Well, the marriage finally took place yesterday and tomorrow we are headed to Ghana.

After waiting the whole weekend to get the final paper signed, Souley and Lasso went Monday afternoon to get the paper only to discover that we had to meet the next day with the judge to explain why we did not want to wait the 30 days. So the next morning Souley and I had the interview and then left all the remaining paperwork with Lasso who ran around finalizing everything. Souley and I decided that we could not continue to stay in Koudougou with nothing to do until the following Saturday so we decided to head north to Dori which in a town in the Sahel to visit his nephew.

The nephew help Souley discover shea butter groups last summer when he was collecting samples and so it was good for me to get to talk to him and hear his reaction to the groups that he visited. All of the groups, including the one we visited in Reo, are very well organized and make "organic" shea butter.

Omar, the nephew, is one of the sweetest, most hostipable people that I have ever meet and we enjoyed the three days that we spent with him. He is a teacher in a small village near Dori. We went with hi one day to see his classes. There wasn't a whole lot of teaching going on but we had some good conversations about development and politics. Right before we were leaving to go back to dori a massive wind/dust storm hit. The Sahel looks a lot like Pecos and I naturally felt at home with the surroundings. However, nothing in my life has every prepared my for the dust storm. It lasted for probably an hour and a half and at the end of it I was covered with brown sand. I had to wear my sun glasses and cover my nose and mouth for the entire time. The wiond was so strong that it began lifting the tin roof off the building. It was actually really quite scared and now know what a tornado must be like. Aside from that we visited the biggest lake in the Sahel region and the sand dunes near Dori. The director of Omar's school was also extremely nice and feed us every meal and gave us fresh milk (straight from the cow) every day. He also but Souley and I a wedding present. We each got leather sandals that a really beautiful. The whole trip made me a little jealous of the volunteers who lived in the Sahel.

When we got back to Koudougou, everything was arranged. Our wedding was really small (we were 8 total). Unfortunately Julia had a conflict and couldn't make it. I was running late in the morning and so was more than a little frazzled. Our friend Lasso came to take me to the Hotel de ville where the state marriages take place. Unfortunately my skirt was so tight that I could not get on the back of the moto so I had to walk to the mayors office. It wasn't far but it was around noon and therefore the heat of the day. By the time I got there, my hair had curled again, all my make up was off, and I had huge sweat marks on the front of my dress. I picked some flowers from a bougavilla as a bouquet and Lasso helped my arrange them. We then sat at a table across from Lasso's brother, the mayor and the governor. The governor talked for about 45 minuted giving us his advice, etc (like he was a priest or something!). It was a very simple ceremony but sweet and the governor made a few jokes so it was pretty lighthearted. We then went to a nice European style restaurant and had a nice meal. The mayor even came (I assume because we were the last marriage of the day and probably having food from the nicest place).

Today we came to Ouaga to get ready for Ghana tomorrow. All and all things are going well and as scheduled, which is pretty rare here.

Oh, also two days ago we met with the Imam and the (oh gosh, I dont know the word in English) guy who makes the plows. He had them all done and the Imam took them back to the village. I have pictures and will try to remember to upload them next time.

So, things were moving along rather well, until Thursday. For some inexplicable reason, no one worked on Thursday. When asked, I was told that no one was working because it was a) Thursday and b) something to do with the day of baptisms (although no one seemed to be doing that either). So Yesterday was a bust which means that we were trying to get all of the finishing paperwork done todat, which is friday, and that is never a good sign. Our friend Lasso came by this morning to help us navigate our way through the courthouse and through the medical tests, which was all that was left. We got the medical paperwork done this morning and much to my relief the doctor waived the normal blood tests. I was a little wary of having a Burkinabe doctor search for a vein to take my blood. We then went to the courthouse to get the last remaining paper which is a request for a waiver of the normal three month waiting period. This isn't a big problem since Lasso has connections in the mayor's office but the judge who was supposed to sign the paperwork was (big surprise) not working today because it is Friday. So, we now have to wait until Monday to get the paper. As soon as we get the paper on Monday we will then take it to Lasso's brother in the mayor's office who says that he can then d the marriage whenever we want. I am hoping to get it done before the 30th so that we still have time to go to Ghana.

Tomorrow morning we will go to Reo to meet with the second woman's group that makes shea butter. More to come on that later.

