The subject line says it all. While this probably won't be my last blog entry, this will definitely be my last blog entry as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso. Words can't even express what the experience has been or how this has affected me. Reading this blog is probably one of the best ways to capture how I've felt. I know that the effects the Peace Corps has had on my life will be evident in the months and years to come when I'm back home in the U.S. I'll be somewhere and something will instantly remind me of Burkina Faso. Or I'll strike up a conversation with a random stranger or friend, and conjure up images of life abroad.

Luba and I. Luba is in the newest group of Peace Corps trainees here in Burkina Faso and is my replacement! We were fortunate to meet up because we were in Ouaga at the same time (funny how things work out in life). She was there to meet her community counterpart (who is coincidentally my friend, Nazaire) and I was there to complete my service in Ouaga.

Some of the Peace Corps Burkina Faso staff during our COS (Close of Service) ceremony.

The five of us that were COSing: myself, Colette, Julie, Marita and Rachel.

Colette and I. In it together and finishing strong together!

With Mariam, one of my favorite people in the Peace Corps Burkina Faso office! She's so hilarious.

With Brenda, one of my Peace Corps faves (and fellow Californian)!

With Emily at the Transit House. Loves!!

With Armande, another favorite. Such a great resource at the office!

With Paré, one of the drivers.

And with Shannon, our Country Director. Such a dynamic and experienced woman! What an inspiration -- she's worked all over the world, doing humanitarian and development work. I hope to do some of the work that she's done.

Getting my Peace Corps ID Card cut...it's official! I'm a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV)!

With Diallo, perhaps the nicest, most genuine man in Burkina Faso! He trained as us Peace Corps trainees in 2009 and now works at the Peace Corps Burkina Faso office full-time.

The outside of the Peace Corps Burkina Faso office in Ouagadougou.

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs)! Two years and three months, done.Au revoir, Burkina Faso! Bonjour, Paris!

I think the one thing that will always stay is the quote from LMU that I've made into my life's mantra of sorts (and coincidentally, the title of this blog): "Go forth and set the world on fire." It can be interpreted in many ways but I see it as this: use the skills that you've gained in all of your life's experiences (school and otherwise) to make the world a better place. Build relationships. Strengthen communities. Learn about new cultures. Share your insights with everyone. Because at the end of the day, that's what we're all here for as humans, right?

Thank you Peace Corps for providing me with the opportunity to serve. Thank you Burkina Faso for the hospitality you've given me these past years. And thank you God for leading me through this crazy, grand adventure called life.

So what's next?!

Technically speaking, my last activity at site was my big Girls' Camp with all of the other Peace Corps Volunteers in my region helping out. But I've been wanting to do this one activity for quite some time. The Volunteer before me did a World Map, so I figured why not do a map of Burkina Faso to help people better understand the geography of their own country (many times, I feel like I know the geography of the world better than the geography of the U.S....true and sad story). It really started in February 2011 when Ali and I started to trace out a huge square on the primary school wall to make a Burkina Faso map. Since everything was coming out of my pocket, I didn't have the money to pay someone to cement the wall and flatten it out. So Ali and I used a daba (farming tool used by hand to till the soil) to scrap the wall until it resembled something flat and easy to paint on...then days passed, followed by weeks, which turned into months. Everyday, I'd pass by and think to myself, "Man, I really need to get this started. Ehh, maybe tomorrow when it's not so hot (or some other excuse)."

Ali and Hercules chilling by the now-scraped wall at the side of the school.

June and July quickly approached and my neighbors would keep asking when I would finish it. I told them I would never, ever leave and not to finish it. A promise is a promise, right? But also, I knew that I needed to just do it and stop procrastinating. Also, I had such a limited time frame to paint it. I could only paint in the mornings until 12:00pm because the sun would hit the wall after that time, making it unbearable to paint with the African sun beating on you. Also, rainy season was approaching, making it virtually unpredictable to guess what the weather would be that day.

Needless to say, procrastination/time moving rapidly toward my departure got the best of me and within less than two weeks, I was able to complete this (of course, with the help of Ali and his friend Franck)!

Ali and I painting the surface white first.

Perhaps one of the hardest parts of creating a grid to properly draw the map -- partially because I'm a perfectionist and wanted all the lines to be as straight as possible. I already had a drawing on a piece of paper with the grid, so it was much easier to draw (and a lot of fun, actually)!

Franck, Ali's friend, has a knack for drawing, so I made him do the Peace Corps logo at the corner.

Then I outlined Burkina Faso itself in paint to ensure less mess when painting.

This picture is so indicative of how many people came to watch. At first, it was kind of annoying because I just wanted to work without a dozen people staring at my every move from behind. But in the end, I actually started to appreciate it. I could see students (and adults even) start to see the map start to take form and I could start to see little lightbulbs turning on. Amazing!

Because the map was so close to my house, Grace would walk over all the time, mumble something and tried to keep touching the map. Loves it!

He's so good at drawing!

Almost done! I'd just like to note how unstable that ladder was. While I wanted to get this map done, I also didn't want to break any bones before leaving.

Peace Corps! With the names of the people who created it below.

The finished product with my two helpers, Ali and Franck. Couldn't have done this without them!!

Pointing to where I live in Burkina Faso.

I hope this map stays for years to come. I figure teachers in the schools around Kampti can use it as a guide for their students when it comes to geography lessons. And it's pretty huge: 8' x 11'! It also initiated a lot of good dialogue between community members, students and myself. It was also a great way of saying farewell to Kampti and to the many people that have made my experience in Burkina Faso so pleasant. Until next time!

These past couple of weeks have been...insane/sad/great/exhausting/all of the above. How do you properly leave all that was familiar to you for two years and readjust to what you've been living in for your life prior to Peace Corps? Before I continue, many of you have probably been wondering why I never gave the name of my site. Well, the reason is that for security reasons, it's just not that best idea. Yeah, you walk into my town and I'm probably the only American you'll find but the Internet is a big place and with all of this terrorism 'stuff' going on these days, you never know! Since I'm posting this now, I can say that the name of my site is Kampti-Bouti. It's a small town in southwestern Burkina Faso about 25 kilometers from the Burkina Faso-Cote d'Ivoire/Ivory Coast border, and the farthest south Peace Corps site in Burkina Faso. It's basically a cross between a midsized town in Burkina Faso and a village, as there are many different neighborhoods of sorts. However, there is no electricity (there are solar panels everywhere) or running water. Probably the biggest thing I want to note from in this blog entry is the farewell party that my Burkinabè friends in Kampti put together for me. I really wasn't expecting anything...at all. I really thought I'd be the one to put together a little something for my farewell since things do get expensive, plus I didn't want to make a big deal out of me leaving. Regardless, it was such a kind gesture and yet another reminder of how the Burkinabè are some of the most hospitable, if not the most hospitable, people in the world. Enjoy the pictures!

This picture is so inspiring to me. There will be moments where I'm biking back home in the afternoon, and the clouds and sun will form something truly amazing like this. Inspiring.

Kadidja and her little brother Husseini come by as I clean out my house. They saw the world map and it made the perfect picture. I was explaining to them how far California is from Burkina Faso.

I really wish Grace would smile more in pictures!

Nazaire making tea. I think I've mentioned this before, but making African tea is essentially an afternoon ritual. I've done it with these guys so many times. Three little shot glasses of tea, each glass getting progressively sweeter. I'm going to miss this!

The everyday afternoon tea spot. So simple. I could nap here!

I realized I never got a picture of how I wash dishes here in Burkina Faso. Two buckets: one with soapy water, the other with rinsing water with a little bit of bleach. Leave the dishes to dry in the sun, and voila, (seemingly) clean dishes!

Grace and Hercules. Awww!

After a crazy downpour. Rainy season begins!

With Mathieu who helped me making pagne apron gifts for my friends and family back home!

With Amadou, the craziest old man in Kampti. I don't know if he's drunk all the time or just downright crazy.

Getting water at the pump. Two huge plastic water jugs, my bike and lots of motivation.

My pump!

With some of the guys at my Inspection (head of the primary schools in Kampti).

At Mathieu's shop.

My friend Reine presenting me with a gift from them all: a traditional Lobi outfit worn by men!

Of course, I had to try it on in front of everyone. I literally felt like I was swimming in this outfit. You could've fit two people in there!

=)

Jon and I. So happy he could make it!

Mathieu, one of my closest friends in Kampti, and I.

Reine and I before she had to leave.

Group photo! It's funny because most of the guys in the picture are at least 10 (if not more!) years older than Jon and I.

Ali in the bus. I decided to take him with me to Gaoua as a trip together. Fun times!

One of my good friends, Koro, and I. She was in Gaoua taking the BAC exam (equivalent to the high school diploma, except in Burkina Faso, it's viewed more as a college degree).

Shannon and I. Gonna miss you!

Before I headed back to Kampti, Jon and I took a little side trip to a village nearby where they make baskets.

Shannon and I outside the APFG (the women's association in Gaoua). They do so much good work here -- microfinancing, a dolo (local millet beer) bar, awareness sessions on HIV/AIDS/health/etc., a store that sells shea butter soap and other African goodies, and an Internet café. Classy!

Ali and I with the baskets.

How they make village bread...so good!

The mud stove where they make the bread. Genius!

These women are amazing at their craft. And they do it with such ease!

Grace!

A view of Kampti and the main road.

My treat to some of my close friends here in Kampti.

Mmmmm...cold beer.

Because they drink their African tea at what seems like shot glasses, I gave them a shot glass with San Francisco on it so they would never forget me. Haha!

Mathieu, Nazaire and I. Two of my closest friends here in Kampti (next to my neighbors)!

With Valerie, my go-to lady at the marché (market). I buy all my cooking basics from her -- onions, tomatoes, garlic, spices.

View of the market in Kampti.

With Asetu, one of my other go-to ladies at the market.

Kadidja!!

With Alice. Whenever I'm feeling lazy and don't want to cook lunch, I get food from her in town. Mmmm... attieké!

The kids getting water for me. They're so balanced!

Hercules looking so sad as I leave Kampti...

The inside of the normal way of transportation in Burkina Faso: via bus. Although this is much cleaner than most buses...

Gifts for Kadidja to ensure that we still keep in contact...and that she continues going to school!

Now that Grace is walking, talking (okay, maybe mumbling random sounds) and has the curiosity of any 2-year old, she always walks over to my porch to see what I'm up to. So adorable! And she has a name for me. She can't call me Michael so she calls me something that resembles Michael but sounds more like "Tee-tah." I'm cool with that! She's growing up to be quite the personality. I can already see, she'll probably be the comedian of her class.

Grace doing some kind of crazy dance thing. Silly kids!

Trying to play telephone with my cell phone. "Oui, allo? C'est qui?"

You can see Madame Constance (her mom) in the background.

Hahaha, look at her laugh!

Pelagie and Grace with a pile of nere fruit.

Ahh Gaoua. My provincial capital only about 50km away...a mere 25-minute bus ride from my site. A weekend meeting point for all of us Peace Corps Volunteers in the region where we can use electricity, charge our laptops/cell phone batteries, get really cold drinks, use the Internet, get packages/send letters, eat good food and enjoy the company (and speaking English!) of fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. I really can't express how important/how much this place means to me. It was nice to sometimes get away from site and the stresses/frustrations of living in a place where you really had no privacy. But like I said above, I got together with the other Peace Corps Volunteers that lived in my region (Jon, Brenda, Jane, Kyle, Daniel & Shannon) and we really became our own support network and family. I think we were closer knit than most other Peace Corps region groups in the country! A typical Saturday would look something like this: all arrive at around 7:00am and meet directly at Chez François for omelettes, yogurt and café au lait. We'd head to the Poste (post office) to get money, check to see if we got any letters or packages from home, go to the APFG/Association de la Promotion Feminine de Gaoua (women's association) to use the Internet for a ridiculous amount of time, head to 4 Saisons for lunch - eating grilled chicken, fries, a really good peas dish, etc. with cold drinks while watching MTV in French, go to the marché (market) to go shopping, head over to Kyle or Daniel's and have dinner/cold beers, hang out/talk/watch a movie and just sleeeep. Seriously, it became so routine to all of us after a while!

I can't believe I discovered this on my LAST visit to Gaoua! A lookout point of Gaoua and the surrounding area. So beautiful!

Jikey.

I'm such an old man compared to Jon.

Way to ruin a perfectly cool picture, Jon! But really, look how ominous those clouds look in the distance. I really thought we were going to be rained on during our walk to Kyle's place.

Cold Brakinas, cheddar cheese slices from Ouaga (thanks Brenda!), bread and crudite/vegetable salad at Daniel's.

With some of Kyle's neighbors. They're so nice!

A snapshot of our lunch hangout: 4 Saisons. Check out the TV in the back and the fans above. Classy!

Hilltop view of Gaoua. You can see the mosque to the near right and a little beyond that, the marché.

To think that my Peace Corps service is coming to an end is absolutely insane. And slowly but surely, I've been starting to say my goodbyes. Jon and I have been living pretty much next to each other for the past two years (he's my closest volunteer neighbor only 15km away), so naturally I got to know many of the people at his site. I also came by to help Jon out with his final activity -- a Girls' Soccer Event/Competition for the primary school girls in his nearby villages. There was a big party for the hosting village that night, but prior to that, workers from the village medical clinic came and gave a presentation on HIV/AIDS to educate the community.

Jon in front of this huge tree. Believe it or not, but we're standing on top of a traditional Lobi house made of mud. No joke!

The soccer teams assembling and getting ready.

Action shot!

Jon with his primary school girls and their teacher, giving a little pep talk.

What event in our area would be complete without dolo (local village beer)?

Jon and crossword puzzles. A match made in heaven.

Workers from the village medical clinic giving a presentation on HIV/AIDS, specifically prevention: how to properly put on a condom.

Look at all that food being prepared in those HUGE pots!

