The Wilds

So a while back, I was told that there are crocodiles in the area. Ha! The closest thing to crocodiles I have seen are the countless number of little lizards which crawl over everything outside and are especially found of racing across my porch and clinging to my house in the midday sun. As you can see in the photo to the left, they are everywhere. They are also completely harmless, like 99 percent of all African lizards, and although quite annoying, they definitely cannot be confused with its larger and more fearsome cousin. But finally, after so many people have said they exist, I have proof. I have seen my first ¨wild¨ African animal (if you don't count the lizards and birds). A few weeks ago, I was brought to the local dam about 1km from my house by a fellow villager. When we arrived, he pointed across the water to the other side. ¨You see? There they are!¨ I, of course, looked across the water only to see a flock of birds along the bank, but as we rode our bikes around to the far side, it became more apparent. We do have crocodiles here! We saw about six that day (out of about 50, they say), lounging out along the shore, most probably between five and six feet in length. Of course, my village friend wouldn't let me get anywhere close to them, so obviously I had to return a few days later to move in closer to the crocs and snap a few pics. All the men working at the dam watched with concern as I inch my way closer and closer to the animals. Apparently in a nearby dam, two women drowned in the water last year and the crocs ate their bodies afterwards, so I'm sure the men didn't like me moving in closer, but I kept a good running distance in case the need presented itself (it didn't, thankfully). Many crocodile ponds here in Burkina and across West Africa are sacred, and while I haven't heard them talk about these crocs as such, I am sure everyone respects them enough to keep their distance.

In other news, I have one last photo to share with you to give you a better picture of where I work. If you have followed this blog, you know that I work with a group called CoGes (Comité de Gestion), as well as with the local health clinic, called the CSPS, here in Aorema. In the photo here to the left, you can the four buildings that make up the CSPS. This picture is taken right by my house, so you can see how close I am. From the left, we have the maternity in the distance. The next building is where patients can stay if they need to spend the night to be observed. It also houses our abulance (rare for a CSPS), which costs 10,000 CFA to use (roughly $20). The next building is the main building, where the office of the head nurse is located and where patients come for consultations. The last building on the far right side is the pharmacy where they store and sell around 80 to 100 different medications most commonly needed. The metal pole that you can see is for electricity, which we have yet to obtain. They usually put in the poles and the lines long before they actually get around to dishing out the juice, but perhaps at some point while I am here, Aorema will get electricity. The cable that you can see goes from the CSPS to my compound, so if Aorema does get power, it appears I would be able to get it too. It would be nice to have a light at night and an electric fan when it's hot. Until then, it's candles and hand fans.

Toto, I Don't Think We're Africa Anymore

It is cold! And I'm talking bundle yourself up in a winter jacket cold. Of course, I only brought a thin sweatshirt with me to Burkina. It's Africa. How cold can it get, right? Well thanks to the harmattan winds that blow from the Sahara, pretty chilly. Of course, because of these powerful gales, biking riding has exponentially grow to be the bain of my existence, at least during the headwinds that I have to face everytime I come back from Ouahigouya. I have quickly learned that the wind is a cruel mistress, who will turn on you whenever she gets the chance. This past Thursday and Friday we had a vaccination campaign for the surrounded villages that do not have a CSPS. Of course, the winds were the srongest I've seen them and my major was on his moto the entire time, crawling at a dismal pace while I struggled to keep my bike's momentum. It was perhaps 6km or so to the other villages which felt more than 60 to me. Anyway, enough of that.

I know it has been awhile since my last post. I had planned to do a nice lengthy one when I was in the capital this past week. I had gone to visit with friends, pick up packages, and watch the presidential inauguration at the US Embassy, and the PC house we stay at in Ouaga has wireless internet, so I thought it would be ideal to get something grandiose accomplished, but I put fair too much faith in the power of wireless. The connection was so slow, I couldn't get any work done. So here we are instead, at my cozy internet café in Ouahigouya, which I actually prefer much better. And with that, allow me to show you around my house.

