I was actually cold last night!

And it was the most amazing feeling in the world. I've been in Burkina for about a week and I haven't stopped sweating. Well, maybe I have during my bucket bath (which is lovely), but then I start to glisten.

For those of you who don't know, I tested into Intermediate Low French! woot woot And now we've begun the lessons. Right now it doesn't seem like I'll be fluent, but I'm sure that will change. Cross your fingers!

I met my host family on Tuesday and they're very nice, though communication is rather interesting. They all get a good chuckle out of me. My host parents have three daughters: Anike (10), Priscillia (2) and Prisca (1), and I'm sure I've misspelled those. My host dad is a nurse (I learned that after about 2 minutes of confused and broken French. Each night I come home, take a bucket bath in their bathroom (they have a shower and toilet, but neither work), eat dinner (last night was macaroni with fish~interesting combo, but I've also had rice, spaghetti, lots of bread). I've started drinking Nescafe in the morning since I can rarely have Coke, but I still think that coffee is no bueno despite the fact that I need the caffeine. The diet here is mainly carbs, but the other day I had a mango and I swear it was the most delicious thing ever! I think I was just craving something sweet. When I eat my meals with my host family, I eat alone. Sometimes Anike sits in a chair (facing away from me on the other side of the room) and does her homework or eats her dinner. Once I tried telling her that she could sit with me, but she just laughed and went back to her reading. The children here have so far been quite amusing (are you surprised to hear me say that?). When they see me (or any white person) coming down the street, they shout "Nasara", which is Moore for "foreigner" or "white person". They like to touch me and my clothes, and the first night that I was with my host family, Priscillia would not let go of my big toe. I felt bad for her because my feet are disgusting, but she didn't seem to mind.

I have my own room at the house. It smells like kerosene because the PC treated it to ward off mosquitos. It is so stifling in there so I try to stay away from it, but that also means that I don't have as much privacy as I'm used to. The first two nights I slept in my room, but I would literally sweat a bucketload onto my sheets. Whoah sexy! But the last two nights I slept outside under my mosquito net, and it was glorious! My family sleeps outside too, so don't fret Mamita, because I'm not all by my lonesome out there.

But before we go to bed, my family brings the TV outside (yay electricity!) and the neighbors come by and we all watch a cheesy Brazilian soap opera dubbed in French called Coeur de la Peché (something like "Sinful Heart"). Everyone absolutely loves it and they cheer. I really don't know what's going on, but when they laugh, I laugh, and all is well in the world.

I can't say much about latrines, except that I hate them. Especially at night when I have to shoo away the cockroaches around the craphole just so I can pop a squat. No bueno, and I'm not sure how I'll ever get used to doing that. Oh toilets in the U.S., how do I love thee, let me count the ways...

Aside from that I haven't been sick yet, but other people have. I make sure to filter my water and then I add bleach for extra caution. I'm not a fan of dysentery My host family even has a fridge so every once in a while I can drink cold water! I've had some mild stomach discomfort and I haven't had much of an appetite, but I'm just ducky. I've made some friends here in the PC, and they're a great support system because we're all going through the same thing. That being said, this has been the longest week of my life and I desperately hope that not all of these upcoming weeks pass by as slowly as this one.
By the way, it rained today and it's cool outside! God I love the rain!

And...

Happy Father's Day! To Dad and Doug! and Jason, if you're reading this.