February heat.

I don't know if I mentioned this already, but the hot season is officially here! Gone are the days of shutting all my windows before going to bed, warming up my bucket bath water every night and sleeping with a blanket/long-sleeved shirt...

I'm so happy Jon and I decided to do our Weekend Girls' Camp in January because we would've been hot messses had we done it at the end of February!

Below are just a few pictures of my life here since the Girls' Camp...

In the morning and throughout the first half of the day, the sun shines on my porch which makes it perfect for drying things. One day, my neighbors Clémence and Pélagé + Grace came by and were drying chives. CHIVES. It instantly reminded me of baked potatoes with sour cream, butter and bacon bits. Mmmmmm...my mouth salivates just thinking of it!

It is also potato and lettuce season here in Burkina Faso. I love it! Gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

Hercules never ceases to entertain me. Look at the way he sleeps sometimes! I could probably create a photo album of all the strange ways Hercules sleeps, haha.

HAHA! He keeps me sane when the sun tries to fry my brain.

Remember the school garden I helped Jean, my counterpart, with a few months ago? Look at how much it's grown. In this picture are cucumbers.

PSDN (Peer Support and Diversity Network) heading out to a nice dinner...sadly, this February's meeting was our second to last one. =/

April heat.

Despite the crazy April heat, since I live here in the Southwest of Burkina Faso, temperatures have been relatively cooler and there have even been a few days of rain! Which can only mean one thing: rainy season is coming!! Meaning cooler temperatures and greenery everywhere.

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.

February = month of sickness, lots of dust and the beginning of HOT season

Oh February. Damn, damn February.

Sickness. After Devin left, I headed back to site and all of a sudden, started to feel really congested. It started with a sore throat, followed by what seemed like a cold/progressive fever. I'd wake up every night in a sweat and wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. Add that to a build-up of mucus and then it hit me...

The weather! It's starting to get hot, hot, hot. This might be too much information but I'll say it anyway since it's my blog (haha). When I sleep, I usually wear nothing except for my underwear. But at night nowadays, I can barely sleep because there's absolutely no breeze plus the heat is just stifling. Ughh.

Back to sickness, I noticed even my students were coughing up a storm when I came in to do the alphabet project. Seriously, it's like I couldn't even get anything done because they were all coughing away, ten at a time! Apparently if you couple the Harmattan winds + dust EVERYWHERE (no joke) + the beginning of hot season...well, it's almost like a recipe for disaster and sickness. Take for example yesterday. After my dentist appointment, I was in downtown Ouaga and there was a sign that said the temperature. Mind you, it was a little after 5pm when the sun is setting...and no joke, it was 39 degrees C or 102 degrees F. Whew!

It's funny because during training, all anyone would mention is that the end of February to early May (especially April) are the worst months for heat. The Burkinabe even say, "Nous souffrons aussi" meaning "we also suffer" when it comes to the heat. Which can't be good because they LIVE here! Oyy vey.

In any case, let's see...a couple of nights ago, Pascal came by and was kind enough to cook dinner. He's a kid in 6eme (the equivalent being 6th grade at the middle school), his dad is the school director of one of the primary schools and boy, is he smart! I help him out with English and he has a genuine passion to learn the language which is always good for me to see.

Pascal cooking some spaghetti chez moi. Good kid!

Madame Ouattara also just came back from Bobo-Dioulasso (the second biggest city in BF) from an almost week-long language tutor training hosted by the Peace Corps. She enjoyed it so much and said she learned more about the Peace Corps than she would've ever from Anne, Clay or myself (me plus the two other volunteers before me) because they went into such detail about what the Peace Corps is about around the world!

I'm excited to say that I'm starting to learn one of the local languages now: Jula/Dioula! It's a language primarily spoken in Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire but the beauty is that it's a close cousin to Bambara, one of the main languages in Mali. It's a language of commerce/trade so many people in West Africa are bound to understand some of it! This is super exciting because I hope to be able to be somewhat proficient in Jula before I head back to the US in 2011!

