Neighbors and Ouagadougou

During our Tougan visit we met up with Nick, a PCV who lives about 45k from us. He showed us a couple of cool places to visit in Tougan, where we can check our email and get good eats, and went around to meet people with us. He actually ended up being our first guest at our new home! He also had us come up to his home for an evening of food and drink and good conversation on that Friday night. He ordered a mutton (goat) for us and some of his friends from village for supper, as well as Cokes and Brakinas (the ‘national beer’). I know some of you have some aversion to eating goat, but let me tell you, this goat was amazing! It was seasoned with spices Nick brought, grilled with onions and peppers, and then slow cooked again over a fire. I think it could’ve converted some of you! Just being able to have a meal that wasn’t 90% carbs was amazing in itself!

We also spent the weekend in Ouagadougou, the capital city. For the most part, Ouaga is a very modern city, with many of the luxuries we experienced back in the states such as air conditioning, cold drinks on demand, readily available internet access, and a variety of foods. For supper one night we had pizza, and I mean it was actually pizza. The next night the trainees were invited to a PC staff member’s house to eat Mexican food (soft shell tacos with chips and salsa etc). Yes, I realize we get a big hung up on food here, but it really does have a big influence on our outlook. Processed food, like cheese, and foods that require refrigeration are difficult to find in Burkina, so it really is a treat when we encounter them!

Tomorrow model school starts for me, which means I’ll be teaching math in French every day. Its intimidating to say the least, especially the French part. A lot of the math terminology looks similar to the English but the pronounciation is quite a bit different and some of the concepts are approached entirely differently. It’s a challenge but one that I really look forward to.

With the rains in Burkina come the mosquitos, and they are actually starting to get thick. Yes, Northern Minnesota thick, except the world never seems to cool off here. Jessi and I are constantly dabbing anti itch cream am bug repellant on ourselves, but I think the mosquitoes here have learned that the scent of DEET = human blood to be drank, and thus are attracted by the stuff instead of repelled by it.

Rooster Story!

After what seemed like an epic battle with the cock in our courtyard for sleep over the past month the dust has finally settled, and sleep can once again be found. For the first month here, the cock in our courtyard woke up at 3:00 AM every day, and crowed until 7:00 AM. To put this into perspective, realize that windows and doors here do not have glass on them to keep noise out, and 4 out of 5 nights most of my family (self included) sleep outside in the courtyard to escape the heat of the house. Thus, if the cock goes off at 3:00 AM, there is no way to escape its decree. A couple of mornings I would wake up to my host father chasing the cock with pieces of hose and wacking it in an attempt to silence it. I also saw my brother put a bucket on top of the damn thing one morning in a similar attempt, but it continued to crow in an even more deranged manner since the sound was reverberating inside the bucket. One morning they even tied the cock’s foot to a chair behind the house so it was at least away from us. It seemed like this would continue indefinitely.

Well, two weeks ago I finally remembered that I brought earplugs, so when the cock started crowing at 3 AM, I put my earplugs in and enjoyed another three solid hours of silent sleep, outside, under my mosquito net in the cool 80 degree morning air. I woke up at 6 AM, earplugs still in, to my host brother leaning over the mosquito net, reaching for the cock which was sitting on top of my sagging mosquito net, 3 inches above my face, squawking and flapping its wings like mad. I was sure that I was going to start of my day with a face full of chicken poop! However, after my morning bucket bath, my host mom informed me that enough was enough, and that the cock had menaced everyone for too long. The following night we all slept soundly without the deranged crow of the cock, with bellies full of fried rooster. As twisted as it sounds, having won this battle by frying and eating my enemy was particularly satisfying.

After spending the past 12 days together, Jessi will return to her host family in village tomorrow night. I know it has been hard to be away from them for so long, but we have greatly enjoyed being able to spend so much time together.

Hope that all is well on the home front. Until next time!