Welcome to my new "In Burkina" series, where we will be exploring everyday activities in a village in Burkina Faso. Today we will be making tea.
We drink it in these little glasses. Its incredibly strong and takes a while to get used to.
This is where tea comes from. You can buy it in any little village at the market. There are many types, but most come from the distant and strange land of China. From this bag of tea, about 3 inches in height, you can get 3 batches of tea, though the third one is pretty weak. Some people refuse to drink the 1st/3rd tea round based on personal preferences.
This is all you need to make your very own tea! The pitcher is filled with water, for making the tea and also cleaning the items because they will get sticky from sugar. The little white bag is sugar, btw, and you add it according to your taste, after boiling the tea. Speaking of boiling the tea...
The blue pot is for boiling water with the tea leaves in it. You can let it boil for 15 minutes or an hour, depending on how much time you are looking to pass. Thats charcoal under the pot, it burns for about an hour, so you will have to replace it occasionally. After boiling the tea in water, you pour out the tea into the cup for sugaration. Refill the blue pot with water if you plan to do another round, and set it back on the fire while you add sugar to the current round. Now you are going to pour the current tea back and forth between the cup and the red pot, after you've added the sugar to the tea.
As you pour back and forth, a nice foam will buildup from the pouring action, this is very important. When you are satisfied with the amount of sugar in the tea, you will save the foam that has built up.
Now you set the red pot back on the fire, setting aside the blue, as the tea in the red pot has cooled significantly. When it is warmed up enough, it is good to drink and you can enjoy it under the shade of your favorite mango tree with your friends.
This is me (center) with my buddies Jacques (right) and Adama (left). Jacques works at the village health center as the pharmacist and Adama is a farmer. Typically we have some teacher friends around, but today it was just us. Also other village people will occasionally stop by to chat. Tea can last as long as from noon to 6pm.
There is of course a very detailed tea culture that must be adhered to. This is the primary way Burkinabe men pass their time in the afternoon, when most people have a 12-3 break from work (as it's the hottest time). Even class is out during this time.
Following a strict code, tea is typically served first to the most "important" person in the group, and on down the line, with the fakir (tea maker) drinking last. Much like an American would never make the social faux pas of skipping from a double dog dare to a triple dog dare, a Burkinabe would never leave a person out of the tea serving line. I have been trained in the fine art of preparing tea, not very common amongst foreigners here. I wouldn't say that I'm an expert on Burkinabe culture yet, but I'm pretty sure being a fakir here is about as high of an honor as receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor in America.
I hope you have enjoyed this little segment. I have some ideas for other, like exploring the market and interacting with a classroom full of students, washing clothes, preparing food. I would also consider requests if you are curious about anything.
