Soupe de Mutton

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm typing the majority of this blog in village and then once I get to the internet cafe, I can upload it. So, currently I'm lying outside, in my bug hut (like a tent), with a mattress and some kids sleeping outside of the tent next to me. I just saw my fifth shooting star since being here! The stars are amazing because there's no electricity and it gets dark by 6:15.
This weekend I got to try goat head soup. In Burkina, it's extremely rude to turn down food. Even if you don't want it or if it looks scary, you should accept it and try to have a bite. In Burkina, if you are around people you don't know that are eating, they usually say "vous etes invite," which means you are invited. You can usually respond by saying thanks and it doesn't mean you have to actually go over and eat. However, if it's someone you know giving you food, it's culturally appropriate to take it. So...on Sunday my host dad brought over goat head soup- for breakfast.
Also, in Burkina, people eat everything with their hands. Well, actually just their right hand. The left hand is used for things in the bathroom, so it's really bad to eat or do anything with the left hand. Even greeting people is always done with the right!
I tried to eat some of the soup and then looked around at everyone else eating it. They were licking their plates and were thoroughly enjoying it. Meat is expensive here so it's a big deal if they have it to eat. Later, my host sister announced that she found a tooth in the soup from the goat's head. I then realized I couldn't eat anymore and gave my plate to the kids.
After the delicious breakfast I went to my professors house. The dad from his courtyard apparently died before we arrived and they were having the funeral. It only lasted about an hour and then everyone went home to share meals. We had rice with sauce at my professors house.
The professor that lives in my village is my French teacher. Last week, we had our second French exam to see if we have progressed since we first arrived in country. The test was pretty hard and when I couldn't think of the word in French I basically just spoke Spanish. Apparently, this worked! I originally was in the novice low group but now I'm in intermediate low. This is good news because to be able to swear in and serve as a volunteer in December I have to reach intermediate high. So, I only have one more step until I can officially become a volunteer!
Next week we get to go to Ouaga for a three day counterpart workshop. My counterpart is the head nurse from the health clinic in my new village. He is the main point of contact between Peace Corps and the village. I will work closely with him at the clinic and also run project ideas by him. He will be useful and introduce me to the villagers in Komtoèga. It will be nice to go to Ouaga, meet him and prepare for the move in December.
When I talked to Anna, the girl I'm replacing at site, she said she really liked the counterpart and one of the best things about my village is how motivated he is! Anna and I have been talking a lot because she is leading some sessions of training in Lèo, so I have been able to drill her with questions. It's crazy to think that it's only a couple of weeks left until I move there!
The other day when I got home from training I found a bat in my room. I screamed a little and opened the door and it flew out. I went back in to change my clothes and realized there was another bat inside. At this point the door was closed so it was just me, half dressed, and the bat. I started screaming and tried to make it to the door. Finally, I ran out and let my younger host siblings go in and kill it. They didn't understand why I was so scared and they thought it was hysterical that I would curl up on the side of my house and scream because a bat was inside. For the rest of the night I sat outside reading. Every now and then I would hear my name and look over, only to find my host sister imitating me and showing a huge audience what I looked like when I was scared. The next night I got into my tent to go to bed and a cockroach crawled over me. I'll let you imagine how I reacted and what they thought of it!
Today we took two field trips. The first was to a tofu garden where we learned how to grow soja and why it is nutritious and important. We can teach our village how to grow it as well and use it as an income generating activity in the community. Our second trip was to the CREN. This is a hospital for severely malnourished children. We saw a three year old that was incredibly skinny and sick. We learned about the programs the CREN offers and we met with the head doctor.
Tomorrow we are teaching our health clinic, our local restaurant, and my host dad how to make hand washing stations. We are teaching them how to make the station and why it is important to wash your hands and use soap! Since there is no running water in village, hygiene is a huge problem. Hopefully after the demonstration they will start to use the stations and wash their hands more. It's pretty crazy to think the local clinic doesn't even have a sink or place for the doctors to wash their hands! Hope everyone had a yummy Thanksgiving! N

Site Announcement!

