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