Traditional Lobi music played. What you see are balafons (kind of like African xylophones).

Jon with his girls, the teacher and his counterpart, Papa.

Presenting awards to the winning teams.

Surprise thank you speech to Jon from his community. So adorable!

Picture completely indicative and telling of a typical day with 'Jikey' -- Jon reaching for the camera from a kid gone crazy, one of his girls sitting next to him, me reacting very strongly to the dolo and your friendly, neighborhood 'fou' (crazy person). =)

Mmmm... tô...

Eat up!

With Jon's neighbor, like our pseudo-grandma.

Kampti Girls' Camp 2011. Camp des Filles de Kampti 2011.

Theme: "Today's Motivated Girls. Tomorrow's Model Women."Thème: "Les Filles Motivées d'Aujourd'hui. Les Femmes Modèles de l'Avenir."

I wanted my final project/activity at site to be a culmination of everything I've done during my two years here in Burkina Faso, but also a collaboration with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers in my region, community stakeholders at my site, parents, staff at the village medical clinic, etc.

It was modeled pretty much after the camps I did with Jon in January of this year. I worked a lot with one primary school but I wanted to implicate at least two others in my town. So we had a total of 20 of the highest-achieving girls in CM2 that were continuing to the next level (middle school). Only 17 actually came, but it was still well worth the effort!

The Camp's activities revolved around four (4) key themes: 1) Life Skills (setting objectives and goals, planning for the future, a panel of model women in the community speaking to the girls); 2) Health (proper hygiene and handwashing, malaria prevention and HIV/AIDS awareness sessions done by nurses at the village medical center, proper nutrition, Moringa planting); 3) English (basic greetings, numbers, simple objects); and 4) Sports (soccer).

The Camp itself was structured from 8:00am-12:30pm everyday at the middle/high school, Tuesday, June 21st to Saturday, June 25th. Everyday, we touched each of the four themes to make it as comprehensive and as interesting as possible. I'll let the pictures dictate what happened. Enjoy!

Preparing for the first day at my house. Of course, Hercules has to try to help!

Day 1: Hercules followed us everyday to the Camp site. So cute!

Day 1: Welcoming them to the Girls' Camp.

Day 1: Preparing for the English session. Drawing a diagram of the parts of the day.

Day 1: Heading with the girls to the CSPS (village medical clinic) to learn more about HIV/AIDS from my friend Koro. Next to the sign at my site!

Day 1: My friend Koro leading the HIV/AIDS presentation. We talked about what is HIV/AIDS, the modes of transmission and the modes of prevention. Interesting stuff! It's never too early to talk about this.

Day 2: Jane helps lead them in soccer exercises. We did soccer every morning.

Day 2: A nutrition lesson on the three primary groups and how having a balanced diet is important to leading a healthy life. We had a lot of fun activities related to this to make it as interesting as possible; such as this matching game of the most common foods the girls eat at home.

Day 2: The girls gathering soil to start a Moringa nursery.

Day 2: Watering each girls' Moringa nursery seedling. It's Kadidja in this picture!

Day 2: Jane helping me lead the self-esteem/Life Skills session of the day. We read fictional stories of girls that excelled in certain areas (did well in school, were respectful to their teachers and parents, etc. etc.). We made a list on the board, asked the girls if they thought they possessed that quality, and asked them to repeat it aloud as an affirmation. Very powerful!

Day 2: English time. They love this stuff...and they're so adept at it, too!

Day 2: Brenda preparing the stickers, our main form of rewards for the girls.

Day 2: The girls reading the Moringa information booklets we gave them. Thanks, Peace Corps!

Day 3: While the girls were playing soccer outside, I caught Hercules trying to intimidate a cow after a herd was passing by. Really, Hercules? A cow? That thing could've easily beat you up in a second!

Day 3: Daniel arrives and he leads the training on how to make liquid soap.

Day 3: Solange and Véronique taking notes.

Day 3: Funny story! Before Daniel started his presentation on liquid soap, I placed all the materials on the floor to show the girls. Tansagex, sea salt, water, buckets, perfume and coloring powder. While Daniel's doing his presentation, Brenda, Jane and I are just sitting on the side...until Jane notices something missing: the bag of blue coloring powder! Then I immediately notice that Hercules is gone, so Brenda and I run outside to find him actually eating some of it! Silly dog. And it was all over his mouth, too. Haha!

Day 3: Brenda and I do a little theatre piece on the differences between aggressive, passive and confident behavior, and how one's behavior can be portrayed differently by different people.

Day 3: The girls do their own theatre pieces! They're natural actresses!

Day 3: Continuing with passive, aggressive and confident behavior, we did a group activity showing that your body language can many times say a lot more than your verbal language.

Day 3: Starting the two-day process of making liquid soap.

Day 3: Group picture with Jane before she heads back to her site!

Day 3: Picture with my favorite student (Kadidja) wearing St. Joachim shirts!

Day 3: Daniel preparing for day four of making neem cream (a good deterrent for mosquitoes carrying malaria).

Day 4: The second day of the liquid soap making process -- mixing in the coloring powder.

Day 4: And finally bottling our liquid soap.

Day 4: Jon comes to help! During the break, we gave the girls popcorn as a little snack.

Day 4: I wanted to finish the liquid soap making so that it would lead in perfectly to my session on proper handwashing. Sweet!

Day 4: We also started making the neem cream for our malaria session the following day.

So cute! Carrying water to their house.

Day 5: Our three model women for our Model Women Panel -- Madame Sophie Ouédraogo, Director of the Caisse Populaire (local bank); Madame Korotimi (Koro) Wélingué, Midwife at the CSPS (village medical clinic); and Madame Monique Pooda, Director of Non-Formal Education Center in Kampti. I wanted motivated women from different fields (finance, health and education) to speak on their experiences growing up, talk about their work and give some words of encouragement to these girls. So inspiring -- I think I almost cried a few times!

Day 5: Handing out Certificates of Appreciation to our model women!

Day 5: And giving them a little gift of the liquid soap we made!

Day 5: Group picture with our model women.

Day 5: Daniel distributing the neem cream to be used to protect against mosquitoes carrying malaria. And it smelled really good, too!

Day 5: Handing all of our girls Certificates of Participation. You'll notice many of these pictures are with Kadidja -- I try not to have favorites but she is the most respectful, polite, intelligent student I've ever worked with! I know she'll go far in life.

Day 5: With my partner-in-crime for my whole Girls' Camp, Brenda!

Day 5: Distributing bracelets that the girls can keep to remind them of their time and all they learned during our Girls' Camp together.

Day 5: Final group picture!! <3

Overall, a HUGE success and I couldn't have been more pleased with my final project at site! I was also able to create a 43-page Girls' Camp Guide in French that details all of the sessions so that fellow Peace Corps Volunteers in French-speaking countries can replicate it. Everyone should be able to view it on the Peace Corps Burkina Faso website (http://www.pcburkina.org).

Special thanks goes out to fellow Peace Corps Volunteers in my region that helped out: Brenda (who stayed for the whole week!), Daniel, Jane and Jon. Also the many people at my site that made this event possible, most especially the women of my Model Women's Panel!

After almost two years of talking about it, Colette finally comes to visit me at my site! I'll let the pictures tell the story, but it was a great time showing Colette my neck of the woods in Burkina Faso. Talk about coming full circle!

Baltazar making the traditional African tea. Talk about a 12:00pm-3:00pm 'repos' ritual. Three glasses of tea and endless amounts of conversation! Note Hercules always by my side...awww...

At the market chez Valerie, where I buy most of my produce.

Why do the Burkinabè get so awkward the moment you whip out a camera? Note the woman to the right of this picture...

A view of the main road at my site.

With Boureima. I buy most of my things at his shop -- pasta noodles, mayonnaise, matches, candles, everything! I probably spent most of my money here.

Oranges! Although oranges here aren't necessarily orange as they are green...

Typical transport situation in Burkina Faso. This is the bus I usually take for long-distance travels. We're at a stop, and normally many women come to the side of the bus to sell all sorts of goodies!

Pelagie and Grace!

If you look back to a past blog entry I had where I visited Colette's site, you'll see that she too also has a similar set-up with the stove on the bottom and the Afrique wall decoration on the wall. Great minds think alike!

What better way to spend your birthday with your loving, creative friends, right? Well, let's just say we decided to give Shannon a birthday surprise with an interesting twist...Mexican! With a pinata (made by Brenda and Jane) and some empanadas for dinner. Yum! And instead of doing it Gaoua, everyone decided to come to my house. Sweet. Enjoy the pictures below!

Brenda and I piecing together the pinata. I tell you, folks -- in Burkina Faso, this takes intense creativity to find the materials necessary to build this!

Getting ready to surprise Shannon!

Helping to hoister up the pinata...

Of course, our trusted rock-climber Jon climbs the tree with ease and hangs our pinata for us. I wonder to this day if he wasn't there...how we would have done it.

YES. It was THAT exciting!

Chillin' on my porch...

I swear, every day here is some new, random adventure...even if I'm just at my house with a few friends, celebrating a birthday. Oh, Burkina. =)

As the school year comes to a close, so do most of my work projects...like one that I've doing for the longest time with the CP2 (1st grade level) students at two primary schools in my town: the Alphabet and Literacy Project! I love working with kids. <3

Aaaand on another note, rainy season is sure upon us. One day, it rained SO hard and for so long that it flooded my courtyard. See the pictures below to what it was like!

I'll start by saying that we've been talking about visiting each other since training in July 2009. It is now June 2011, two years later, and it just now happened because we're about to leave Burkina Faso. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to get things done, right?! I'll let the pictures illustrate the couple of days I spent at Colette's site on the other side of the Southwest of Burkina. I played paparazzi, haha. Seriously though, her side of the Southwest of BF reminded me more of the Philippines -- rice fields that seemed to go on for forever, sugar cane plantations, etc. And mangoes everywhere! The dried mangoes were sooo good. Okay, enjoy!

Pancakes for breakfast with jelly. Yum yum!

As many of you know, I'm a planner-person and list-making person...so naturally, we're copying each other's planners to finalize our trip to Paris and Amsterdam after we COS!

Took a bike ride to Colette's high school and got this picture of her and her World Map. Absolutely beautiful!

Burkina Faso, baby!

Sushi time! Anything's possible in this country with a little creativity...and a care package from the US with seaweed paper.

Colette hitting the fields! This picture screams Peace Corps...

With her best friend at site, Balkissa.

At the market/marché.

The mayor of her town gave us a chicken. Such a nice guy!

Yours truly with our beloved chicken...who would soon be cooked and eaten after this photo was taken!

These pictures best illustrate how this chicken wanted to escape...and how Colette won! Haha! First, we overheard the bike fall over. Colette picks it up with the chicken hanging between the handlebars. Then it tries to run away with its legs tied together and at last, we capture it after it hobbles away from Lord knows how long. Oh boy!

Enjoying our chicken and beer. Mmmm!

Colette and another one of her closest friends at site, Irene.

I made Colette take this picture before I left! Fast forward to two years ago in 2009 when Colette, Devin and I were going shopping for things in downtown Ouaga. There's this artisanal store that sells lots of really cool stuff. Colette and I wanted the same "Afrique" wall decoration that you see in the picture...fortunately, there were two! Coincidentally, both of our "Afrique" wall decorations are hanging above our stoves in our own houses. Neat stuff!

Can somebody please say "full circle" again?! This Peace Corps thing does it to you, and I feel like this won't be the last time I say I'm coming full circle, haha. Immediately after the MAP Conference/visiting the host family in Komsilga, I headed straight into new PSDN training. PSDN stands for Peer Support and Diversity Network -- essentially, a group of selected Peace Corps Volunteers that provide emotional and mental support to fellow volunteers. Sadly, Bovard (my fellow Co-Chair) and Mike (Training Manger) couldn't make it, so it was Stephanie and I that were leading the group of new blood, so to speak! Lots of work but also lots of fun, and I'm very confident in the newest batch of PSDN members for Peace Corps/Burkina Faso. Good luck!

This woman is amazing! <3

Because I was in Ouahigouya for the MAP Conference already, I decided to take a trip to visit my host family in Komsilga one last time. Coincidentally, all of us that lived in Komsilga (our host village) during training two years ago (Marita, Coleman, Charley and I) were all in Ouahigouya at the same time and decided it would be best if we all biked together! We headed out the day after the MAP Conference in the morning, buying little gifts for our host families in town (mangoes, bread, coffee, etc.) and took the less-than-an-hour-but-always-seems-longer-because-of-the-heat bike ride to Komsilga. Biking there was just like I remembered it -- but I felt like I completely different person biking there. Like I was truly coming full circle with my Peace Corps service.

Coming down the hill when you first arrive in Komsilga, it looks like this. Literally, in the middle of (seemingly) nowhere. Here's a good shot of Coleman and Marita biking in, with the Komsilga sign in the foreground and the new mosque in the background.

In Burkinabè culture, protocol is absolutely essential to follow. So we first said hi to the chief of the village, giving him kola nuts as is tradition, before visiting our host families. The chief said it meant a lot that all four of us returned, and he continued to give us benedictions of good health, that our families back home are doing well and that we continue to make this world a better place. I think when he said the last thing, I started to tear up...and it's funny because he was speaking in local language. And while I don't understand much Mooré or Jula, his facial and body expressions said it all. Powerful stuff!

We first went to visit Charley's host family because he had to leave a little earlier. Afterward, we visited Marita's and I swear, her host mom is so freakin' amazing!

Charley and his host family. Marita with her host family.

Then it was my turn to visit 'home'...weird, because I was there almost a year ago when I was working PST as a PCVF/P. But to think I'm coming back for the last time to say goodbye to them was utterly surreal.

The great thing about my host family is that their compound is a little isolated from everyone elses. When you think stereotypical African village of huts and animals everywhere, this is it! And it's on its own little hill which makes it that much more picturesque.

