Tuesday, April 5, 2011

You might be a PCV in Burkina if...

-you find yourself saying "It's only 90 degrees" and you aren't being sarcastic
-you save Kraft Mac&Cheese for special occasions
-it only takes you a couple weeks to read the unabridged edition of War and Peace
-you think places with toilets are fancy
-you are a local computer genius due to your ability to create an email account
-you share your house with lizards, spiders, bats, mice, or scorpions (or some combination of these things)
-your favorite "mixed drink" comes in Crystal Light packets
-you've graduated college but are receiving an allowance instead of a salary
-instead of mastering French and a local language in addition to English, you actually can't speak any language properly anymore
-you epitomize the phrase "necessity is the mother of invention"
-you regularly receive and send packages via the bus system
-your neighbors are convinced that all you have to do to get them into the U.S.A. is
make a call to the embassy (and can not be persuaded otherwise)
-you prefer to sleep outside in a tent instead of inside in your bed
-you aren't suprised by the things people carry on the back of their motos (matresses, chickens, pigs, cows...their wife who is in labor)
-it takes an hour to walk 1km because you have to stop every few feet and greet everyone you see