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!
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