So if I were someone who followed this blog , I’d be annoyed at me for not posting in forever . So sorry, mom! Things here get more and more normal to me all the time so it is hard for me to remember things that are funny or interesting to non-PCVs. Things are going well in general; rainy season is great because it is no longer regularly over 100°F but that also means everyone is in the fields working and even the people who don't work in the fields (teachers, nurses, etc.) are convinced that doing any kind of project is impossible. That includes even thinking about maybe planning a project. As I enjoy planning, this is pretty irritating. But I just keep bothering people and hopefully in a month or two when it is no longer rainy season, people will be ready for all the things I'm bringing up.
Since there is no school kids are getting crazier and crazier. In fact, right at this very moment, a bunch of kids are just standing staring at me and my computer activities. Hooray. I will be very pleased next month when school starts.
I did do one little PC-esque thing. I made Neem Cream with my friend. Neem is one of many seemingly magical trees that Burkina has that has so many cool functions. The leaves of Neem trees can be used as a natural pesticide and when you boil them and add shea butter (shea trees are another super abundant tree here) and soap you get a natural, very inexpensive mosquito repellent! Which means reduced chances of getting malaria if you use it. So I helped my friend make it (read: gave her the recipe) and all of her neighbors love it. So now she is going to make more and try to sell it (income generating activity AND fighting malaria. BAM!)
Earlier this week was Ramadan. I celebrated the way people celebrate every holiday here: went to my friend's house and ate as much food as I could take. Which is not enough for them. They try to feed me SO MUCH and here is the thing I do not understand: why does village food taste like bitter dirt water? What is the secret ingredient that leads to it not just tasting blah but actively tasting bad??? I do not understand it. I just am thankful I can eat pretty much anything no matter the taste.
Speaking of which, last month was caterpillar month! Caterpillars were EVERYWHERE and guess what Burkinabe do with them. If you guessed eat them, you are correct. And since they are only prolific for one month all year they are quite a delicacy. So of course everyone wanted to give me some. Here's the thing, though. When they are fried well and you don't think about what you are eating, they are pretty good! I wouldn't eat them if people didn't give them to me and I certainly won't ask for them but if there is a bowl in front of me, I'll munch away and won't even be trying to calculate the minimun I have to eat so they will not force me to eat more.
And finally, a story about being villageoise (or I guess villagey in English) and also language mix ups. My friend's sister came to village to visit her one day. This sister lives in Ouaga and was very western by Burkina standards. She teaches English there so naturally everyone thought we should be friends. I felt silly in my fish pagne dress next to this lady in her collered shirt and pencil skirt and heels (WHY would you where these things in village?!) but she was nice and spoke English surprisingly well. At one point she said she didn't love her husband because he sh@t on her. WHAT?! I figured it was some poorly translated expression to say he was a jerk to her and went along with it. She kept bringint up over and over again how he sh@t on her throughout the day. Finally, she said something and from the context it suddenly clicked. "Wait," I said. "Are you saying he CHEATED on you?" "Yes, he sh@t on me," she responded. I explained that she was mispronouncing it and also explained what she was actually saying. Oh, Burkina...
Anyways, I guess that's it for now. I will try to update much sooner next time.
Peace out!!