Welcome to chez moi. It is a quaint, two-room, concrete house with a half-built latrine outside. Pictures of the exterior will come once it is presentatable to the world and finished to my satisfaction. I will try to describe in as much detail what you are looking at with each picture. Let us begin in my kitchen/living room. In this photo, you can see the bulk of what I call the kitchen. I had a carpenter build the counter, which set me back about $50, including varnish. I have two bowls which sit in holes on the top to act as sinks. The teapot is, not for tea, but rather as a faucet, watercan, and any other job I need in for. The burkinabe use these kinds of teapots in lieu of toilet paper. You can see my white four-burner stove which connects to a gas tank in the corner. It works rather well for my needs. The bottom shelf contains my most used cooking essentials on the left and my utensils, bowls and such on the right. The metal trunk (a cantine in French) houses more food stuffs (care-package goodies) and protects them against any insects or other creatures that might try to nibble their way in. The thing hanging in the corner is a set of calbashes that I made to keep my fruits and veggies out of the grasp of bugs as well. And the light-blue thing to the right of the picture is my trash can.

The next photo is a close-up shot of the ingredients I use most often when cooking, enough to keep them out on the shelf. From the left, I have two pots that I use for boiling water, cooking pasta, making sauces, and popping popcorn among other things. I have several small cans of tomato paste which I use to make spaghetti sauce. I have two jars of Burkinabe peanut butter which I have filled at the market inside old jelly jars. Next to those is the honey which I use to sweeten the peanut butter. The other whitish bottle is vinegar which I rarely use, but you never know. The flat round disc in front is the closest thing to real cheese that we have. It is called Laughing Cow, and is something like cream cheese. Luckily it doesn't need to be refridgerated and is a great source of calcium (which is often lacking in my diet here). The yellow tub in front is Blue Band, not butter but not margarine. I am sure that it would kill a man in large quantities, but it's the closest thing we have to butter here. To the right of that are all my spice bottles from the US, which I go through quickly. Since I cook a lot of pasta, I use garlic powder and oregano beaucoup. The tall white thing on the far right is salt, a coarse sea-variety which comes from Spain. It is quite nice. Behind that, I have my bottle of the palm oil, the cheapest and least healthy option for oil you can buy here. One of these days I'll splurge on vegetable or canola oil, or, don't hold your breathe, olive olive. These are the staple ingredients in my Burkina diet.

As we move around the room, you can see my lit pico, basically a beach lounge chair that is built stronger, which I use as a couch. It is actually quite comfortable. An organization which provides work for handicapped people that another PCV works with here in Ouahigouya makes these for about $50 each. In the corner I have my water filter and a terracota pot (called a canari) which I used to store my drinking water, since this keeps it much much cooler than my filter. Some days, it feels like my water came right out of the fridge. On the back wall above the lit pico, you can see my map of Burkina Faso that Peace Corps gave us and as well part of my world map. You may not know this about me, but I love maps, especially antique ones. I spend a lot of time just studying the maps I have, planning my next adventure.

Moving right, this is my table, where I eat and read and study. You have a better view of my world map and my map of West Africa. Yeah, I like maps. I made a make-shift bookshelf out of a cardboard box, which houses several PC books, as well as French books, travel books, and magazines. I also have a framed picture of my family in Paris that I keep on top of my books. I paid about $15 for the wooden table and then drapped an old pagne (piece of clothe) over it. The blue plastic chairs I book here in the marché, and are actually some of the nicest and most comfortable kind of chairs you can buy relatively cheap here. I think at some point I want to buy a few more chairs to keep outside, since currently these are the only two I have. But these work for now. I think I paid maybe $7 for each one, so it didn't dig into my budget too much.