I think that we have decided to wear traditional clothes for the wedding here. It seems more appropriate and I have never had a traditional dress made so I feel like this is a good a time as any. The only other wedding detail that we are still discussing is whether or not to hire a photographer. I have my camera and just assumed that someone could take the pictures for us but last night we were eating with Lasso and his family. They showed us the pictures or their wedding which were pretty well done so now we are thinking maybe we would want to have someone take the pictures as well.

On the health front, yesterday, I am sorry to say, I had a slight case of ghardia. I guss I spoke too soon in my last blog. Things are better today however.

I know that I haven't blogged for the last two years, but since I am back in Burkina, I feel the need to start up again.

First the news of the wedding: Souley and I have been trying to get all of the paperwork together and are almost finished with everything we need. We got the papers from the embassey the day after I got here. Then last weekend, our friend, Lasso, set up a meeting with his brother. His brother is in charge of the paperwork for marriages at the mayor's office in Koudougou. We are very lucky to have his help and both he and Lasso have done so much to help see use through the process which would otherwise be vexing. It turns out that my lack of an original birth certificate is no problem at all. All of that worrying was for nothing which proves Souley's point to me that it is best not to worry too much about the future.

There is only one paper that we need to get now and we need our blood tests and then we should be able to fix a date. I am hoping it will all be finished by next week but things always take longer than expected in Burkina.

Things here have not changed much in th two years that I have been gone and it feels very much as though I never left. And, luckily, I have no sicknesses to report as of now.

Souley aand I spent the last few days in village. We figured that we couldn't get our paperwork finished on the weekend so we might as well visit Tiogo. It also happened to be a Sunday followed by a market day which meant that no one was working in the field and I could see more people. I swear that I got more done in the two days in village that I did in two months when I lived here before. I had a total of maybe 1 hour by myself the entire time because there was a constant stream if visitors or people I needed to visit. My family was very happy with their resents and I bought them a sack of rice that they really appreciated. I did not get to see my favorite mother because she had gone to a neighboring village to visit relatives.

Souley and I went to the neighboring town one day to meet with the women who prepared some of the shea butter that Souley had sent as a sample. They showed us how the press worked and we talked a little about how they operate. Unfortunately they do not seem to be as organized as I would like for them to be but they seem very enthusiastic.

I meet several times with the mayor of our village about the ploughs. He said that the paper I had requested detailing how they were going to rent out the ploughs was finished but I never actually saw the paper as, true to form, the faux type in charge of writing was unavailable when I was in village. The mayor and I then decided, as Gwen had suggested, to give one to the protestant church, one to the catholic church and one to the mosque. The mayor also suggested that we give one to the head witchdoctor. The ploughs are going to cost less that originally planned so we have enough money to purchase 4. They were very happy and gave me two roasters which Souley is bringing from village today 5he stayed in village an extra day while I had to make a quick trip to Ouaga to get my passport from the Ghanian embassey.

So far the one sad point is my "daughter" who I learned in January got married (actually, it is to Souley's older brother - how weird is that?).It was her choice and was not a forced marriage (I made sure to ask that several times). She is 16 not 15 as I thought but even Souley agrees that it is young to be married. She finished this year of school and said that she will try to go next year but I had my doubts when she told me. THe next day, the village midwife and I were talking in the market and she told me that Bregetou was already 3 months pregnant (which B herself forgot to mention to me) so now I seriously doubt that she will finish her schooling.

I will keep you informed when I know more details.

So, I must brag about my wonderful theater troupe. We just received word that their project for sound equipment is going to be funded. This is a major success as we have been working on the project proposal for the last six months. They plan to use the sound equipment to attract a larger audience and to host dances in the village in order to earn money for future props, costumes and other needs. The ultimate goal is to fund another bike a thon in two years.

I originally wrote a proposal to the Friends of Burkina Faso organization. They are a group of returned Burkina Peace Corps volunteers who fund well organized groups. The organization prefers to work very closely with host country nationals so we were asked to submit another proposal written in french by the association members. This is definately an undertaking that is more easily said than done; however, the group pulled together and finished the grant. They were then asked a series of detailed questions and had to come up with an action plan for the next two years. Because we had no way to transfer funds, two group members had to make two trips to Koudougou in order to open an account at the bank. We also had to find a trustworthy Burkinabe who can use the internet to act as a superviser after I leave. Finally, two members also made a trip to Ouagadougou in order to meet with a representative of the organization. So after much hard work, they truly deserve this sound equipment.

