The first entry I had was so much better...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Signing off, for now
Okay! I hate computers here. I just spent an hour writing a beautiful blog, only to accidentally erase it because the keys aren't where they're supposed to be!!! Aghh! So sense I am frustrated and tired, there will no pictures or extensive writing today..... Because there already was. I guess it must not have been good enough if my fingers decided to erase it. Anyways, all is well in Ouaga, and I finally get to go to my new home tomorrow, the village of Béréba, to begin my work. Nothing to exciting except a lot of reading and writing and I spent my whole Saturday with Emilie and David, (a visiting photographer), taking pictures of families, hard-working women and famished children in a rural village just outside of Ouaga. I have decided not to share these pictures with you until I get home out of respect to the people that let me take them. All I can say it was the first of many days on interacting and learning and inspired the excitement I have been waiting for to go to the village. While I got a little burnt, I finished the day with more than 150 photos. As always, there is a lot more to tell you, but as I have already spent an hour trying to tell you it all the first time, I do not want to spend two more. The journey is still just beginning, and I will have a lot more to tell you in the coming ten weeks. I leave for Béréba tomorrow and look forward sharing new stories then. For now, here's a picture of the sunset.
The first entry I had was so much better...
The first entry I had was so much better...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Pictures
Finally, here are some pics!Below are the two goats we have in our yard, Minnie (black) is the mom and Millie (white) is the baby.
To the right are the chickens and little chick-a-dees.
FiAbove is my street in Ouaga. It is a very nice neighborhood with a guard at every gate.
And the picture on the right is my current home here in Ouaga.
Time Zones and sleep...
Although only here a few days, I fear I have become addicted to the Burkinabe naps taken right after lunch. It's kind of great. They get up early, start work around 6am, go home for lunch around 12 or 1 and then return to work for two more hours from 3 to 5. WhileI know I am probably just still recovering from my long trip here, sleep has been very hard for me. Now while I'm sure the rooster (which in fact I found out is just a chick-a-dee who has not yet reached his full potential of cock-a-doodling) does not help my sleeping problem, he is also not someting I can fully blame. I think my adjustment to time zones is the biggest factor in my restless sleep. On Monday I woke at midnight and couldn't fall back asleep until two. Since I am eight hours ahead of pacific standard time, that would be between five and seven there, peak hours to be awake. Tuesday, was just as hopeless, as I woke at two and was up til four, and hungry, usually when I eat dinner back in California, between seven and nine. But last night was the worst, where I tried putting myself to sleep at ten, and couldn't fall asleep until two. I don't know if time zones are really to blame or not but I need to tell myself something to cope. I would really like to get on a Burkinabe schedule where I can get up early with the rising sun and take a nap in the afternoon because I want to, not because I have to. Anyhow, I'm sure I'll acclimate. At least the heat isn't too bad yet.
So now that you've heard more than enough about my sleeping problems, let me run you through the last couple of days. I forgot to mention that on Monday I also went to the U.S. Embassy to register and it was closed......for Martin Luther King Day! Now maybe I should have known that all U.S. Embassies are closed on all celebrated U.S. holidays, but I didn't. So another thing learned and nothing lost. Yesterday (Tuesday 22nd) I finally got to take care of business at the U.S. Embassy. They seemed pleased that I would be working in a rural village library and for three months at that! So for, even before I've begun my work, I've found encouragement from the locals.
After the embassy, Viviane took me to the fabric store to purchase material to have clothes made. For about 9,800 CFA ($22) I was able to buy enough material to make three pairs of pants and three shirts or tank tops. The shop was completly on the other side of town, but it was so intersting to be in such a different district. The vibe was much more lively, with crazy sellers and loud local music coming from every corner. Viviane also took me to get money out of the atm, and one thing I have had to learn so far is that all the atm's don't always work. We had to go to about five different places before I was able to pull out money. And when I finally was able to, it would only let me take out a hundred dollars or so at a time which sucks because Wells Fargo charges me $5 each time I withdrawel from a foreign atm! Oh well, I'll survive.
When I returened to the house, Salimata, the housekeeper here, cooked couscous and fish with a really good red sauce. I ate and went straight to bed to take my two hour nap. I spent the the rest of the night trying to read a local newpaper here, called L'Independente, underlining any words I didn't know, writing them down and then looking them up. I did pretty good. I only had to look up about four words per paragraph. The night ended with a short unusual power outage and volià, here I am today. Viviane took me to the tailor this morning where all my measurements were taken and I decided to only get a few things made to make sure I like them. It looks like it will all cost me about $50 in the end. For three shirts and three pairs of pants tailored to my fitting, I think is not bad.
So here it is one o'clock and I need to go eat lunch... and probably take a nap.
So now that you've heard more than enough about my sleeping problems, let me run you through the last couple of days. I forgot to mention that on Monday I also went to the U.S. Embassy to register and it was closed......for Martin Luther King Day! Now maybe I should have known that all U.S. Embassies are closed on all celebrated U.S. holidays, but I didn't. So another thing learned and nothing lost. Yesterday (Tuesday 22nd) I finally got to take care of business at the U.S. Embassy. They seemed pleased that I would be working in a rural village library and for three months at that! So for, even before I've begun my work, I've found encouragement from the locals.
After the embassy, Viviane took me to the fabric store to purchase material to have clothes made. For about 9,800 CFA ($22) I was able to buy enough material to make three pairs of pants and three shirts or tank tops. The shop was completly on the other side of town, but it was so intersting to be in such a different district. The vibe was much more lively, with crazy sellers and loud local music coming from every corner. Viviane also took me to get money out of the atm, and one thing I have had to learn so far is that all the atm's don't always work. We had to go to about five different places before I was able to pull out money. And when I finally was able to, it would only let me take out a hundred dollars or so at a time which sucks because Wells Fargo charges me $5 each time I withdrawel from a foreign atm! Oh well, I'll survive.