Also, a few days ago, I felt like a reach a new level of comfortability at my site. I talked to one of my closest friends back home, Sable, about it last night. It's just a refreshing feeling and I feel like it's not one that's short-lived. I went to church on Sunday and was overwhelmed by the recognition by students and their parents and people I either work or interact with on an almost daily basis. Even with Ali and Rachid, they're seriously like my little brothers -- we joke around all the time and man, it just feels good to be this comfortable. I'd rather be back at site than being here at Ouaga (by the way, I'm here in Ouaga because the crown on my tooth came off as I was eating something back at site...really bizarre so I had to come back to Ouaga to get it fixed).

Well, that's all for now. Catch you all on the flipside, folks!

So I live in a village...

It's so surreal to finally say that I live in a village in Africa! Say whaaaat?!

Several days ago, we each moved in with our host families...the Secondary Education trainees all had places to stay in the city (Ouahigouya) while the Girls' Education and Empowerment (GEE) (me!!) volunteers were sent off to three separate villages (ranging from 4-10 people in each). The people that tested highest in French language proficiency were sent off to the farthest village and since I had some French background, off I was with 3 others to the farthest village (maybe about 10-12 km) from Ouahigouya.

The adoption ceremony was funny, inspiring but also extremely awkward. The PC truck dropped 4 of us off at our village (due to PC security reasons, I can't give out my village name so I'll be referring to it as 'K' from now on) and we had this welcome ceremony with the village chief in front, along with the male village elders, followed by the women and hundreds of children!). After, our host families grabbed all of our belongings and we made our own individual treks to our family compounds within the village...

In true organized Mikey fashion, I've broken up different categories (it helps me remember most of what I want to say and I figure it helps you all pick and choose what you want to read, haha):

• Food/Drink: You better believe I've been fed well! Food here consists of a lot of carbs...pasta noodles, rice with sauce, potatoes and yams, etc. They also have brochettes (meat on a stick) and other meat varieties. Not many vegetables except for onions, tomatoes and a few others. They have your normal fruits like bananas and apples but also have mangoes since they're in season!!!!! They're not as sweet as Philippine mangoes but they're still just as good on a hot day. As for drinks, PC provided us with water filters but we still have to put bleach in it to kill all the bacteria. It pretty much tastes like warm swimming pool water but I need to stay hydrated so it'll do. Because I'm sweating so much, I drink at least 3-5 liters a day (no joke). It's insane! They also sell bissap juice (hibiscus), ginger juice, and various other juice drinks in plastic sachets that you can drink out of. The best part: they're COLD and beat our lukewarm, bleach drinking water ANY day!


• Health: I've been doing well for the most part...I think my stomach is still getting acclimated to the food but for the most part, I'm okay. Let's hope it stays that way! Again, the PC provided us with a very thorough Medical Kit so it's all good over here.


• Transportation: I BIKE EVERYWHERE. No joke; I've never biked so much in my life. Or sweat so much either! The mountain bikes the PC provides us are being used to the max. Biking in the heat from Ouahigouya to 'K' (my village) was so exhausting! 10-12 km one way is no joke either but I need to get used to it. Fortunately, we try to bike earlier in the morning when the sun is still rising or in the afternoon before it gets dark, so the weather is a little cooler. We bike together but I think I'm gathering my bearings so I will be able to bike on my own soon. My worst fear is getting a flat tire but they've given us the tools to fix that. Also, I have a greater appreciation for paved roads and detest (but am gradually getting used to) the gravel/unpaved roads...especially the ones leading to 'K'...those are killer! The plus side is that I'll be getting toned legs/calves LOL.


• Language: Those years of French sure have come in handy! I just need to expand my French vocab and speak more with the instructor...since I was fortunate enough to place higher on the language proficiency test, I'm starting to learn one of the local languages (Mooré) which will be especially useful in village. It's so tonal and relatively hard to grasp...but lots of fun to practice with the locals! They get a kick out of it. And since greetings are SO important here in BF, it helps.