     This week has been extremely eventful. It all started on Monday when we went to Ouagadougou for our embassy visit. About 20 minutes into our drive we veered off the road and crashed into a cement ditch. The van and all 26 volunteers on board hit the side of the ditch and almost flipped over. We were extremely lucky that nobody was hurt. Peace corps is currently investigating the cause of the accident. Luckily, my week did get better!
     We visited the United States Embassy and met the Ambassador. He told us about the role of the embassy in Burkina and how the USA and Burkina work together. One interesting thing I learned was that Victoria Secret is a partner with some organic cotton fields in Burkina! While in Ouaga we also got to eat at an American restaurant that had milkshakes, burritos, taco salads, onion rings and burgers. Needless to say we were all super excited. On Tuesday night after our training sessions in Lèo they had a surprise for us. They said they would drive us to a nearby hotel to watch some of the election! Because of the time difference it was only about 1pm in the states so there wasn't much going on. It was still really cool to watch a tv and have some beers. On Wednesday morning at 4:30 am I got a text saying Obama had one. This great news was the beginning to a great day filled with more great news!
    Site announcement!!! On Wednesday all 26 of us found out where we will live for the next two years! They picked the names of our villages out of a hat, read a short description of the village and then had us all guess who they were sending to that village. The first village picked out of the hat wound up being mine!!
      I am going to the village of Komtoèga! It is in the south central/east area of Burkina Faso. The population/ ethnic group is Bissa. This is the description they provided of my village: "Welcome to the beautiful village of Komtoèga! It is located in the region of Tenkodogo and the health district of Garango. Both Garagno and Tenkodogo are easily accessible from your village where you will find such luxuries as internet, restaurants, a large market and fairly well stocked boutiques. Gardening is one of the occupations of many people so you will not have a hard time finding vegetables to meet your need. Your village is a fairly large village with electricity, a great market and lots of motivated partners. The health center is very well attended and will offer you many opportunities to work on a variety of topics. Your predecessor Anna(btw she went to the same high school as my dad) loved this village and is excited to see a third volunteer come to this village. Her head nurse is extremely motivated and is eager to work with you. Your closest Peace Corps neighbor is about 20k! Your house is within a big family compound , though it has its own small fenced-in courtyard. Your house is two-rooms, fully furnished, with a private latrine. The family is amazing and you will be inheriting a wonderful and affectionate dog. The local language is Bissa but Mooré and French are also well spoken. Nyasé and enjoy your stay in Komtoèga! You're going to have a fantastic two years!"  I definitely feel like I got lucky with my placement. I'm extremely excited and eager to start but it will be hard to leave my current family. 
     Last Saturday I went to the dance party in my village.  It was so fun.  Somehow, in the middle of Burkina, in the middle of some tiny village, they were able to get a generator to run.  There were huge speakers, a live band, and tons of dancing.  I went back around 11pm but the party lasted until 2:30am.  I danced with all the kids and learned some Burkina dances.  About halfway through the dance they decided to start charging people to enter.  After a while it was mostly men on the dance floor.  Outisde of the compound, however, was the entire village.  They could still hear the music and enjoy the party, without having to pay.  They didn't make any of us pay and luckily my host sisters were inside the compound to dance with. 
     One cool session that we had in Leo this week was on the different ethnic groups in Burkina.  I learned that there are over 60 ethnic groups in Burkina!  Most of these groups all speak different local languages.  They also have different customs, religions and beliefs.  For example, the Dagari people have a weird tradition when someone dies.  For three days they put the dead person on a chair and have a dance party around the chair.  They dance and cry and then eventually they bury the person.   The clothes that the dead person wears on the chair were specifically chosen by the dead person, before he died.  We also learned about the ethnic group Jula, which is located in the west and south of Burkina.  At this ethnic station I ate a cooked catterpillar, a favorite food of the Jula population! 
     Our group has been working on planning a Thanksgiving feast!  We are hopefully going to have turkey and stuffing.  If all goes as planned, we can stay overnight at a hotel or camp out at our training site.  I am still trying to figure out my plans for Christmas and New Years since I will have just gotten to my site.  It's crazy to think I only have 5 weeks of training left! Also, it takes forever for me to upload pictures on this blog so until I figure out a better method, here is a link to some photos from facebook that I have put up.  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3914047540627.2138059.1562580111&type=1&l=75718e8c53  Miss everyone!  N
     

