Fatty Matty

I have concluded that certain members of the Agrarian Effort household would love this country based on three key facts:
1. All food is eaten with your hands
2. Picking your nose is as normal as scratching your nose.
3. Okra is abundant (though usually dried).

In other news, I finally received my official African name: Fatimata. Yes kids, that's right, my name is "Fati". It wasn't really up to my choosing, but I'll take it. If nothing else, it'll keep me humble to be called that a bijillion times a day. But actually, here, being fat means that you eat well. Or at least that is what my new adopted mom says. She whines at me every meal that I don't eat enough. I need to put on weight. I contend that this is not the case, but there is no convincing this woman.

Oh yes, I have a new adopted family. Last week was site visit week where I saw for the first time where I will be living for the next two years. The week went swimmingly, despite a brief encounter with "the changes". My village is called Bourzanga and is located directly north of Ouaga. If you check out a map of BF, you can see a good sized lake (15 km long) and that is where I am, on the the southeast shore. And that means... year round veggies and fish!

The headmaster of my school resembles an African version of Gandhi and his hospitality befits his appearance. I am very lucky because he speaks excellent English, although we mostly communicate in French for my benefit. My new adopted family is wonderful, as well. Abdulaye and Mariam have 5 children of their own and take care of a niece and nephew who were sent to them from Cote d'Ivoire at the beginning of the war there. Both have big gaps between their front teeth which give them a cartoonish look. They both speak French as well as Mooré and they are incredibly nice and fun. My new house is great. (It amazes me how my standards of living have changed.) It has THREE rooms (which make it the Taj Majal for me) and a very porch area. The latrine is nice, but there are huge cockroaches at night, so I am scared to pee after dark.

This past week was really energizing. I can definitely do this for the next 2 years. My training village was getting me down, but the situation in my new village is a lot better, and my attitude has turned around. Despite the great things in my village, there is no means of communication. There is not even a single telephone in the whole village. So that means that my posts here will be sparse. So I have the feeling that snail mail will be my primary source of communication, despite the price (almost 2 bucks per letter home).

Well thats about it. Thanks to everyone for the birthday emails. They certainly made my day. I wont have any internet access for over a month now, so I am really sorry if I didnt reply.

Sometimes there's more downs than ups

This past little stint of time has been a doozy. My training group was split up into 3 villages where we stay with families. For some reason that I just can't put my finger on, my village group just has terrible moral. Being in village gets downright depressing sometimes and it is getting really frustrating. What's really yanking my perverbial chain is language. My French is just not progressing like it should be. I know a big reason for that is because not too many people in my village speak French, which is extremely frustrating. At least I am lucky enough to have 3 members of my family that speak French.

One more negative, and I will leave it at that. The casual violence here is starting to get to me. People beat their animals and their children and it is completely acceptable. It is really hard to live around that.

OKAY OKAY!!! I am through with the bitching. So thank you for bearing with me on that one. I just had to steam to let off. Tomorrow I find out where I will be living for the next two years. I am really nervous, so I am trying not to think about it. Tomorrow I also get to go to Ouaga! That is a big deal because Ouaga has real food and swimming pools. Very exciting. I am going to eat like a pig. But so as to curb my food complaining since I promised no more negativity, let me tell you about the mangos here. If you like mangos, visit me this time next year. There are about 7 huge mango trees right next to my family's place. Every day, one of my brothers will climb one and pick out the ripest ones just for me. I never liked mangos until now. Especially since they are basically my only vitamin source. But now I am quite a fan.

And to close, I got a request for my mailing address so I thought I would post it here. Voila!
Kara Tierney, PCT
S/c Corps de la Paix
01 B.P. 6031
Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso
(in care packages, food of any sort is extremely welcomed)

Hey Hey Hey! Wow, today was another doozy. You know its bad when you enter a room and think to yourself, "Wow, this feels so much cooler!" then look at the thermometer that reads 100 degrees. Never thought I could endure this, but I doing good. Last night I slept in the garden of our hotel with my mosquito net set up. It was soooo great! That was the first night here that I didn't literally soak my pillow and sheets in sweat. I'm definitely doing that again.

For those of you interested in seeing some pictures, another volunteer in my group posted some on his website. I'm not sure how to permanently post the link on here yet, so I'll just give you the address here:
http://adaminafrica.blogspot.com
There's a great picture of us with the town "chef" (chief)

I guess all I want to add is how lucky I am right now. These days I have been thinking a lot about everyone I have left at home and how all of you are so amazing. And to add to that, my fellow volunteers are seriously some of the most interesting people I have ever met. We all have this common denominator of our desire to be doing this momentous thing, but beyond that we each have something unique to add to the group. What a support system I have!

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Ah yes, another fine 120 degree day in Burkina. Well, they say April is the hottest month and I believe them. WOW, so much to share that I dont even know where to start.... Lets take the title. Good ol Mr. Bowie has been on everyones mind because our medical officer (MO) called diarrhea the "changes". So now if someone has a stomachache, everyone bursts into song.

Well, it seems the question on everyones mind in your WONDERFUL emails to me (which i appreciate to no end, though it may take me a long time to reply to) is what my new family is like. Well, they are incredibly nice people. I have a grandfather and two grandmothers (polygamy is commonplace here). I have a father and a brother, two sisters, a bijillion little kids and other people I havent really met. We have a lot of really stinky pigs, one donkey, one horse, five dogs, a million chickens, a million goats (one who was just born last week!) and some guinea hens. Its a noisy place. They treat me like a princess. I have a special chair that theyll follow me around with. I get special meals (and yes, they have mostly involved meat) and my brother does everything for me. They do my laundry too. My dad and brother speak French and everyone else only speaks Mooré. My French is coming along, but I still get really frustrated by my capability boundaries.

Life here has certainly made me appreciate the little things like: cold drinks, pop, fans, shade, vegetables, toilets and so on. And that reminds me of an amusing anectdote from here. One night, while at the bar with my friends, my friend Adam went to use the latrine. After a little time, he comes back and announces to the group, "OK, I am done with this country!" Apparently, while he was urinating into the latrine hole, a bird flew out of the hole! I am soooo glad that happened to a male and not a female!

Well, thats about it for me for now. I have gotten some requests for possible care packages ideas. So here you go: a stargazing book (the night sky here is breathtaking), a shadow puppetetry book (my cultural contribution to my family), dried fruit, sugar free koolaid packets and newspaper clippings (I hear NO news here). Thanks so much for all your support! Oh and one more thing to add to the carepackage business: Burkina has NO trash system whatsoever, so please remove any excess packaging. What I throw away simply ends up on the ground somewhere. I will try to update this when I can, but the main village I live in does not have internet, so please bear with me.