• Weather: HOT. Even if it is the rainy season. It rained yesterday so it was a lot cooler but it's back to that heat again! Sitting in the shade is glorious. That is all.


• Where I live (my hut & compound): Cozy and amazing! When I get to taking pictures, I'll start posting. My family's compound is located on a little hill, composed of about 7-8 other huts for my host parents, host brothers, host grandfather, etc. etc. They also have a prayer area (they're Muslim), a place to store their millet, and other things. I have my own mud/clay hut with a straw roof...it retains a lot of heat so I try to be outside as much as possible. Inside, I have my bed with a mosquito net, a clothesline, 2 windows with screens, and all my clothes. Can't wait to decorate and put up the map and pictures on the walls! They also built me a covered courtyard with a big straw gate around it so I can keep my bike inside! I chill here most of the time to write in my journal, eat, talk with my family, etc. I LOVE IT. We also have a lot of goats, sheep, roosters, etc. which serve as my very own alarm clock. I'm not gonna lie though...it smells a little like an animal farm, but I'm already used to it. My toilet (latrine, which is essentially a hole in the ground) and bucket bath area are side-by-side. Bucket baths are a God-send when I get back home and you only really need one bucket of water to bathe! I've been able to bathe with a view of the African sunset or the night sky, and love it...


• My host family: Let's just say they barely speak any French and only speak Fulfulde and Mooré (two of the bigger local languages). So you better believe there is a lot of awkward laughing, charade-like actions, and what I call 'French vomit' (where I say as many things I can in French and they pick up the few French words they understand). My host dad, Mahmoudou, is the guy who interacts with me the most and he is so COOL! There are a lot of men in my family and sadly, only 2 or 3 little kids. As relegated by society, the women do most of the domestic tasks but the men in my family help out, too. Since so many people come and say hi to me, I don't really know if they're part of the family or not so it gets kinda confusing from time to time. They call me Michaël in Mooré (pronounced mee-kai-yell) and my last name is Diallo (my host family's last name). I don't know what else to say but will say more later when I think of it.


• Training itself: SO mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting. The days and training sessions are long (especially in the heat) but I'm learning so much. Two days ago, we talked about the education system in Burkina Faso and it was so interesting! Training is extremely structured and getting through training itself is an obstacle to overcome (and for good reason), but so far, I like it.


• The people (the Burkinabè): Strong (both mentally and physically) and extremely friendly. As I've mentioned before, greeting EVERYONE is absolutely essential in BF...even if you don't know them, it's customary to greet with the usual "Good morning, how are you, how's the family/work/etc.?". So a 10-minute walk can easily turn into a 30-minute walk (kind of like LMU lol)!

• Fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees): Like I've said before, we all come from different places, have different personalities and so forth, but our common thread is to do the Peace Corps and effectuate change through education. I'm getting to know everyone slowly and am finding my niche (as is everyone) so it feels kind of like college all over again.


• Being viewed as an 'American': One of my worst fears was not being viewed as an American because I didn't fit the standard perception. When I first got to my village, my host dad asked if I was American and I explained that while I was born in California, my parents were born in the Philippines. He seemed very receptive, smiled, and from that point on, that very fear was dispelled right away! After 20 seconds of slight awkwardness, he mentioned Barack Obama's name and we all laughed in joy! Hopefully the same will happen at my placement site.


• Reminders of home: Two things: 1) Yesterday, we had a walking tour of my village where we met the chief again and saw where we each lived. When my fellow PCTs came to my village, I showed them the photo album Camille gave me for graduation a year ago. I added more of my own pictures too and I felt so good sharing this with others; and 2) Burkina Faso reminds me a lot of the Philippines, especially the province where my dad is from. That's probably why I feel so at home in many places!

I haven't taken many pictures yet (especially at my village) because I don't want to immediately be labeled as the wealthy American...but in due time, I'll be sure to take more and post them.
Again, keep those comments coming and follow my blog. They're exciting for me to read.  =)