My host family's compound. The hut I lived in during training in 2009 is the second from the left.

Marita and I chilling on my porch with my host dad, Mamadou, in the background.

Giving the host family some gifts -- mangoes, bread, coffee, etc.

My ever-growing host family and I!

With Charley, as this would be our last picture together in Burkina Faso before he heads off back to the U.S.

After Charley left and Coleman was still at his host family's place, Marita and I just relaxed at my host family's compound, taking a nap as if it were typical Sunday afternoon in Komsilga with no worries in the world.

We had been at my host family's for some time now, realized that the sun was setting quickly and needed to head back to Ouahigouya. So Marita and I dropped by Coleman's host family to say a quick hello before leaving.

Coleman and his multilingual host dad. Funny, funny man!

As we were biking up the little hill and heading down it to where we would no longer see Komsilga, it became bittersweet. Very bittersweet.

But I came to the realization that while it may be goodbye as a Peace Corps Volunteer, only God (or whatever greater being/force you believe in!) knows whether or not I'll return to West Africa, specifically Burkina Faso, in the future. I'll leave you with this last photo of me in Komsilga with my host family's compound in the background...

Do you ever have those moments where you tell yourself: "Man! If I only knew about this/had do this sooner, it would've made life a lot easier?" Throughout the whole Men As Partners (MAP) Conference (in French, Hommes Comme Partenaires), I kept telling myself that. It would've been perhaps the most effective training I could have received as a male Girls' Education and Empowerment (GEE) Volunteer and it was bittersweet that I was getting this training at the end of my service. In any case, I thought it would be good to bring an extremely motivated and engaged counterpart, my friend and the President of the Parents' Association at my primary school (called APE - Association des Parents d'Elèves), Nazaire. I decided that he would be the best counterpart for the volunteer that replaces me, and what better way to introduce him to Peace Corps, our approach to community development and gender equality than by bringing him to the MAP Conference! In essence, the MAP Conference compiled about 10-12 Peace Corps Volunteers from various regions in Burkina Faso, and each was asked to bring one motivated, male counterpart from their communities to participate. It was led by the Gender and Development (GAD) Committee of Peace Corps/Burkina Faso, and was the first of its kind to be done here. Overall, an absolutely amazing training! We talked about gender roles, did many activities that you can find in our Life Skills book and were able to put to practice many of the things we learned throughout our 3 days of training. My hope is that my replacement volunteer will have an easier transition to site when he/she arrives in September, and will have a counterpart that better understands Peace Corps, the GEE program and can work well with the new volunteer to get projects and activities going faster!

Nazaire and I during the last day, handing certificates to our counterparts. Group picture -- all the volunteers and our counterparts.

One of my Peace Corps favorites, Lorena! And our matching US/BF pagne outfits. <3

What this blog entry is really about is a hodgepodge mix of photos from April...I'll just narrate after each photo. Enjoy!

Jon cooking at Daniel's house in Gaoua.

Brenda, the master chef of our Southwest family, cooking...empanadas! And they're damn good. With limited resources!

Hercules on my porch with the poster I made in the background...it's for my CEP Exam Jeopardy Review Game. One of the activities I've been working on is preparing my CM2 students for their CEP exam, with the hope that they'll be able to continue to the middle school level. Fun times! And using Jeopardy as a review exercise is great. I also created the 'CEP Exam Jeopardy Review Guide for Peace Corps Volunteers', which will hopefully help for PCV generations to come!

Grace getting henna-style tattooing done. A really big thing among women here in Burkina Faso, they use natural products.

Another simple but delicious meal made by Brenda at my house. Dude, it's garlic bread. In Burkina Faso!

Madame Constance also getting the temporary traditional tattooing done by Aicha.

One of the many ways that Hercules is found asleep in my house. So cute!

A bunch of us in the Southwest exploring the "municipal forest" in Diebougou.

Inside the caves in Diebougou which used to be used by the French army over 50 years ago...I think.

Traditional Easter pictures with the Ouattara family!

Madame Ouattara: like my extended, really cool aunt here in Burkina Faso!

Me and my Burkina Faso family.

...and another sleeping picture of Hercules to hold you over until the next time I blog about him. Seriously, he makes my day! haha

Club d'Anglais. An English Club. It's funny how I've been wanting to do this since the beginning of my service at the end of 2009, but it's only during the last few months at site that I've finally got one up and running...even for a little bit. So the idea for me was to get it up and running, then have the volunteer that replaces me continue the work in collaboration with the elected officers of the English Club. So far, so good! I'm working with the new middle school at my site, and their grade level is 5eme (equivalent in the US is around 8th/9th grade).We've had a few meetings and our first activity was to start a United States/Burkina Faso letter exchange with my high school French teacher's French 5-6 class that I've been corresponding with since the beginning of my service. Exciting! Subsequent activities were getting the students to practice their oral skills in English since they aren't given that opportunity as much. I've tried to ask questions to the class and have them respond with different answers, writing them on the board and hopefully expanding their English vocabulary at the same time.

Our last meeting, we elected President, Vice-President and Secretary to continue the club and hopefully help my replacement volunteer with starting it up again for the next school year. Exciting stuff as well!

Me with the new elected officers of the English Club (Bernadette [Secretary], Abdoulaye [Vice-President], Sylvain [President]) and a guest appearance by Hercules! Yeah, he followed me all the way to the school.

A snapshot of the chalkboard.

As I was leaving the school, this was the view of the clouds and such. Rainy season is upon us!

International Women's Day. March 8.

It's a day that's celebrated around the world and has particular meaning to me since I work primarly with girls at the school level. So I thought to myself, what activity could I do to promote girls, show the community something a little new and have fun at the same time? Of course, a Girls' Soccer Match!

Thanks to my Dad and his gift of some really nice soccer balls, I decided to add a little competitive edge as well to get the girls (and all the students, for that matter) motivated and excited. The idea was to give the winning class a brand new soccer ball, but I decided to also give the 'losing' class another soccer ball as well, so everyone wins.

The CM2 girls were in my Girls' Club last year and thanks to Ali, know a little bit about the rules and how to play (cultural side note: here in Burkina Faso, soccer is a predominantly male sport. Rarely, if ever, do you see women, let alone girls, play soccer). And my CM1 girls were currently learning the ins-and-outs of soccer at our weekly Girls' Club meetings.

Because of everything that's been going on in Burkina Faso, the soccer match had to be pushed back to April 12. Not a problem! Ali served as the referee and everything seemed to be set. The day arrived, school ended and all the kids were getting excited. The girls were even wearing jerseys that the school somehow had, stashed away in the closet!

It was absolutely exhilarating and exciting to watch these girls play, and certainly showed the community their ability to do anything. Seriously! Until things took a turn for the worse...

...I guess I should first start with soccer being not just a sport, but almost a way of life. Especially for Burkinabè. They take it very, very seriously, and losing is no easy thing to take.

Because it's been so long, I don't remember the exact details but the CM2 girls were losing and their CM2 teacher instantly got angry at Ali, the referee, for an alleged unfair call. The CM1 girls made a penalty kick and won, but the CM2 teacher wouldn't take it...so he stormed off the field and took all of his kids with him. Talk about bad sportsmanship, right?

At the time, I didn't quite understand what was going on until Madame Ouattara, my neighbor and CM1 teacher, explained. Crap! So now I felt awkwardly wedged between all of this confusion.

Long story short, I made certain that everyone knew that the school actually gained two soccer balls and that the community knew that girls can play soccer. And that's the essential message from all of this.

The girls in action, with Ali as referee.

Madame Ouattara leading all of her students.

Probably the picture that best describes all the chaos at the end...the two teachers on the left complaining and Ali in the middle of it all. Haha!

The winning class...CM1! Congrats!

I realize that I'm WAY behind in blogging. But things have been so crazy and overwhelming and everything all combined in one that I haven't had the chance to sit down and write a blog...or enough time to upload pictures for that matter.

Anyway, at the end of March was the last of my training group's conferences...our COS (Close Of Service) Conference. Which essentially signified the beginning of the end of our Peace Corps tour here in Burkina Faso. And, bittersweetly, the last time our whole training group would get together in Burkina Faso.

The COS Conference was led by Ellie, an RPCV from Turkey, and it was so well organized. Most of it was focusing on the future -- getting back into the job market, how to concisely explain your Peace Corps experience, résumé and cover letter prep, grad school options, etc. All of it was extremely helpful and put me in the right transitional mindset.

After our three day conference, we had our COS Party which was equally amazing! Good food, good music, good company. Got a guest appearance from Floby (kind of like the Justin Timberlake of Burkina Faso...okay, maybe that's a horrible comparison but just to give you all an idea) and just danced the night away!

Floby, himself! Making an appearance at our COS Party before flying to Morocco that same night for some concert.

Our Southwest family! The people I see pretty much every weekend in Gaoua. Will miss you all!

The four from Special K a.k.a. Komsilga. We roughed it through training together in 2009 and still managed to not kill each other, haha! But seriously, lots of love in the picture.

On a sentimental and pensive note, it's amazing to think that I met these 31 strangers in early June 2009, not knowing anyone and none of us really knowing what we'd get ourselves in to. Two years and three months later, I would have never thought these group of people would be my biggest support network here in Burkina Faso. We've really grown to be a family of sorts, and while we may all have our little cliques amongst our group, when it comes down to it, we're always there for each other. Call us the 'Kumbaya stage' (training group), if you will. Because we are!

Things here in Burkina Faso have been both crazy and calm at the same time...long story short, an incident that happened in Koudougou (the third largest city in BF) involving a police officer and student in high school have created mass demonstrations in Ouaga, Bobo and other parts of the country. Because of that, school (from the pre-school level all the way up to the university level) has been canceled to prevent students (particularly high school and university students) from mobilizing and creating mass demonstrations throughout the country. School has been canceled since pretty much the beginning of March (maybe even a little earlier -- my sense of time has now been completely thrown off since school hasn't been in session).

Fortunately, it doesn't affect the villages (where most PCVs are placed) so all seems well. And since the beginning of March (or whenever this started), things have seemed to calm down a bit.

Anyway, here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Grace, Yesi and I. They're so freakin' cute!

Grace and Yesi again! SO cute! (I realize I use the word 'cute' too much...)

Foutou...by far one of my most favorite dishes in Burkina Faso. It's kind of like a thick, thick version of mashed potatoes made out of yams that are boiled and pounded. The sauce that my neighbors make (with tomatoes, eggplant, onions, spices, fish/meat) is absolutely delicious. This night, my neighbors made it because they know I absolutely LOVE it. Mmmm...

Brenda and I standing outside after what seemed like the first rain of the season. Of course, it's not BUT it was great to think that for a little bit.

In a couple of weeks, I have a few big things going on: come March 28-30, it'll be my COS (close-of-service) Conference in Ouaga where my training group will meet for the last time in country before all of us part ways. We still have a bit to go until our actual COS date (in August) but this COS Conference is more for a way for everyone in my training group to discuss our experiences together and how we can move forward and bring them back to the US. Exciting! Immediately after, I'll be participating in a workshop at the American Language Center -- it'll be a crash course on how to Teach English as a Foreign Language which I'm also really excited about. Afterward is the MAP (Men As Partners) Conference with one of my good friends at site, Nazaire (who coincidentally is the President of the parent's association at my primary school + a very involved community member at my site). It'll be hosted by the GAD (Gender and Development Committee) for Peace Corps (Jon's committee) and we'll be discussing ways that we can implicate women and girls in community activities, and educate men and boys on the importance to involve women and girls as well. Lots to look forward to!

This was my THIRD time visiting the Loropeni Ruins, the only UNESCO World Heritage in Burkina Faso and lucky for me, only 20km from my house!

Jon had never been; neither had his counterpart Papa so they invited me to come along with a few of their other friends.

The past two times I just kind of wandered in there and went in with the information I've read in guidebooks. But I'm glad we got a guide this time around to really explain the mystery behind these ruins. They also had all these signs that made it better organized...overall, a really great time!

A little blurb again about the Loropeni Ruins again from Wikipedia:

The Loropéni ruins were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009. The ruins are the country's first World Heritage inscription. Surrounded by mystery, the 11,130m2 property is made up of an array of stone walls. Loropéni is the best preserved example of a type of fortified settlement in a wide part of West Africa, linked to the tradition of gold mining, which seems to have persisted through at least seven centuries. Loropéni, given its size and scope reflects a type of structure quite different from the walled towns of what is now Nigeria, or the cities of the upper reaches of the river Niger which flourished as part of the Empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai. It thus can be seen as an exceptional testimony to the settlement response generated by the gold trade.

When you literally translate the words l'amour-propre, it's 'love for yourself.' But the best translation is self-esteem.

For the past few weeks in my CM1 Girls' Club, my Life Skills lesson has focused on self-esteem and my final activity was where each girl writes her name on the top of each page, tapes it to her back and each person writes something positive about her.

To help them out, in past meetings, I told stories that I created that asked the girls to describe the girl with with certain, positive adjectives (ex: courageous, strong, intelligent, etc.) and it culminated with making a list of these on the board.

Good thing I brought my camera -- my girls are absolutely hilarious!

By the way, I finally went to the hair salon in Ouaga and she ended up annihilating my faux-hawk. It's back to my haircut circa high school days...Ali randomly took this picture. I feel like because of this hot season, I've been losing weight because all I do is drink water and sweat. Hah!

I don't know if I mentioned this already, but the hot season is officially here! Gone are the days of shutting all my windows before going to bed, warming up my bucket bath water every night and sleeping with a blanket/long-sleeved shirt...

I'm so happy Jon and I decided to do our Weekend Girls' Camp in January because we would've been hot messses had we done it at the end of February!

Below are just a few pictures of my life here since the Girls' Camp...

In the morning and throughout the first half of the day, the sun shines on my porch which makes it perfect for drying things. One day, my neighbors Clémence and Pélagé + Grace came by and were drying chives. CHIVES. It instantly reminded me of baked potatoes with sour cream, butter and bacon bits. Mmmmmm...my mouth salivates just thinking of it!

