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

A...Compliment..?

My neighbor came up to me the other day. "Hey, Lindsy," he said. "How's it going? You know...Village life is proving to be good for you - you are getting fatter already!"
Um...Thank you?

Wild Goose Chase

Animals here walk around however they please. Goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens wonder all around the village. I recently asked someone how they know which animal is theirs, explaining the idea of fences and such in the U.S. I was informed that they mark their animals so they know which is theirs. After reflecting for a moment, I asked, "What about when you want to find your animal? How do you know where it is?" "Oh," he replied,
"You just have to go around village looking for it. It takes a few days sometimes."

Important Work

Another night girls were over listening to music with me and the song "Business Time" by Flight of the Concords came on. I wasn't paying too much attention but at the chorus, the girls tried singing it. It surprised me and I started laughing. They now ask for the song by name and I help them with the words. Cultural exchange at its finest...

Organization

Most days at the CSPS, they ask me what the date is. I always have to look at my watch because I find it nearly impossible to keep track of the days here. Villagers will come in with an appointment scheduled and if they are there on the wrong day, the nurses act annoyed. This blows my mind how they honestly expect people who are spending their days cultivating or doing some other kind of work that requires no calendar to keep track of the days. Especially when they have to ask me what day it is on a regular basis.

My Medical Expertise

I have recently been learing how to fill out charts while the nurses conduct the checkup. Even though I am very slow and need lots of repetition and help, I feel a little bit useful. In addition, I am allowed anywhere in the CSPS including consultations and such. However, this gives people the false impression that I am in some way knowledgeable about medical things. I even had someone come to my house and ask what their medicine was for and how they were supposed to take it because they forgot. I actually have no idea.

Burkinabe Conversation

At first, I thought people thought I was really stupid. I had filled out a baby's chart and the
woman I was working with said "The baby gained weight. Look he was 5kg now he is 5.5. And look he got taller too. He used to be 62cm and now he is 64cm. He got bigger."
Another day, people were talking in Jula and I was trying to understand. I caught on that they were talking about the price of couscous. About 5 minutes later, I assumed they had moved on to a different subject.
However, you have to admit that the price of couscous is truly facsinating stuff. They think so too because they were still talking about it.
Many conversations follow this pattern where someone says something very clear and repeats it multiple times. It is an art.