing with themselves in the mirrors (but alas we were too early in the night). Getting lost in the marche and looking at lots of pagnes.

Day 28: More marche strolling and a final pizza dinner in Ouaga.

Day 29: Last day in Burkina! Having to leave to the airport ridiculously early to make sure I am on the flight.