It is also potato and lettuce season here in Burkina Faso. I love it! Gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

Hercules never ceases to entertain me. Look at the way he sleeps sometimes! I could probably create a photo album of all the strange ways Hercules sleeps, haha.

HAHA! He keeps me sane when the sun tries to fry my brain.

Remember the school garden I helped Jean, my counterpart, with a few months ago? Look at how much it's grown. In this picture are cucumbers.

PSDN (Peer Support and Diversity Network) heading out to a nice dinner...sadly, this February's meeting was our second to last one. =/

Ahh yes, Weekend Girls' Camp #2 chez moi! We continued using the same four themes: Life Skills, English, Health and Sports.

Preparing for the camp was a little less insane at my house -- organizing the middle school visit; organizing the ridiculously huge task of feeding 22 people (may not seem like much but damn, do these kids eat a lot!); preparing the school; talking with guest speakers and school officials; dealing with my corrupt school director (long story short, the moment he found out I got a grant for this Girls' Camp, he straight up asked me for money because he deserved it and that because I was using the school. WTF?! You're obviously new and don't know that I fuckin' work for the school too, douchebag. Ugh. Excuse the language...); etc. So it was a lot of running around and calling people to prepare...

On Saturday morning, Jon and his 10 girls arrived at my site. What's crazy is that many of my girls are children of fonctionnaires (civil servants) that have salaried jobs. So they've had more of an opportunity to travel around Burkina Faso and have a little more means. Not so much the case for Jon's girls, which is why it was such a treat for them especially to come to my site!

We headed straight for the Collège (middle school) which is fortunately within walking distance. They JUST built it andit looks brand spankin' new! I had their Director, a very nice man named Mr. Meda, give them a little tour and encourage them to continue their studies to the secondary level and beyond. When we went back to the school, we continued the Life Skills activity on creating goals and objectives in life, which actually turned out really well!

Regarding Health activities, we focused on proper handwashing and Moringa/its nutritional value. Maybe it seemed a little like class but our hope is that they learned something that they'll carry with them. We also invited my friend, Koro, who works at the CSPS (village medical center) as a sage-femme (midwife?) to give a session using an image flipbook that I had on HIV/AIDS...clearly a very sensitive subject but something that definitely needed to be addressed. Never too early, especially here in Burkina Faso/Africa!

We did a little English this time around and the Sports focus this time was soccer which EVERY child in Burkina Faso -- heck, all of Africa -- enjoys! These girls are good!

All in all, an excellent final weekend followed by handing out Certificates of Participation and a grand group photo.

All right, enjoy the pictures, round 2:

Jon, Mr. Meda (middle school director) and the girls after their little field trip to the middle school. When Mr. Meda talked to the girls about the importance of working hard to get to the secondary level and seeing how different the environment was (and how new the school was!) got them really motivated. I started seeing lightbulbs flickering!

My 10 girls and I at one of the entrance signs to my site.

Talking to the girls about proper handwashing and why it's important to use water that's either running or tossed on your hands AND soap. The two girls to the right (Adissa and Aicha) are so ridiculously intelligent, it's inspiring.

We did this experiment with three girls and fabricated stories to make it interesting. The first girl went to play soccer out in the field and ended up touching the ground a lot. The second girl simply was in class all day. The third girl just washed her hands after using the bathroom. The idea was to have each of the girls was their hands with soap and water in the small white basin and show that washing your hands with running water is extremely important, but most especially with soap and by rubbing your hands to get rid of all the germs.

Jon conducting a cool English game where the girls race to draw a specific object and then they learn the translation in English.

My good friend Koro from the CSPS, using the image flipbook to discuss HIV/AIDS -- who it concerns, modes of transmission and ways of prevention. A very successful presentation; hopefully she can come again for a final Girls' Camp I'd like to host before leaving this year!

First group picture at my site.

Ali leading the girls in soccer. Damn, they're good and many of them have never played before in their lives!

A special dinner treat out at a restaurant in town.

Moringa and nutrition presentation.

After the presentation, we went outside and the girls made their own Moringa nursery that they could take home and grow by themselves.

After packing the empty water sachet with dirt, we watered it a little to get the soil moist.

Then we put in a couple of seeds to ensure that if one doesn't grow, the other will.

A really good picture of Alimata (one of the girls in my Girls' Club). Good job, Jon!

Explaining that when they get home, they need to poke two holes in the bottom to let the roots breathe and have excess water leave. That way, it'll be easier to transplant it to the ground.

Clémence and Franck helping bring the food over. Mmmm!

Madame Hien and Ali preparing the salad -- a real treat since it's lettuce season right now and not too far from my house, either. Holla!

Jon with the massive amounts of food. Rice with eggplant and fish sauce (sounds weird but it really, really good!) and salad with onions and spices. A true feast!

Jon and I with our 20 girls and their Certificates of Participation. A final picture!

Jon and I after the Camp...exhausted but well worth it. =)

Here in Burkina Faso, there are many things that just make me happy. After a busy week/weekend planning and executing the Weekend Girls' Camp, it was nice to just be back at site and just take everything in again. As of late, I've noticed the sunsets have been unusually nice lately. And because they set right behind my house, I've always been inclined to walk outside and stare, even if the window for a good sunset can be as little as a few minutes (once I was walking outside and saw a really great sunset, went inside to look for my camera and it took a couple of minutes, finally found it, went outside and saw the sun already set!). Part of it might be because I believe I officially am at the last 6 months of my service. So I think I'm just trying to take everything in because while I am excited to return home, I know that -- at least hearing about other Volunteers who have returned back home -- you'll definitely miss aspects of your service, Burkina Faso, the people, etc. I thought I should also share these pictures of my neighbor's baby, Grace-Victoire. She can finally walk now and talks gibberish ALL THE TIME, especially when she's sees me! It's hilarious because we have raised porches and whenever she's on her porch, I'm on mine and she sees me, she'll start to babble away in gibberish. Perhaps she wants to learn English? haha

This photo probably best describes her personality. Always laughing! Look how cute that is. =)

As some of you might know, Jon and I are both volunteers under the program "Girls' Education and Empowerment" (GEE) and while we've done our own respective projects/activities at site, we've always talked about collaborating and doing something together. Anything GEE-related! Plus, we only live 12km from each other, so really there was no excuse NOT to collaborate.

...and then it hit us. A Camp des Filles or Girl's Camp! Long story short, we applied for a Gender and Development (GAD) grant to help pay for transport, food and other necessities, organized a program based on four themes (I'll talk about it later) and worked with teachers and other school officials to get logistical details off the ground.

Choosing the girls was difficult since we each had our respective Girls' Clubs at the CM1 level (5th grade in the US) but to make it fair, we had the CM1 teachers of his school and my school choose the top 10 girls with the highest academic achievement. Sweet!

Because the second trimester was back in full swing, we decided to make it a weekend Girls' Camp -- the first weekend at Jon's site and the second and final weekend at my site -- so as not to disrupt their studies during the week. The idea would be that my 10 girls and I would leave Saturday morning from my site, do a full day's worth of activities on Saturday, sleep over, continue on Sunday and head back that afternoon.

Many of our girls haven't left their village in their lives, so it was really an adventure for many of them to travel a little distance and make some new friends!

Just to give you the basics, our Girls' Camp was centered around four (4) themes: Life Skills (future planning, goals and objectives, having model women speak), English (basic greetings, numbers), Health (hygiene and nutrition) and Sports (Frisbee and soccer).

All right, enjoy the pictures!

Jon found the best tree to sit under at his site. Got plastic mats out and our first session was pairing the girls off with name tags they made for each other, handing out pens and notebooks, and did a drawing activity on proper nutrition.

We also did a Life Skills session inviting model women in Jon's community to come speak about their lives how they got to where they were, and gave advice to the girls. Salimata is one of the higher-ups at the Mayor's office and Safi is a nurse at the CSPS (village medical center).

We did a little bit of English, which the girls seem to always love!

We also did a Life Skills activity that had them imagine their lives tomorrow, in a year, in 5 years, in 10 years and so forth (which explains why they have their heads down). Pretty interesting stuff and a great segway to establishing goals and objectives!

First group picture - Jon and I with our 20 girls!

For the Sports theme, we decided to focus the weekend at Jon's site with Frisbee.

Before dinner on Saturday night, we took a tour of Jon's site. In Lobiri, his village's name means "lake"-something so naturally the girls were interested in visiting the lake. Fun times!

One of our icebreaker activities was "telephone." Definitely a great activity but I honestly think it was either Jon or I that screwed up the sentence we tried to pass around the circle.

One of the health activities we did was invited Safi over again to give a 'sensibilisation' (awareness raising session) on malaria, how you can get it and how to avoid it. A huge, huge issue here in Burkina.

My girls getting ready to leave to head back home!

Weekend Girls' Camp #1 done...Weekend Girl's Camp #2 at my site up next!

Currently in Gaoua and don't have the patience to wait 57896 hours for pictures from Girls' Camp 1st Weekend that Jon and I have put together for the 10 highest-achieving girls in our respective Girls' Clubs (I'll probably do that when I get to Ouaga in mid-February for a meeting) BUT I do want to update this blog with adorable pictures of my neighbor's dog, Hércules! The longer I live here, the more I want to take him back with me to the U.S. Oh boy!

Look at how he sleeps!

Check out the water sachets in Mali!

Cliffs in Dogon with the dwellings of the Tellum and Dogon people. Insane!

Happy Birthday Leslie! Substituting a cake for a plate of fries...and a candle for a simple match. You make do with what you have!

Every night, we slept on top of rooftops. But boy, was it chilly! Look at us all bundled up with the hats that Leslie knit for us. You'd never guess we're in West Africa!

New Year's Eve...we made it to the top. We met some Americans along the way and they let us borrow their "Happy New Year's" hats for this picture. So nice! haha

Peace!

About to descend.

Initially very scary to climb down these but overall, very awe-inspiring! We don't have anything like this in Burkina!

Such a happy picture amongst the cliffs. Seriously, the best descent ever!

The group amongst the sand dunes.

Hiking amongst the sand dunes. This picture screams Africa, si?

Doesn't this picture look insane?!

Colette and I. You were missed, Devin!

...we needed this (a map of Mali) during our whole trip but only got a hold of it at the last day of our trip. Haha!

More pictures can be found on my Facebook album since it takes forever to upload pictures here in Burkina Faso http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2198582&id=10800346&l=3fc46c3077

If anything, Lolo's passing has brought our family closer together again. And what better time than for Christmas (which also happens to be the wedding anniversary of my grandparents!).

Normally I spend Christmas Eve with my Mom's side in Milpitas and Christmas Day with my Dad's side in Daly City, so this year was no different...except for the feeling of it all. The holiday spirit, if you will. It just didn't feel the same but I was still grateful to be with family (and in the presence of copious amounts of food! Let's be real...family and food.) I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...enjoy! And Happy Holidays to all of you!

When we took Grandma to the Missionaries of Charity convent in San Francisco to drop off Tita Talin, the sisters were joking around with Grandma. So cute!

At Miles' birthday dinner with some of the LMU IB fam.

On Thursday morning (December 9), I was in Bobo for the 50th Independence Day celebration for Burkina, practicing marching. I get a call from home and almost immediately know what my Mom is going to say. ..

"Son, your Lolo just passed away a few hours ago. We're all heading to the hospital now. Go look for flights - I want you to come home."

Plain and simple. Yet initially, it didn't hit me as hard.

I knew about Lolo's condition ever since Thanksgiving when he wasn't eating enough and just wasn't himself. He had a hard time breathing so they brought him to the ER to help his respiration and stimulate his appetite. Long story short, he got pnuemonia among other things and, well..combine old age with the consequences of smoking for many years (he started when he was 13 but stopped cold turkey maybe 50 years later?) and it made him suffer a lot.

In any case, he passed away on December 8, 2010 at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley...from what it seems like, in his sleep. I'm glad my final memories of Lolo are happy ones when we said farewell at SFO when I came home in September. Regardless, I wanted to be there with my family and boy, did I need it!

The Peace Corps office and staff here in Burkina Faso have been so supportive. Usually in instances like this, if a parent or a sibling pass away (I think...don't quote me on that), the Peace Corps will pay for you to fly home on emergency/special leave. But because this is my grandfather, the Peace Corps doesn't cover it but my Mom was definitely willing to pay the plane ticket if I was allowed to leave. In any case, I'm just grateful for the support everywhere...here in Burkina Faso and at home in the US!

I think the emotions really hit when I was getting on the different planes to head home and eventually getting to the mortuary. Anyway, here are some pictures:

Jose de Leon, Sr.March 4th 1927 - Pilar, Bataan, PhilippinesDecember 8th 2010 - Berkeley, California, USALoving husband, father and grandfather.

The pallbearers (my uncles + David and I) laying our gloves and boutonnieres on Lolo's casket. I think this is probably the first time in my life where I've sobbed almost uncontrollably in public. =/

The family.

Grandma with her sons and daughters (youngest to oldest from left to right).

The immediate grandchildren (except Jacob is missing).

I'll end with the eulogy I gave for my Lolo on Monday. Crazy story: Keep in mind that the viewings were Sunday, December 12th-Monday, December 13th and Tuesday, December 14th was the memorial mass/funeral/burial. I was to leave Burkina Faso the night of Saturday, December 11th and arrive in Oakland the night of Sunday, December 12th. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - Paris, France - Salt Lake City, Utah - Oakland, California. Simple enough, right? Until I arrived at Salt Lake City --the last leg of my flight home-- and found out my flight was canceled and that I wouldn't arrive until 8:00pm on Monday, completely missing the last viewing. I swear, God works in mysterious ways and I was able to get a flight to San Jose (which is right next to the mortuary) arriving an hour before the last viewing starts on Monday! Whew! In the process, I'll give a shout-out to Vincent, a fellow passenger and Bay Area resident I met while in Salt Lake City. Cheers to you for keeping me sane, friend!

