Hey guys,
Pat arrived in BF on Oct. 9th in the capital.
He said he loves the food and loves it there. There are bugs and lizards
everywhere. The lizards are his personal favorite. He says the city is very
dirty, but that the people are VERY friendly. He has been in training pretty
much from 9-4/5 everyday. Volunteers make significantly less money during
training than they will after their swear-in in December. Pat has been in another village which an hour bus ride outside of the capital. This is a small rural village
where they don't have electricity nor running water. His host family lives
here, but it is a very communal village. When speaking on the phone with him
one day, I could hear a ton of little children speaking in french screaming and
laughing in the background. There is a courtyard where they all play during the
day. Initially, the volunteers were all learning Moore since it is a major
dialect over there. However, Pat and another volunteer recently learned that
they would be learning Gourmanchéma . He will
be trilingual upon his return home! French, Gourmanchéma, and English! He is
pretty excited to be trilingual.
The other day Pat walked into his room to find a scorpion on
the wall! Oh the joys of African life. His host family lives in an extremely
rural area. It is very humid and hot there. Sweating happens on the regular.
From time to time spirits of the PCVs get kinda low. Life in BF is tough! Pat went through a pretty tough period on his first Friday there. It is common for PCVs to kinda question their decision every once in awhile. Two
girls dropped already and went home. The rest of the PCVs rely on one another, limited contact with loved ones home, and with PC employees for support and
encouragement. One day Pat began a dance off with some of the kids in the
village and ultimately, nearly the entire village came out to dance with them!
Talk about authentic African dance! So he is learning plenty of cultural
dances.
Sadly Pat experienced his first (and thus far ONLY!...he's very proud of this) unsuccessful battle with the
local food, but thankfully he has recovered.
He spent Thursday through Sunday of his second week in another village. It was a
4 day visit with another PCV who is already there. He woke up at 4 AM on
Thursday to bus to the capital and then bus to the site. The transportation system
there has given him a new appreciation for our beloved DC Metro. In BF, they
sit 5 people to a single row, so it is very "cozy" so to speak. He
has done a TON of biking around BF and just exploring in general. The health
center there has no electricity or running water. In fact the PCV there is
30 miles away from any of the common amenities that we take for granted in the
US! Crazy.
A couple of days ago, Pat received his first marriage
proposal. Much to my dismay, this will be the first of many. This particular
proposal was from an older woman trying to hook Pat up with her daughter. He
played soccer with the locals which was obviously a blast! Then he had mac
& cheese and salad for dinner. He ate dinner under the stars, which are gorgeous
in BF. No light pollution to obscure them! Lots of bonding with the PCVs has
occurred. He likes the eclectic, quirky group of PCVs with him.
It is very cold in BF in the mornings. Pat wakes up freezing
in the early mornings. Typically they rise with the sun and go to bed after it
sets. He salutes individuals that he meets which just means greets them and asks how they are
doing/questions. On this 4 day trip, he met a bunch of important people within
the community. They mostly spoke to him in french.
On Saturday he met up with a volunteer and they
fried chicken. Ahh some black food at last! (his words, not mine) Over there, many of the locals call anyone who is significantly lighter "white" even if they would be black here in America. His swear-in
ceremony is on Dec. 15th, but visitors are not allowed. Bummer. :/
On Sunday he stopped at the PC office on his way back to his village. Here he was able to get online very briefly. He said the internet is very slow. In the office they have a huge map of Burkina Faso where they have pins to show where volunteers are located in the country and there are lines connecting the volunteers to one another.
Today he went to the market and upon his return to his small village, there was a big party! The villagers are celebrating because it is the last day of Harvest. Pat says that in the dark, he can pass for a local, so they do not call him foreigner as the children do constantly during the daytime. During the night he can walk around freely without being bothered. His language is improving! He spends alot of time during the day working on his French, especially, but also his Gourmanchéma.
Pat is in great spirits and really loves it in Burkina Faso! Tis a dream come true.
--Britt
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