January Etude

Entry Written February 2, 2008, (Sorry there are no photos at present I have to wait for a better connection, be patient).

So due to my procrastination I have been putting off writing my first blog about my new home and community. That was a bad idea and now I really hope that my memories will due the first month at site justice. I say this as being the author after the incident that has clouded my view. You will need to read the blog entry “How to Catch a Thief” to understand why my thoughts about the first month might be tainted in such a way. But for now lets hope I can over look this event and talk about my first month in Diebougou (DBG) . . .

Our first three months in village we are supposed to be getting to know our community. Meet neighbors, authorities, and find resources for our basic needs. It is also a time to sit back and relax after all of the grueling months of training.

I arrived in Diebougou on Saturday December 27^th and my first impressions were overwhelming because it is a lot smaller than what I was used to in OHG. I live in the south west of Burkina Faso but not in the densely populated Bobo and Banfora region. The area around DBG is very hilly in relation to a lot of the other areas of Burkina and there are a lot more trees but still not enough as I am used to in the great state of Pennsylvania.

Upon pulling up to my new house I was surprised to see that my courtyard was constructed with straw, which was very discouraging. So there was a barrier of straw separating me from the road, which does not help with much privacy. That was the only disappointment though, because the house itself was beautiful (for Burkina Faso). I have three rooms and a bathing room. My toilet is outside and there is nothing really to say about the toilet other than it is a hole in the ground. The volunteer before me was amazing and I could want for nothing because she had furnished and made the house so welcoming. Thank you Bianka.

My counterpart, Lagou, was there and he oversaw my settling in. Within 20 minutes of my arriving he had be washing all of the basins and buckets out so I could get water from the fountain. My house was THANKFULLY only about 100 feet away from the fountain (a manned ville pump where you get water for your house). Two neighbor girls were very helpful and went to get me buckets of water and then watched me as I cleaned all of my things. I could only laugh because I had not been in DBG but 20 minutes and already I am sweating and cleaning. There were all these people there watching me and all I really wanted to do after 24 hours of traveling was just to be left alone in my new house.

Eventually, Lagou felt content that I would be fine alone. He is very sweet and I am so thankful for him because he has taken a lot of the brunt of my frustrations this past month. I felt so relieved when he finally left and I was alone. I was soooo excited to open the package Peace Corps brought with my luggage; a care package from my aunt Dee and uncle Mike. I sat there alone and opened all of my gifts, which was practically all food, THANK YOU. Only Peace Corps volunteers can understand the joy and happiness that a package of tuna/mac’n’cheese, a DVD, and a People magazine can bring to our lives. It seriously took me two hours to go through the care package, take pictures, and carefully place all of the items into my metal canteen. Thank Aunt Dee and Uncle Mike.

Lagou came back that evening and it was the first of many awkward gatherings where we sit and do nothing, say nothing, and just stare at my living room walls. I have found out this is normal occurrence when Burkinabe visit. It is perfectly fine to sit in silence and do nothing but stare at the walls surrounding you. I recently asked other PCVs if this was normal and they said yes. I have found over the last month that my neighbors and my counterpart just come over to my house without invitation and just come and sit for a little bit and then leave. The neighbors sadly do not speak French so it is even harder with them; luckily they are women and bring their kids, which can entertain for a little while.

I arrived in DBG of a Saturday so the next day I got to experience Marche Day, which happens every Sunday. It is when all the village people come into DBG to sell and buy their goods. I live right behind the market so it is an easy walk to the marche for me. In OHG there is a huge marche everyday so I was shocked when I came in on Saturday and saw the huge central market here in DBG empty. I later found out that there is a very small marche in DBG everyday but it is nothing compared to Sunday and nothing compared to OHG. Even the Sunday marche is nothing compared to OHG. I only now realize the differences in ville size here in Burkina Faso.

My first week at site consisted of me adjusting to all of the alone time. It took about a week to get used to it but now I treasure all of my time alone. I know I read about Peace Corps and heard about it from friends but to actually live it is a different story. I am really lucky though in my situation. I have electricity and live in a beautiful Burkinabe house that was set up by the wonderful volunteer before me. Peace Corps is about solitude and being fine with living completely alone for 2 years. Yes it is about development and working with different cultures but in its true essence it is a test of wills, whether you can be independent and be fine with being alone with yourself.

In my first week at site I made a pack with myself that I would get out of my house everyday and walk around town and say bonjour or bonsoir to everyone I could. I made this pack to myself in the hope that it will get me out of my house and allows me to be seen by everyone in my village, a great way to integrate.