Anyway, here's the eulogy I was able to compose amidst all that chaos of actually getting home:

Lolo’s Eulogy By Michael Berino December 13, 2010 For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Michael Berino and I am the eldest grandson of my Lolo, Jose de Leon Sr. As most of you know, I’m currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso, a small country in the heart of West Africa since June of 2009. On September of this year, I came back home for a visit for many reasons, but one of the most important was to see my grandparents, the ones whom I firmly consider my second parents, having raised my younger brother David and me since we were babies. The unfortunate news of my grandfather getting seriously ill these past few weeks hit me really hard. This is the first time I’ve lost someone very close to me; the same for most people in my immediate family as well. Knowing that he was nearing the end of his time here on Earth conjured many memories of my Lolo throughout his long life. He was a man of few words who spoke greatly with his actions. If he was with us right now, he’d want to divert the attention away from him and focus it on someone else. Even if you came to any of the de Leon family parties, Lolo wouldn’t be the first person you’d notice in the room. But he possessed a strong and wise presence that held our family together. The way I see my family is much like how a tree is composed: the leaves, branches and fruit are plentiful but the tree would be nothing – absolutely nothing – without its roots. My family is blessed to be grounded by two intelligent, hard working and loving grandparents – the roots of our family. Heck, they are so intelligent that Lolo was salutatorian of his high school class while Grandma was the valedictorian! More importantly, Grandma and Lolo balance each other out – Grandma being more of the disciplinarian and Lolo being more of the relaxed head of the household. As a result, we are very blessed to have had both grandparents live for so long and still be together during a time when divorce is all too familiar; have daughters and sons who emigrated to the US and created better lives for themselves; and have had grandchildren that are going on to do significant things in life – a nurse at Stanford, a future dentist, a future engineer and so forth. Personally speaking, the impact that Lolo has had on my life is indescribable. But I’m going to attempt to sum up a few of the lessons he’s taught me during his 83 years of living… Lesson #1: Family and God first. Always. · Lolo may not have been the most “religious” man but he believed in God even if he didn’t go to church as often. In terms of family, even before my Mom and Dad divorced, Lolo was like my second father. I’ll never forget when I had to dress up as a shepherd for the Christmas play when I was in 2nd grade…I refused to leave the house and was embarrassed with my outfit but Lolo drove me and waited at the church the whole time, encouraging me to go up even if I felt embarrassed. Lesson #2: If family and God are first, then fashion is definitely second. · Members Only jackets, name-brand cologne, Ray-Ban style sunglasses, argyle sweaters – he was the epitome of a cool and trendy grandpa. Which probably explains my family’s indulgence in all things clothes, shoes and shopping. Seriously! …Except probably Tita Talin. Also when David and I were younger, Lolo used to drive us to school and pick us up with his oh-so-cool Toyota Celica. He was a true trendsetter! Lesson #3: When a situation gets dry or uncomfortable, use humor. · One time when the whole family was in Boracay in 2003 for a huge family vacation, I remember we were all getting ready to leave to go snorkeling in the ocean. Out of the blue, Lolo turns to me and blurts, “my God, Michael. Your legs look like a girl’s.” A comment that completely took me by surprised but made everyone laugh hysterically. That was my Lolo – a man of few words but when he does speak, especially when it’s hilarious and random, you remember what he says! · There was another time when I was around 10 and I brought back sand from the beach in San Francisco. I don’t remember what exactly happened but I poured sand in David’s hair because I was mad at David and Lolo told me to wash out the sand from his hair or else he would pour sand in my hair too. · Before I left to go back to Burkina Faso in September of this year, David sent me a text right after they dropped me off, which read: “So we’re leaving the airport and Grandma is holding on to Lolo’s arm while we’re getting on the moving platform…and Lolo’s complaining about how heavy his bags are…so unknowingly, he let’s go of Grandma’s hand.” · Even back in the Philippines, my Lolo was a riot. When Tito Vic was little, Lolo caught him picking up a cigarette butt on the ground and smoking it. When Tito Vic caught Lolo’s glaring at him, he immediately dropped it and walked away. Lolo called Tito Vic over, made him sit on the bench and threw him a whole packet of cigarettes…and made him smoke all of them in one sitting. Lesson learned and he never did it again. Lesson #4: Keep up with current events. · I can’t recollect a single day when Lolo wasn’t reading the newspaper. I remember David and I trying to teach Lolo how to use the Internet and leaving the laptop downstairs, only to find him an hour later reading the newspaper because it was easier that way. Lesson #5: If you have the means, be generous. · One of the best things Lolo is known for was his generosity. His willingness to give, give and give and expect nothing in return. He gave his grandchildren money all the time during Christmas and even when I was home in September, Lolo gave me $500 because he knew I was a poor Peace Corps Volunteer that couldn’t afford anything! Even my Mom and her brothers and Tita Talin can attest to Lolo being generous with money when they were kids in the Philippines. · “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.” Psalm 37: 25-26 Lesson #6: Take risks. · Reno, Las Vegas, Cache Creek…you know it, he probably gambled there. But I take his gambling as a metaphor for life: take risks. Take a chance.

This is no doubt a sad and difficult time for my family. I cried many times at my house in Burkina Faso just thinking about how much suffering Lolo must have been going through, or how difficult it was for the rest of my family to carry the burden of his pain. But I’m a firm believer in the saying that God doesn’t give us humans anything that we cannot handle. More than anything, this should be a celebration of Lolo’s long life. Of the legacy he left for his children and grandchildren to pass on. Lolo, I know that Thanksgiving and Christmas family get-togethers won’t be the same without you. That it won’t be the same at home without you, reading your newspaper in the kitchen while drinking coffee. Or feeding Benji at the dinner table even though Mom and I have told you many, many times that it only encourages Benji to develop a habit of eating at the dinner table and asking for food. The point is: you will always be loved and will always be missed. What comforts me most is knowing that you’re up there in Heaven with Lolo Ben, watching over your family and wishing nothing but the best for us. One of my most favorite quotes is from Mother Teresa where she says, “Each of us is a pencil in the hand of God, who is writing a love letter to the world.” Imagine that – each of us being a pencil of God, writing a love letter to the world. I’m certain Lolo was probably one of those high-tech, fancy-schmancy, sleek black mechanical pencils that you can get for $50 at Staples in the nice casing…whose love letter is manifest in those he loved most – his wife – my grandmother Dulce, his six children and his grandchildren. If anything, we’re all here to carry on his legacy. I love you, Lolo…until we meet again. Thank you.

I'll miss you, Lolo!

So one of my closest friends here in Peace Corps Burkina Faso has successfully completed her two years of service and headed back to the U.S. A couple of our last pictures together au Burkina Faso but I know I'll see you after I leave next year. Dakar? Morocco? The US? I'll miss you, Gwen! This blog entry is for you. =)

Always laughing with this girl!

Matching bracelets. We're ridiculous and I love it!

As I mentioned in my last blog entry about work starting off a bit on the wrong foot, the first trimester of your second year as a GEE PCV is still a bit of a trial. Don't get me wrong, I feel very comfortable at site and feel like I know what I have to do...it's just a matter of doing it with all this protocol and such which is the difficult thing.

I eventually got started around the middle of November to at least get the ball rolling. As of late, I've been branching out and doing activities with other schools. Jean, my counterpart, needed help with his school garden (his primary school is about 2km from my house) so I provided some financial support to get the appropriate seeds and also helped with organizing all the kids and such. Lots of fun! I'll be coming in every week and we even have a little section for Moringa to educate the kids on its importance and how it can provide great nutritional value to their food.

Jean teaching the kids how to properly care for the soil.

Jean and I.

Jean and I with most of the kids from his CM1 and CM2 classes.

I've had a couple more activities with the school (alphabet project, an English & Cultures of the World club, baby weighings at the CSPS, etc.) but sadly, no pictures (yet!). I do have pictures from my CM1 Girls' Club which I've started again. The girls this year are different from last year's girls...a little more reserved and it's taking a little longer to explain the importance of Life Skills. Aicha, Madame Ouattara's daughter, is part of my Girls' Club and one of my chefs (club leaders) which is great because she understands my French and can explain things to the girls when they don't really understand my explanations. I will say that these girls are turning into really great soccer players which I'm really excited about!

Same format -- Life Skills, English and Soccer every Thursday!

=)

Ali helping me lead the girls in soccer.

The girls divided into two teams, ready to duke it out!

Aicha leading the pack!!

Come January, Jon and I are planning a joint weekend Girls' Camp with his CM1 Girls' Club and my CM1 Girls' Club. I'm really excited for this! We live so close to each other -- why not do more collaborative work together, especially as GEE volunteers?! One weekend we'll be at his site and the next weekend, we'll be at my site. The greatest part is that the girls will be able to meet each other, many of whom have never been farther than 5km from their houses in their lives. So updates on that soon!

Ahhh yes, my second (and last!) Thanksgiving in Burkina Faso. And I spent it at site! I invited the other volunteers in my area and a few could come -- Jane, Brenda and Shannon. Fun times were had. Good food was had! Lots of magazine reading and hilarious moments with Hercules (thank God all of us love dogs!). And laying on my porch, talking and watching the stars.

I think that's why I love Thanksgiving so much -- a reason to get together with family, eat good food and be grateful for all the blessings in your life. =)

Hercules! All my neighbors think it's funny that I pick up Hercules like this because the way they treat dogs in Burkina Faso is dramatically different from how they do it in the U.S.

Jane, our official Thanksgiving taste-tester. Completely needed!

Peeling potatoes on the porch. Homemade mashed potatoes, anyone?

A Thanksgiving feast, Burkina-style!

I remember telling myself this almost a year and a half ago when I was a trainee up in Ouahigouya: that I know that I've reached the beginning of the end of my service when two of the biggest events in Burkina Faso happen - FESPACO (the film festival) and SIAO (the artisan festival)!

SIAO is the first of the two, meaning 'Salon International de l'Artisanat de Ouagadougou.' It's probably one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, display of African art and culture in the entire continent of Africa. And it's happening right here in Burkina Faso! People from all over Africa and even some from around the world come to display and sell what they have to offer.

It's literally a feast for the eyes (and the wallet)...Ghana fabrics, bronze sculptures, fruit jams from the Congo...the list is truly endless and they have just about everything. I only wish I could've spent more than one afternoon there to truly enjoy everything. Sadly, I didn't take many pictures except of the cotton candy machine they had there. A cotton candy machine! For those of you that don't understand the magnitude of how amazingly awesome this is, I haven't had cotton candy in a fair since I was...well, really, really little. SO this is great! In the middle of West Africa!

At the end of it all, I got some cool Ghana fabric, a couple of nifty tee shirts and some Touraeg silver jewelry. Overall, a great experience!

Leslie and I waiting for cotton candy. In Burkina Faso. Whaaat?! Still blows my mind.

So amazing. Seriously, haha!

Gwen got us matching fabric/shirts. Imagine that, a country where wearing the same outfit is actually a good thing!

After my amazing trip back home from Americaland, it was back to Burkina Faso and the start of a great milestone in my Peace Corps service: the beginning of my second and final year!

When I got back to site in the beginning of October (with a crazy-busy schedule of working PST and going back home the couple of months prior), the feeling was different. A GOOD different. Like I felt more at ease than I've ever felt before. Like I had more of my niche. French seemed to roll off the tongue more. Jula (at least the basic greetings) were easier to go through. Biking around town and near my house, people would shout my name or I'd just recognize more people/friends. In all, things just felt more natural...

...except for work. Someone should have told me that the first trimester of your second year as a GEE PCV will still require a lot of patience! I arrive in October, Action Plan in-hand, ready to get started projects immediately until I realized how debilitating going through protocol can be here in Burkina Faso -- greeting all the authorities, making your work plans known, waiting for their approval and whatnot. Sheesh! For almost more than a month, I was pretty much waiting to get primary work projects started. Fortunately, it seemed to be the same for my other fellow GEE PCVs in my training group.

Such is the life living in another country. At the end of the day, you just enjoy the experience you've been given and appreciate the company of friends and 'family' here in Burkina Faso...and I did just that. Enjoy the pictures!

Grace-Victoire and I. Grace is my neighbor (Madame Constance's) daughter. Super cute! She used to be scared of me but now I think she's grown a little attached to me now. =)

Jon and his gift of Hostess cupcakes, his one request when I came back from America. Funny thing is, you can't see how flat they became, haha.

"Helping out" my friend Clémence fan the charcoal to cook food. She cracks me up everyday!

Aicha with Albertine and Clémence making her infamous caramel toffee ball candies. Mmmm!

A closer look at the caramel toffee balls...oh Ali. I don't know how this kid learned the middle finger...lol...

Now that Grace can start walking, she likes playing this game of hide-and-seek behind your back. Really cute!

Aicha and Madame Ouattara making their infamous gateau biscuits. Mmmm! They're so good when they're freshly cooked.

I seriously have a clothing obsession. These aren't even all the shirts I've got made here in Burkina!

So I have this outdoor kitchen area that I don't use. The door doesn't have a lock/handle so when it gets really windy or rainy, the door flies open and shuts all the time, making this really scary noise. So I tied string around it to keep the door shut. When I went home in September, I come home to discover my string was stolen. Not a big deal, right? But I decided to leave a little note in case the thief came by and wanted to guilt trip him/her. =)

Okay, so half my pictures are of Grace. Whaaat?! I can't help it - I love kids!

Cooking 'igname ragout,' one of my most favorite Burkinabè dishes. Mmm!

Some of my kids all dressed up in their party attire. They're so cute! They're celebrating Tabaski, one of the biggest Muslim holidays.

Excellent shot! Compliments of Jon.

Jon and Hercules!

