I’m going to be living in Southwest Burkina! The southwest happens to be the region where it rains the most! I have to say that I was really surprised when I was told my site location because 1. A lot of the trainees requested to be placed in the southwest and 2. I personally didn’t specify a region so I figured I’d be placed in the Sahel or central Burkina. But here I am. And as of now I am going to be a Math teacher. However, that could change at any time because professors drop out of programs, or they move away, or the schools add or cancel classes. I will be either a math, physics/chemistry or biology teacher—or all three, or perhaps just two. Who knows?
I’m also going to be living in a village where another volunteer is currently situated. This person is a GEE (Girls’ Education) volunteer, so I’ll be the only PC volunteer teacher in the village. I wasn’t expecting to be placed in the same village as another volunteer and I’m almost certain that it’s not too common. But having this other volunteer in my village will most likely help facilitate my integration into the community, and I’m happy that I’ll be close to someone who’ll be willing to help me adjust to a brand new life after training is over.
Next week is site visit! By next weekend I’ll be able to explain in more detail what my home for the next two years will be like. For now I’ll tell you what I know about the South. According to Bradt’s Burkina Faso Guide, the south has the best elephant-viewing! Finally I’ll bathe at the watering hole with the elephants! The south is also the greenest part of Burkina, with the most amount of rainfall and unfortunately the most humidity. The upside is that I haven’t stopped sweating since my arrival in Burkina, so humidity is no object. Anywho, the southwest has red earth, green hills, streams and it is “the gateway into the world of fetishes, sacred rites and bush lore of Lobi country.” It’s been said that all Burkinabe are animists, but that’s particularly true in the southwest. I don't know what local language I'll be learning, but I'm pretty sure it won't be Moore. Again, I'll know more about my site next week so I'll let you all know then.
Wheew! Am very excited and nervous for next week. I leave Ouahigouya on Wednesday with my counterpart, who’s a member of the community in my village, and together we’ll travel to my site. My counterpart will act as a conduit between myself and the members of my prospective village. He or she will introduce me to the chef of my village, my colleagues, the police, etc. I’ll also get to see my new house and begin to cook up ways to make it my own. I envision myself having a lot of fun with paint. Yup, it’s going to be a mess. Right now I’m not sure if I’ll be spending the nights with my counterpart or with the other volunteer in my village during my visit. Hmm, I need to figure that out. We're having workshops on Monday and Tuesday to hammer out all the details.
I’ll be spending 3 nights at my site, and after that I’ll travel to Ouagadougou (sans counterpart!) to meet up with the other secondary education trainees. We’ll spend 2 nights in Ouaga—good food will be had, and I might even get to use a real toilet (sans cockroaches!). I’ll be on the hunt for chocolate and other delectable goodies, so wish me bon chance.
Other stuff from this week: My host mom and dad are in Ouaga this weekend so I've been hanging out with my host aunt.Her name is Mariam and she's been living with us for about 3 weeks now. I've been wondering how long she'll be staying with us, and I believe I got my answer last night. Mariam was explaining to me in full detail the history of the Brazilian soap opera Au Coeur du Peché when suddenly she told me that her husband died two months ago. She told me that she had been living in Ivory Coast with her husband and daughter (1 yr, now living with us too) when about 2 months ago her husband was killed in a motorcycle accident. So now Mariam and her daughter are living with my host family indefinitely. My lack of French made it difficult to express sympathy, so I just said "Toutes mes condoléances" and then I just sat on the couch awkwardly. But we looked at Mariam's photo album and she seemed comforted by my company.
Unfortunately moto accidents are quite common here because few people wear helmets and a lot of the times traffic lights and stop signs are merely decorations. Needless to say it's sometimes a little scary riding a bike here.
I had my second language test today and I'll know the results on Monday. It wasn't horrible but it also wasn't great. However, this time I could understand everything that my instructor said which is quite an improvement from last time! Sadly, my speaking is still atrocious. Ça va aller!
Also, tomorrow I have to do laundry all by my lonesome. Usually my host mom or aunt will take over after an hour ot two, but not this time. I have a feeling that it will take me a day and a half to finish cleaning all of my clothes, and I'll have battle wounds all over my delicate fingers. It should be interesting.
All right, I can't write any more. I'm glad that you had a nice time in Boston, Mom and Doug. And I hope you have spectacular adventures in London and Paris, Shelly and Nathan!
Please send snail mail if you have the time!
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