First Sunday in Sapone

This was my first Sunday with my family.  Thank goodness my family is Muslim and does not attend too many church or mosque services.  Apparently, Catholic mass took about 2 hours and the Protestant church lasted over 5 hours.  At first I thought it would be a neat experience to attend a church service in a foreign country but I am perfectly content to forego the 5 hour Pentecostal rant in Moore.  I think that my family prays in the morning before I wake up.  I slept in pretty late today… My sister was worried and came to wake me because it was 7 am.  When I finally emerged, bathed, lathered on the sunscreen, I sat under one of the trees with my mother, sisters, and a bunch of children.  There was a long line of people waiting on my father outside of the courtyard.  I think the reason they don’t attend the mosque is because Sunday is a busy work day for him.  Sunday is also laundry day for the women.  They always laugh at me when I attempt to do my laundry.  Thankfully one of my brothers started to help me because apparently I didn’t have enough suds in the bucket.  While I was studying French, I notice one of the goats freaking out next to the courtyard wall.  Within a few seconds of study, I noticed the placenta hanging out of her ass.  Yes, today I watched a goat give birth.  I feel like crazy things happen here every day but they are completely normal occurrences for my family.   My sister gave me a “yeah, duh,” laugh when I pointed and said, “nouveau chevre!”   

New Family

Okay, so I made it.  I have gotten over the latrine thing as well as the roach thing.  The hardest part now is the food.  At restaurants there are only three options:  riz sauce arachide (rice with peanut sauce), spaghetti, or benga (beans).  I have completely exhausted all three of those options.  At home with the host family, I usually get spaghetti with way too much oil and tomato flavoring and a Fanta.  I was finally able to identify a spice that I cannot stand and they know I am not a big fan of the to.  To is a gelatin substance made out of flour and water and a ton of stirring.  It doesn’t have much flavor so it all depends on the sauce.  My family’s favorite sauce happens to be snot sauce or they call it sauce gumbo.   It is not gumbo; it is green slime with leaves.  Hungry yet? 

My host family is wonderful.  I know I complain a lot but they really are wonderful and happy people.  My father is a traditional medicine man and I have 5 siblings:  Assanatou (F 19), Abdoulye (M 15), Mazou (M 12), Nehmata (F 12), and Ahmed (M 4).  Everyday there is a line of people outside the courtyard waiting to meet with my father.  I wish I could observe some of these meetings but I am afraid to ask.  I also don’t know how to ask because of this whole language barrier thing.  My siblings in school speak some French as a second language.  My family really speaks Moore.  Every evening I come home, fumble through some French but mostly just make grunting sounds to convey a yes or no answer to a question I didn’t really understand and then my brother Mazou teaches me more Moore.  Just to clarify, I study French everyday at Peace Corps school, I greet my family in Moore and practice that language with them, and in two weeks I will start learning Gourmatchuma, which is the language I will be speaking when I go to site in the Southeast.  Rumor has it, lots of elephants in the Southeast so I am super excited.  

Latrine

The first few days at my host family’s house was quite a shock.  I thought I was mentally prepared for culture shock but apparently I wasn’t.  I could handle the bucket bath, different food, and even the lack of electricity.  It was the latrine that got me.  I had a vague understanding that a latrine was basically a whole in the ground.   However this is quite an understatement.  It was dark by the time I needed to use it which only heightened my anxiety.  I stumbled up the walkway to a roofless door frame and tin door.  To my horror, the door frame was flickering in the glare of my head lamp.  It wasn’t one or two cockroaches but at least twenty that dashed and darted about the walls of the cubicle.  I staggered backwards confused and frightened.  I tried to consider my options because obviously this was not going to work.  I glanced around meeting only the sad eyes of the starving chicken and realized this was my only option.   My bladder on the verge of explosion urged me forward.  I started stomping my feet, not with the intention of squishing any roaches but to announce my arrival.  I ducked my head really low for fear they would find my hair a soft place to nestle be anywhere near my face.  I slammed the door close and latched the door creating more of a flutter.  Just so you are aware, this practically took all of the courage I could muster.  I looked directly down at the hole which inadvertently illuminated the abyss.  I think there are a million down there.  As I squatted to relieve myself I could discern the antennae protruding from the hole waving like hair in the wind.  I considered standing but had little faith, and rightly so, in the precision of my aim.  

Ouaga

The first day of training was easy and laid back.  I had an interview with my new boss, Dr. Claude.  Dr.  Claude is a pediatrician and seems and sounds fantastic.  I also had a language interview as well as a health review.   Language is going to be difficult.  I could talk about my family and foods I like but when I was given the potential scenario, I was lost.  My teacher, JZ, asked me to pretend that he is the mayor of my community and I needed to present to him my project and plans.   “Eh, euh, uuuuhhh…Je veux aider les enfant avec laver les mains?” That means I want to help children to wash their hands, I nailed it, right? 

Right now, all of the Burkina Faso volunteers are staying at this sort of compound.  I live in a dorm with a mosquito net and a bathroom.  The toilet, however, is outside, but it does flush and toilet paper is available.  I would not, however, recommend sitting.  The water in the shower is mildly warm but I think that I wish they were colder.  It is hard stop sweating at anytime of the day although nights and mornings are cooler.  Yes, that does mean there is running water at this location; however we are not allowed to drink it.  I accidentally started brushing my teeth with it last night and managed not to become violently ill, at least not yet.  I am told, however, to expect explosive diarrhea sooner or later. 

Today, I was also sized for a bicycle, exchanged my money, got a “walk around allowance”, and even got a cell phone.  Go ahead and contact my mom if you would like my number.  For security purposes I am not going to post the number directly on this public website.  It is free for me to receive text messages and phone calls from you.  Just be aware that it can get pretty expensive on your side.  I think that land lines are cheaper and so are calling cards just in case you are interested.  Also +226 is the country code so you would dial that followed by my eight digit phone number.  For a text message you must dial 011 to get out of America and then 226 for my country and then my eight digit phone number.  The phones here are pretty funny.  They are all pay as you go and everyone and their mother (literally) is selling minutes on the streets.  Many current volunteers had their smart phones sent from home and switched out the sim card.  You can buy a data plan month to month which is also pretty cheap (1000 CFA).  Just to give you an idea of the exchange rate, I received 68 USD for my allowance and that was 29,000 CFA.  For me, the value of money is extremely hard to grasp.

Tomorrow the more intense training starts and on Friday we move in and are adopted by our host families.   I am hopeful that I will get some alone time in the evening to digest it all and get out my electronics; otherwise, it is going to be a long 2 months.  Jet lag was not a big issue.  Those crazy long overnight flights mess you up so much anyway that I had no trouble sleeping.  Getting up to pee in the middle of the night is a little creepy.  Geckos are everywhere and that’s fine.  It’s the giant ones the size of my face the hide near the toilet and run faster than the speed of light. 

The food here so far has been pretty amazing except for the occasional bone or piece of plastic.  Lots of carbs and sauces.  Meat is good here in the city but I am told not to eat it once in your village.  Lack of refrigeration makes meat and dairy questionable.   Apparently I could have continued my vegetarianism if I had wished.   The employees here were shocked many of the trainees were told to start eating meat.  However, the chickens and goats run free here and I feel like I need the protein.  

Address Information

My new address is:
Clarissa Pape PCT
S/C Corps de la Paix
01 B.P. 6031
Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso
Postage for a letter is $00.98
Sending a package may be another story, Mom is looking into that.
Planes arrive only every 4 days in Ouagadougou. Look forward to hearing from you all.

Into the Abyss

Well the first day of training in Philly is complete and we take off for Brussels this evening.  We begin travel by bus to JFK this morning and will not land in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso until Tuesday evening.  I am so excited to have finally met the other 25 volunteers.  We all  went out for dinner together last night and I can already tell we are going to have a blast in Burkina Faso together.  We were told to expect to live without our luggage for a few days.  If our luggage does not make the connecting flight, it will not make it to Burkina Faso for at least 4 more day because people do not fly to this little African country all too often.  I was also told to expect that we would not have access to internet or a telephone for the next 3 weeks at least.  I told my family to keep in mind the no news is good news and that I will contact them as soon as I can whenever I can.
I really wanted to say thank you for everyone's support and well wishes lately.  It has been extraordinary to witness the prayers and kindness directed towards my family and me (and especially my brother) over the past couple of weeks.  Our friends and family are truly a gift and a blessing.

Packing for this trip was really a pain.  My bag has plenty of room in it but I am really having trouble with the weight requirements.  We are allowed 2 checked bags, no more than 80 pounds total and no single bag weighing more than 50 pounds.  I think I am exactly at 50 and 33...oops.  I am hoping my dazzling smile and pleading excuse, "But I am leaving for Africa with the Peace Corps and will be there for two whole years," might render TSA lenient.  And a shout out to Courtney for documenting the horrific disaster of my bedroom last Saturday.

Preparing for Take Off

Preparing to leave your home country is more difficult than I realized.  Not only do you have to bring an extra toothbrush or ten but also an extended battery life computer, a solar charger, and a hand crank flashlight.  I have saved all the receipts from the items I have purchased for this adventure and I am considering whether or not I really want to learn the total.  Anytime a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) is eligible to receive a discount on merchandise, it is clearly an indispensable piece of equipment, clothing, or shoes for traversing the African wilderness.  Next there is the endless meandering up and down aisles of stores like Dicks or Target thinking, "maybe I should take a double burner gas camp stove, I will be there for 2 years and that would be awfully convenient to boil rice while sauteing eggplant... and a snake bite kit, wow, it comes with two suction thingies to place over the bites, even multiple bites.  I've heard stories about those green mamba snakes, this might be a good gadget to have on hand..."  I am to the point that I am buying things just to check and see if it will fit in my luggage, might as well.  I have a feeling Darlene will be making some returns next Monday after I depart for my first stop in Philadelphia early Sunday morning.

My mother, expert seamstress, sewed for me some African dresses.  Now I definitely will not be singled out or made fun of on my first day of work.  Most people have assumed that I will wear shorts and a tank top most of the time (100 degree weather is the norm) but that just will not do.  My knees are never allowed to show unless I am competing in some sort of sporting event (unlikely) or in the privacy of my hut, sweet hut.  Also, I am a professional and as such my shoulders and cleavage must also be covered.  As many of you know, my 16 year old brother has been in the hospital with a football injury.  He suffered two lacerations to his kidney which are severe enough to require a laparoscopic surgery and an extended hospital stay.  In order to finish my second dress she is actually going to bring her sewing machine to the hospital and sew right in Aaron's room.  Hopefully he will be home be Thursday and will be able to participate in Saturday night's Last Supper.