Hercules and I! I don't want him to get any bigger. But seriously, one of the most adorable dogs ever. Isn't necessarily the brightest crayon in the box but he'll do...

A couple of my friends here competed in the 'Semaine Nationale de la Culture' (National Week of Culture) in Bobo. It's a biennial event that brings troupes from all over Burkina Faso to perform and compete. Mathieu was performing on the tam-tam (drum) while a couple of my other friends were doing traditional Lobi dancing. Cool stuff!

My neighbors forcing me to whip out the blue boubou from Swear-In and model it for them.

Aicha being silly with Hercules. Awwww!

I want to first preface this entry and mention it took me multiple, multiple trips to the Internet cafe in a span of a couple of months to get this damn entry posted. So the following pictures pretty much round out my trip back home! Enjoy! Again...food...

California Pizza Kitchen...where oddly I don't get pizza but small side dishes instead. Go figure.

Rooobbbbeerrrrtttt....copying my hair style!

With some of the LMU fam at the Castro, SF.

BOILING CRAB. mmmmm. Shrimp in the whole sha-bang sauce (spices, lemon pepper, etc.) with lemon juice/salt & pepper dip, sweet potato fries and root beer. I'm in heaven. Seriously.

Bubba! We've had here since I was in 8th grade. haha! I figured if I put in 20 pictures of Benji, I need to put in at least one of Bubba.

At Santana Row in San Jose for Mom's birthday.

Eating some of my favorite Chinese food: Westlake beef egg drop soup and Hong Kong pan-fried combination noodles from China House. Mmmmm!

Oh Benji! The best driving companion ever.

Taking Benji to the dog park!

Japanese bento box. Yum!

With Megan. This picture pretty much describes our friendship!

Coming back home, one of the things I wanted to do most were these Third Goal presentations. What is the Third Goal, you ask?

Peace Corps has three basic goals:

Helping the people of Burkina Faso in meeting their need for trained men and women.Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the Burkinabè.Helping promote a better understanding of the Burkinabè on the part of Americans.I correspond with my old high school French teacher's (Ms. Mahoney) French 5-6 class and definitely wanted to meet them in person. I also connected with Ms. Bayer via Facebook and decided to do a presentation for her 8th grade class.

I used the template of a PowerPoint presentation one of my friends here used when she went back home. Talked about what the Peace Corps is, about Burkina Faso and my life here thus far. I also brought in things to show the students (currency from BF, a traditional outfit, a balafon--essentially, an African xylophone, etc.).

I had so much fun doing this and really am considering going into education after the Peace Corps. A little teaching and then who knows where life will lead me!

At my old high school. I used the picture of my training group's Swear-In Ceremony to show the different types of attire here in Burkina Faso.

Lunch break on Solano. High school memory relived, many years later!

With Ms. Mahoney and her French 5-6 class that I've been corresponding with. Great group of students!

Ms.Mahoney, one of my most favorite teachers of all time! I thank her for making me love learning the French language so much.

At my former elementary/middle school.

Bringing money from Burkina Faso was a big hit! Too bad you can't even exchange it in the US.

Teaching the kids a little French. On a side note, you can't even compare a classroom in the US with a classroom in Burkina!

The 8th grade class and I. Hilarious group of kids!

With Ms. Bayer (another one of those all-time favorite teachers) and Mr. Seishas, the principal.

I feel like one of the greatest things I'm gaining from my Peace Corps experience is this reciprocal cultural exchange that is very hard to find elsewhere. This'll sound really corny, but I really feel fulfilled when this happens.

=)

Ahhh yes, a LA trip was definitely in order...staying with Erica, meeting up with some close friends for dinner, good food (as usual) and good company...all in a matter of less than 48 hours! Thanks again, Maria!

I love this picture of Erica! White wine and bruschetta, compliments of Mama Dee!

Spicy and crispy chicken wings at Kyo-chun in Koreatown. Sheesh, I'm salivating over here!!

Korean BBQ with some close friends from LMU.

Mama Dee!!!

3/4 of the LMU Fam Bam.

Erica took us to this place that had blueberry and ricotta cheese pancakes. SO good!

My first week at home is when Maria came to visit. First stop: typical tourist trip to San Francisco! Shopping, good food, good company...then we stayed at my Dad's new house for a couple of nights.

Shopping for clothes that I will never use in Burkina but will use when I come back home in 2011. Haha!

In front of H&M in SF with my two best friends.

Manhattan clam chowder, spicy buffalo wings and a salad. All with a SF bay view!

I love chocolate. mmmmm...

Dad's delicious home cooking!

Krispy Kreme's original donut while driving...

Thai food in SF.

Aren't my friends just beautiful? =)

At my Dad's new place, he grows many of his vegetables in his backyard. So good! It reminds me of when my brother and I were little and had this huge backyard with all these different vegetables and fruits.

Getting boba with Gina. We've been doing this since high school!

...and so my US trip continues...

Okay, with inconsistent internet access (and a SLOW connection at that with this stupid French keyboard), it's taking me a while to post all these pictures from my trip home...

Finally arriving at SFO on September 9, I spent a couple of days chilling with the family. Then Maria and Phil flew in a couple of days after and spent the week with me (more pictures from our SF trip in my next blog post).

One of the big reasons I came home was because of my Grandma's birthday. I love you, Grandma!

Okay, enjoy the pictures and expect the next one to be up in a couple of months, haha!

Grandma and Lolo welcoming me at the airport.

Warning: most of my pictures consist of me eating FOOD. Because next to my family, friends and traveling, I love love love food. Enjoy!

Thus begins my epic adventure back home to the US. September was the best time for me to visit -- my Grandma and Mom's birthdays, the school year here in BF hasn't started yet, the weather isn't too cold back home, I just finished working PST, etc. etc.

So I flew out of Ouaga on September 6 and Kyle was on the same flight as me. Air France is seriously amazing -- unlimited wine and champagne! So the flight was Ouaga to Paris to New York.

Getting into New York was such a trip. I took the subway to our hotel on the West Side and eventually met up with Devin!! Long story short, we chatted it up like no other, walked around New York, shopped at H&M (!!), ate everywhere and just enjoyed each other's company in one of the greatest cities in the world (seriously, I wanna go to grad school in NYC). We even met these West Africans from Cote d'Ivoire at Times Square. They were speaking French and we couldn't resist talking to them!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

First meal back home: chicken mcnuggets with sweet & sour sauce + fries + orange soda. Don't judge!

New York style pizza. It was great -- we'd just walk around, go with our gut and just eat.

Toasted plain bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. *drool*

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Chinese soup in NYC Chinatown. Check out the lady hella mugging in the back! haha

New York MUST: frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity's!

=)

NYC Subway. So efficient!

Overall, a very great transition back to the US. The first couple of hours were overwhelming because I was so fatigued from travel but after a while, I immediately acclimated to life back in the US. In short, I love the US.

After an exhausting but enjoyable time working PST, it was back to site for me. Actually, it was more of a Jon-and-Mikey reunion because heck, we're like brothers from another mother and haven't really seen each other since PST began in June! I can't even begin to tell you how close you get to some of your closest PCV neighbors. You're each other's support networks and I think Jon and I both really lucked out.

Anywho, I come back to a relatively empty site. People are still traveling because it's vacation time or are out in the fields because it's rainy season. Madame Constance and her baby, Grace, are back though. I drop by to say hi and low and behold, one of the cutest things I've seen here in BF comes running to my feet: Hercules! Yes, Hercules. Or in French, Hercule. It's their new puppy who is just about the cutest thing ever. Only about 3 weeks old, from what I heard. But I'm super excited because Madame Constance is my closest neighbor, and I feel like I'm not up to take care of a dog (plus I leave in a year...don't wanna get too attached, you know?)...and yeah, it'll be like having my own dog without all the hassle, haha.

Jon and Hercules. Look how tiny that guy is!

Drinking milk...out of a Vienna Sausage can. So cute!

So Jon slept over and we just caught up over what's been going on during the last couple of months. Jon was teaching English for month at this English camp in Ouaga while I've been busy working PST. For the longest time, I've been wanting to do a video tour of my house and we finally got that done (Internet connection is slow here so y'all will have to wait until later). Afterward, we both took our regular trip to Gaoua (provincial capital). It would be the last time I'd see Jalila, our Belgian friend, before she leaves to finish her work in Mali and then eventually return to Belgium. So we all did some shopping and Brenda came by, too! It was her first time so I gave her a little tour of Gaoua. Man, I really do love where we live!

Jon and I roasting marshmallows in my house. No, seriously! His sister sent them all the way from Portland, Oregon. And it was a little chilly that night, too.

Sneaky Jon. A candid at our regular lunch spot in Gaoua, PP (a.k.a. Poni Paradis). Such a great place to chill and get some basic food.

At the marché.

Again at the Gaoua marché. Jon had to be discreet about taking pictures...we feel weird doing it in public settings because it makes us feel like tourists, you know? I promise to get more pictures soon. Especially the vegetable/fruit section of the marché -- so colorful!

Jon, Jalila and I at the APFG (Association de la Promotion Féminine de Gaoua), the women's association of Gaoua. Great place!

On that note, I'll end it with this: I realize this is a public forum and not many people know, but I head home tomorrow for vacation. I can't believe it! The school year doesn't start until October and I am officially done with training so this is the perfect time to leave BF for a bit and get in touch with family and close friends again. I fly out tomorrow evening, get to Paris and take a connecting flight to New York. I spend a couple of days in New York hanging out with the one and only Devin (!!), then head home for a couple of weeks. Not planning anything big -- just a simple visit home. Celebrate my Grandma and Mom's birthdays, do some Peace Corps presentations with my old high school French teacher and my old 8th Grade teacher's classes, among other things. So yeah, it's completely surreal but I'll be sure to keep updating this during my trip back home after one year. Let's go!

The big day. Finally here! After 9 weeks (and 11-12 weeks for a few) of intense training in language, sector-specific technical training, cross-culture, medical & safety and security, the newest group of Peace Corps Burkina Faso Volunteers swore in on August 27th at the new US Embassy in Ouaga. This was by far the biggest (and nicest!) Swear-In Ceremony we've had, particularly because it took place at the new US Embassy. You walk in and it's seriously like America. Bathrooms with motion-sensored soap dispensing machines, cold water fountains (had to teach a fellow Burkinabè colleague how to use it) and the like! Many dignitaries showed up, including Madame Chantal Compaoré, the First Lady of Burkina Faso. The drinks (wine!!) were a-pouring and the good times just kept coming.

I'll just keep this short and let the pictures speak for themselves...enjoy!

Some of the GEE Tech Team! Evan, Dame (GEE Tech Trainer from Mauritania, Kim, Diallo, Jessi and Emily). Good work, team!

Shannon (Peace Corps Burkina Faso Country Director), Madame Chantal Compaoré (First Lady of Burkina Faso) and Deborah (Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy -- Acting Ambassador). Madame Chantal's skin is lighter than mine! Insane!

Madame Ouattara and I. Love her! She's seriously like my aunt.

Sabrina! My GEE partner-in-crime since May. I loved working with her! Plus...West Coast!

The new GEE Volunteers with some language teachers and PCVFs. Holla!

SOUTHWEST Volunteers, whaat up!

Remember this a year ago? I was in the trainees' shoes, waiting for PST to end as quickly as possible so I could get the hell over to my site! It's funny how things never really change.

So yes. The homestretch. It's here and it's an atmosphere full of anxiety/sadness/happiness/etc. all combined into one big clump. Tech sessions are coming to a close, trainees' language levels in French and local language have improved dramatically and people are starting to realize that the next 2 years of their service are ahead of them.

For me, it's been both enjoyable and exhausting. Exhausting in that the preparation since May and the execution of it all these past few months (planning sessions, facilitating sessions, answering questions 24/7, being known as a constant resource, etc. etc. The list is really endless!) have been constant. Many times, I'd get frustrated but realize that I just have to go with the flow as this is a new experience for everyone (Trainees and PCVF/Ps). This training group, however, has been quite the exception. The first training group in Peace Corps Burkina Faso history where we've had all 4 sectors (Secondary Ed, Health, Small Enterprise Development and Girls' Education and Empowerment) all come at once. We've also moved to 3 different training sites in a matter of 9 weeks (Ouahigouya, Ouaga and Koudougou) but regardless, everyone's spirits have been up (for the most part) and they're all another addition to the PC/BF family.

At the end of the day though, I realize how much I truly enjoy doing this. Working PST has made me more appreciative of my life here in BF, the obstacles I've had to overcome and the successes that have kept me going. It's hard not to put yourself in their shoes and remember what you went through a year ago.

I also feel so proud of them! I've seen them since the beginning and have noticed some crazy growth these past 9 weeks. Seeing them conduct their club meetings, coordinate their youth camps, teach Life Skills...it's utterly amazing! And to think of the great work they'll do once they get situated at their sites.

Jessi, Emily and I. Love these women!

GEE Tech Team, Week 7. This was one of my favorite weeks because the trainees got to put their knowledge into practice -- final Girls' Club meetings, Youth Camps, teaching Life Skills and conducting their needs assessment meetings with the parent associations. Huzzah! By the way, our two GEE Tech Trainers/Coordinators are Awa and Diallo. They're so amazing!!

In the midst of all of this, International Youth Day in Burkina Faso was celebrated with a huge Tree Planting Extravaganza in Dori. Because there were so many people, the tree planting itself took less than 20 minutes! But it was a great event to meet other Burkinabè youth and other volunteers (Japanese, French, etc.) here in Burkina Faso. It was also great to develop an even better rapport with the Burkinabè government and it seems as if the Minister of Youth and Employment absolutely loves the Peace Corps. It's great!

Free shirts and hats...and ready to work!

Some of us Peace Corps Volunteers who could attend the Tree Planting. The woman in the middle of this picture is Dr. Claude, the Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) for Health.

With a new friend, Frederic, planting some trees.

