:)

IST is finished! It was actually a super productive week for me. My homologue Yago came for the last 3 days of it and it was amazing. We discussed a lot of the problems that we are faced with in Yoro and we discussed the problem of literacy. We came up with an entire action plan to help raise the children’s reading levels. We are going to begin our project after the holidays. It’s really exciting for both of us. It’s great that he’s very motivated and very open to my ideas. I also have a meeting with the head nurse at the CSPS to come up with our action plan for baby weighing/nutrition/family planning awareness campaign. I’m very much looking forward to beginning all of these projects in my village.

We got to visit our host families while we were in Ouaga. The Peace Corps drove us all to spend time with them. Unfortunately the time was cut very short but it was still an amazing time. Sudawg and I went to the Marché to say hi to our friends there are everyone was really excited to see us. We found out that Sue’s family wasn’t there so I went to see m family. My Ma and Baba were so happy to see me, they both gave me hugs. My brothers Michael and Emanuel were there and they said that they wish I hadn’t left. Then the best part of all….Epie (the Down Syndrome child that lives near my house) came over to the house. He doesn’t speak but when he saw me he started laughing and screaming and ran up to me. I scooped him into my arms and was fighting back tears. He is such a beautiful child and I had missed him so much, and he had been missing me too! Then Sudawg came over and I said “look epie, Susanne (this was in French which Epie doesn’t really understand but he understood Susanne) he sees her and puts his hands on his head and starts giggling. It was magical. Then he took us both by the hands to visit the group of old ladies and we talked and drank Dolo. My mom and dad wanted to take us to the marche and who comes running along but my baby brothers Leopold and Landry. Landry is so big now, he goes to kindergarten but is still shy as ever. We visited a few other families before heading to the Marché hand in hand with Epie. When Leopold saw that Epie wouldn’t let me go I think he got a little jealous so he slipped his hand in mine and off we went. There wasn’t much time so Sue and I quickly drank a beer with my parents; we caught up on things happening in the family. I found out that I have a new niece. So now my family is growing It was such a beautiful time spent with them. I was lucky to have such a great family that I still talk to at least once a week. I wish that I could have spent more time with them but I intend to go back soon. Baba told me that my room is always there for me.

I did a lot of Christmas shopping while in Ouaga. I bought a soccer ball for the boys; a new shirt for Wend Kuni; a bracelet for Madaline (new host mom); 2 dresses, a pin wheel, and a stuffed dog for my baby girl Kristian; and I’m still in search of something for Gabriel. If nothing else at least everyone will have something nice for Christmas. I spending Christmas in my village this year. Not sure how well that’s going to go but I have high hopes. I’m really missing home and wishing that I could be home just for Christmas. 

Hey, I've been living in Burkina for 6 months!

So I'm currently in Ouaga at in-service training. Essentially it's 10 days where we talk our first 3 months at site. 3 months at site! I've been in Burkina for exactly 6 months now. I got to thinking about what I've done in these last 3 months. The thing is, sometimes things feel like they are progressing so agonizingly slow. In the days leading up to IST I was worried that I hadn't done enough at site. It's really easy to hear about other volunteers' projects and classes and thing that it's very very easy to compare your service to theirs. I got to talking to other volunteers and I started talking about how my time has been going. It was during the talk that I realized that I've been doing so much in my community. I've made so many friends in my village. Now anytime I leave my house for a bike ride or walk I get stopped by people to say hi, or to just have a chat. When I get bored I go and visit my friend Oueadrago and drink tea with him, I drink tea with the teachers at my school, I play school with the kids, I have random dance parties with my little brothers, I let the kids take me on adventures, and I play with the baby that lives in my courtyard. I go to the school Monday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday. I read to the CE1 kids and ask them questions about the stories. I've attended 2 teachers' training's at my school. I taught my friend Mathias to write his name. I attempted to teach CE1 "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (that actually didn't work out at all because twinkle is a very hard word to pronounce). I go to the CSPS and help with consultations, mostly I just watch for now. I finished my "Etude de Milieu" which is a 9 page study of my village. I learned pretty good French. I was asked a question a Scissala and I responded without even thinking about it. We've talked about starting a baby weighting program when I get back. I was invited to do vaccinations but I wouldn't be back from IST yet. I made shea butter with the women of my village. I celebrated holidays. I said goodbye when my neighbor passed away, I said hello to my other neighbor's new baby. I have become part of my community in ways that I hadn't even realized.

The funny part about it is that all these things have become my normal day to day life that I didn't even notice that I was working. In these last 3 months I've accomplished more than I had realized. It's quite an amazing feeling.

I got a new puppy. His name is Simba! I got him from my best friend in village Leah (my birthday twin). He's wonderful. I met him when his little baby eyes weren't even open and now I am taking him home when I head back from IST. I'll definately take a million pictures of him. He would totally love to get some presents in packages come....just saying :)

Things have been utterly amazing lately. Yesterday I got on the bus to Ouaga that broke down 2 times. I spent the entire day at the Rec center with Nate and Brandon swimming and watching football. I got to skype with my baby brother and my parents. I also got to talk to Andy, whom I miss terribly. I talked with Su-dawg all night, until early this morning. Tonight I went out to dinner with Su-dawg, Eric, Alynn and Lindsay. I haven't laughed that hard in so long. We went to eat pizza in Centerville and it was delicious. We all caught up on our last 3 months apart (except that I already know EVERYTHING about Lindsay's last 3 months). Lindsay told this ridiculous story that I've heard like 3 times but I love it so much.We all laughed so hard. The taxi ride was hilarious. It's moments like that I hope that I never forget. It's funny how my best friends here are the most amazing people that I probably would have never had gotten the chance to meet in America. Lucky for me we were all crazy enough to move to Burkina. :)