There’s a saying in French here “Ca va aller.” It basically means, “It’ll be fine” or “Don’t worry about it.” It’s a very useful saying here. It works when I’m frustrated about something, when I’m stressed out about something, or when I don’t know what’s going on. It also works when I don’t understand what people are saying to me in French. I say it and people seem to just laugh. I have a feeling that “Ca va aller” may be a theme throughout my next two years here…

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Counterpart Workshop

August 18, 2010

Met my counterpart for the first time today. He seems really, really awesome and motivated. He’s the head nurse of the health center in my village. I will be the first volunteer in my community, but my counterpart worked with a PCV in the other village that he worked in before he was posted in my village. Meeting him makes me feel really good about getting to village and working there for two years. We were talking about the village I will be living in, the CSPS there, and other things to expect. He was also asking about me. He couldn’t really understand why I would leave a paid job to become a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Kinda embarrassing, we were doing an activity about the differences in work attitudes for Americans and Burkinabé. We were talking about the power dynamics between a boss and an employee. We said it very much ranges from formal to informal. I was trying to say that if you have an informal relationship, one where you are friends, you might socialize with your boss outside of work. However, that’s not exactly what I said in French. I realized this when everyone in the room giggled. Ca va aller I guess…

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