When I returened to the house, Salimata, the housekeeper here, cooked couscous and fish with a really good red sauce. I ate and went straight to bed to take my two hour nap. I spent the the rest of the night trying to read a local newpaper here, called L'Independente, underlining any words I didn't know, writing them down and then looking them up. I did pretty good. I only had to look up about four words per paragraph. The night ended with a short unusual power outage and volià, here I am today. Viviane took me to the tailor this morning where all my measurements were taken and I decided to only get a few things made to make sure I like them. It looks like it will all cost me about $50 in the end. For three shirts and three pairs of pants tailored to my fitting, I think is not bad.
So here it is one o'clock and I need to go eat lunch... and probably take a nap.
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Real Burkina
Eleven days ago I didn't know what I was thinking, but I have arrived and well... I have a lot to catch all of you up on. Well after celebrating my 22nd birhtday on the 11th, the 12th-16th were filled with last minute shopping and helping my bro out on one last moving job. I spent the next two days traveling and what was supposed to be a 39 hour trip turned into a 45 hour trip. And believe me those last six hours were excruciatingly painful. My trip started with delqys and thus ended with delays. But my most eventful was my nine hours in Morocco, were I was able to sleep for five of these hours and discover the unimaginable, crazy driving skills (or suicide attempts) of Moroccans. By the time I finally arrived to my final destination, it was 6 in the morning and Burkina's capital was wide awake.
After unpacking a few things, I took a much needed shower and finally went to sleep by 8:30, but only to wake again at 10:30. Although completly exhausted, I did not want to spend my first day in Ouagadougou sleeping. I ate a small breakfast of baguettes and tea with Viviane and Emilie, Viviane is the local director of FAVL here and Emilie an american grad student. After Viviane took me on a tour of the city while she worked on getting me a cell phone. I was surprised to find that more people get around on mopeds or bikes than they do in cars. There is even a seperate lane for them. I found the city to be both "what" and "what I not" expected, as it was as dirty and dusty as I had imagined, but more devoloped than I had originally thought it would be. It was an intriguing, but tiring first tour. Returning to the house, I slept for four more hours and woke to have a light dinner with Emilie of cookies, baguette and bread. Then it was straight back to bed.
I spent my first Sunday here exploring Ouaga with Emilie. The first thing I noticed was that no one works on Sunday except for the few who will follow for blocks on end. One boy followed me what seemed like forever, right up until Emilie and I got into the taxi. Very persistent and funny.
I have had some trouble sleeping the first two nights for which I can give much credittothe cock-a-doodle-dooing rooster in our yard. He seems to be off with when the sun rises here, but I have hope he'll get it right, or I'm going to have to find something better than hope to deal with it. We also have two goats named Millé and Miné that slowly warming to having guests around.
Today I spent going around with Viviane to some of the local children bookstores toget an idea of what material I might be using. I found the books to very expensive for a third world country and the selection sparse. She also helped me buy another thermometer since taking my temperature will be a big part of staying healthy here. It was also decided that I stay another week here in the village, resting up and getting reaquainted with my french and the Burkinabe dialect. While I am tired I am not yet feeling homesick. And while the pace of life here looks very fast at first glance, it really is quite tranquil. They work hard and try to sell fast, but they also take two hour lunches everyday, along with a nap. Hopefully I don't become to accostomed to this lifestyle, but for now it will do.
After unpacking a few things, I took a much needed shower and finally went to sleep by 8:30, but only to wake again at 10:30. Although completly exhausted, I did not want to spend my first day in Ouagadougou sleeping. I ate a small breakfast of baguettes and tea with Viviane and Emilie, Viviane is the local director of FAVL here and Emilie an american grad student. After Viviane took me on a tour of the city while she worked on getting me a cell phone. I was surprised to find that more people get around on mopeds or bikes than they do in cars. There is even a seperate lane for them. I found the city to be both "what" and "what I not" expected, as it was as dirty and dusty as I had imagined, but more devoloped than I had originally thought it would be. It was an intriguing, but tiring first tour. Returning to the house, I slept for four more hours and woke to have a light dinner with Emilie of cookies, baguette and bread. Then it was straight back to bed.
I spent my first Sunday here exploring Ouaga with Emilie. The first thing I noticed was that no one works on Sunday except for the few who will follow for blocks on end. One boy followed me what seemed like forever, right up until Emilie and I got into the taxi. Very persistent and funny.
I have had some trouble sleeping the first two nights for which I can give much credittothe cock-a-doodle-dooing rooster in our yard. He seems to be off with when the sun rises here, but I have hope he'll get it right, or I'm going to have to find something better than hope to deal with it. We also have two goats named Millé and Miné that slowly warming to having guests around.
Today I spent going around with Viviane to some of the local children bookstores toget an idea of what material I might be using. I found the books to very expensive for a third world country and the selection sparse. She also helped me buy another thermometer since taking my temperature will be a big part of staying healthy here. It was also decided that I stay another week here in the village, resting up and getting reaquainted with my french and the Burkinabe dialect. While I am tired I am not yet feeling homesick. And while the pace of life here looks very fast at first glance, it really is quite tranquil. They work hard and try to sell fast, but they also take two hour lunches everyday, along with a nap. Hopefully I don't become to accostomed to this lifestyle, but for now it will do.
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