In this next photo, you can see the door to my bedroom, and what might look like a large trashcan. Since people here usually burn their garbage or throw it anywhere outside, garbage cans are not usually used for trash. It is actually contains my water. I have a young girl come a few times a week, and she fills up a smaller jug and make several trips between the pump and my house until it is full. She also washes my clothes once a week, and I pay here 500 CFA (about $1) each week for here help, which is actually 500 CFA more than my coworkers pay their water girls, so it works out nicely for all involved. The red bucket next to it is what I fill up to take my bucket baths each day, sometimes heating up some water on those especially cold mornings. I also have a broom leaning against the wall, which I don't use nearly as often as I should. This conlcudes the first room of my house. Take a moment to sit, breath, and take it all in.

The next room, my bedroom, is about half the size, which made getting good photo angles a challenge, so I have only two photos to share. This corner of the room is where I keep all my ¨stuff¨. My suitcase on the left acts as my dresser where I store all of my clean clothes. In the corner I made a make-shift table out of two boxes which I use to organize all of my toiletries. The cantine (have you been paying attention) has random papers, as well as my any valuables I own, which I always keep locked up inside just in case. On my walls, I have a long mirror with some other family pictures squeezed along its borders and another world map. Did I mention I like maps? The door to the other room is just to the right of the mirror; you'll have to use your imagination.

Finally, this last photo of my house is my bed. I used to have an actually mosquito net hanging over my bed, but then I realized it was much easier to simply leave my matress inside my bug tent. It has worked act rather well. The matress ran about $30 and it simply a large slab of foam inside a covering. By the following morning, I usually have a nice impression of my body when I wake up. Despite this, it is actually very comfortable and beats sleeping like most Burkinabe do - on the floor. The blanket on the foot of the matress is actually a length of really nice hand-wooven and hand-dyed fabric that was given to me by my host family when I left my first village of Somyaga. And with that, I have covered basically all the important parts of my house. I hope I haven't bored you too much. Oh, and did anyone catch my little play-on-words with this entry's title: Toto was not only Dorothy's dog but also a popular 80s band who had a hit song entitled ¨Africa.¨ No, ok, just checking.

L'installation d'Erik

Wow, it's been about two weeks since moving into my new home, what the French and Burkinabe call l'installation, or settling-in, so to speak. Some days have flown by and others drag like a tugboat pulling the Titanic, but all in all, I'd say it's been an interesting couple of weeks.

To start, my major has been back and forth between our village and Ouahigouya several times for meetings and training, so things have been so much more slower than I had originally planned. I get up most mornings around 6:30, get cleaned up and spend the first part of the day, from 8:00 until 11:00 or so, at the CSPS. Most days I bring my French grammar book and study, sit in on consultations (which I can't understand since it's all in Mooré), and hang out at the pharmacy. To give a picture (before I actually put up pictures), the CSPS is the local clinic I work with and is comprised of several small buildings. There is the main building where consultations take place and treatments and vaccines are given out. There is a seperate building, the maternity, where pregnant woman give birth. Our pharmacy attendent (la gerente in French) just gave birth there a few days ago. Jokingly, the midwife said she should name the baby Erik and asked why I wasn't there for the delivery. Ha! I think it a little soon to be naming babies after me or stepping anywhere in the proximity of the maternity during a birth. Back on track, there is a another building simply full of beds, where patients can spend the night for observation if necessary and there is a small pharmacy with maybe a hundred or so medications. One day I was able to help the CSPS do their end of the year inventory of their these medicines, recording the amount and total prices of each one left in supply, a process taking over three hours.