Although it was a lot of work for them, I really believe this has made them a sustainable and efficient group. The group was really well organized when I first got to Tiogo but they had always relied on a volunteer as a way to finance their activities and guide them. Because the project required detailed and measurable goals, they have now been forced to organize themselves and rely on one another. Their biggest obstacle has always been a lack of money, but they now hope to earn it themselves through the dances, a video club (really just a television and vcr where they show movies and charge people a small fee) and by renting out their equipement. In order to measure their effectiveness, we are currently working on baseline data collection. They are interviewing people in the village about malaria and AIDS (this is especially difficult now that it is the rainy season and they must work in the fields.

Thanks to all of you who have been sending positive thought vibes and prayers our way. This means that I will definately be back in July as it was one of my last big activities. I am more than ready for it and hope to see you all soon!

Not much has been going on since dad and Gwen left. It has been too hot to think really and I have been spending a lot of time hanging out at the pool in Koudougou in order to avoid the heat. I realize that it may seem crazy to bike two hours there and another to hours back just to swim, but, believe me, it is more than worth it!

The theatre troupe recently finished a tournee of the local villages doing a Moringa play. This will officially conclude the district wide series of Moringa sensibilisations we started last summer. We passed through each of the 12 villages at least 4 times. Also, I recently synthesized the results on the baby weighing study, however, the study was too small to really see a significant change.

The group and I are also currently still working with a group of returned Peace Corp volunteers from Burkina to get our sound equipment. We are currently awaiting the final decision so everyone please think positive thoughts.

Currently I am working with a women's group on a variety of environmental projects. They are going to plant alley crops of Moringa trees in their peanut fields to see if there is a higher crop yield. They are also planting a hard wood nitrogen fixing tree as a living hedge around their gardens. This way they don't have to chop down trees to make their fences. Since they use wood to cook, they can use branches from the living hedge and therefore will not have to go into the forest to search for firewood. This will save their time and the forest. Finally, I have a contraption that makes fuel bricks to use in place of fire. The bricks are made of peanut shells, dried leaves and recycled paper. This will hopefully cut down on wood usage. The women have been making and using the bricks. They told me the other day that they really enjoy using them because they last a long time. Then, one women said, "We can use these during the rainy season when the wood is wet." I hadn't even thought of this but it is true that last year my family went without eating dinner more than a few nights because the wood was to wet to prepare food. The women are thinking about selling the bricks.

Well, that is a quick update on my activities. Not much else is going on.

Yesterday evening I was happily folding clothes and listening to my new ipod (thanks dad) when I heard a rush of high pitched yells heading toward our family compound. At first I thought it must have been in celebration of a new marriage; however, I quickly noticed that each of my moms dropped what she was doing and began running to the commotion. I too ran to the front of our house, laundry in hand, because terror had come upon me as I realized something bad must have happened. When I got to the front, I noticed one of my favorite women being brought to her house. There was a man on each side of her holding her up and propelling her forward. At first I thought she must be hurt because her clothes were askew. The men gently forced her into her courtyard and one of them came out to greet me (yes, in the midst of all this commotion they stopped to say hi to the whitey). I asked what had happened and he responded that her oldest child was killed on the road to Tenado. I asked which child but I already knew the answer. "Do you know Clement?" How could I not know the child, we are in the same family? About this time his father came home, threw his bicycle as hard as he could and ran out of the courtyard. I can only assume that he was trying to go to the place where his son was left on the side of the road. The men forced him back into his courtyard where by now all the women were assembled, and then they went off to go collect the body.

As the women and children wailed and I shook with saddness, I noticed Obu. He was inconsolible with a bloody lip and dirt streaked across his face. Nebilbie and I took him to the health clinic to make sure he was okay. He and Clement were best friends, bothers, and apparently Obu was the only one with him when he died. It struck me as I was hovering over him how differently we and Burkinabes deal with grief. Immediately I began looking around for something I could do, some one I could console, some way in which I could be useful. I had to do something in order to cope. The Burkinabes, however, stopped everything for the entire evening and wailed. I cannot count the number of times I have been chastised for being the white person who is too ready to cry. Yet now all sense of restraint was abandonned as everyone was simply ovecome with grief. It is true that in our culture we hold on to our grief and it takes years to completely overcome a loss whereas for the Burkinabe its seems that when something happens, grief is unrestrained and when they can cry no more, they continue on with their lives. During the course of the evening I realized that when I cried, I did not ask questions about my own mortality or cry for sad events past in my life (I believe this often happens when we grieve). I cried only for Clement who was a wonderful kid with a bright future. I felt the Burkinabes were doing the same. It made me wonder if their way of dealing with death was more pure and better for the soul.

