THE NEWS

Okay so a lot of things have happened lately. So here is what I know.

First, We had a polio campagne. I traveled in my village to different houses while Remi and Hadissa gave the vaccine and a vitamin A supplement. It was really cool thing to be apart of and I got to see a lot more of my village and meet more and more people. I think it was really good for integration.

Second my village celebrated yet another Muslim holiday - TABASKI - It is the fete du mouton - The fete of sheep. So if the Muslim family can afford it they buy and kill a sheep and feast. I went to my Majors house and it was a lot of fun. Then...


I went home but stopped to say hi to Hadissa and her family and say Ne Y Taabo! So I was hanging out and then they gave me a leg of SHEEP!! Suck a generous gift! I was blown away! They told me that I could keep it for a week but...... I DON'T think so.. I ate it in 3 days... and I was impressed with myself that I didn't get sick or make anyone else sick because keeping meat without refrigeration.. is scary business.

Third THANKSGIVING
I went to a neighboring village about 25 kilometers away. The volunteer there is in the girls education sector and had gotten a package with stuffing and she has potatoes and I bought my chicken gravy packet. It was really fun. She also has the ingredients for green bean cassarole. It was also fun to see another village and meet some more people. It was really fun and I actually I am hopeful that we can work together because I want to start a girls group when my French gets better.

Gardening
So recently I traveled to Bobo and did a formation on gardening. We worked with prisoners the first two days and then with HIV positive women the next two days. It was really interesting and it help my French because I had to learn new vocabulary. I also want to do an irrigation system because we don't have much water in Toeghin.

SALFO :(
So here the jobs are different. You don't pick a place and then find a job. You get a job and then find a house and people are affectated on a regular basis. So that being said, one of the nurses at my CSPS is leaving. It is only 3 km away but I am sad nonetheless. He was who I spent my first day with at the CSPS so I feel like I have a bond with him. And I've actually gone through a lot with him and am sad. This is Salfo:

Okay and lastly... I got my bookshelf! and slowly making my house a home.

Yuunga.

Okay so I now have a cat if you haven't guessed by the photo. His name is Yuunga which is La Nuit/The night in Moore. I love him but sometimes I want to punch him...but as he is growing he is becoming more tolerable. :) I have had him for about 2 1/2 weeks and he is getting more and more brave...climbing things and eating various insects. Despite the fact that sometimes I want to punch him in the face we are a good team...and hunt together?!?! Yes it's true. I injure that insect and he is the KILLER. :) I must admit every time he catches anything from a black fly to a lizard I feel so proud. My little guy is growing up. Other news includes another Fete. My village had their annual fete. It was HUGE and took place on Oct 25th. There was SO much food...Meat in particular but there was even frozen ice cream/milk treat that came all the way from Ouaga...so it that gives you any idea about how big of a deal this party was. ha. There were games and music and dancing. I spent the morning at the CSPS like usual but afterwards I spent time with the Mayor of Toeghin and some chiefs and Becky my neighbor came. That was when things got weird. We went into the marche together... there were 3 of us because Becky had a friend visit...and we'll just say we caused a little bit of a stirr with the kids... We had at the most 30 children following us around just watching us. Needless to say it made me feel uncomfortable but what do you do!??!

This was not the only fete though...the Narle Naaba had another gathering to celebrate the harvesting. It was completely weird because he had all these foreigners with him. It was really interesting to see all these people in my village... and part of me was like NOOOOOOOO I am the Nasara here! This is MY village. ha I also met some new friends which I am really excited about and they even came to visit me at my house and I hopefully will get in contact with them when I am in Ouaga...slowly but surely I am making friends. :)

Okay and this is a picture of me... around 6:30am. I had obviously just woken up, threw on some clothes and grabbed my camera. Behind us ... Millet... one of the primary food sources in Burkina. Which means that it is harvesting time so everyone is really busy working in their fields.

Okay and lastly... I have a local name which I am really happy about. SAWADOGO NONGRE SOM. It means that I want to do good at least that is what I was told. :) I feel honored. AND Lindsay is a little difficult for people to pronounce here. ha :)

Intruders.

Okay so first off, I have had a crazy few weeks. I met a chief. He is the Narle Naaba and has a plantation of trees near my village. There was this big celebration and it was really cool to see. After going to this the ideas started to flow. I am thinking that perhaps I can create a conservation day or sorts. I would like to work with the forester, the schools, and this plantation. The students would learn about good farming techniques, the importance of crop rotation, soil erosion, and how to increase potential profits. I thought this would be good because almost everyone farms here and why not start to instill these things now. Also if they learn better farming practices...they can save money...perhaps lower the chance for malnutrition...etc... However these are just thoughts at the moment I hope to turn them into reality.