Aside from these basic tasks , my number one goal during these first three months is integration. This may seem like an easy task, but I have learned quickly it is ten times more difficult but ten times more important than I had previously thought. When you can't communicate as fully as you want and you feel like the spotlight is on you everytime you step outside, it is easier to shut yourself inside your house than face the world. I have people coming to my door at any hour telling me I have to go here or there, greet so and so, do this or that. It is something I knew would happen and have tried to use it positively as a way to expand myself, practice the PC virtues of patience and flexibility. I know eventually down the road, I will have my own activities planned, know the people in my village well enough to go greet them myself, and have an understanding of the language to go beyond ¨Good morning¨ and ¨I speak Mooré a little.¨

I did have a great moment last night actually that calmed my soul for lack of a better expression. After sitting it on consultations with my major, he asked me if I wanted to take a walk around the village. It was at my favorite time of day here in Burkina; it was about 5pm, the sun was beginning to set, but not quite yet. It's the cooler season here, and the gusts of wind which chill the average Burkinabe felt to me like a summer evening on the beach if you closed your eyes. We walked around and greeted people, and along the way we met some of the CoGes members I also will work with, who tagged along with us. I met the elder from the oldest neighborhood in Aorema, the ones who started the village, and he was more than welcoming. As we walked by people who called me Nassara (the Mooré word for a white person or foreigner, not malicious but a bit distancing), I could tell that the men would correct them. ¨His name is Erik. When you see him, call him Erik.¨

So yeah, that's where things stand in this crazy melange that is my life. I'm here in town to celebrate my friend Ilana's birthday and get some groceries. It is nice to know I can go a week in village and not go crazy though and, because I forgot to take money out last time I was in town, get by on less than $2 if I have to. Other good things so far include: real loaves of bread (not bagettes) and orange ¨popcicles¨ in the local marché, my major and his wife treating me to lunch when I visited his home in town (as well as three beers, a glass of champagne, and some dolo), perfecting the art that is spaghetti, a bag of peanuts for 5 cents, and the almost completion of my own shower and latrine, gradually understanding more of what people say, and popcorn.

Aorèma or Bust

So I've made it. I have finally moved into my little castle in Aorema, about 12 km away. I have yet to take any pictures since I am not completely finished unpacking, buying, and organizing, but soon enough I'll post a few of my furnished crib. I also plan, at some point, to shot a short video tour of where I live but that might come a bit later. I digress...

The move was rather easy, as I expected. I was the third to last person to leave Ouahigouya out us 32 volunteers. My driver helped me load up the van full of my stuff, and we were off. It took about 15-20 minutes to arrive at my village, and we unloaded everything we had just loaded. Some kids were there to help carry my things to my house. I was greeted by the woman in charge of the pharmacy, and soon after, she went and grabbed the keys to my house. These were not really my keys, since once the door was opened, my driver put a brand new lock on the door and handed me the only three keys to my house in existence. He also showed me how to work my gas stove and recommended I clean my filter. Next thing I know, he was leaving dust trails as he sped away. There I was. Alone. Everything to my name in a pile on my porch. No, it wasn't that scary, but there was definitely a feeling of ¨what have I got myself into?¨ as I looked around my new environment. And the fact that my major, the only person I have really met before and my link to the rest of the village, is training in Ouahigouya for several days doesn't ease my worries.

Nevertheless, I began to unpack and get things settled. Christina, my PCV neighbor from the neighboring village came by for a second to say welcome. Sooner than I imagined, it began getting dark, and I still hadn't even put up my mosquito net. So I quickly grabbed some nails and strung a line to hang the net, as ugly as it turned out to be. The next morning I finished with my organizing, as much as a could for the moment. We had a short meeting with CoGes (Comité de Gestion) who I will be working with the next two years to build their capacity. They work with the CSPS, helping to decide activities for the year and funding for sensibilizations (health education activities and demonstrations). Without the major being present, this meeting consisted of brief introductions of the members of CoGes, seven in total, and a quick intro of myself.

Since the major has been absent, our plans to introduce me to the community and important people has been put on hold, so my first few days have been very quiet. Sunday was marché day in Youba, so I went there to check it out. It is actually a really nice market, and I am lucky to have it so close to me. I bought some bread which actually was someof the best bread I've had here in Burkina, so I am super excited to have that available to me. I also bought a canari. I don't know the word in English, but it is basically a terracota pot to store water in. It is called a ¨desert fridge¨ because it can keep water much colder somehow through the magic and sorcery of science. I found a place that can charge of my phone and a place that sells sodas, so I am basically set.

