Sugar Apple Extortion

It's just a baby! In a few months it will be sugar apple season. These fruits look like hedge apples in the US, but taste kinda like pears. They sell for 5 cents a piece in Burkina and $7 a piece in Whole Foods.
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Hippos!

We survived a brush with Africa's most dangerous animal: the hippopotamus. A quick 7 kilometer bike ride from our house, we ventured into the heart of hippo territory by boat to see the sacred hippos of Lake Tengrela.

Stagiers

Three new volunteers who arrived in BF are visiting to be "demystified" about life in village. We worked in the rice fields, had tea, and planted moringa. Tomorrow is cascades, landscaping and working at the restaurant and tex-mex night in Banfora. I promised to give them all a shoutout on the blog: this is for you Molly, Sebastian, and Jason!
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Turkey Dinner

Our transport to and from the cliff village was an overloaded bush taxi (seen in foreground) carrying a witch's cauldron of live turkeys!
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Cliff Dwellings

Today we biked out to Niansogoni and hiked up to the cliff dwelling ruins (descendants of Dogon Country

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Quack quack goes the duck

Siaka herding the new baby ducks and mom back to his courtyard. Me holding onto Fussein (his little brother) because he wanted to chase them.

I planted peanuts with my favorite lady, Assiata, today and talked about fixing the two village pumps as soon as everyone cotisers (contributes) money. Then we filled out a microfinance application for her to buy a second sewing machine to expand her tailor business. Hopefully the Human Fund comes through (more later).

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Zaba & Eclipse

This strange looking fruit has many names, but no name in English. In Moore its called Weda, in Dioula its called Zaba, in Karaboro its Npli, and in French its Liane.
This is one of the best, most exotic fruits we've ever eaten - essentially nature's version of the beloved sour candy, Warheads. It's so sour that it burns your mouth if you eat too much at once. Also delicious in juice form.

In other news, we saw the total lunar eclipse last night. As we went to sleep under the slowly growing moon, we heard loud pounding and drumming nearby. Another wedding? Funeral? Initiation ceremony? No, Sky Kitty has captured the moon! Villagers believe that a lunar eclipse happens when a cat has grabbed the moon. They drum and bang metal objects to scare the cat away from the moon because failure to do so will cause the sky and the moon to fall to Earth. When we woke this morning, everything was in place, so we guess they succeeded in scaring the Sky Kitty away.

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Sachet Shirt

I know we already posted once today, but here's my pick of the day (haha, get it? Pic and pick! Ok, things become a lot funnier when it's 90 degrees and you're getting ready for bed at 8pm because you realize there's nothing left to do today). Awa (on the right) made a shirt out of a plastic sachet (bag). She's so proud of it and has started a fad with the other neighbor kids. They've even branched out to head wraps! You'd think these kids would need toys, but no, they have way too much fun playing with what's at hand (garbage - specifically the treasures they find in our burn pile, gourds for soccer balls, discarded vaccine bottles, anything they can find!). I wish american kids were this cool.

There's a total lunar eclipse tonight, but we may miss it because sanji bi na na! (The rains are coming!)

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Omega IV

Today we unveiled the grinder graciously donated to us by Compatible Technology International (CTI). With the help of our neighbors and their crops, we ground corn and husked rice. So far, reviews are positive. Next step: women's groups.

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Catch of the Day

Our cat, Nso, with a very large lizard it somehow managed to subdue. Nso subsequently ate some of its head, then vomited. Perhaps the cat was still full from last night's feast of bat.

In other news, we happened across a fresh sacrifice at the falls today. A large sheep and a chicken, throats slit, bleeding out at water's edge. Sorry we didn't have the camera for those of you at home.
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Staph Infection

A little mosquito bite leads to a little scratching and a little dirt leads to an infection.

It looks worse than it is. After some prodding from James and other PCVs, I called the PCMO (PC Medical Officer). A trip to the pharmacy and a mille ($2) later, I have amoxycilline and a renewed interest in hygiene. This is my 2nd or 3rd infection since arriving in here a year ago, and I'm surprised how it's more of a nuisance than a scary medical event. Thanks for the staph infection, Burkina!

Today the new stage (training group) arrives for education and DABA (development of agricultural and business activities) programs. Welcome to Burkina!


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Pool day!

Life is rough in Burkina. Pool, ice cream, and pizza today. Our village is in the distance at the base of the mountains.
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Petey!

It's Thursday - which means girls club day at our maison. Today's events included popcorn making (as an income-generating activity) and a sex ed session with a condom demonstration. We are proud to introduce you all to Petey (pictured here), our wooden penis. These guys are issued to all volunteers and indisPENISble to our health-related work. They're great for so many things: a teaching tool, a laugh with villagers, or when you need a friend in village.

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Yard Work

James and Miriam cleaning up the yard earlier this evening. One's working hard while the other is hardly working. Typical.

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Tea Addiction

I have a confession. Never in my life have I had a drug or alcohol or any other substance (except maybe chocolate) addiction. But now I find myself craving just one more shot of gunpowder tea sugared to the saturation point and oh, if there's a sprig of mint in there too, then all the better. It's a typical story. Hanging out with a certain crowd (men), sitting around for hours with not a whole lot to do, and eventually you find something to occupy yourselves. Enter the tea. I still don't understand how grown men pouring tea from a little girl sized teapot is considered manly and cool, but it is. I'll happily sit through 3 or 4 hours of chatter for a shot glass sized serving of that foamy sugary drink. And the best part is, sitting around drinking tea is considered work. In between hits I'm talking about projects and sneaking in comments to rock the male/female divide like how James and I share housework and meal preparation (shocking!) or discussing if a man helps his wife get water, bathe the kids, make dinner, wash dishes, etc instead of sitting around drinking tea and chatting with his buddies, then maybe she wouldn't be too tired later to spend time with him.

Yesterday, I became a man. I joined the tea party and learned how to make this frothy delight much to the amusement of the guys. My tea doesn't have quite enough mousse yet because I haven't master the fine art of pouring, but I'll get there. In the meantime, I'll keep challenging gender roles and talking about health, girl's camps, and other project talk while quietly pursuing that next sweet teacup of goodness.

All in a day's work.

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Dancing in the Rain

We started off the day mixing banco (mud that goes between mud bricks) for Marley's, Siaka's restaurant by the Cascades, and now I'm enjoying the much needed rain. I snapped this picture of Miriam dancing at the door just minutes ago. And she's still dancing, that crazy girl :)

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A funeral, ou bien, an excuse to party?

A little hard to see, but here's Korto, the president of the first quartier's women's association, and me at her husband's mother's funeral yesterday. His mother passed away 15 years ago, but it's never too late to celebrate with lots of food, tea, and all-night dancing. When I go, I want a party like this.

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Petit-o-gram

Africa's courier service, petits (kids), were sent to give us fresh beef and the message that there is a funeral tomorrow at 11am. Perhaps we'll sneak some photos for tomorrow's post....

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The 'Burbs

Live the Burkina dream and enjoy the suburbs of Ouagadougou! Two-room mud-brick bungalows, parking for your bike/moto, and plenty of room to let your chickens and goats wander. Well situated - just a short commute to the fields, electricity and running water. Prices start in low 300s. ($300 that is). No financing available.
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