Also I am starting to furnish my home little be little. I bought a few tables! It is not much but makes my heart feel good. Also while here in Ouagadougou I arranged to get a dresser. I think. I will be tricky to get it too my village but I am hoping it will be worth it.

Okay so on to the intruders. I have had: crickets, lizards, frogs, cockroaches, and mice. Yes. All of these . I leave the lizards because they generally leave me alone and are supposed to eat bugs however they crap all over the place. The frogs are not much of a problem and are just trying to get warm but I have to admit scare me from time to time. The crickets are loud but there are too many to kill. I was proud of myself for crushing the roaches... however gross the fact is that they were in my house. And the mice... well I chased them out with a broom...I wasn't really to kill yet.

Lastly... I fell of my bike. It was a humbling moment that's for sure but FUNNY. I was checking a text message on my way to a neighboring village and WHOA... I was off the road on my side. but not to worry. I like battle scars and that is what I am choosing to think this was...a battle...I won?!?!

Village life.

Okay so I live about 50 Km north of Ouaga in a village of about 4500 people. I am loving my village and my house and the people. My house is little but I am excited to make it my home for the next two years. My neighbor Adissa...she owns the house...planted two trees for me...I really couldn't ask for anything better. Also some of the people I work with refer to her as my mother. It is really cute. But MOM don't worry I won't replace you :)

So night now I am doing what is called the Etude du Milieu...and it will last about 3 months until our next training session. During the Etude, I will be integrating into the community, working on language, looking at reports, and trying to figure out what the community needs/wants.

My courtyard.

Okay so Ramadan ended a few weeks ago here and everyone has parties to celebrate that fact that they can eat again. My major (the head nurse at the CSPS and my official counterpart) invited me over to his house. We ate and ate and ate and then I went to another nurses house and ate again. I finally returned home only to be given more food... I took a small repose and then I get this knock on my courtyard door.

Someone... I didn't remember him at the time...wanted to give me a coke at a local 'bar' across the road. I thought this was really odd then he came over and I have no idea what he is try to day because he only speaks moore. He gets someone to walk over a coke to my house. It was really weird at the time but really nice.

Long story short.. I met him through my neighbor Becky in a neighboring village at the marche. He is super nice and NOW I remember him. :)

I have small boutiques in village where I can buy food and soap and other needs. My village also makes great local bread...SO because my neighbor Adissa gave me eggs I had some egg sandwiches for breakfast ... SO tasty!

Language is difficult but everyone is so supportive. They all say "petite by petite." It is encouraging. They want me to succeed and so when I am having a bad day...I just remember that. And it is true... you need to be able to laugh at yourself if you want to survive. Because mistakes happen and it's funny.

SWEARING IN

Okay so I am now officially a volunteer of the Peace Corps! YAY!

I am going to my site this week and will be spending the next three months working on language and integrating into the community. I am really excited and nervous!

The actual ceremony was pretty official and included the first lady of Burkina. So there was a lot of press and pictures. It also took place at the new US embassy which was truly like walking onto American soil.

Okay well my next post will include details of my house and life in village. So here are some pictures to keep all you readers on the edge of your seats....

They are pictures of homestay, swear in, and some extras...

love to all

THECOUNTDOWNBEGINS!!

Life is really speeding up now...ONE WEEK and I will be dropped off in my village... alone ... with all my stuff...and expected to communicate with others. The village I am going to be spending the next two years speaks mostly moore which is one of the local languages here spoken by the Moosi people. The village has two schools and is about 4500 people.
I am excited-to have freedom and time to myself-scared- to enter a new town knowing only one person in the village and a little sad too- leaving friends and my host family.
It is actually hard to believe that we will be leaving our village and it makes me wonder about what i missed out on (host family relationships) be leaving our 1st host family in Oula.
Our second host family has been great though now that I am starting feel comfortable and building friendships we leave...

Well such is life and now I am going to start to make new friendships and build a life in my village.

Lastly, as I mentioned in an earlier paragraph, I have met someone from my village. She is the woman that owns the house I will be living in and she seems AWESOME!!!