Yesterday, I went to an AIDS sensibilization put on by two women from an organization in Ouahigouya. Over a hundred people turned out to hear them speak. Halfway through, they hand me the microphone and tell me to give them some advice on HIV/AIDS. Ha! You have to understand that most volunteers spend days or even weeks or more planning these things and to be put on the spot like that. I am sure I sounded like a fool, but I was able to say something about how it is possible to live a long life with the virus if you take your medication properly. One of the CoGes members translated for me in Mooré, and people seemed to be receptive. I consider it a small victory that I said anything useful at all.

And today, I pedalled the 45 minutes into town to recap with my fellow PCVs and the world here at the cyberposte. I am sure there are a lot of stories to share. Hopefully, when I return, my major will finally be back, and I can actually start the slow and awkward process of integration. À la prochaine!

It's Official!

Finally after nine often-long, sometimes-short weeks of training, training, and more training, I am officially a Peace Corps volunteer! It feels really good to be done with training and am ready to move to my new site.

Since the last time I have written (sorry for the delay), I have since moved out of my host village of Somyaga and back into our training center here in Ouahigouya. It was actually more sad to say goodbye to my host-family than I expected, but trust me, the time had come. My family helped me bring all my stuff down to be picked up by a PC car, and then we said our adieus. I know I defnitely learned a lot about Burkinabe people and culture that I never could have without the kind of immersion I experienced, for which I am grateful. We left on Monday the 15th and we swear in as volunteers on the 19th.

Between this time, the soon-to-be volunteers participated in a Counterpart workshop. Every volunteer is paired with a specific person (the counterpart, or homologue in French) from their community who they will work with and turn to for any assistance needed during the next two years. For us health volunteers, these counterparts are the headnurses (majors in French) who work at the village health clinics called the CSPS, a term I will probably use a million times on this blog. For me, this man (they are almost always men) is named Albert and seems like a really nice man. I met him once before when I visited my home, but this time he and the other counterparts spent several days with us, learning how each partnership can work together. It was really nice to get to know him a little better, despite the fact that he speaks French way too fast for me still. After we finished the workshop, all the counterparts came to see us swear in.

Both my host-mother and father also came to our swear-in ceremony, as did many VIP guests. All the PC staff were there, as were many important Burkinabe people and the US Ambassador. This was her last PC Burkina swear-in speech, as she is soon to be relocated to another country, I believe. Doug, our Country Director (aka the big boss), also gave a really touching speech, choking up a bit when saying how proud he was that all 32 of us made it through training, a feat which hasn't happened in almost a decade we were told. The picture on the left is the five health guys (myself, Colin, Rob, Aaron, and Josh) in all of our local clothes - yes I had my suit made in Burkina for about $13. I think the next outfit I get made will be traditional so look forward to pics of that at some point. Everyone was really excited to get all dressed up, and everyone looked stellar. We were so sharp, we made the Burkina news. I still have people telling me that they saw us on TV. The women in the next picture is my APCD (my direct boss) Dr. Claude, who always dresses to the nines, and swear-in was no exception. She is in charge of the entire PC Burkina health program and is a wonderful person and resource for us health PCVs. After the ceremony, we had a banquet with some really good Burkinabe food, and were able to chat it up a bit with our host-families, the Ambassador, and all the staff members. Doug's wife even baked us chocolate chip cookies, which were no less than amazing. We are all so very spoiled here in the Peace Corps. Afterwards, we celebrated with a beer, and then I went back and relaxed the entire day. It was nice to get a break from the structured schedule for a change. Almost everyone went dancing that night, which was also a lot of fun. It almost felt like America - almost.