Green Mangoes

     I can't believe it's already November! This Tuesday will be my one month mark in Burkina! I've decided to include an interesting note about Burkina in each new blog post. Today I learned that many people in Burkina believe that you can get malaria from eating green mangoes. This is obviously false and part of my job here will be educating communities on malaria prevention and treatment methods.
     I've fallen into a pretty nice schedule. On the weekdays I get home around 6 and am greeted by 20 screaming kids yelling "Natalie! Natalie! Bon soir! Bon arrivèe! Ça va?" I say hello and they all fight over who can carry my bag, bike helmet, water bottle or whatever else I am holding. My Peace Corps friends joke that they can hear the kids welcoming me from their courtyards. Once I get home and settled in, one of the kids usually comes to ask if they can borrow my animal cards to play memory. I hand them over and they all cheer. They usually play cards for the rest of the night, the little ones falling asleep on my patio.
    The other night, as I was getting ready for bed, I saw the women from my courtyard carrying in a bunch of plants on their head. When I looked closer, I realized on the ends of the plants were peanuts. They emptied the pots and began to pick off the peanuts and bag them. There were about 6 women, 4 teenagers and 2 little girls helping. I decided to go over and help. I sat on the ground next to my host sister and tried to show her that I wanted to help. She quickly started yelling and moving her hands up in the air. After, a girl came over and brought me a short stool to sit on. I realized my host sister was yelling because she couldn't believe I would want to sit on the ground in my pajamas. After I got my stool they let me help. News spreads incredibly fast in my village and soon after, all of our neighbors were in our courtyard. They all came to see the white girl picking peanuts. They also explained to me that instead of picking the peanuts off one by one, there is a way to get them all off at the same time. I felt pretty stupid but we got a good laugh out of it. Once we finished I took some pictures. Burkinabè love getting their pictures taken because many of them have never seen photos of themselves. They roar with laughter when they look at them.
    A lot of families in Burkina grow peanuts to sell. My family also sells potatoes. Our local market, called a marché, is on Mondays. However, in Léo, there is a market every day. In the bigger markets, like Léo, I can find cucumbers, homemade peanut butter, scary looking meat and some spices. Markets in the capital have a lot more variety.
     This Wednesday is a big day for us volunteers in Burkina. When I wake up on Wednesday I will know who the president is. We'll also find out our site placement!! This will be my home starting in December and will be the place where I'll live for the next two years! I'm so excited and nervous to find out where I'll be placed. I've had two interviews with my boss about this placement and they do their best to match all the volunteers to the type of site they want. Some of the volunteers, who already tested out of French, found out this week the region where they will be placed. This is because they already started on a local language and local languages are spoken regionally. I find out Wednesday and I'll be sure to upload the blog after!
     Tonight I am going to a dance party in my village. The party was supposed to happen last weekend but someone from my village died so it was cancelled. My host sisters keep checking to make sure I'm going to come, and more importantly if I'm going to dance. I can only imagine the amount of people that will come to see a white girl dance. It's way more entertaining than me picking peanuts, and even that drew a crowd.
      I also learned in French the word for fields (champs) so I was able to ask my family if I could go with them to the fields this weekend. They were excited and my host sister told the rest of my family in Nuni that I wanted to come. On Saturday I followed my friend's host dad to the fields. It was about a ten minute bike ride from our houses. Right now in Burkina it's cultivation season so all of the cotton is ready to be picked. Both women and men work in the fields all day picking cotton. Eventually it will get sold to France. One kilo of cotton is worth 50 cents. We helped the women pick cotton. In our section of the field there were about 30 women, most of them carrying babies on their backs. None of the women spoke French so it was hard to communicate. They did manage to teach us a song that they sing while working. Then, once we had it down, they made us sing it on our own. All 30 women stopped to hear us sing and then laughed for the next fifteen minutes.
   This week one of our sessions in Lèo involved meeting with an organization that worked with people living with HIV and AIDS. They are the only organization in this region that works with this population. They provide testing, counseling, family sessions and home visits. They also help financially support people from Lèo and surrounding areas. The organization covers 80% of medical bills if patients need to buy medicine. Many of the people they work with contract malaria or other sicknesses, because people living with HIV/AIDS have weaker immune systems and the amount of medicine they have to buy can be really expensive. This organization also collaborates with a few other local groups that help people living with HIV/AIDS start their own money making projects. The organization currently recieves their funding from a Belgium organization.  However, they informed us that they are stopping the funding in 2013. They said it will be devastating if they can't find another organization to provide funding. The hospital in Lèo only has two doctors that can write prescriptions for HIV/AIDS medicine. Since they have so few resources, these doctors only have time to write up these prescriptions. They can't provide counseling or explain how to use the medication. This is a huge problem because the medicine needs to be taken at the same time everyday, on a full stomach, and there are a lot of side effects. If they don't learn how to use the medicine, the medicine won't work. It was really interesting to speak to members of the organization and brainstorm ways that Peace Corps volunteers can collaborate with organizations like this. At the end of the session they asked us if we knew any organizations from the states that provided funding to these types of organizations. We said we would try to brainstorm and if anyone reading this blog has suggestions, I'm all ears! Hope everyone back home had a good weekend! Be sure to check out my photos on Facebook! N