Weekend Update

First thing’s first…I’ll answer a couple questions! Yes, I do actually shave my legs here. Occasionally. But then again, I wasn’t always very consistent with that in the States either.
Also, while I could travel back to the USA, I am not planning on it. My vacation days will be spent exploring Burkina, the surrounding countries, and Europe! I figure I will spend enough time in the US during my life…I might as well spend less money to travel in this hemisphere!
What will I do with my downtime in village (if I have downtime)? Well, I will certainly have some downtime, as this is one of those great countries that believe in a midday siesta (called “repose” in French). With said downtime, I will definitely try and get to know people in my village. When I need alone time, I will read or write or find other hobbies I suppose.

So update time…I suppose I will do this chronologically.
Since the beginning of December, my thumb had a funny little dot on it that hurt. So I mentioned it to the PCMO (Peace Corps Med Officer) and was given some super-strength antibiotic ointment to put on it. Well, it only got worse and so I was given mild antibiotics. However, THOSE didn’t work and my thumb and hand were starting to look freaky swollen so I was shuttled to the infirmary, missing my last few days of training and saying goodbye to my host family, etc. I was put on extra strength antibiotics and it is much better now. I’ll spare you the details. (Though I will say, this is NOT a common occurrence…I am just lucky enough to have been infected by drug-resistant bacteria!)
Despite this I was still allowed to swear in on Thursday, becoming an official Peace Corps Volunteer!!! The ceremony was at the US ambassador to Burkina’s house. It was pretty fun and my host family came so I got to see them and say an official good bye! After the ceremony, we all went out to dinner and then some people went out dancing (yes, there is actually somewhat of a nightlife in Ouaga…). I was not one of the people who went out, so I can not tell you what the nightlife is like.
Yesterday, everyone started moving to their sites. Sadly, I have to stay in the infirmary for the next couple days and will be moving late. It is certainly better than getting to my village and not being fully healed but I am so impatient to move to my own house! Of course I am also nervous…being in a village where no one speaks English and half of the people might not even speak French! Also, I have been reading some books the PC gave us to help us work at site and it keeps talking about being a development worker and such and I just think “What? ME?! A development worker?!? That sounds so big and official!!” But I know it will be awesome, despite the overwhelmingness of it all!
So, as my thumb is healing marvelously, I will be moving Monday or Tuesday (depending on logistics). Once that happens my internet access will be very limited, but I will do my best to update.
If you want to read about the adventures of some of my friends, check out the tab at the top – I have posted links to their blogs!

Finally, keep bringing on the questions! It's amazing how quickly I forget what people who AREN'T in Africa want to know about!