I would like to close by saying a little about Clement and why his death has made such an impression. He was a kid of about 10 years old in his final year at elementary school. I recentlly got to know him and the other kids in the courtyard that are in Bregetou's grade because we have been doing math homework together. Homework could not begin until Clement was there. He was the smartest out of all of them and the only one who thought critically enough to be able to answer word problems. I was teaching him how to help his neighbors with problems and not just give them the answers. He was always polite and never annoying. I often thought during our homework seesions that he would be one of the few kids in town to graduate, go on to college and get a good paying job with the government. He was going to be the one for that family who could help out in hard times. He was going to be the one who made the family proud and respectible. He will be greatly missed by us all.

In the month since Christmas there has been a lot going on and it has been hard to process everything.

The day I left to going into koudougou and await a final decision, I realized that the night before my little brother had stolen 20,000 CFA from me (about $40). That is a substantial sum for me and a ridiculous amount for a villagois kid. I call my friend Nebilbie who lives in my family compound and just got a new cell phone. I went through him because he is a respected member of the family. I was hoping he would keep it quiet as stealing here is a very serious situation and I was afraid that the entire family could not handle the shame of having a thief in the family. It sounds so bizarre I know to our western ears that a kid's actions can affect the entire family but in a communal setting it is very likely that everyone could suffer from humiliation. Unfortunately my friend was not discreet and by the time I got back the entire village knew. We recovered some but not all of the money. When I got back to the house I came across my father. There was so much sadness, shame and fear in his eyes that I almost began to cry as he tried to apologize in his broken French. I believe that conversation was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. After several meetings with myself, Nebilbie and the elders of my family they finally decided the kid should be banished from the town for a week and is never allowed into my small fenced in yard. My dad also gave me a guinea fowl which we prepared and ate on Christmas.

Christmas was fun. I went to midnight mass, had friends over, made potato soup. I went to Ouaga for New Year's. There were a bunch of volunteers around and we had a party at the house which is really fun. The new volunteers at midnight said much the same thing that we said last year, "Can you believe that we are celebrating the New Year in Africa?" Those of us who have already spent a year here said, "At least we get to go home this year." Funny our different perspectives.

For some sad news, my closest Peace Corp neighbor who was only 10 km away and worked with me on a lot of projects got sent home. She got caught breaking the rules and decided it was time for her to leave. It was very sad to see her go and it doesn't feel the same since she is gone. She will be greatly missed. After her leaving I have had a series of nightmares about having to leave my village unexpectedly. I believe it is sort of like PTSD. It made me realize how much I will miss my villagers and home hard it will be to leave.

My caravan was a big success. Thanks to all of you who supported us. We started Monday the 8th. Sixteen members of the association came and performed a play and held small discussions on AIDS. It lasted for the entire week and we went to two villages a day. We biked about 170 km in all. I was quite tired! I was worried that I would have too much stress to handle but power was delegated so effectively I actually had nothing to do for the whole week. It was quite nice and makes me feel like the association will be able to continue when Peace Corp leaves Tiogo. The finally day the Prefet came to see our closing sketch and then we had a party and killed a mouton at my house. During the bike-a-thon two villages solicited our help for setting up theatre troupes with the young in their towns. We also we told by our mayor that he will try to start a funded project with them and an NGO in Koudougou. These are all huge motivating factors for the actors. I took some video footage and pictures of the event and will try to post it on the blog. If not my friend Amanda will post it on her website at www.tharshegoes.com.

After the final party I went to bed only to wake up in the middle of the night because of a sound near my food chest. Thinking it was mice again I got up and grabbed a skillet to kill it. Instead of a mouse I found a huge foot long bush rat! After much screaming, crying, shaking and talking to the rat, I finally chased it out of my house by spraying it with bug spray. Quite fun.

Well, I am leaving tonight and well see most of you soon.

I guess most of you know by now that I missed my flight home and will no longer be coming home for the holidays. It is sad but I have a new flight scheduled and plan to be home from Jan 22 to Feb 5. I hope to see and talk to as many of you as I can.

I am not sure how much I am supposed to explain and I do not want to appear critical of the Burkina Faso government or Burkina itself. If I sound negitive it is purely out of my own disappointment.

The night before I was supposed to leave I got a text from a fellow volunteer telling me that our office put us all on alert because there were problems in Ouagadougou. I called early the next morning and was told we were not officially supposed to leave our sites as a precautionary measure. The office knew I had to fly out and told me to head to Koudougou and wait for the final decision. They were talking to their sources to try to get the lowdown.

