Wishlist!

All the smiles aside, there are a few things that Burkina is missing. There is no order of preference here, just a random list of things that I forgot to pack or did not realize I would not have access to over here. Nothing is urgent or dire, but anything would be well recieved so use your judgement, and don't forget to include a love note. :)

Drink packets; Emergen-C
Deck of cards
Dried fruit: Craisins, mango, apricot, raisins
Jenga
Sauce packets: pesto, taco seasoning, pepper, oregano, cumin
Nail polish: fun colors
Papermate pens: blue, black
Candy! M&Ms
Beef Jerky (she wants beef!)
World Map
AA batteries: non-rechargeable
Peanut butter: chunky, mmmmm
Magazines: Newsweek, NewYorker magazine, TIME, The Economist, InStyle, Real Simple, Vogue, People (never thought I would read this but it's the closest thing to watching t.v over here, and you all know how much that means to me)
Books! All kinds but I am particular to non-fiction and you can't go wrong with classics
US stamps
Venus razor heads
Perfume samples (sometimes you just don't want to smell like Africa)
Skin cleansing Face masks
Tanktops from GAP, Old Navy, H&M - size small
Ankle socks
Scented candles
Mandatory: Pictures! I have plenty of wall space in my new house and and need to cover the brown water stains with something so pictures and plastic picture frames would be just superb




There you have it. I will be updating this as I think of anything, and there is definitely plenty of time to think over here, so get ready. Let me know if you've put anything in the mail and I will scratch it off the list.

Thanks in advance, but no pressure, I'm doing laafi remember?!

Love and hugs,
Caitlin

p.s: my address is...

Caitlin Keenan
B.P. 41
Gorom Gorom
Burkina Faso, West Africa

... no, I did not forget the zip code, apparently all you need is B.P 41, and it should find me.

Everyone's doing 'laafi'

It has been an amazingly long week in village, making our trip to downtown Ouaigouya look like a bustling metropolis. Which it is, relative to the surrounding countryside that sits in darkness. With three gas stations, half a dozen paved roads and even a stoplight, it's the happening place to be.
I have to admit, being in village was a nice change of pace. This was the first full week I've spent there without coming into town and it certainly made a difference. I feel more comfertable and had a better sense of my surroundings after seeing them in the daytime. I also hung out with the family and certainly integrated myself by trying to help, but mostly just got in the way. I tried carrying water on my head, got pretty far and then a little girl half my size came up and glided off with it.
Last night I learned how to cook my favorite meal here, which is basically a couscous with tomato sauce. My host dad pointed to a beautiful blue bird that I've seen flying about and said, 'That's for dinner.' I said, 'Great!' I have made a full conversion to being a carnivore. I tried to help prepare the meal, but someone always brings me a stool and says 'sit!' So instead I sat in the middle of my "sister's" courtyard while people stayed busy all around me. My sister was frying up some yam frenchfries which she cut up with a dull machete and then dropped in hot oil using her bare hands. My little brother sat next to me, roasting peanuts in the embers of the fire and then shelled them and gave them to me in handfuls. My little cousins were taking a nap, completely naked on a mat in the corner, while my niece played with the cat. By playing, I mean dragging it through the courtyard by its tail or picking it up and trying it to force it to climb a tree. My Dad was sitting on his mat outside, greeting people, drinking his tea and praying. Then there was my older brother watching some french soap opera on T.V. in his courtyard. As for me, I was content to be witness to this family's daily routine and to be considered a part of it with open arms. They even gave me a local muslim name, Roukietou (Roo-kee-eh-too) since there was just no chance of pronouncing 'Caitlin.' The obstacles these people are faced with everday are obvious and overwhelming, and yet with an astounding level of resourcefulness and resilience I am greeted every morning and evening with a big smile and a genuine, "How's it going?" I invariably reply with the only option there is, being "laafi!" Which means 'Good! Ca va!' and 'health' all at the same time. The greetings never stop there though. In a society where your family's health, the community and being social are the most important things, that is just the tip of the iceberg. After the initial greeting which changes depending on the time of day, "Good morning, Good afternoon, evening and good night", the person addressed will respond, "How's your morning/afternoon/evening/night?" Then it's their turn to say "laafi!" But it doesn't end there. Then they will ask, "Y zak ramba?" How's your family? And as always, you respond with, 'laafi!' Then, "tuuma kibaare?" How's work? "Y sonsga?" How's your day? "Yiik laafi?" "Did you wake up well? Did you sleep well? How are your animals? How are the kids? To Marius (one of the other volunteers in my village) one man asked, "How's your wife?" Marius said, "Oh, I don't have a wife" but the man continued, "Well, how's your future wife?" "Laafi", Marius said, "She's good." The questions can range from your health to your work to your kids and back again, but the response never varies. You could be having the worst day, or sick as a dog in bed but if someone asks how you are, you are always 'laafi!' 'good!'
In my opinion it is a great testament to the positive attitude pervasive throughout this culture, and a sure-fire way to keep the morale high. If I didn't sleep well, in my sauna of a room, and stepped in something on the way to the latrine and hit my head going back into my house and got a flat tire (for the third time) on my way to class - when a group of women stop harvesting their crops with their babies strapped to their backs, to smile, wave and shout, "Ney Yibeogo Roukietou!" "Good morning Roukeitou!" I can't help but grin and shout back "Yibeogo kibaare?" "How's your morning?" And as always, they're doing laafi, just great, and you have to believe they are. So with a wave I say, "Have a great day" "Wend na kond laafi", literally translated, "May God give you health" and they say "Amina, amina!" "Amen!" And I ride on.
It is getting dark and almost time to head back to my village, I hope everyone is doing well, and your kids are well, and your work is well, and - you get the idea. I miss you all more than I can type and will hopefully be getting pictures to illustrate my random stories. Stayed tuned and write me whenever you get a chance.
Till then, take care,
Caitlin