The next day we began another workshop with our counterparts called Life Skills, which basically taughtus how to teach about HIV/AIDS, relationships, decision-making, communication and other similar topics. A lot of this was repititive, but it was nice to get to interact and practice with our counterparts some more. This week was actually added to allow us to stay together here in Ouahigouya till after Christmas, tomorrow.

And that basically bring everyone up to today. Today and yesterday have been spent mostly in the marché, buying everything I can to put in my new house. It is actually extremely stressful, having to shop for so much, bargaining for everything, and in such a short time frame. But I am basically done. Things I can think of off the top of my head I have bought include: a matress, a table and countertop for cooking (arriving tomorrow from the carpenter), 2 mats, 2 chairs, a large trash can for water storage, long mirror, a large basin to wash clothes in, 2 buckets, sets of plastic cups, plates, and the like, sets of silverware, hammer and nails, twine, 4-burner stove and gas tank, a cot, and 2 trunks to store food and valuables. It has been so tiring but its finally done. A driver will pick it all up Friday morning and drive me to my site 12 km away, and I can start the process of making my house a home.

Tomorrow is Christmas, which should be relaxing and fun for everyone. Other than waiting for the furniture to arrive, we have organized a local Lebanese restaurant to cook for us, which will definitely be great. Also, I need to hit the marché and get the last minute perishable items like fruits, veggies, and eggs to take to my site. Besides that, it should be a day of singing Christmas carols and praying for snow. Anyway, I hope everyone has a Joyeux Noël and the next time I write, I will have moved into my permanent home. Yippay! À la prochaine!

Randomness

I've just biked into Ouahigouya with a strong head wind to blog, and I've realized I don't much more new to discuss. Tomorrow is Tabaski, a big Muslim holiday, so I needed to come into town also to pick up some sugar for my family - the traditional gift for the day. Tomorrow, there will be a lot of dancing, eating sheep, giving bonbons to the children, praying, and having a good time, so I am excited to join in on the celebrations. I am also here to pick up some nice suit fabric at the market. We have a tailor in the family, so I am going to take the fabric to him to make me a vest and pants for swear-in in about two weeks. I think the fabric and tailoring should cost me about $12 or $13, so a good deal definitely.

Here you can see a picture of me in front of my current home, the mud hut of my brother Sayouba, the one who left for Ouaga. I would have posted a photo of the inside, but honestly it is so small, I could get any good angles at all. Despite its cramped size, it has serves me well for the last month and a half, but believe me, I am more than ready to upsize for my maison in Aorema. I just hate the feeling of living out of a suitcase, and that is what I've been doing. It will be so different when I can actually have a carpenter build me some bookshelves and tables and such. I have felt, living in Somyaga, both a member in the family and a guest in a hotel. It is nothing my family has done, simply the facts of the situation. Before he left, my brother told me ¨Erik, you are becoming Mossi,¨ when I would speak to him in Moorè. The Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina, and the ones who speak Moorè, like the people here. He even gave me a Mossi name: Irisso. So I have definitely felt like family, but you can't help feel like a tenant when your host-mom sweeps your room and brings you your bath water and cooks your meals. It will just be nice to do these things for myself. Not too much longer to go.

On a side note, we saw a snake right where we have language lessons in village every morning - my first snake I've seen in Burkina. The people here are really scared of them, since I guess most of very dangerous, but this one did not survive long. Lots of village kids came with big rocks and severed the head and then the rest of the body. It was still squirming and then my French teacher yelled in panic ¨The heart! You have to go for the head and the heart!¨ As long as they don't bother me, I don't mind the snake. My host brother said he has only seen two all year, so it doesn't seem like a common thing here.

