November 12, 2012
Life in the BF (Burkina Faso) never
fails to be new and exciting every day.
I have so many stories I wish I could share, but of course there is never
time (or electricity) for that, and plus they’re difficult to write about and
explain, and they’d be so much better in person. I’ll do my best to store my most memorable
stories in my brain, or write about some of them in my journal, and type some
up when I have electricity and am not bombarded with lessons to plan and test
to correct, but hopefully someday, if there’s ever a dull moment in
conversation, I can save the day with my, “One time, in Africa….”
School started the first week of October
for me, and I’m teaching the same grade levels as last year, sixième
and cinquième
(basically 7th and 8th grade). It’s nice to do something that I’ve already
done and experienced now, and thus I am more relaxed and don’t have to spend as
much time planning the lessons or writing tests since I’ll just replicate many
of the things I did last year. Plus this
year, I can actually speak French well enough so that my students understand
me….kinda. haha. Even if my French still isn’t great, it’s at
least a thousand times better than last year, let’s just say that. School thus far has been going fairly well,
and most days I like it, though naturally I do have days when I hate all of the
kids and can’t help but think that they are all stupid. But then I remember it’s not their fault they
can’t learn: they’re malnourished and can’t read and don’t understand French
and are 14-years-old surrounded by 120 other teenagers in a small space with
hormones raging and don’t have books, and their past teachers couldn’t teach
worth a darn…. So while they might be lacking any signs of intelligence, it’s
not their fault….and they are improving, petit à petit (little by
little). I currently have 236 tests
waiting to be graded from the exams I gave last week, so for the moment, school
kinda depresses me --- I hate correcting tests; it takes HOURS if not several
days of nonstop grading --- and so I’ll move on to another topic.
Love life? Non-existent, of course. And that’s fine with me. There’s been a few cute Burkinabe guys
(educated, not villageoise i.e. from village and never went to school) and
they work in/near my village as gendarmes (a mix between military
and police), teachers, nurses at the clinic, etc. I’ve been proposed to more times than I can
count, had them buy me beers and grilled fish, gone dancing, been invited to
celebrate holidays with them at their parents’ houses in the big cities and
meet their mothers, rode in their cars, and other things that, upon reflection
I realize, I’m totally taking advantage of them…but hey, if they want me to
ride in an air-conditioned car to go get a cold drink and good food that’s not
boiled flour paste and slimy leaf sauce, of course I’m going to accept. Who in their right mind would say no? Plus I’m sure they’re perfectly content just
getting to hang out with me, thee jolie (pretty) American. Gosh, I’ve turned into such
a…player?...heartbreaker?...I dunno, but so it goes.
Post
Peace Corps plans? Yes, it is time for
me to start thinking of that already.
Crazy. Well, there’s not a lot to
say, at the moment. I don’t think I want
to do a 3rd year any longer, but I may change my mind, depending on
the next few months. I believe I
technically finish my service at the end of July or in August (close of service
dates are flexible, plus or minus 30 days).
Thus, while I theoretically could be back in America before the start of
the 2013-2014 school year, I’m not sure if I want a teaching job right away,
nor do I want to go through the nightmare that is trying to research and apply
for jobs from West Africa…urgh, not fun.
Plus, I would like to take a COS (close of service) trip to southeast
Asia, which would then mean I won’t be back until September, and by then school
has most definitely started.
Consequently, at the moment I think my game plan is to:
1.
finish my service in August
2.
take a 5-week COS trip: Thailand, Cambodia, The Philippines, possibly
Australia, followed by Hawaii and then home sweet home ---- how’s that sound
for awesomeness!?
3.
get back to Minnesota around mid-September and stay with my parents through the
holiday months (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.), during which time I will:
a. go shopping for new clothes,
get a haircut, eat tons of yummy food, play in the fall leaves, etc.
b.
substitute teach when I want to in/around Springfield area
c.
travel around and spend time with family/friends (i.e. stay at my grandparents’
house for a week, road trip to Colorado to see my friend and village sitemate,
Molly Morrison, etc.
d. volunteer my time to guest-speak at schools about Burkina Faso
4.
figure out my real post Peace Corps plans and hopefully have a more legit game
plan that will commence in January – somewhere to live, an actual job (though I
can always continue substitute teaching if I don’t find anything), grad
school?, haha I dunno. I have no idea,
really. This is possibly the scariest of
all the things I have to think about.
Deciding what I want to do: teach or not?, grad school, service or
humanitarian work, something abroad again, another state, or close to my
family/friends, find a place to live…urgh, it’s a lot to reflect upon, which is
why I’ve decided I don’t want to deal with it while in the BF. I feel like it would disrupt my PC service
too much, and for the time being while I’m here, I want to focus on Africa, not
on what I’m going to do back in America.
I’ll leave that for once I’m back and have gotten the chance to spend a
bit of time with everyone who’s important to me.
What
do you think? Any feedback? Anyone wanna donate their couches for me to
come visit/live with them for a week?
My
parents have undertaken a huge renovation project since I’ve been gone, which
they’re hoping will be done when I get back.
They’ve added on a music room, an enclosed sunroom/porch with fireplace,
finished basement, an office for my dad, a laundry room, double garage, and who
knows what else. I honestly don’t know
much about it….just that it’s different.
Weird. Our house is not even
going to look remotely the same as I remember it. Apparently the reasoning for the house update
(according to my mom quoting my dad) is that, “The windows and siding all
needed to be replaced anyways. So we
figured we might as well tear down a few walls as well. Besides, in a few years people are going to
be bringing other people home and there needs to be space for the grandkids…” bahahahaah.
True, perhaps. A lot can change
in a couple of years. But as far as I
can tell, this will probably not be me bringing home grandkids, nor can I
foresee Kevin or Erin doing that either.
And Katelyn, well heck, she’ll just be starting 8th grade
when I get back, so she better not be bringing people home (unless it’s hyper
teenage girls for a slumber party) or be giving my parents grandchildren….
Everyone
in my village who saw pictures of me and my mom in Italy would say, “Ah! Is that your younger sister?” So I guess that means either I look really
old, or my mom looks young. I’ll choose
to believe that my mom looks young….so hopefully someday, when I’m
50-years-old, people will think that I’m only 30…. That’d be nice haha.
What’s
new in America? I don’t know
anything. Apparently Obama was
re-elected (I didn’t vote – I didn’t have my act together to apply for my
absentee ballot in time…so such much for exercising my right to vote…), there
was a big hurricane on the east coast?, and um, yeah, that’s about all I know.
I’m currently in the process of writing some grants
to request donations for projects in my village, such as improving the school
library (aka buying some books) and starting a chicken egg farm (aka helping my
village make money, increase their protein intake, and provide me with yummy
eggs so I can make omelets and bake cakes in village!). I, like usual, meant to have it done for
today so I could post it, get it approved, and then you my lovely family and
friends could start donating…but alas, things aren’t working out so smoothly in
village (organizing Burkinabe and making budgets with them is EXTREMELY
difficult) and so nothing is ready. But
maybe around Christmas time? Don’t
worry, I’ll let you know when you can start giving your money, haha.
Well my bus leaves in an hour, and I’m still not
packed, so it’s time to go… until next
time, December 10-17 I’ll be Ouaga, take care!
P.S. As I should have internet
with good connection for chatting/skyping December 10-17 in Ouaga, I 'd love to
read emails, updates, look at photos, Christmas cards and letters, etc.
So start emailing them my way!
Merci beaucoup!
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