Name: 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
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
posted by Caitlin | 9:39 AM
1 Comments:
Hey Cait, I figure your mom checks this maybe twice a day....your dad probably has an email alert set up....so keep the news comin'....no pressures, no worries...just keep on typing and do your best to keep most of it in English, since most of your family can barely handle the brogue, much less another tongue. All love.
Post a Comment
<< Home