On another side note, the last three days have been the coldest since we have been here. In the mornings, I've heard it has been in the high 50s. Everyone, including the Nasaras (us whities), have added extra layers. I've been sleeping in my sleeping bag the past few nights. Everyone in village here is all dressed up in the heavy winter coats, sitting in the sun, trying to keep warm. I can help but shiver during my daily bucket baths now. It's actaully a refreshing change. It feels like December for once. I hear it only lasts a few weeks though sadly. Anyway, I guess I better wrap this up, not much else to say, and I have the whole day to spend in town. À la prochaine!

Ouahigouya: The Big City

So not a lot of news here. My host brother leaves tomorrow morning to Ouaga, and since I am staying in Ouahigouya until tomorrow evening, we had to say our goodbyes this morning. He goes between here and Ouaga every few months, so I will see him again sometime in January or February, but it was still kinda sad. He is really the only one whose French is good enough for me to converse with, but we have now less than two weeks with our host families. Time flies. I gave him a coffee table book on Virginia that I brought with me, and he really loved that.

Today, besides having a very in-depth Moorè session, we learned about moringa, which I had never heard of until PC. It is this remarkable tree whose leaves are incredibly packed full of nutrients. I really hope I can do some sort of moringa project at site.

Since there is not a lot of news to speak of (and I only have a short time before dinner), I thought I would share with you all the many excitements that Ouahigouya, my home away from home, has to offer besides this internet café. Since I don't know the names of most places, excuse the following nomenclatures. And these are only the most frequented places:

RESTAURANTS

• Sandwich lady - she sells bagette sandwiches filled with your choice of: sausage, beef, egg omelet, mayo, crudité (diced veggies), and other fillers. She also has yougurt (plain and banana), mougoudougou (spicy peanut butter balls), other treats
• Chicken in a Bag - technically called (or located near) Hawaii Express Café, they serve grilled chicken (the whole bird only) with sautéed onions. It's a bit pricy but worth it just for the onions alone. Best when split between two or three people. You can also get brochettes (beef kababs) nearby as well
• Caiman - the full name I believe is Cave Caiman, and this is a good hang-out when in town. It costs 50 CFA to park your bikes, but inside you can get brochettes, salads, french fries, and a lot of other stuff. A bit pricy but the fries are nice.
• La Famille - a restaurant close to where we stay which serves more Burkinabe cuisine. You can often get riz gras (a rice dish), riz avec sauce d'arachid (rice with peanut sauce), to (a millet dish), and they have a really good spaghetti too. Prices are cheaper here too which is nice.
• Bouvette du Coeur - basically serves the same things as La Famille only cheaper (and not as good in my opinion)
• Hotel d'Amitie - this hotel caters to foreigners and while the pool is nice, the food is really expensive. But they do serve a 3500 CFA cheeseburger and fries is you want to dish out the dough (average meal elsewhere may be about 500 CFA). I haven't actually tried it yet, but some in our group have gone for it.

OTHER TREATS

• Citron lady - she makes little pouches of frozen goodness. You can buy frozen lemonade, chocolate milk, coffee, tea, bissap (made from hibiscus flowers) and many others. I visit here quite frequently. The closest thing I have to a Slurpee.
  
• Pool - For 1000 CFA, you can swim all day in their pool. I have yet to partake, but I will definitely hit the pool come hot season.
• Alimentation - there are 3 alimentations (small grocery store) that I frequent across town. It can be pretty pricy, but it is the only place to get a lot of Western foods and foodstuffs such as corn flakes, ravioli, chocolate, toilet paper etc.
• Total - there are two Totals (gas station) which also act as small grocery stores as well.
• Cinema - I have yet to go, but I plan to. They show American films and others but they are pretty old. So far, I've seen signs for Red Dragon, The Sum of All Fears, and Blood Diamond (which would be interesting to watch here) among others.
• Marché - huge market that sells everything. I've gotten lost in it before.
  

And that is my town, at least as I know it now. And since Ouahigouya will only be 12 km away, it will stay my town for the next two years. Hopefully, I will continue to discover more and more interesting places after training ends. Anyway, I've gotta run. My chicken in a bag is waiting for me.