| Jun. 23rd, 2007 @ 02:33 pm Farting with confidence |
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I had a list of stuff to talk about, but I left it at home. Last time I came to the internet, I wasted my entire hour and 300 cfa trying to upload ten pictures, and none of them worked, so it looks like I cant post any pictures.
So here is my list as I can remember it:
Dust Storms
Farting with Confidence
Bike Seats
Showering
Day-in-the-life
First off dust storms. Burkina Faso has just recently begun the rainy season. Every time before it rains, the winds pick up pretty much all of the loose dirt and dust from the ground and hurl it up in the air and laugh as all of the towns people...mainly just the peace corps trainees...mainly just me go run and hide indoors. The first time this happened was about 9 PM, well past my bedtime, and I was sleeping. The wind started and I was so excited that there would finally be some sort of air circulation in my clay oven room, then my hopes were crushed as an enormous amount of dirt started to filter trough my window. I was enjoying the breeze, however, so I just covered my face with the fan that they gave us on the first day and went back to sleep. The next morning, since I had been sweating before, I awoke to find myself caked with muddy sweaty disgust. The second dust storm came a few days later as I was heading to class. I was locking my door and my host mom was, from what a novice low can translate; warning me that the rain was coming. I tried to say that it was only rain and that I was going to class, but we dont understand each other. When I got a good distance from my house, I realized that she was trying to tell me that a dust storm was coming. Being out in it was both the coolest thing and the scariest/wierdest. I wish I would have taken pictures of it, but I guess I have years and it is bound to happen again.
This next part is about pooping so you might want to skip this paragraph, if not read on...
A wise man, Michael Schulte, once told me that once you join the Peace Corps and go to Africa you can not fart with confidence. I have not found that to be a problem as of yet. I have had a few digestion related proplems, but anytime I have to fart I do so confidently. I have been told that I am one of the most confident farters that Africa has ever seen.
I am not sure who invented bike seats, but whoever they are did not do so with the idea of comfort. I have to ride my bike probably 3 miles a day which isnt all that far, but everyday. My butt is so sore. I hope to gain some type of butt callus in the near future so that this will no longer be an issue. I am also incredibly out of shape. I have been riding a bike for two and a half weeks now, and I should be more in shape than I am, but my legs are so sore everyday. Just goes to show how unactive I was the last 6 months living with Matt.
I am a gross person. Before I came to Africa there were times when I would go three-ish days without taking a shower, and the joke was always made that I was just getting ready for Africa. I thought this was true. In my mind, once in Africa I would probably shower only once a week, this is not the case. I take two bucket baths a day. It is a cultural thing that I thought was a little strange when I got here, but now I really look forward to my morning bucket bath and the one I take after class. That is what everyone does here, and I am jumping on that band wagon.
My mom requested a day-in-the-life of me, and it goes a little something like this. I wake up at about 6:30, which is a time that I didnt even think existed in the states, and I take my first bucket bath of the day being sure not to speak to anyone in my family because it is rude to speak before you have brushed your teeth in the morning. After my "shower" I eat my usual breakfast of bread with mayonase, which sounds gross, but I have grown to love it. Sometimes when I am lucky I get an egg to put on my sandwich, and that is when I know it is going to be a good day. At 8, I go to class. Along the way, I either get called nasara, which means white person, or le blanc, which literally means the white. I think it is funny and I usually respond to them in Mooré manawana, which means Whats up. At class, my day consists of language, culture, qnd technical training. I get out of class at 5, ride home to the usual calls and have my second wonderful bucket bath, and then study french until it is time for dinner at around 7. Dinner usually consists of rice, couscous, or macaroni with some unknown sause that is usually pretty good. The TV is turned on and I watch foreign soap operas dubbed over in French. There is one the is from the Ivory Coast that is not dubbed over, but it isnt on that much. Anywho, Then I go to sleep at about 9 and wake up the next day and do it all over again. I know what you are thinking, but my life is not as glamorous as I make it sound.
I am spending the night tonight in a village with one of my friends, and it is going to be my first night without electricity. I am excited. |
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