Host Family

Here is me outside my host family's house.  The Burkinabe literally cultivate every inch of free ground no their property, so their corn fields tough their house.  There is my mom on the left and my dad on the right.  I gave them tobaggan hats and they gave me a special Sapone hat when I left.  It's pretty awesome and even has NCState colors.  BTW I met an NCSU fan in Ouaga at a restaurant, he was a cool guy.  My host dad is a hunter, but everyone here does everything so he farms and sells clay bricks also.  My host mom is hilarious and could very easily break me in half, along with many women here.  They are incredibly strong because they handle the food and haul the water.  She is always an instant away from a smile even when the kids are being little jerks.  The little one is Leonce, she is the daughter of the eldest daughter of Benoit and Elizabeth (dad and mom).  Leonce is easily the most adorable child I have seen anywhere and is surprisingly clever.  One time she played a prank on Isaac, my 9yo host brother.  They have chairs here that are metal frames with cloth that hangs parallel with your body, like a hammock.  It is attached on the top fixed and on the bottom the fabric goes through a slit and is held there by a long, thin piece of wood slid into the fabric loop.  Essentially, if you remove the wood, the fabric falls through the frame.  Leonce and Isaac always fight for a seat in the house.  One time, Isaac got called out of the house for a quick chore and Leonce, unknown to the rest of us, removed the piece of wood, so that the fabric rested in the usual place, but was unattached.  She then waited in the middle of the room until she saw Isaac returning.  This is the really ingenius part; the second Isaac entered the room, Leonce bolted for the chair and, naturally, so did Isaac.  She let him edge into the chair and he fell right on through to the floor, like if you sat on a toilet without the seat down.  Isaac sat there, butt through the chair, wondering how it could have gone so wrong.  Leonce was skipping around the room, cackling with glee.  It took me 2 months to get to the level of understanding to see these kinds of things happen in the family, and it made it all the harder to say goodbye.

Here is Windinda (25, top) the mom of Leonce (5, right) and Isaac (9) and Ezekial (17), technically the uncles of Leonce.  But they all think of each other as brother and sister because there isnt really a word in Moore for uncle/cousin/niece etc.  Ezekial helped me alot to learn French because he was the one that I was usually talking to on a regular basis, the mom and dad speak only a little french.  Ezekial wants to be a pilot and Isaac wants to be a diplomat.

This is Jean (15) with the familly steer.  About to plow for the the cornfield.  He really likes blackjack.

Here is me with a neighbor mom and my host sister Rebecca (21, soon to be mom again) and her son Serge (2) and of course Leonce.  I didn't get to see much of Rebecca or Windinda because they lived/worked elsewhere, but they used to get a big kick out of me washing my own clothes.

Somehow I didn't manage to get a picture with Windabo (19).  He worked as a mason, among other things, and is a great guy.  He was the first place I went to when I was confused about someone's behaviour, which was often.  There is one other host brother, Frederick (24?) who lives in Ouaga so I only saw him once.  These are the people I lived with for 2 months.  I can't wait to visit again.

I have a kitty!

The one on the left is mine, I'm holding the other one for a friend.  She is 3 months old and hilarious.  No idea what to name her, contemplating Skittles or something in Dioula.  Cats are even more awesome here because they kill mice and bugs and make the house less lonely. 

This is me with another new volunteer; John, and my LCF (language coordination facilitator) Konfe.  If there were rock stars in BF they would look like Konfe.  He's awesome though, and a big reason why I can speak the French that I can.  He is actually a journalist in another city here.  I had to do a serious picture to see if I could look as intimidating as he does.  Time will tell.  John with the 'stach completes the trio nicely. 

I'm dressed here in what is called a booboo.  They are the typical formal wear here, worn slightly more often by Muslim men or high officials, but really everyone wears them when they want to look sharp.  They are incredibly comfortable, thought a little hot.  Mine is a full booboo, with pants cut like any other slacks, and the long sleeve shirt that goes down to the knees.  To get one, one simply needs to buy the cloth for it, sold as "peignes" (pronounced panyas by Americans) and take them to your local tailor.  A tailor is a good friend to have here.

Hopefully I get to visit and hang out with Konfe in the future.  He was goofy occaisionally; one time I was trying to explain snowballs to him in french.  I asked if he ever saw snowballs in BF, he said "no, perhaps balls of heat or sun balls" and then proceeded to mime catching heat into a ball and chuckle to himself.  He's a cool dude.

Moving in tomorrow

No pictures yet, but I move into my site tomorrow.  Then its 2 years of me and my village.  After training, there are 30 pounds less of me and I now know how to cook here, buy iportant things and even speak a little Diuolla.  I just began getting my paycheck along with a little extra for moving in.  I got a blender and will save up for a fridge for maybe 2 months.  Ill be eating alot of eggs, rice with various sauces and macaroni with laughing cow cheese, the only cheese really available.  Most of my time in the first 3 months will be spent getting familiar with my village, meeting people and learning language.  School starts in early October so I will begin teaching then.  More coming soon!

Video of my Site

This is my house in Siniena.  I will be very comfortable there.  It's hard to see the shower room, but that's what the dark room is.  I say shower, naturally I mean the bucket-bath room, not to be confused with a bucket bathroom, which would be uncomfortable.  I now have about 3 weeks left in training.  I'm going to be so sad to leave my host family behind, but so happy to begin integrating in my community in Siniena.  This is the land of mangoes, so be jealous.  The fruit is bountiful and meat should be pretty available, so I will be in pretty good shape health and nutrition-wise.  We even get a class on how to cook here and some good American-style recipes that other volunteers have come up with.  When I get more internet I will do a big post on my host family with pictures.  BTW I'm doing awesomely