Goodbyes are always hard

Exactly 3 months after moving into my host family’s house it was time to say goodbye. It was a rough day, saying goodbye to them had the same feeling as saying goodbye at IAH. When I first moved in to my host parents house I couldn’t speak a word of French or Moore, I was forced to bathe 29 times a day against my will, I was served greasy eggs for breakfast, my little brother cried every time he saw me, and everything I did was laughed at. I will miss those days so much. Three months later I’ve hit my target French mark, I know all the greetings in Moore, I still had to bathe 29 times a day, I conveyed to my family that eggs can be cooked without 3 gallons of oil, and my little brother loves me. We’ve come a long way.

Host family closing ceremony was a day that I will never forget. I woke up and took my bath. I got dressed and told my family that it was MANDATORY for them to get there at 9:30 because the ceremony started at 10. Of course my family was the last ones to show up, but they were so well dressed it was funny. My baba and ma were in matching outfits. I presented them with a certificate and an invitation to swear in next week. After the ceremony there was a little reception and we all left. I went home and my baba was there waiting for me, he told me that he had a present for me. My gift was a traditional Sapone hat, an outfit that they had made for me, and a head scarf the same as the one my mom has. It was great. Not everyone was home at my house so I decided to wait on giving them their gifts. My baba told me and Sudak that we had to be at the house at 6:30 p.m. for dinner. Sue’s sister called us at told us to go meet her parents at the Belle Vie so we went there. We had food, beer, Sangria, and (drumrolll please………) CHAMPAGNE! Sue’s parents went all out for us. It was hard to say goodbye to them. So many trips to the marche to visit Sue’s mom and I would always yell “Ma” and she would say “Beega” (which means my child in Moore). They became like my second host family. So after hanging with Sue’s family we head to the marche to say goodbye to a few people, then I head home. My family was all there so I decided that it was a good time to give them gifts. I gave my parents 2 calabashes full of blow pops, laffy-taffys, gobstoppers, and nerds, my baba a Peace Corps sticker for his moto and made him a booklet with a picture of me and my Burkina Family next to a picture of me and my American Family, I gave my ma my pink cross necklace, a necklace for Isabel, playing cards for Michael and Immanuel, and stickers for Leopold and Landry. Everyone was so happy. Isabel put her necklace on right away. My little brothers had never had stickers before so they weren’t sure what to do so I put one on Landry to show him. According to little Landry stickers are best worn on your forehead so we all were wearing stickers on our foreheads. Michael asked me about the cards and I told him that they came from America and he told me at least 14893842432 times how much he loved them and how nice they are. Michael was so nice to me these past 3 months I ended up giving him my watch as well lol. It was so funny to watch them all eat blow pops and put stickers everywhere. At that moments, I think I was the happiest I’ve been since being in Africa. That moment alone made up for all the difficulties and frustrations of stage. Sue came over and we had dinner with my family and we ate a bunch and just hung out. After dinner my family went inside and I went into my room to finish packing (FYI if I thought it was hard packing for 2 years the first time, it was harder the second time with more stuff!!!) I woke up bright and early the next day because I knew that it would take my family a lot of pushing to get moving. My sister Isabel came up to me and sad “I'm sad that you are leaving” I told her that I was too, but that I would come visit all the time. Little Landry said something to her and I asked what he said and she said “Landry says that you and Sue can’t leave because you haven’t finished playing.” I just about started crying then, the little boy who was terrified of me actually didn’t want me to leave! I scooped him up and gave him a big hug. Then we loaded up the cart (literally a donkey pulling a cart) and headed over to the FDC for the last time. I didn’t realize that all my siblings were going to walk there, so I got off my bike and walked with them holding hands with Landry, proudly wearing my Sapone hat. Michael didn’t want Leopold to go because his pants were ripped and he was kind of dirty, but Leopold started bawling and I told him to come. When we got there my brother unloaded all my bags and we waited together until it was time for me to leave. I didn’t think it would be that hard to say goodbye, but when it came down to it, it really was. I said goodbye to baba first. We hugged and he a prayer for me in Moore, then I hugged everyone else (hugging is not something that Burkinabe do, but I wasn’t leaving without a hug lol). My mom ended up not showing up, Isabel said that she couldn’t say goodbye. I was sad but it’s not like I won’t see her again. Then my family got on their donkey cart and went back home. I started crying seeing them leave. I really have become part of their family, and them part of mine. It was tough. But alas, time to move on to the next phase of my service. Ouaga for the week, SWEAR-IN on thursday, 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps Fair, shopping, and heading to site MONDAY!

O wero!

This past week I have witnessed the simplest acts of kindness and tolerance that I have never even dreamed possible. August 30, 2011 was the celebration of Ramadan. Now, Ramadan is a Muslim holiday, but it is celebrated throughout the entire village, hence, no work for us and a lot of things were closed because people were celebrating. My family is not Muslim, so we sat around for most of the morning. We drank a little dolo and I made a paper airplane with Landry and we played for a while. Eppy came over and played with us for a while. Sue came over and we went over to Marlow’s house. Since her family has always been very kind to us we saw fit to go over and say “Happy Ramadan” to them. We drank some wonderful homemade bissap and Marlow’s family fed us a bunch. Since Marlow’s dad is an important Muslim man, lots of people were in and out of their courtyard.  I looked up and saw a nun, and 3 other religious men with her. Then I realized that it was the Priest from my church here in Sapone. We all couldn’t help but wonder why a Catholic priest and a nun were coming over on a day that is celebrated by Muslims. Imagine our surprise to find that they had come over to eat and celebrate Ramadan! It was truly an amazing sight. They laughed and ate and talked and then they left. So cool. The rest of the world could really take a lesson from the Burkinabe. It’s sad to think that so many people die every day over conflict of religion, when everyone could be as tolerate as the people here. The rest of the day was a lot of fun! We ate coconut gatos, popcorn, pasta, and had lots of bissap. I went home, and they fed me again lol. I had tried to nap but it was just too hot so I went over to Sudakshina’s house and hung out. I put my nephew Landry in a ponya and carried him around like that. It was quite funny. I walked over to my house to show my sister and my other sister complemented me on my ponya tying skills! We went back to Marlow’s house and they fed us again (did I mention that there is a lot of eating on holidays?) It started to rain so I went home, and they made me eat dinner! Haha!

Andrew and I hit the 10 month mark! Almost a year of being together. Yay J

The rest of the week was spent doing boring sessions on “Teaching English as a Foreign Language.” I did get like over 1,000 books for my Kindle from my friend Evan, which was pretty awesome. I cooked dinner for my family this past week as well. I made them pasta with tomato sauce. It was nothing fancy, just some fresh vegetables that I bought at the Marché made into a sauce and served over pasta. I was worried that my family wouldn’t like it, and at first they were skeptical of it but all turned out well. My brothers all had seconds, and there was not a noodle to be found at the end of the meal. I was really happy to sit and eat with them. If I have the time I might try and cook for them again. I took a trip to the U.S. Embassy. That was really awesome. I’ve been thinking about a potential career path since then. We met the ambassador, he will also be at our swear in. It will be quite the event.

My host family is still amazing. We have yet another new member. This one is a tiny little puppy! I was so happy when I saw her. My host family got her for my baba. Sue and I totally think she looks like a Sammy, so we named her. The best part is that my family liked the name, so now little Sammy is a permanent addition to my family. She cries all night and sleeps in my lap during the day. I wish I could take her to site with me! Sunday I spent in my usual manner. I went to church, and then hung around all day. I realized that I hadn’t taken many pictures of the town of Sapone so Sue and I went on a picture walk. We went to the Marché and everyone was super nice about letting us take their pictures. It was a lot of fun.  

I passed my final LPI! I will be swearing in as an ITERMEDIATE-HIGH French speaker! It was A LOT of hard work, but I did it! My host family is always telling me how proud they are because when I first got here I couldn’t speak a word of French. I even started talking some local language classes, so that I can learn “Sissala” I learned basic salutations and phrases, I will learn a lot more once I go to site.

Yesterday I went to a birthday party for Lindsay’s host brother! I’m so glad that she invited us. We (me, Nate, Brandon, Sudakshina, Lyndia, and Marlow) had such a fun time hanging out, eating popcorn and dancing. Later Vida and Kelsey showed up and we all ate a delicious meal with Lindsay’s family. We sang “Happy Birthday” (in French of course) to her brother and he blew out candles. It was so much fun! Lindsay’s family was wonderful to us J I hope that her little brother had an amazing birthday!

TODAY WAS AN AMAZING DAY! I BECAME FAMOUS! Ok, maybe not famous, but I am going to appear on a television show here in Burkina! Its pretty awesome. We went to the Bureau to take a tour this morning, then we got to hang out at the American Rec Center. We ate great food, and had milkshakes. It was delicious! Then we went to tape an episode of this show. It was like a French talk show, and I got to be on camera! It was amazing. Then we went back to the Bureau and had cake and soda haha. It was an amazing day.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m spending this weekend in Ouaga at the transit house! That means more internet! Yay! Only 2 weeks to go until swear-in!