Working that daba! Note the Peace Corps logo on the back of the tee shirt.

This may looks disgusting but it made for a good photo. =)

In other news, the last weekend before Swear-In, our whole GEE team took a trip about 25 km to Sabou. There's a lake filled with sacred crocodiles but I felt as though they were accustomed to the massive amounts of tourists. It started off with one of the guys that worked there luring the crocodiles with a dead chicken at the end of a long piece of rope. Eventually, it would really the crocodiles in and...well...we all got to take pictures next to it!

Sacred crocodiles in Sabou. I'm touching its tail! Holy @%#$!

The whole experience itself was a little anticlimactic BUT I enjoyed it nonetheless and it's just another thing I can check off my list.

The couple of weeks that I have been able to return to site during this vacation have gone by quickly. What with PST and everything else that's been going on these past couple of months, I still want to keep busy, even if school is now over and everyone has either left to go to their families or is out working the fields (rainy season = cultivating season).

The week before demyst when I was home for a couple of days, my Moringa nursery was sprouting with many leaves. Amazing! Many thanks to Kadidja, one of the leaders of my Girls' Club and probably my favoritest kid!

Kadidja and I with my Moringa nursery. Look how fast they grew in a matter of 3-4 weeks!

Me teaching Kadidja the "slide baby" hand game. I just figured out that it's a fun activity that the kids can do anytime AND practice their numbers in English!

After demyst, I had to leave to work a week of training...I come back and find that the (stupid) goats had eaten ALL the Moringa leaves! Grrrr! Fortunately, Moringa grows relatively quickly but it got me all worried because I was going to do a sensibilisation (community awareness session) with my counterpart, Jean, on the importance of planting Moringa and the high vitamin/nutrient content in its leaves, particularly for malnourished babies and children.

Kadidja and her little sister, Mariam, playing the "slide baby" hand game. In the background, you can see my Moringa nursery all destroyed (stupid goats!!). Regardless, I still needed to do this sensibilisation because I received a small grant for this (thanks Food Security Committee!) and want to follow through, regardless of any setbacks. So Jean, my counterpart, and I decided to work with two women's groups. One women's group that meets every Wednesday is in a village about 2km from my house (closer to Jean's house). They weigh their babies (in cooperation with a small community center built by the European Union and the Red Cross) and make enriched porridge for their babies. Unfortunately, most of the babies there are either slightly or severly malnourished. Jean told me about this opportunity and said it would be a great way to introduce Moringa and promote the environment at the same time. Sweet! So I ended up helping to weigh babies and then Jean and I introduced Moringa.

Baby weighings!

It's hilarious...the babies are either terrified of me, complacent or get really giddy and happy. Jean talked more about the agricultural aspect of it, and with the help of some of the people who coordinate this every Wednesday event, we chose 20 women to give the Moringa plants to. Throughout the month of August while I'm off finishing the rest of training, Jean would check in periodically with these 20 women to see how their Moringa plants were growing and to ensure they were well protected. Giving the Moringa plantling to one of the 20 women we chose.

Me with some of the 20 women who received the Moringa plantlings. See y'all in a month! When I come back to site in the beginning of September, it would be part two of this sensibilisation where someone from the CSPS (village medical center) would speak more on the high nutritional value of Moringa and how this could positively alter a baby's health. The other women's group I want to work with is actually at the CSPS itself. Every Thursday, I weigh babies as a secondary project and thought it would be good to gather some of the women I've been working with for a while now and do this same type of sensibilisation with them as well, so we were thinking when I come back in September, this would be a day-long event. In other news, my Mid-Service Conference (MSC) just happened. ONE YEAR IN BURKINA FASO! One year as a Peace Corps Volunteer! Absolutely insane. It was mostly medical tests and dental clean-ups, interspersed with a day full of sessions where we discussed our successes/challenges during our first year and some of the things we'd like to accomplish during our second year. I felt really empowered coming from that, motivated to start all the new projects at my site and continue the ones I've found most successful. Jon and I are lucky enough to live so close to each other and have made a pact to do more collaborative work together. Holla! More so, MSC made me realize how close-knit our training group is. I love these people! Seriously, they're yet another group of people I can now consider a part of my (extended) family.

The GEE fam, all smiles. Check out Evan and Devin!

...and I like to title this the "awkward/uncomfortable" picture. Hahaha. I love us. Year two -- let's go!!

Every year during PST, the new trainees either do a site visit or do something called 'demystification' (or 'demyst' for short). Demyst consists of a small group of trainees, accompanied with their language teacher, who visit a current Volunteer for a couple of days to see how life is like in Burkina Faso. It's a great way to get a better idea of how your life will be like for the next 2 years...also, it's a way to get away for a couple of days from the hecticness/craziness that is PST!

When they arrived on Friday in the afternoon, it was pouring rain. I mean, raining cats and dogs to the extreme! There were mini 'streams' all around my house and I was drenched as I biked to meet them on the main road. When they arrived I could tell they were completely exhausted because it was their first time on transport in Burkina. We ended up relaxing and snacking at my house. One of the trainees, Paula, used to teach Yoga around the world, so we did some Yoga at my school -- that hurts! I did Bikram Yoga with one of my best friends once a couple of years ago. That was intense but the Yoga I did in Burkina...for some reason, my body could feel it more. Anyway, I had the trainees get water at my pump for the first time. Absolutely hilarious! As nightfall hit, my neighbors came by and cooked the national dish of Burkina Faso -- tô -- with leaf sauce. Tô has the consistency of jello and grits & looks like mashed potatoes. Hard to explain but actually really good -- really, it depends on the sauce.

Getting water at my pump! Talk about a workout. Seriously!

Some of the trainees enjoying tô with leaf sauce. So good! You can see my neighbor, Madame Constance, to the left of the picture.

Saturday was the big day where we did a long walking tour of my site. We met all the authorities that were there (the mayor, the police, etc.) and I was able to show them centre-ville (downtown, but not in the American sense...don't get it twisted, haha), the market, etc. Before the trainees arrived, I talked to the Directors of my high school and primary school, asking if I could borrow the classroom keys so the trainees can observe a typical Burkinabe classroom and make their observations/comparisons. So we were able to do that as well. In the end, it was an absolutely tiring and busy day, however, I think they got a better idea of how their lives would be like for the next 2 years.

At the sign nearby my house. Getting ready for a day full of walking and getting to know my site.

At the end of the day on my porch with some of the neighborhood kids (including a couple from my Girls' Club!).

Sunday was the final day and I offered the opportunity to see Jon's site. Jon was up in Ouaga teaching English at a summer camp-type thing, but we have the keys to each other's house, so I thought it would be a good opportunity for the trainees to see more of a village (since my site is more of a small town). Jon's counterpart, Papa, is seriously the best -- super motivated and willing to go above and beyond his 'call of duty,' so to speak. I texted him the night before, asking if he'd be able to give us a little tour. We saw Jon's house, dropped by the church, saw the market/common meeting grounds area and also took a look at the lake. Coming back, it was more relaxed and Jillian (another GEE volunteer in my area) came by to speak with the trainees on her life here, the activities she's implemented at site and to answer any questions they had -- all under my neighbors' big, shady tree. And Rachid made them try traditional African tea (3 glasses, which each consecutive glass getting sweeter and sweeter)! For dinner, I invited my neighbors and Frederic, the French volunteer at my site, to eat some American and Mexican food...totally improvised. We had tuna pasta salad, grilled 'cheese' sandwiches, village tacos (thank God for taco seasoning from the US!) and cucumbers with vinegar and black pepper. Mmmmm! This is at Jon's site which has a little lake. The trainees are with Papa, Jon's homologue.

Drinking dolo, local millet beer here in Burkina Faso.

The trainees trying African tea for the first time. That courtyard under the tree is where I probably spend most of my time (chez the Ouattaras). Rachid's laughing in the background! Mixing tuna pasta salad. With no electricity and multiple ingredients, it apparently takes 3 people! This picture is deceiving because it was super dark.

Grace-Victoire, the baby daughter of Madame Constance. So cute!

I'm a hot, sweaty mess but look at how cute Grace-Victoire looks!

The next day was our long journey back to the new training site in Koudougou, the third largest town in Burkina Faso (after Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulassso but before Ouahigouya). It was my first time traveling to the western part of the country and so far, I'm liking it! Overall, I will say that preparing for demyst was stressful. I only had a day or two to prepare, meaning telling everyone at my site that they'd be coming, cleaning my house like no other (I regularly sweep my house but this time around, I cleaned everything) and just running around like crazy. But in the end, it was all worth it and I had an amazing time with the trainees and their language teacher. We're even thinking of doing a little reunion once they become settled in their sites and are official Peace Corps Volunteers! More importantly, demyst made me appreciate my site that much more. Now that I'm moving on to my second and final year here in Burkina Faso, I feel like my footing on the ground much more solid and that, my friends, is an amazing feeling (especially if you look at me from a year ago)!

It's been a year since I've been in Ouahigouya but damn, does it feel good to be back. There's something to be said about spending your first three months in a foreign country and calling it "home" -- and coming back after a year elsewhere, it feels like...well, it feels like home. Like going back to the US. I guess it's that sense of nostalgia that's tied to Ouahigouya that's made me feel so comfortable.

Anyway, PST (Pre-Service Training) for the new group of Trainees is finally here and I got here a week before their arrival (around the middle of June) to help prepare with our Technical Trainers, Diallo and Awa. They are absolutely amazing and it's bizarre being on the other side of the training realm. Hectic, exhausting but enjoyable all at the same time!

Before really getting in the full swing of things, Gwen, Marita, Ilana and I headed to my host family's village (Komsilga) to visit the host family!! I was so excited and anxious at the same time -- it's been a year since being there. Fortunately, Ilana was with us and her Moore is really good. Long story short, what I thought would be a quick "hello-bonjour" visit for no more than 30 minutes turned into a three-hour ordeal of greeting everyone. I almost forgot how long greetings were in the north of BF! Greeting the chef (village chief) and the rest of the village community was exhausting but something that I really, really miss, especially since the people in the south where I live are less keen to greet. When I went to visit my host family, it was just as I had left it, except my host grandfather was there. Man, talk about feeling like I was at home for a bit.

My host dad, Mamadou and I, next to the new mosque built at Komsilga, my old host village. My my, how things have changed! But my host dad is still the same -- laughing all the time!

Me with my host family's compound in the distance. Second home!

Fast-forward to June 23, I was lucky enough to go meet the new Trainees (Peace Corps Trainees = PCTs) at the airport in Ouaga. It was overwhelming seeing 57 Americans walk out of the airport and start their two years of Peace Corps service. Fielding all of their questions was quite the experience -- I forgot how many questions I asked as a PCT! We headed up to Ouahigouya, had a great welcome ceremony and started the nine-weeks of training. I don't even know where to begin in describing the hecticness of PST but what I do know is that I love it. In total, there are 79 PCTs here in Burkina Faso and it's the first time that all four sectors (Secondary Education, Girls' Education and Empowerment, Small Enterprise Development and Community Health) are coming together at the same time. Love being busy, meeting new people and getting PCTs acclimated to their new life. Sure, there were a few unfortunate glitches in our training but for the most part, things have been going well! The idea of the Peace Corps family is what keeps me (and everyone else) going.

Welcoming the new Trainees at the airport.

Marita, Jessi and I in our wonderfully awesome and decorative GEE cubicle!

Come July 4, the Peace Corps helped organized our celebration in Ouaga. Cake, cold sodas and beers, burgers, potato salad and chilling by the pool = the perfect July 4th celebration! I also came to the realization that this is my second time celebrating July 4th out of the US. Crazy!

Audrey and I chilling at the pool during the July 4th celebration. Second one for me outside the US!

I'm heading back to site after being gone for almost a month. I'll be having a few GEE PCTs come to my site next weekend for demystification. Demystification (or demyst, for short) is where PCTs visit a current PCVs' site and see how their life is like for a couple days. I'm a little nervous for that seeing as how I haven't been to site for a while due to PST, plus no one will be there since the school year's over and everyone either heads back to the big cities or visits their family in Cote d'Ivoire and elsewhere. Wish me luck!

Note: All pictures are taken courtesy of Gwen, the picture queen. Seriously, she takes pictures all the time and I love it.

When I went back to site for a few days after TOT Workshop, I decided that I needed to make the most of it since I'd be gone for a few weeks for VAC and the start of PST. Talked to the teachers at my primary school for a bit about the end of the school year activities, weighed babies at the CSPS (village medical center) and decided to start a Moringa pepinière (nursery) since it's rainy season is about to begin and everyone's hitting the fields.

A few of the really dedicated girls in my CM1 Girls' Club helped me out with everything from beginning to end to make this Moringa pepinière a reality. My hope is that when I return to site in the beginning of July, I'll have a full-grown nursery that I can begin to plant at the school, in my courtyard and at the CSPS.

Planting Moringa is something that was emphasized as an excellent secondary project. Personally, I don't have much experience planting, except for when my little brother David and I were little and we helped our Dad plant things in our backyard (I'm talking 5 years old, so really, we didn't do much!). But what happens is that if done correctly, the Moringa tree can survive in pretty harsh conditions. The leaves (also if dried/used properly) have ridiculous amounts of vitamins and nutrients that can be added to any dish. A perfect way to combat malnutrition and help save the environment too. Read it up!

The girls collected the water sachets along the street in town. Littering is such a huge problem here in Burkina (I admit, I can be guilty of it, too) so it wasn't difficult to collect water sachets.

I showed the girls how to cut the appropriate holes into the water sachets so that water can exit in the bottom.

We then got a wheelbarrow and collected some dirt to place into the water sachets.

Hard work, yo! The cultivating tool they use is called the "daba."

Placing the dirt into the water sachets. Ideally, you should mix dirt with compost and manure...because time was of the essence, I just used really moist dirt.

