Happy Birthday, Shelly!

In Gaoua for internet, chicken and some quality hang-out time with other volunteers in my area.

I've been in Bouroum-Bouroum for 2 weeks now and I'm getting settled in little by little.I'm all set to paint my house. I bought a mattress, a couple of chairs and some buckets, and I'm hoping to get a table or two really soon. A table would be quite nice.

My casa is huge—3 bedrooms; a salon, indoor shower (aka a draining hole in the floor) and a large courtyard. I should be getting a hanggar built soon and a door to my courtyard to keep this one pesky rooster (not to mention some neighbor kids) from coming around at all hours. The family that used to live in this house just moved out before I came, and I inherited their dog for about a week until they came from Gaoua and retrieved it. This dog didn't care much for me at first and he growled every time I entered and left the house. But one day he decided I wasn't so bad (it was probably the animal crackers) and then proceeded to follow me everywhere I went, including to the latrine which was rather interesting. But now the doggy's gone and I'm left wanting a cat. Meow.

Since school doesn't start until October I've been spending my days meeting neighbors, hanging out in town drinking cold cokes, reading (I've finished The Shining and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), sleeping and thinking about how I want to fix up my concrete house because the walls are seriously depressing me. I also think I have a mouse but he has yet to come out of hiding.

BB has a marché every 5 days. It's a huge village affair and kind of overwhelming when in the middle of it. I almost tripped over a fullgrown, bloodied dead pig at the last marché, which could have been exceedingly unpleasant. But I've bought buckets and dishes and delicious bissap at the marché, and I'm hoping to buy some cucumbers next time around.

Life here has been pretty good so far, if not a little stressful. I don't know how many proposals I've received or how many times I've been asked if I have a boyfriend or to give out my phone number. I'm at the point where I'm wary of almost every man who approaches me, unless of course we're already acquainted. Oh well, I suppose that this awkward and uncomfortable phase will pass eventually, especially once I get to know more people.

I've met the dirzector of my school and we've just discussed my teaching schedule. I'm set to teach 3 math classes for a total of 15 hrs/week. The director also wants me to start an English Club and organize sensibilizations for young girls to make sure they understand the benefits of being babyless while attending school. I'm excited to do these sensibilizations because then I'll also be able to talk about HIV/AIDS preventions and contraception.

Since coming to BB I've pumped water once and then I found a nice girl willing to pump water for me (the pump is far and it sucks pedaling on a bike with heavy jugs of water). I bought a huge purple trashcan that she fills up with water every 4 days or so. Having no electricity I've been using my phone as a light source and have been going to bzed around 7:30. At some point I'll buy some candles or a kerosene lantern. I have a tin roof so when it's barely sprinkling outside it sounds like a thunderstorm inside. The other day I washed my clothes buut then the clothesline broke when it started to rain and my clothes were even dirtier than before. I just about cried. Thanks to some borthday packages I've been enjoying PB & J sandwiches and loads of chocolate. Thanks so much! I've even melted some of the chocolate bars and mixed it in a bowl with Jif, making a peanut butter and chocolate sundae. I am a culinary genius.

Sadly and a bit belatedly, I'm finding that my personality doesn't mesh very well with Burkinabé culture. I love solitude and they consider it abnormal. I find it a little annoying to have people come around and hang out and not have anything to say to me. They prefer to stare. I find it unnerving and odd, so it'll be necessary for my sanity to adust my thinking. But I never noticed this social trait in Ouahigouya because we always had the TV noise to fall back on and I was constantly surrounded by Americans. But here in Bouroum-Bouroum my neighbors come to my house where they sit and stare in silence. Sometimes I'll start conversations and then discover that my visitors don't speak any French beyond 'Bonjour' and 'Ça va?' And still we sit, sometimes for an hour, when all I want to do is be alone and read how Elizabeth Bennett unknowingly wins the heart of Mr. Darcy with her wit and her superior zombie-killing combat skills.

Happy Birthday, Shelly! I hope you have an amazing one!