Site Announcement

Okay so the day we... or I have been waiting for has arrived and pasted! The announcement was done buy having trainees put their name on a map and guess who was the VERY last. Good thing years of alphabetical order had prepared me!! I will be living in the “north” between Ouaga and Ouahigouya. I am replacing a volunteer that we medically separated after only a few months of service and the village is wanting a ‘mature’ volunteer. Hopefully I will fulfill these requirements. :) There are also a few CBOs (community based organizations) one of which is a woman’s group I can work with.
Also I will have a stand alone house which I AM SO happy about. YAY! Also there is a good market in my village which was the other thing (besides the stand alone house) that I requested.
Lastly, I am near the main paved road between Ouaga and Ouahigouya and will just have to bike 12 Km to get to get to a bus. SO... as of now I am planning on keeping my ‘training’ address which can be found on Facebook or I will give it to you via email.
Mail and packages are encouraged and welcomed. :)
Well, we only have two weeks left of training and it is hard to believe that we are coming to an end. One would think time flies when you are busy but NO... it has been going by slowly however the month of August has been flying by and we are swearing in as a volunteer on the 27th of August in Ouaga.
It is crazy to think that I will be at my site in just a few short weeks.
Finally I promise to get pictures from my home stay and training up in the next posting.PROMISE.

Yet ANOTHER new town.

Top: My host family's compound :)
Bottom: Me with one of my host brothers... it is surprisingly easy to bike with someone sitting on your bike rack.

First I am going to apologize...french keyboards are not my friend so I am going to keep postings short.
We have received our new host families and am living with an advanced french speaker. Our family is LARGE... Muslim... 5 wives .... 35 children ...and super nice!!!!
The city we are in now has never hosted PC training before so the children are WAY TOO excited about us being here.... they follow us everywhere and just grab onto you... hand wrist arm whatever they can grab and is getting old fast but ca va aller.
I have started my local language which is Moore.... this is the language spoken by the Moosi which is about 60 percent of the population. I don't feel as though my french is up to par to be learning another lang but alas.... I am. This also means I can swear in which will happen in less than 1 month.

AUGUST 27

Me cultivating

Food: I ate to (pronounced toe) for the first time with my host family and we will just say it is not my food of choice but edible.

Lastly, my next goal is to add pictures!!!

also it has been raining a lot ... so god is blessing the rains down in Africa!!

DEMYST

So I have noticed a trend... I am not very good at the blogging but I will continue to do my very best to inform the world of my doings.
Things of interest... WHAT ARE YOU EATING?
Well to be honest not much lately... I have been sick but am recovering at the moment and feeling good. The main food group is CARBOHYDRATES!! I eat bread for breakfast with jam with instant coffee or tea.
Lunch and dinner consists of mostly pasta or rice with a sauce of some kind. I also try to sprinkle some fruits in there (the mangos are FABULOUS) And last night I even had pizza and it was AMAZING (we'll just say it was a little slice of heaven) :)


OKAY! DEMYST
This is when we go and visit another health volunteer. I went with my language group to a village about an hour bus ride north of the Ouaga. So we took a bus and then biked 20 km to the village... which by the way was not as easy as it sounds and involved walking through a small 'river' and many a mud puddle.
While in village we hung out and met people in PCV's village including Le Chef. This was the highlight and he gave us 29 eggs all of which we good and were hand delivered by le Chef himself!! AND THEN, he had someone drop off 8 pigeons for us to eat. SO GENEROUS!! I had an amazing demyst trip and am excited to get into a village and meet people and create relationships and friendships. :)
The ride back was another story. We took a bush taxi and it was INTERESTING. Packed... I didn't even sit on a seat it was more of a feed bag. ummm we were stopped my the police twice and broke down once. :)
On the other hand our host for Demyst offered me up as a wife to a local!! It was really cute and in the taxi he goes "this is my wife" and asks if I would like to stay and cultivate with him!! It was all in good fun and a GREAT story!


We have also been learning about local customs and how important it is to great EVERYONE.
And if someone is older and you would like to show a sign of respect it is important to grasp your elblow while shaking hands and look down (and for women to actually to lower yourself like a genuflect motion)
To NOT smell food before buying or eating.
Holding hands with the same sex is very common here and does not insinuate anything.

Well that's it for now... we are movin yet again so hopefully I will update you all sooner rather then later :)

Host Family - The 4th - CSPS

Okay... first off I am sorry it has been so long since my last entry I will do my best to keep you all updated!
Homestays offically started on the June 28th!! Me and 6 other health volunteers piled into a van/truck vehicle and headed to our village! During the drive, lets say 20 minutes in, it dawns on us.. PCV's in West Africa are hard core....AND we are the hard core of Burkina since we have the longest bike ride in (17-20 km) which takes us about 1 hour 15!
The first night with my family is REALLY interesting... lots of silences and hand gestures!! The village speaks mainly moore (Mor-ray)which is one of the local languages. I only know greetings and everytime I say something they all just laugh at me!! Also this is a large family... lots of kids!!
The food is simple, good (for the most part), and has LOTS of oil!! :)

At the moment we have left the villages and moved down south. We celebrated the 4th at a pool with a wonderful lunch that included burgers, salad, potatoes, and CAKE!! It felt so great to relax, swim, play soccer and destress!!