As far as I know what happened was a skirmish between two different police forces, the city police and the gerndermes. There were gun shots and I think some buildings were burned the night of the 20th. I believe some people were killed but I am not sure. The next morning things were pretty quiet and since then everything has been quite calm but the office wanted to be extra sure that things were settled down. Let me be clear: it was not a coup, revolt by the people or any real serious ethnic conflict. I will be surprised if my villagers even know about it. I have yet to hear what the disagreement was about initially but I think it is over now. We have been advised to staying in our villages until the end of december. If we leave, the head office must know about it. I may have to go into Ouaga the 27th and I was told I should be okay. I am gonna try to not go in until the 31st but I need to change my ticket at Royal Air Maroc.

Please don't worry. I am a lot safer than it sounds and if things had gotten worse there are plans in place to get us consolidated or even evacuated but again that is a whole other level which we are not even close to. If you have questions call Peace Corps Washington. Our office is sending reports there.

Love ya'll and have a good Christmas and New Year's.

After a month of fasting before Ramadan, the Muslim's in my village feted it up right. When the moon reappeared, we all ate, danced, and lounged around until I got physicall ill from overindulgence.

The day went like this:

My friend Sarah had come in the night before to visit my village. We got up that morning, dressed in our longest skirts and headed to the imam's house. I had talked to the imam a few days before to ask permission to pray and he suggested we arrive at his house in the morning to walk in a procession with his wives to the praying tree. On the way there my muslim family stopped us and let us borrow headscarves which we tied in the traditional muslim way.

After hanging out for thirty minutes we walked in a procession like we did for the fete of Tabaski. As well walked through the town to the designated tree, people joined in from all sides. Finally we got to the main road where the three processions from each direction of the village met together, sited a prayer, and began shooting off guns. Then we all got to the prayer tree. Sara and I sat in the back with the women but during the middle of prayer the imam pointed out to the two whities and welcomed us. He told everyone our muslim names (mine is Sofiata and Sara's is Sarata.

After prayer finished we had our pictures taken by the village photographer and then headed to my second family's house. This is the family of Bregetou. We ate and hung out for a while. My friend Abdul stopped by. Then Sara and I decided to head to the house. Bregetou and I had to prepare something to take to her family's that night for the big dinner and Sara and I drank the tea that they make here (sort of like Arab tea). After reposing for a few hours we went back to the imam's. We hung out there, ate again and drank more tea. Then we passed by my friend Souley's house, ate, drank tea and bissap (hibiscus tea) and listened to music. It was getting dark then so we headed back to my family's house. We ate again and the two mom's decided I needed to paint my feet. For holidays here the Muslims dye their hands and feet in a hena like fashion only they use hair dye instead of hena. My mom painted stripes on my feet and then the other mom paint my toenails purple (I would have fit in really well at an LSU tailgate). Then there was a village dance afterward.

It was a good experience. For weeks after prefect strangers would come up to me because of my feet and say "You are muslim. How was the fete?" I enjoyed celebrating it with another American as well.

Right after the fete there was a huge festival in Ouaga. It was called SIAO and it happens every other year here in Burkina. Traditional Artisans from all over Africa come for two weeks during the festival. It is a huge deal which brings in lots of tourists. I went to visit it twice and now have no money!

I hope everyone got a chance to look at the pictures I sent. There are many stories behind everyone I can assure you.

I am back in Ouaga again for four days. It is the time for my midservice (can any one believe I am at the midservice point?) medical exam. It is now that I will get the flatworm test whose results are so eagerly awaited.

Two weeks ago I was in Ouaga for the preparation of the new training. I will go back to village saturday with five new trainees. They are coming to visit my site for a few days on order to see how volunteers live. Then I will accompany them up north and spend a week at the training site leading sessions. Needless to say all last week was spent informing my village and preparing for the invasion. Actually I think it will be pretty fun. My daughter is going to make them to. Whenever I have told other volunteers this they always make a face a say, "The trainees have only been in country for three weeks. Do you think they are ready for to?" My daughter's to is the best in the world though, I will actually miss it when I leave, so I figure it is a good introduction for them.

Speaking of my daughter, a surreal experience (for me) happened to us the other day. We were going home after the Saturday night theater troupe meeting when we stopped for bread at the corner "store." The owner was at prayer as it is the month of Ramadan so we were waiting out front for him to return. It was dark and there was a lightening storm so the atmosphere was a little spooky. All of the sudden a truck filled with people in the back pulled up right outside the store. I thought it was odd as people don't usually travel at night but was not alarmed. My daughters started getting nervous and hissed at me to nonchalantly leave the area. I was confused.

