Jon biked over one day and being the climber that he is, he climbed a couple of the huge trees near my house. Ali followed suit and they both ended up taking pictures, especially this cool aerial shot of me and my house. More pictures of my house to come when it gets greener down here!
Ali!
Jon the Fearless Climber!
Aerial view of me and my house. What up, world?!
And some pictures for your viewing pleasure that helps describe 'a day in the life...'.
Madame Ouattara and some kids, pounding away some corn. Mmmmm.
Madame Constance and one of the cutest babies ever, Grace-Victoire.
Me taking a stab at pounding the corn. Talk about exhausting labor after doing it for a while. That's Clemence in the background, Madame Ouattara's niece.
A photo of the sky the other day. Look at how ominous the clouds look. While I love the rain, I absolutely hate the bomb-like thunder that comes with it. Which explains why I ran over to my neighbor's house that night because I was scared shitless/shaking from the thunder. Insane!! But thank God for amazing neighbors.
It's insane to think it's almost the end of April (Happy Early Birthday, Dad!) and in a month or two, the end of the school year! I've been selected as a PCVFP (Peace Corps Volunteer Facilitator Permanent) for the upcoming training (PST = Pre-Service Training) for our new set of Peace Corps Trainees come June. I'll be helping to formulate the training content, getting them acclimated to life here in Burkina Faso and just being a part of their support group. Exciting stuff! Since the students will be on vacation, this falls perfectly. And to think, I was in their place a year ago!
I swear -- and I'll say this this time and time again -- the days feel like they take an eternity but the weeks and months fly by! There have been so many instances where I think, 'Wow, you've been living here in Africa for almost a year!' If you look at the Michael back in September 2009 when I first arrived at site to the Michael right now in April 2010, you'd notice a considerable difference.
3 comments:
Hi Mikey! I'm one of those trainees you mentioned coming in for June, and I've been loving reading your blog! You've got a knack for writing to say the least. Looking forward to meeting you once training starts! --Emma, future PCT of good ol' Burkina Faso
I love the aerial shot of your house! Those seem to be very tall trees. Quite adventureous! I'm glad the rain is coming so it'll cool down and the country will turn green! What are you making with the pounded corn? I bet it's a lot of work, but it probably also tastes very delicious! Miss you Michael! xoxo
Congratulations son for being selected as the PCVFP for the June PCV's. Wheww you always surprise me and you did not mention that to me during our last conversation. I'm happy for you, continue the good work that you do there. You can just imagine last year at this time when you were preparing for your Burkina Faso PC trip, how did you feel during that time? Same feeling I'm sure for those coming in June. Are you excited to meet them?
Share your stories, ok.
love you.
mom
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