Officially a Peace Corps Volunteer!

August 28, 2010

Training is over and we are now officially Peace Corps Volunteers.  We had our swearing-in ceremony Friday at the US Embassy.  The first lady of Burkina Faso came, which was a huge honor and super exciting.  I leave for my regional capitol tomorrow and then on Monday, I get to my site finally!  It’s crazy, can’t believe its finally here, my first day in village!

 

Pictures:

Left: First Lady giving a speech

Right: Health Stage August 2010

Bye Bye Ceremony

August 24, 2010

Had a great last few days in homestay. I’m really going to miss my family, although I can definitely come back to visit. We had a thank you ceremony on Monday that was really fun. 

Played dress up last night in some of my host mom’s traditional clothes and had a photo shoot. Hair is getting more comfortable, but it’s just really, really hot and hard to sleep with. So training has felt a lot like high school, having class all day and then going home. And this week definitely feels like the last week of school before summer gets out. Haven’t really been doing much, which has been surprisingly enjoyable. So excited for swear-in on Friday and to be an official PCV!!!!

Taco Night

August 22, 2010

This weekend was my last weekend with my host family. Unfortunately I was slightly sick because of a parasite apparently, but we had a great time. We made dinner for my host family, some variation on tacos/fajitas with what we could find here. We also made tortillas from scratch and taught them the concept of “make-your-own.” It was hysterical! They were delicious, but my family hated the tacos! Their faces were so funny as they were eating. They were saying “It’s so good,” but their faces were like “what the heck is this crap!” It’s so funny, good food is largely defined by the sorts of foods you’re used to. I do think it gave them a new appreciation for what we go through every night with the food here. 

Some of the girls in my family did my hair again, but this time they added extensions. At first I was a little nervous because I was thinking they don’t really sell extension to match blonde hair here. But the match actually isn’t too bad, and you can’t really see much of my original hair anyways. Between Saturday night and again Sunday morning, it took 6 ½ hours!! And it hurt so much. The price of beauty… I really hope I can take them out without losing all my hair. And here is where a picture is worth a thousand words, so hopefully the internet is working fast enough to get the picture up too.

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…

Part of the Family

August 17, 2010

Wow, seriously learning patience and not stressing out every day. I had a list of things to do today during my breaks and had been planning exactly what I wanted to eat for lunch since breakfast yesterday. Of course it rained, so it meant not only did I not accomplish my errands during lunch, I also did not get my peanut butter, honey, and banana sandwich. Making matters worse, I also got the rope I use to tie stuff to my bike extremely tangled in my de-railer (the thing that does something about switching gears on your bike. I don’t know if I’m fully functional on a bike yet...). But somehow, by the end of the day, I feel like I’ve had one of the best days I’ve had here.

This morning, I went for a run with my host sister (technically host aunt, but she’s also 23). It was really awesome because girls here don’t really have the opportunity to do sports, so everyone who saw us thought we were totally crazy!!! Also, this route is absolutely gorgeous, especially in the calm of the morning. Then this evening was just so comfortable. I felt like I was just another family member. My sisters helped me practice reading my notes for my presentation tomorrow. Wallyita, my 2-year old sister, started saying my name tonight. I think it means she likes me. She even said “Bon Nuit” to me. I think that’s the first thing she’s said to me the entire time I’ve been here. She usually just looks at me, somewhat confused. Our host mom always says, “Say hello” or “Say thank you,” but she usually just shakes my hand with a confused look on her face and walks away.

Another small success this weekend, no one laughed at me while I washed my laundry. I guess I’m finally doing it right. That or they’ve just given up hope. We also talked a lot about life here versus life back home. Taught my family the terms “top secret” and “creepy critters.” Some concepts that are really different to explain (in French) to a Burkinabé: Halloween and being a single, 23-year old girl.

Also talked to my 19-year old sister about her goals. She really wants to finish school, move to America to work and make a lot of money, and then move back here and by a big house in “Ouagadou-mil” (a ritzy neighborhood in Ouagadougou, the capitol city). She said it’s a big dream, that she might not ever realize it. It was a moment where I thought about how different my mentality was than the mentality here, and also how fortunate I am to have the luxury to have big dreams about what I want to do with my life and the opportunities to pursue and achieve my dreams.

Training is over in about one week, which on one hand, I can’t believe and feel like there’s too much more I need to learn, and on the other I’m thinking “FINALLY!!!” Ready to get to site, although I’m a bit nervous (which is totally natural. The first few months are really hard). Today we talked about what our first few months at site will be like. Still can’t believe what I’m doing! I’ve come to the conclusion that you have to be slightly crazy to join the Peace Corps…

Tomorrow, we have a counterpart workshop, which means we get to meet our counterparts for the first time! I’m super excited, but super nervous. I have talked to my counterpart (the head nurse at my CSPS) on the phone once and he seems super motivated and excited to have me.

Independence Day

August 5, 2010

The past two days, we’ve had class out in a village outside the city of our training site. It’s about 30 or 45 minutes from the main part of the city. We had a rare block of “personal learning time” and a friend needed to go to the post office. I decided I wanted some exercise and would enjoy a nice bike ride. After biking 30 minutes into the city in the heat, we arrived at the post office gate which was chained. Today is Burkina’s Independence Day. They don’t celebrate it in August because it’s rainy season (meaning everyone is busy cultivating their fields, everything is based on the seasonal calendar here). They celebrate it in December with the rest of West Africa. So everyone else is busy in their fields, continuing daily tasks as usual, but the post office is closed. Ca va aller.

Upside to our seemingly pointless bike ride, we found the really awesome juice bar!! They have tons of different kinds of juice and a real espresso machine!!! Even though I was sweltering hot, I had some espresso. Not great, but good enough for here. We then got back on our bikes for the 30 minute bike ride back.

I was only in it for the bike ride, so worthwhile trip for me. Other than the fact that I forgot to put sunscreen on. When I got home that night, I said “Je suis rouge!” (I am red!), which was apparently hysterical.

Parr

August 4, 2010

Completely exhausted, but just had some quick thoughts to share. The adorable new puppy kept me up all night last night! I guess it’s one of his first nights away from his mother and he slept outside. He cried the entire night! But he does have a name now, Kingston. My family thinks we’re totally crazy when we say hi to the dog when we get home from class.

Interesting observation in Bissa class today. We learned the vocabulary for members of your family. Parr in Bissa is family. It also means house. It’s really interesting how the words that exist within a language reveal a lot about the culture. In Bissa, there’s a lot of words to describe your family members. There’s three different words for aunt and three different words for uncle in Bissa.
Mother’s side:
•Doro – brother of your mother
•Naagouta – older sister of your mother
•Naapore – younger sister of your mother
Father’s side
•Pogdeba – sister of your father
•Babagouta – older brother of your father
•Babapore – younger brother of your father
I think the words you use to describe the family here are revealing of a culture where your rank based on gender first and then age, is so important. On your mother’s side, there’s 2 words for aunt but only 1 for uncle. Her brothers will always outrank her regardless of age. But, for her sister’s age order matters. On your father’s side, he will always outrank his sisters, so there’s only one word for aunt. But, age rank between brothers is really important, thus there are two terms for uncles on your dad’s side. Another interesting thing about the Bissa language is that there is no word for cousin. You use the same set of words you use for brothers and sisters. I think this reflects the very close nature of families here in Burkina Faso. Also, there’s a common practice here that if a man dies, his oldest brother “inherits” or adopts his family. The kids become his kids. If in a polygamous society, his brother’s widows become his wives. He has the responsibility now to take care of them. The kids of your siblings are also your children. Apparently, you can also call your uncles on your dad’s side “Baba” (or dad) as well.

In Moore, the most common local language here, the word husband has the same root as truth (“C’est vrai” in French, meaning it is true). Husband in Moore is “Sida.” “C’est vrai,” or it is true, truth in Moore is “Yaa sida.”

A Cute Puppy Always Makes My Day!

August 3, 2010

Great day! So I’ll admit, I’ve been slightly frustrated lately about lack of personal time and a jam-packed, totally planned schedule all the time and too much to do. But today was a very relieving day and I all of a sudden feel much calmer.

First great thing, finally made it to the post office. So the post office here is only open when I have class. It’s been an epic adventure trying to get to the post. I think I’ve tried at least 5 times in the past week and a half. This has also been a major source of the stress this past week. So this was a major accomplishment today.

Mail arrived today, which always makes life here awesome! It’s really funny when mail comes. You can feel the excitement buzzing through the training center as everyone lines up hoping to have something from home. Seriously, you have no idea the joy a letter from home brings. And no one pays any attention in the next class because they are consumed by letters or sorting through goodies in a care package.

Also had a really great day of classes. We did a sensibilisation this morning. (There’s really no good English translation for this. It’s basically an educational event or presentation.) My group presented on family planning to a group of women ages 18 plus. Not only was it great French-speaking practice, it also reminded how important it will be to work with my counterpart here. I think one of the greatest things about Peace Corps is its development philosophy. It uses a ground-up, find solutions within the community approach. That’s why integration and actually living in a village are such key parts of the Peace Corps experience. Anyways, especially when presenting on topics such as family planning, it is so important to work with your counterpart to bring more cultural understanding to the sensibilisation. The reasons why family planning is important in the US is completely different than the reason it is important here. Working with someone from the community makes sure you are relevant here. And it works. The sensibilisations were fantastic and I was really impressed with all of the creativity of the health stagirees. Really lucky to be part of such a talented, committed, and inventive group of people. We also had really engaging classes today on HIV/AIDS and positive deviance (a development theory based on using models within the community as solutions to community problems rather than looking outside).

My day got even better on my way home. So sometimes here you have to set small goals and be happy when you achieve them. Next to going to the post, another goal of mine was to buy something resembling Tupperware. Mission accomplished. It’s funny how my idea of accomplishment has changed.

My host family probably thinks Lindsay and I are totally crazy. The idea of having a pet here is very different than having a pet in the US. Pets are part of our family in the US. We buy special food for our pets. That’s not at all the case here. So all of a sudden today, this adorable puppy wandered into our room. Lindsay and I were so excited. (Have a picture, will post soon, forgot my camera cord today.) We picked it up and were ohhing and ahhing over it for at least 10 minutes. My family just laughed at us. There’s probably so many ways that we seem like complete aliens to my host family. Gosh, we can’t even eat like normal people here (although in our defense, cous-cous is hard to eat with your hands and not spill everywhere).

The night ended with us flipping through an American cooking magazine (courtesy of Lindsay’s care package) while the puppy slept in my lap. The kids loved the pictures and pretended to eat all the food. I was trying to remember what good food tasted like. Then my host siblings (2 and 8 years old) and their 7-year-old cousin danced to music videos on the TV while we talked to our Mom about living “en brosse” (in bush/in village) for 2 years. “Ca va aller” she said.

Highlight for tomorrow – cooking class! Learning how to cook here with equipment here (i.e. no microwave or refrigerator). So excited for good food!

Random Thoughts from the Week...

August 1, 2010

Started learning Bissa, my local language, this week. I don’t know my exact site yet, but Bissa is widely spoken in the center-east of the country. Here’s a good map with the regional languages labeled. http://www.ethnologue.com/maps/bfa_eth.jpg
I’ll be somewhere that region. Bissa’s very different, but it might be easier than French. There’s only 3 tenses (present, past, and future). And from what I can tell now, you don’t conjugate verbs at all. Just use the right pronoun and the verb always stays the same.

Rain here defines everything! Most of the time, it’s a sweet release from the intense heat. Other times, it’s this frustrating halt to everything! No one goes out. The other morning, my host family seemed so confused that I was leaving on time for class despite the pouring rains (and subsequent flooded roads I had to bike through). I was one of the first people there.

So most of the time, I feel like Bambi trying to learn how to walk. I usually don’t know what I’m supposed to do or what’s going on. Someone will hand me a piece of fruit and I’ll be thinking, “I have absolutely no idea what to do with this or how to eat it.” Weata (I have no idea how to spell it) is this delicious sweet and sour fruit. It tastes like Sour Patch Kids. But the first time I had one, all the kids laughed at me as I ate it. I couldn’t figure out how to open it. And then I tried to eat the pit. It makes delicious juice though. And I don’t know why it’s funny, but apparently me and Lindsay trying to wash our laundry is hysterical. I feel like I’m doing it right, it’s all soapy, but apparently I’m not doing it right. Sometime I just talk and everyone laughs. Last night, we went to get a soda before dinner with our family. I said “N’importe qui” instead of “N’importe quoi” (It doesn’t matter). Everyone thought it was hysterical. Come on, I was only one letter off, close enough. I wonder if “N’importe qui” means something totally different.

Last night, I watched a movie from Ghana with my host sisters. Movies from Ghana, hysterical. Way overdramatic, horrible acting, and completely ridiculous plot lines. Think soap operas meet trashy MTV shows. They speak English in Ghana, so the show was in English so I could (kind of) understand it. I was attempting to give recaps in French to everyone else. Fun night.

On a more serious note, we visited a CREN (malnutrition center) and have talked a lot about food security and malnutrition this week. Definitely preparing myself for the seeing and working with very emotional things. And I tend to get pretty attached to my work.

America’s Exports

July 29, 2010

In a place so far away that is unknown to most Americans, everyone here has an image of America. But that image is often far from reality (or what I think we want to be seen as). So it’s totally not what I expected, but my host family has satellite TV. We’ll watch the news, some TV shows and movies, and a lot of music videos. (Friends and Family Matters, by the way, are hilarious in French. Is it bad that even though I couldn’t understand the French, I pretty much knew exactly what was being said in the Friends episode I saw?) There’s one music video channel we watch that occasionally plays American songs. From watching what my host family sees of America, I must be a real shock to them. I don’t wear booty shorts or low-cut, mid-drift shirts. I’m not sure the Thong Song or WWF are some of America’s best cultural exports. I could talk forever about media and culture in America, but it really saddens me that some of the worst and most dangerous messages in American culture have been passed on, especially to a place that already faces too much. Really, is this the best cultural contribution of America?

Another interesting “export” is President Obama. He is everywhere and I’m not exactly sure what to think about it. Stores are named after him (the Obama boulangerie, Obama coiffure, Obama cell phone store). People wear Obama t-shirts and backpacks and stores sell pagnes (pieces of cloth) with his face on them. My host family has a picture of him hanging above the TV. I will admit, I’ll capitalize on that sometimes. My claim to fame here is that I live in the same city as him, that I’m Obama’s neighbor. I tried once to explain in French I saw him inaugurated, but my French isn’t quite there yet. Usually the response is, “Il est notre frère” (He is our brother). But at the same time, I feel like a lot of people here may have unrealistic hopes in him. I get the significance of his presidency, I really do and I think it’s awesome. And I’m really glad I got to be part of something so historic living in DC in 2008/2009. The other week we visited a CBO that does HIV/AIDS education, treatment, and outreach. Part of what they do is fight discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Burkina. They have a picture of Obama in their office. He is wearing black pants, white shirt, and tie (typical political look right?). The president of the organization said that Obama wore black and white to protest discrimination in the US, so they have adopted the same uniform to protest discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS. I don’t know, maybe I missed something, but I’m pretty sure all politicians wear black pants and a white shirt. The thing is, even though he’s an idol here, Obama is not going to/can do/wants to do much to affect the situation of the average person in Burkina Faso. I wonder if people will ever become disillusioned with or let down by him. Just my initial impressions/wondering.

Another trainee I was talking to about this would disagree. I perceive the Obama-obsession here as a hope that he is going to do something here. My friend would say it’s not about that at all, that there’s no expectation in him, or for that matter, even an interest in what he is actually doing. She says it’s more of an image of achievement and what someone with descendents from the African continent can become.

Just some initial thoughts… I’m sure I’ll have a different perception of it all after 2 years of talking to people here.

Many people don’t know, but Peace Corps actually has three goals in its mission. The one most people know is to assist in the development of interested countries. The lesser known two are about cultural exchange. To promote understanding of America in other countries and to promote an understanding of other countries within America. It is cool to have the opportunity to give a more positive (and realistic) representation of America.