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!