You stick out like a sore thumb

I suppose I should start at the beginning and explain what my blogs title is saying. In the local language of Moore, 'mana wana' means 'whats up, what's the problem' and 'Nasara' means 'Whitie or foreigner'. So wherever we go people love to shout, Mana wana Nasara! It's one of the many fringe benefits of being a celebrity/oddity in this country. We also have our personal papparrazzi which just happens to be made up of about 80 school kids that run after us whenever we bike by.

That is one of the first things that we noticed when we stepped foot off the plane in Ouagadougou, our sense of anonimity and solidarity was gone. You can not step foot outside your door without someone staring, pointing, shouting or laughing just at the sight of you. After three weeks here most of us have started to get used to the routes and the little fruit stands where we buy our bananas, and almost feel an odd sense of belonging. Then I see another volunteer standing in a crowd and think, wow- he sure stands out. Then I turn around and realize there are 5 kids waiting to shake my hand and a man riding a donkey almost crashed into a motorbike cause he was staring at me. We are so used to seeing diversity in the US, people of all shapes and colors that looking around I don't see the big deal but from their point of view I am the most bizarre oddity. I always think of 'My cousin Vinny' when Marissa Tomei goes, "Oh yeah, you blend." I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not just like everyone else and take that into account. Everything you do is on display and your actions represent how these people view Americans and foreigners in general because we could be from Europe or Canada, and it would make no difference; we're all Nasaras.

I would like to keep a detailed account of everyday activities and mini-epiphonies but highlights will have to suffice since our schedule for the next few weeks is kept jam packed. Please keep in touch, I love getting your emails even if I don't get a chance to respond. I forgot to mention that I recieve text messages and incoming calls for free (insert subtle hint here) and can send text messages to the US for relatively cheap but it costs about $1 a minute to call so, yeah, I won't be calling.

Well, times almost up, daylight is running out and my usual 10 km awaits. Take care everyone, till next time,
yours truly,
Caitlin

Bienvenue to my shiny new blog

Well this is all very exciting since I have never used this technology before, thanks to Tom I was able to get this up and started and think it will be a more efficient use of my relatively limited internet access. I am starting this blog for two main reasons; one is to keep a record of everything that happens because right now there is so much going on that if I don't write it somewhere I will forget all the amazing things that we see everyday. The second reason is to share all these crazy, ridiculous and fascinating experiences with everyone at home. You are part of this experience because I think of you all on a daily basis and can't wait to re-live what I see by telling you.

So there you have it, welcome to Africa according to Caitlin. I have yet to explore the capabilities of this site so for now my posts will be basic recounts of what happens throughout my week. They are jam packed for certain and I will relay as much as I can before my time is up or my money runs out, whichever comes first. The latter is unlikely considering it costs 500 CFA an hour, but relatively that is a lot of money. A perspective relative to Burkina must be taken and my budget is 1600 CFA a day so I can not spend all day here for sure.

Also please excuse my akward english or random franglais since we are speaking only french everyday and learning the local language, our english becomes somewhat mixed up. I find myself forgetting certain words, or just not even realizing when someone who only speaks french to me just started speaking in english. It can be frusterating, but as with all problems here a sense of humor goes a long way and we take it in stride.

Well, mes amis, I have to leave you here since it is getting dark and I have to ride 10 km back to my village. Don't worry, we always travel in groups, safety in numbers, and Peace Corps is all about the safety, can't go anywhere without that bike helmet. (One girl's host family thought she had to where it while walking and insisted she do so until she could convinced them otherwise, very entertaining to hear but we sympathized)

Take care everyone, I will write again as soon as I can.
I love you all, yours truly, kk