We lined them up on my porch and poked our thumbs into each dirt-filled water sachet. You insert the seeds and voila! You're almost done.

Watering them initially is extremely important.

While I'm gone, one of my CM1 Girls' Club leaders (Kadidja) will be helping to water them everyday. She is without a doubt one of my favorite students! You'll be hearing more about her later, I'm sure. She'll definitely go far in life!

Jon and I constructed this net cover over the Moringa pepinière to protect it from hungry goats and sheep that will definitely munch on the plants once they start to sprout.

Special thanks to my good pal and closest PCV neighbor Jon for helping me out and taking pictures!! My New Year's Resolution to take more pictures is definitely working. We just need to take more pictures of our daily life!

Okay, so that's that. This might be the last blog in a while because I'm heading to Ouahigouya to start training for the new Volunteers. Exciting!

ALSO, IT'S OFFICIAL! I'VE LIVED HERE IN AFRICA FOR MORE THAN A YEAR!

I realized it's been too long since I've blogged, so I've decided to share some pictures with you all.

Jonas & Demetrius drop by!

Cute kids...although they are starting to become really mischievous. I remember that age!

Camel riding in Bani (northern Burkina Faso). Sadly, my camera battery died soon after this picture...Gwen has more though!

On a completely different note, things have been absolutely busy! Since the end of May, it's been lots of traveling back and forth between my site and Ouaga. I haven't even had the time (or energy) to write in my personal journal which has been a must for me since I first got here. Training Design and Evaluation (TDE) Workshop for a week in Ouaga with all the PCVFPs, Technical Trainers and other Peace Corps staff to re-evaluate each sector's project plan and create the Calendar of Training Events (COTE) for our training group. Lots of work but it's something I really enjoyed because I felt like we were able to implement a lot of the changes we wanted for our training a year ago. Then I had Peer Support & Diversity Network (PSDN) training, which is a Peace Corps committee which provides emotional support to our fellow volunteers. Luckily, I was elected Co-Chair with Bovard, so this should be one interesting year!! Takes me back to my RA days, senior year at LMU, haha! I went back to site for a little bit, then headed to Ouahigouya (haven't been there since training a year ago!) in June for Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshop. All the PCVFPs, PCVFs and Technical Trainers got together to learn how to properly facilitate sessions and what to expect as the Trainees arrive. It was like a mini-reunion for us all! As well, Madame Ouattara got the post as Language and Culture Facilitator (LCF) so she was there as well. It was interesting bringing my life at home/site and my Peace Corps life together! And it felt like having an aunt with me throughout TOT. Haha! I headed back to site to do a little work and start a Moringa pepiniere (nursery) with my CM Girls' Club (more pictures in the next blog post). I'm here in Ouaga for my VAC meeting and come tomorrow, I head to Ouahigouya to prepare for the arrival of our GEE Trainees. About 20 Trainees coming to Burkina Faso in a week. Exciting!!

Note: Internet connection is really, really slow but I have all these cool pictures to upload! So give it a while and I should have those up soon. Thanks!

Okay, clearly I've hit a dry spot with blog entry titles. Oyy! But I think the blog entry title perfectly sums up my life right about now.

No doubt, the month of April has been pivotal for me. I feel like I've adjusted to a comfortable degree and that I'm finally doing some work. Meaningful work. Working with the kids is exhausting but so much fun at the same time! Hooray...a sense of purpose again! Haha.

With CP1, the Alphabet and Literacy Project continues. With CP2, I've continued the Math and Numeracy Project which started off kinda rocky but now seems to be working well with the students. I just finished a Reading Club/Competition with CE1 and hope to replicate that with CE2. With CM2, they have the CEP Exam (Primary School exit exam) coming up and if they want to continue to middle school, they need to pass this! So I've been doing Jeopardy-like review exercises which have been so much fun!

My CM1 Girls' Life Skills/English/Soccer Club is perhaps the highlight of my week. Seriously, we've only had a few meetings thus far but I can already see some changes in the girls. Most of them aren't as shy/timid anymore and attendance has been very consistent (all of them show up and it's not even a school day!). They're slowly (but surely) getting used to my French and are starting to understand the Life Skills activities a little more.

Last club meeting, I discussed the different types of amour (love) -- with friends, family and your significant other. But I also mentioned another type of love: amour-propre (literally translated as love of self, but really, it's self-esteem). I created sample stories and asked the girls to identify any key adjectives that describe the girls in these sample stories. Example: "Fatimata loves math and history, and does very well in school. She always raises her hand when the teacher asks a question. When her class has tests, she always gets some of the highest grades and studies very hard to do so. She is usually one of the highest ranked students in her class." I would ask the girls, "How would you describe Fatimata?" and they would usually give some good responses, which surprised me. "Intelligent, hardworking, obedient to the teacher" and the list continues.

In the end, I compiled all of these adjectives on the board and wrote above all of them "Je suis..." (I am...). I went through the list aloud and asked the girls if they believed they were, say, intelligent, and asked them to raise their hand if they believed they were. Few girls did because of timidity, so I asked some of the bolder girls to say it: "Je suis intelligente!" (I am intelligent!) aloud in front of the class. After a few adjectives, most of the girls got the courage to say this, saying things such as "Je suis intelligente/belle/puissante/gentille!" (I am intelligent/beautiful/powerful/nice!) and yelling them out loud! Such an empowering feeling to hear these girls say these things amongst each other. It may seem like such a simple activity but having these girls come out of their shells and realize their true potential had me smiling for ear-to-ear all week!

Being in the classroom many times each week has helped me realize one of my true life passions: teaching. It may not be the most glamorous job, and definitely not the highest paying. But if you want a country/society to develop, educating the youth is absolutely key. It led me to think about my future plans after Peace Corps...but I think I'll save that for a much later blog entry. =)

Well, the school year's almost coming to a close (or so it feels like). Rainy season is upon us and before I know it, the new group of trainees will be here. April -- you went by so quickly! I can't believe May is already here!

I realize that while I have my life here in Burkina Faso, life continues on in the US. Today (May 8) marks a number of special occasions. My Ate Maye (cousin on Dad's side) and Kuya Lester are getting married today in SF! So congrats! And some of my dear friends are graduating soon. From undergrad at LMU, my Ading Felicia, Robert/Daligs, Ben, Trisha, Carina, etc. etc. I'm so incredibly proud of you and am there in spirit. One of my other good friends is graduating tomorrow (May 9), Allyson, getting her Master of Arts in Education from LMU, too...Holla! Aaaand next weekend, one of my best friends, Melanie, will be graduating from Dominican as a Registered Nurse (RN). Seriously, I am blessed with the most amazing and inspiring family and friends!

I remember a year ago, I was making preparations like a madman -- heading to Target and REI on a constant basis, getting ready to leave my job, preparing for farewell festivities, etc. But one thing that gave me peace of mind: reading current Peace Corps Burkina Faso Volunteers' blogs and getting a sense of how they prepared for the two-year grand voyage to Africa. I feel obligated (and glad!) to return the favor, so here it goes:

Suggested Packing List

Note: this isn't the end-all list. Just some suggestions to get you started/help you out!

luggage/bags (a big rolling suitcase, those longer technical backpacks and a regular backpack)bike helmet (don't forget to bring your receipt to get reimbursed)REI Bug Hut II (for sleeping outside when it gets hot)ThermaRest/sleeping mat

laptopiPod, headphones (2 sets) and Sony compact travel speakerssolar/hand-crank shortwave radioheadlampdigital camera and extra batteries

Leatherman or Swiss Army knife

lightweight, packable rain jacketNalgene bottles for water (2)

Solio Magnesium solar chargersunglasses (prescription, if you need it)eyemask and earplugs

travel sewing repair kit

good quality sandals, 2 pairs (Rainbow sandals, Chacos which I think has a Peace Corps discount, etc. -- note that you can also buy cheap flip-flops everywhere here)toiletries (bring enough for 3 months of training but also if you like a specific brand of say for example, deodorant, bring it.)duct tape (works wonders for everything)Ziploc bags of different sizes

pictures (family, friends but most especially of where you live, where you went to school, etc. Neighbors want to see what life in the US is like and it makes for a great cultural exchange.)host family gifts (tee shirts from home, postcards, stickers, etc. Nothing too fancy, just something from home to show your appreciation. You'd give this to them at the end of PST.)books (Burkina Faso: the Bradt Travel Guide, Lonely Planet West Africa, Lonely Planet Africa on a Shoestring, and any books you've been really wanting to read -- there are a TON of books at the Transit House that Volunteers leave behind so don't think you'll run out of reading material)clothes: linen shirts, nothing white (as it gets dirty easily), nothing you wouldn't mind getting ruined as handwashing wears out clothes, a couple of nice outfits for when you go out in Ouaga -- also know you can get clothes made here for really cheap!food: granola bars, drink mixes, spices, sauce packets -- in all honesty, bring some of your favorites but know that your family and friends can send you things

A few words on shopping (in the US and BF)

Don't spend an arm and a leg on shoppnig at places like Target, REI, etc. (like me). Just buy the essentials/things you can't live without!Honestly, you'll be surprised at what you can get here in BF. In Ouaga, they have this place called Marina Market which is more or less like your supermarket back home. Many expats/more well-off Burkinabè shop here. Even if you'll be living in a small village, chances are you'll be going to a provincial capital every week or two to get all your essentials (flips-flops to vegetables to things for your house to clothes...the list is endless). It's amazing what you can find at your bigger marché (market)! You'll be surprised!Mail/Packages

Perfect segway. And if you really can't live without something, have your family/friends send it!

Mail takes a while (anywhere between 2-6 weeks, sometimes even longer). Although for me, on average, it's been 3-4 weeks until I get a package.

Have family/friends number letters and packages being sent so you'll know if something is missing.

If sending letters, ensure family/friends write 'Air Mail/Par Avion' on the envelope.

If sending packages, tell family/friends to use USPS' Medium or Large Flat Rate Boxes. Since they're going to an international destination, they might have a weight limit (20 lbs., I think). But they're usually $40-$50 to send and much cheaper than other options. And I believe you can track these online, too!

During Pre-Service Training (PST), if family/friends want to send you letters/packages, they should send it to the Peace Corps office in Ouaga:

Your name, PCT

01 BP 6031

Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso (West Africa)

But after PST when you begin your service at site, many Volunteers (like me, for instance) live far from Ouaga and opt to share a post office box at your provincial capital with other Volunteers in the region.Also, there is DHL which is really reliable, relatively quick but EXTREMELY expensive. Probably better for important documents that can't risk getting lost in the mail.

Other Communication/Laptop Advice/Internet/PhonesLaptop advice: I remember I was debating whether or not I should bring a laptop. Long story short, I'm really happy I did. I bought one of those netbooks (Acer Aspire One) so I wouldn't be so depressed if it broke...which it did a month or two ago because of the heat (really my fault for not taking better care/precaution). Which is another thing to take into consideration. If it breaks, it's very difficult to get it fixed here. Many Volunteers also have USB thumb drives (bring 2!) and portable external hard drives to store/backup docs, photos, music, movies, etc.Internet: You'll have access at the Peace Corps Ouaga office plus at the Transit House (where there is wireless Internet). In your provincial capital, there should be at least one Internet café but be warned -- they're pretty slow and connnection isn't always guaranteed.Cell Phones: Everyone has a cell phone here! During PST, all of us Trainees got one and it's great because your family/friends can call you (granted there's reception, which there usually is). It works as a pay-as-you-go system where you buy a SIM card and a phone, being charged for the phone calls you make and the texts that you send. BUT receiving calls/texts are free for you! My Mom uses Pinggo.com and Skype to call me while my Dad and friends use phone cards. I think the former is a better deal!Finances/Loans

I had tons of student loans. Just be sure to check deferral rules for your loans as the Peace Corps can provide proof of service once you arrive at Staging. Some loans can even be partially cancelled if you successfully complete your 2 years of service. Check it!You really don't need to bring any money as you're provided a stipend once you arrive at Staging. For me, though, I brought about $70 just because. I still have it -- you never know when you might need it. Also brought my Visa check card for peace of mind. Western Unions are located in all bigger cities/some provincial capitals so if you really need money wired, you have that option.

Med Stuff/Health

Wheny ou first arrive in Burkina Faso, you'll be issued a Medical Kit which has all your essentials (Ibuprofen, Pepto, band-aids, etc. etc.) and can get them replenished when needed. I'd suggest getting those small, white plastic travel med kit boxes so when you travel here, you'll have a travel med kit.Chances are you'll get some type of stomach/digestive ailment (don't worry, almost all of us have and we're still alive! haha), but it's just your body getting used to this new environment. Plus we have great Peace Corps Medical Officers (PCMOs), so no worries there!Language

Some of us came in with no French, some with a little French and a few of us with a lot. My advice is to learn as much as you can BUT not to stress!! You'll have 3 months of language training so don't feel pressured back at home. I'm still learning new things everyday (in French and Jula) and I'm almost a year here in BF.Try to learn the basic greetings in Mooré (you should've received something from the Peace Corps). Greeting are essential here in Burkina Faso and may seem excessive at first. But really, it's part of the culture and should be embraced.Final Words

Enjoy your time at home with family and friends. And eat your favorite foods before you leave!!Know that you'll always be learning. 10 months in and I'm still learning something new about myself, the culture here, etc. everyday!In all honesty, no amount of preparation can prepare you for the Peace Corps. But by keeping an open mind, a positive outlook and being patient, you'll be all good.

Hope that helps! If you have (a) specific, pressing question(s), leave a comment with your e-mail address and I'll try to get back to you soon (keep in mind slow, infrequent Internet access here).

While you may be coming to one of the three poorest countries in the world, be rest assured that the people (the Burkinabè) are the friendliest/most hospitable people in the world; the need for development is great; fellow Peace Corps Volunteers are great (just wait and see!); and the Peace Corps Burkina Faso staff is welcoming and supportive. Can't wait to meet all of you! Peace!