April heat...again.

What this blog entry is really about is a hodgepodge mix of photos from April...I'll just narrate after each photo. Enjoy!

Jon cooking at Daniel's house in Gaoua.

Brenda, the master chef of our Southwest family, cooking...empanadas! And they're damn good. With limited resources!

Hercules on my porch with the poster I made in the background...it's for my CEP Exam Jeopardy Review Game. One of the activities I've been working on is preparing my CM2 students for their CEP exam, with the hope that they'll be able to continue to the middle school level. Fun times! And using Jeopardy as a review exercise is great. I also created the 'CEP Exam Jeopardy Review Guide for Peace Corps Volunteers', which will hopefully help for PCV generations to come!

Grace getting henna-style tattooing done. A really big thing among women here in Burkina Faso, they use natural products.

Another simple but delicious meal made by Brenda at my house. Dude, it's garlic bread. In Burkina Faso!

Madame Constance also getting the temporary traditional tattooing done by Aicha.

One of the many ways that Hercules is found asleep in my house. So cute!

A bunch of us in the Southwest exploring the "municipal forest" in Diebougou.

Inside the caves in Diebougou which used to be used by the French army over 50 years ago...I think.

Traditional Easter pictures with the Ouattara family!

Madame Ouattara: like my extended, really cool aunt here in Burkina Faso!

Me and my Burkina Faso family.

...and another sleeping picture of Hercules to hold you over until the next time I blog about him. Seriously, he makes my day! haha

Fêtes galore...COS party, Easter, oh my!!

I feel like I haven’t blogged in a while but it’s because I’ve been all over the place these past couple of weeks!

At the end of March, I had my VAC meeting and finally got to meet our new Country Director, Shannon. She’s done years of work in international development and everyone loves her! Since it’s Easter Break; I got the chance to do some in-country travelling; visiting other volunteers and heading to Ouaga too. We had the annual COS (Close of Service) party which is one of the few events where all volunteers can get together and have a good time. The the,e this year? Rubix Cube party. Genius! It’s a way to say farewell to the next group of volunteers that are near the end of their 2 years of service. Crazy to think that’ll be me in a year!

Colette and I at the Rubix Cube party. We miss you, Devin!

April’s been off to a good start as well. Despite the sweltering heat (they say April is the hottest month of the year), mango season has officially begun! Gwen came over to my site and spent Easter weekend with me.

First mango of the season!

Gwen cracking a coconut. Loves it!

Doing laundry!

Easter morning, I headed to my church and after mass, ended up talking with a lot of my friends in the community. At lunch, the Ouattaras invited me over and I had the best couscous dish. I can’t quite explain the sauce except that it had a lot of onions, tomatoes and such and even had some goat meat. Delicious! Add in a little bissap and ginger juice plus good company and consider it a great Easter. Gwen came later and she ended up being our ‘family photographer.’ It was great! I took so many pictures with the Ouattaras…here are a few:

My tailor, Mathieu and I. Sporting our US/Burkina Faso shirts. He made them!

Madame Ouattara and I eating her delicious couscous dish.

Rachid, Ali and I. These two are like two more crazy little brothers.

Clemence, Aicha, Farida and I.

Otherwise, the months ahead look to be really busy! April and May constitute the last trimester of the school year. Aside from the normal alphabet/literacy and math activities with the younger kids, I still have the Reading Club going and finally got a Girls’ Club up and running with the CM1 girls (equivalent is 4^th grade). More details on that as it progresses…first meeting so far has been a success with a combination of activities in class and soccer in the end. Ali even helped me out! Baby weighings have been good as well, and I feel like the number of mothers that come in fluctuate from week to week. Jon and I even discovered a small class that teaches the blind how to read Braille…and it’s literally just past the school where I work, which could make for another interesting secondary project.

My family here in Burkina Faso.