TODAY: All the health volunteers visited a CSPS (Centre do Sante et Promotion Sociale) which is basically the health center... this is basically where someone would come if they are sick, for family planning, pre and post natale, etc etc...
We looked over records today... these are at every CSPS and can help volunteers identify the needs of the community. Very exciting!!

Lastly... driving through town... is always interesting... and I don't think I will ever get used to being stared at! ha :)

ARRIVAL!!

Hey everyone!!
I have officially arrived in Burkina Faso!! We have our first full day tomorrow and it will involve bike fittings, interviews, language testing, and will end with dinner at the CD (country directors) house! She will be making both American and African food! We will be here until Friday and then head north - northwest to our training site (Ouahigouya)

That's it for now!! And a special thanks to my roommate who had a computer!!

PACKING LIST

WELL HERE IS MY PACKING LIST... HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE SEMI HELPFUL ONE DAY TO ANOTHER VOLUNTEER :)

I AM SURE I FORGOT SOME THINGS BUT THIS IS THE GENERAL IDEA OF WHAT I AM BRINGING. THIS WILL SOMEHOW BE UNDER 80LBS AND CONTAINED IN TWO BAGS... ONE PIECE OF LUGGAGE, A BACKPACKING BACKPACK AND A CARRY-ON. I CAN ONLY HOPE IT WILL ALL FIT! I HAVE HEARD FROM OTHERS 'TO TRY NOT AND OVER PACK' I HAVE FAILED!

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I AM FLYING OUT IN TWO DAYS! I AM STARTING TO FEEL THE ANXIETY. I SAID GOOD BYE TO MY BROTHER AND HIS GIRLFRIEND THIS MORNING. IT WAS HARD. I AM GOING TO MISS EVERYONE SO MUCH

CLOTHES

1 PAIR OF JEANS

2 PAIRS OF LIGHT WT. NICE PANTS (HEMP)

2 PAIRS OF LONG SHORTS

6 SKIRTS THAT FALL BELOW THE KNEE

4 PROFESSIONAL SHIRTS

4 COTTON T-SHIRTS

1 LONG SLEEVE SHIRT

2 PAIRS OF ATHLETIC SHORTS

7 PAIRS OF SOCKS (I HOPE TO PLAY SOME SOCCER :) )

1 DRESS FOR THE INDUCTION CEREMONY

LOTS OF UNDERWEAR!!

1 ZIP-UP SWEATSHIRT

1 RAIN JACKET

CHACO SANDAL

DRESS SANDAL

TOILETRIES

2 IN 1 SHAMPOO

LOTION

DEODORANT

HAND SANITIZER

LADY PRODUCTS

RAZOR AND BLADES

RX FOR 3 MONTHS

TOOTHBRUSH, FLOSS, ACT MOUTH WASH

EXTRAS

BUG HUT II

SLEEPING PAD

ZIPLOC BAGS OF VARIOUS SIZES

COSMETICS

FLASHLIGHTS

SOLAR CHARGER

IPOD

HEADLAMP

DAYPACK (I USED AS MY CARRY ON)

LEATHERMAN AND SWISS ARMY KNIFE (GREAT GIFTS THANKS!)

2 WATER BOTTLES

FITTED SHEET, PILLOW CASE AND PILLOW

CAMPING TOWEL

DUCT TAPE

CRAFT SUPPLIES

TRAVEL SEWING AND EYEGLASS REPAIR KIT

FOOD

ENERGY BARS

SEPARATE PACKAGE

NON STICK FRYING PAN

CAN OPENER

PEELER

KNIFE SHARPENER

Packing And GOOD-byes

Hi Everyone!!

So packing has officially begun! I have been gathering things for the past few weeks but now I am truly getting ready for the flight over to Burkina. I am really excited but nervous... in actuality I feel so many emotions they are hard to pinpoint but nevertheless excitement overrules them all. :)

This past weekend I had my 'going away' parties. It was great to see so many of my family, friends and neighbors. It was hard to say good-bye but I am sure the time will fly by and I will be seeing them soon.

I will add my packing list soon... lots of people have been wondering what exactly I am bring... packing for two years is hard business!