Other people around us also started making a mad dash. She grabbed my flashlight and turned it off. After we turned the corner she sprinted into the corn field and together we hid. I asked what was going on and she replied that it was the police coming to make an arrest. As she is thirteen, I know that she is not personally guilty of anything. While we were hiding, my two brothers passed us. She alerted them of the police and they too hid themselves are their bikes.

It seemed sort of like a movie, having to run and hide from the people who are protecting you in the middle of west africa. Of course, I know these set of cops and they would never do anything bad or unjust but I found it very interesting that Bregetou's and other's first response was so violently opposed to them. Talk about a difference in culture.

The man who ferried our bikes across. Why didn't we just ask for a ride?

Here are the pictures of the "bridge" I had to cross.

Check out the guy with the glasses!

Just another day on the school bus.

P.S.Just added more photos to facebook too.

Well, the eventful two weeks in village continued after the dog sacrifice. A few days after the event, my friend, Elizabeth, and I decided to travel to an outlying village in order to set up some more savings and loans groups and give another talk on moringa trees. The village is extremely motivated and gives us free food every time we come, however, we are warned against getting too cozy with the place every time we attempt to go there.

The problem with the village is there in a large pond that is apparently impassable during the rainy season. As we are near the height of the season, all bets were that the meeting was going to have to be canceled. As we were leaving Elizabeth's house, her father warned us not to force it and if the water was too high to just turn back. After biking the 15 km we came across the pond. The pond could now officially be called a lake as it was at least 150 yards across. Clearly we could not take the normal route.

As we were about to turn around we ran into a friend of ours who told us that if we went down a little farther, we could wade waist high in the water and "mount some wood" to get across. He went to go get a pirogue (yes LA girls, Heth's pronunciation in the correct one) to ferry our stuff across. We followed his kid to the site of the wood which was actually a sort of homemade bridge. It made the bridge in Indiana Jones look good. The bridge did not go all the way to the bank so we waded waist high, got on the bridge and slowly made our way across. I am just glad I was always good on the balance beam. I am sending the pictures to mom to put up because there is no way really to describe it properly. I will say that half way across I realized the bridge was held together by rusty bike chains.

We made it with only one fall from Elizabeth but now we are both convinced we have flatworms. We will take the test to see in October and I will keep y'all posted. (I am joking here as I really think we probably don't have the worms but we are taking the test just in case. Please no one freak out because it isn't as bad as it sounds).

When I got back to village I told my friends who were impressed but scolded me for crossing the pond. One friend told me the water was "strange." Another told me it "steals" people. These comments alarmed me and I asked for a further explanation. The conversation went as follows:

K: What do you mean the water steals people

N: It kills people. Every year two or the people die.

K: Why?

N: It is strange water.

K: What do you mean it is strange water?

N: There is something in there that kills people.

K: WHAT?

N: Yes

K: What kind of something? An animal?

N: No, not a crocodile. It isn't an animal. It is something mysterious.

K: Is it the flatworms? Are you sure people just don't know how to swim.

N: No it isn't the guinea Worm (note. You cannot get g worm this way). It isn't swimming. It will kill you even in a little bit of water. (At this point he grabbed his ankles). I can't explain it.

K: Is it quick sand?

This conversation continued for about 15 minutes while I was growing increasingly alarmed of the mysterious killer until I realized it was the undertow. So, needless to say, Elizabeth and I have decided to not make another trip to the village until the water recedes.

In other news, I will be in Ouaga for training to help with the new volunteers when they come in. The training is the week of Sept 17-22 so I will be able to email. Also, I know some of you were worried about my procrastination but I am happy to report that I finished my personal statement so now I am just waiting for the letters of recommendation and the transcripts before I send it in.

Well, have been back in village now for five days and already felt the need to escape. Actually that isn't true. Village has been going well, but I had a meeting scheduled at the district with the doctor only to be told after biking thirty km in the mud, that the district office is closed today because of Ascention. Having nothing else to do, and procrastinating the whole law school application thing, I decided to update everyone on my very interesting meeting with the traditional healers, i.e. witch doctors.

Before I left for Spain I talked to an association of traditional healers about Moringa trees. They asked me to come back this past Sunday to reinforce some of the information I had given them in July. I arrived that morning and waited for a few hours only to have about ten people show up. