Hot Damn! I'm done with Arbolé!

Wow, that was rough. Month and some change in my training village of Arbolé. I taught real Burkina classes and actually found that apparently the teaching gene was passed down from my parents. I think my biggest accomplishment was teaching electricity successfully to a classroom full of kids who do not have electricity in their homes or at school (in French!) Either that, or putting up with a month of dinners selected from a menu of 3 dishes: rice with no taste, spaghetti with no taste or rice and beans (which was by far my favorite). You know its bad when you ask a kid what their favorite food is and they reply with "beans".

So much happened in that month that I just don't know where to start. There were only 3 of us because of 2 early departures and, in reality, it turned out for the best. My other Arbolé kin were Kelly and Josh. We bonded and became like family, which is pretty impressive since we spent such an obscene amount of time together and really had no bickering or problems. Situations like that really make me grateful that I'm here out of my element. I can safely say that I had no idea I'd end up becoming so close to them. On the surface, we seem pretty different, but our attitudes and outlooks on life are very similar. So in the end I am grateful for the friendships that were forged in the hardship of Arbolé.

On our last night in village, there was a big party for the whole village. There was dancing and drinking and merriment. Actually it was really weird. Dancing means a whole bunch of 8 year old boys gyrating to the same cassette that is played in everyother bar in Burkina. But it made for quite an interesting way to end things out there.

Now I'm in Ouaga (which has suddenly transformed itself into a paradise in my head) for a week. On Friday I swear in as volunteer and end my training. Then I'm off to Bourzanga for 4 months of nothing during summer break. Weee!

My health has been pretty good. Thank goodness. One of the other training places got hit hard: 4 out of the 5 have now bled from their ass. I'll pass, thanks.

In other news, it turns out that Euchre is the official card game of PC volunteers in Burkina (woo Michiganders) and I am slowly turning other fellow trainees into Al Burian fans as my copy of The Burn Collector Collection gets passed around. Nick Drake, Elliott Smith and Joanna Newsome have been my soundtrack lately. Oh and one of my pigs had babies while I was in village. Piglets are insanely cute. Okay, I think that's enough for today.

SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR AG EFFORTERS: Your package saved my freekin life!!!!! You've got a nice letter coming to you soon, hopefully with pictures. Hugs.