I spent a lot of time writing in my journal, reading, and watching DVDs. I have learned since that first week to conserve my entertainment. Some times I can sit for minutes that turn into hours at a time and just stare off into space. In my second week at my site I began another routine for myself. Every night at 5pm I move my mat and my brother’s thermarest outside and do an hour to an hour and a half of pilates, yoga, exercise, and meditation. It is so cool and the setting sun makes the sky into an orange sorbet of colors. It is also so relaxing and I just pray that one of the neighbors is not looking in through my straw barrier. Ohh they would see so much of my white legs, haha.

I also think about food a lot and what I will eat for my next meal. I think up meals that I can make with my lack of resources. Luckily things are still available; however as January progresses things start disappearing and prices begin to increase. It is amazing soon I might be only able to find onions, yikes! There is presently no fruit available and I am counting down the days till mango season.

Mango trees are all around and it is so cool to see the mangos hanging off the trees defying gravity. Ohh I cannot wait to have mango juice roll down my chin, haha. Anyways, I have taken photos of my food creations and will share them in a future blog entry.

Over this past month Diebougou has grown on me and I have begun to enjoy it here. I went up to Ouaga for a “break” and to watch the inauguration and after 2 days I was done with the big city and actually could not wait to get back to site. I really like being alone and I enjoy not spending money and saving it for vacations and enjoy the quite pace of life in Diebougou.

Now for a normal Peace Corps volunteer the first three months you are supposed to do NOTHING. I however wanted structure therefore my etude will sadly not be me doing nothing for 3 months, no I was put to work, and a schedule was planned out. In my second week of my etude I went around and met with all of the major authorities here in Diebougou: Police, Chief de Terre, Haut Commissionaire, Mayor, etc. Mainly this entailed me sitting and smiling and spending half of the time pronouncing my name. These meetings normally took up the morning hours so I savored my afternoons alone.

During my third week at site the director of ASUDEC came down from Ouaga and I was regulated to sit through meetings for hours. When we did not have a meeting (in French) here in DBG we would go out to a different village each day and listen to 2-3 hours of meetings in local language. I would sit in the front of the room and everyone would stare at me every so once in a while. I passed my time writing in my journal because I had no idea what they were saying in local language. Plus I heard the same presentation over six times in French and then translated into the specific local language for that village. I would be gone from my house some days for 8-10hours.

We drove a lot! Out into the bush to some of these villages. I felt like I was in a bumper car that was being hit over and over again and sometimes the car would be completely diagonal. Quite hairy experiences especially when you have 4 grown-ups sharing the back seat of a car. Towards the end of the week I just gave in to the whole experience and actually began having fun just sitting and smiling.

My fourth and fifth week of my etude was spent going back out to villages and taking photos for ASUDEC’s year-end report. My job was actually to take photos, anyone who knows me knows that I was in cloud 9 for this assignment. I went to over 15 different family compounds and some of the places I visited where out en brosse. We would drive out as far as a car could take us with no road and then we would get out and walk the rest of the way. It is hard to believe how some of these people live. Many times we would show up and all the children would be naked out working with the animals. I took so many photos but I was not sure what they wanted. I was very happy that I was actually allowed to take photos, my favorite ones were the ones I took of children and elder women.

I realize I am breezing through January and I have not even said anything about ASUDEC or what I will be doing for them while I am a volunteer here. I need to ease myself back into writing my blog because I have not written in so long. I need to promise to write a little each week and not get backed up like I did this past month. This past month went by slow at some points and really fast in others. I have gotten over the fact that I do not have internet and I am thankful for the things that I do have, like: electricity, a place to get yogurt, a good tailor, and a place to get cold beverages. I am still on the look out for a cannery to make myself a desert fridge. I hear they will be for sell when it starts getting hot which seems like right now.

I was actually shocked that there were a couple “cold” days in January, nights that I wore long sleeves and wrapped myself in covers. Even last week I was warming my water for my bucket baths because it was a little cold. That wave of cool weather, mind you cool weather is at it lowest 65-70 degrees, has past.

I realize I breezed through January and I promise to be more detailed in the future but right now I really want to just write about this past week. I will leave this blog entry though with a funny story that only happens here . . .:

The greatest thing I fear is that I have to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom. The reason is that I have to get up, unlock my front door, find a flashlight and make my way out to the dreaded toilet, which is just a hole in the floor. Normally at night there are little critters all around. Well a couple weeks ago I had to make this dreaded walk and I was half asleep. I get out there, move the cover from the hole and flash my flashlight like it is a light saber to scare away all the cockroaches. So I am going about my business and what should come out of the hole but a little lizard that scared me half to death and I found myself peeing all over myself and my clothes. I think I even tried to use my pee as a weapon against the lizard that disappeared the second I saw him. This of course wakes me up and I am NOT HAPPY and waddle back to my house to take a shower and wash my clothes at 2am. Gotta love having pee-wars with the animals that live in your latrine!!!