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)