Thursday, January 14, 2010

Life isn't fair, sorry to the other PCV's who don't have electricity.

Well today is an interesting turn of events. My neighbor purchased a USB Modem (that is a device that connects to the internet and uses the same technology of a cell phone to connect any computer to the internet). So now I am one of the more spoiled volunteers in Burkina. I am currently sitting on my duff in my bedroom, on my bed no less, writing to all of you (or any of you who actually read this thing, even though I never post anything worthwhile). But to my amazement I now am able to connect with others. Though the bandwidth only really allows me to connect to e-mail or to this blog. I'm sure that it will still be an item that helps me keep my sanity.

For what you've missed thus far. I recently was in the capital as many of you are aware because of my constantly being on Facebook for 2 weeks. But alas my training finished and I am back in the south, which is nice because of the little temperature drop and the ability to actually breath once in a while. The dust in the north is almost insufferable and the "harmatan winds" are difficult to deal with.
I was in the capital for training. After being at site for a while there are always more questions that volunteers have, and that need to be addressed. All of the information presented was good, and I was able to get some of my own questions answered. But I soon realized that everyone in the Peace Corps has a unique experience. It is hard to think that all of our sites are that much different but it's true.
My site is in the south of the country, in a country that is about the size of Colorado. So you wouldn't think that much would change. Well actually it does; the climate, the culture, the language. It's rather bizarre. It's greener here than in the north by quite a bit, we also have hills. But that isn't the big difference. The big difference is the culture that is here in comparison to the north especially around Ouagadougou.
Here in the south we have many different ethnic groups but one main one in particular, they are called the Lobi. The Lobi speak Lobiri, and are in general, not very nice. Here in "Lobi country" every family is considered in and of itself a separate entity and they take care of themselves. They do not consolidate, and do not really have a figure head (though this is not true, they have a chief of sorts to govern disputes of land and such, but nothing else). So respect here is not inherent, it is earned, and everyone here is rather equal (well the men are). This is both a positive and a negative.
So dealing with students at the school and the people around the town is different than the other volunteers making some of the training utterly useless to me. So much of the time was spent wondering how people are dealing when in fact, they have much different situations and in so being our training worked for them and not me.
Ok that is enough for now. Enjoy.
Friday, December 25, 2009 –

Christmas, or in French “Noel”. Here the holiday is spent with much the same intent as that in the US. It’s for families to get together, gifts are exchanged, and Jesus’ birth is celebrated. But the manner in which it is celebrated, obviously there are some big differences. Especially for me. For example there is no snow here, well ice is hard to find here, but I find it regardless. There are none of the normal foods that I would consider Christmas worthy either. Most of the food here is honestly salty or bland, sugar is easy to find, but hardly used in cooking.
As for the meals I ate. At the first party that I went to. I had rice and beef and a cold Sprite. This was at my “pseudo-mothers” house. She had invited me over the day before. It was nice. She is the elderly woman who owns the restaurant I frequent, and has been very nice to my of late. I did not spend to much time here though. I’ve been sick lately so I wanted to take a nap, and lay down.
The second party I went to was at the house of the secretary of PLAN, her name is Armelle. Her husband and I have become good friends over the past month or two, and his name is Alpha. The food they served was very party-ish, there are many staple party foods here in Burkina. Popcorn is one along with fried cake and these chip like things flavored like shrimp. But more importantly they had fried chicken and fish. Once again I had a Sprite to go along with the grub. It was satisfying. But then again, eating oily greasy food while being sick isn’t a good idea, but it’s Christmas, so I don’t care. So I decided to come back and lay down and type a little. I’m happy, full, and sick at the same time; and it is ok.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 –

I had a special treat today. The director of Peace Corps Burkina, Doug, and his two sons came down to my region to visit the Loripeni Ruins (which I have already had the pleasure of seeing, so I played guide for their trip). They came to Gaoua yesterday, so they actually took me out to dinner (and not having to pay was nice, especially at one of the most expensive and nice restaurants in the region). Having good beef and French fries, it was almost like being in the capital city, Ouaga. It was also very nice to spend time with American guys my own age. Speaking English and talking about American culture. (by the way it doesn’t sound like I’m missing much when it comes to the movie scene).
It was nice to be able to be in a vehicle that didn’t stop every two minutes. We made it there and back, to Loripeni, in no time flat. With the public transportation system here, it would seem as though the country is much larger than it really is, when in fact if you had your own vehicle making only the stops you actually want. Then really you can go anywhere and do anything in any given day.
My chameleon named “Chamillionaire”, was one of the coolest pets I’ve ever had the experience of having for a 48 hour time (seems as though catching bugs and feeding him would have been easy, yeah not during the dry season here in Africa) so now Chamillionaire is off on his own. Catching bugs for himself. But I found him on the road coming back from Loripeni. He was just trying to cross the road. So I asked Doug to stop of the vehicle. None of us had ever seen a live chameleon in the wild before. So this was a new experience for all parties involved. Anyone knowing me would know that I just walked right up to it and picked it up with no hesitation. Doug was very surprised by this. Everyone then got to pet him. I then also just brought him with me. Just holding him on my hand, well actually he was holding me. And what a grip he had. So cool. So I guess
I’m the new Steve Irwin here in Burkina. Doug was able to also grab a picture for the Monthly Newsletter called the “Zakramba” (which is Moore for family). Doug takes pictures of everyone he visits and puts them into the newsletter. Though this picture was much better than any of the others he had taken because the first one he grabbed was me in my house; and a little background to go along here. My house is nice, but not only that, its almost luxurious compared to others. I now have this unusual reputation for a Peace Corps volunteer that I am a little spoiled, and well now all of Peace Corps Burkina is totally aware. I guess my house and set up is a topic of discussion in some circles. Though my house is not big, I have gone to some lengths to make the things in my house look nice.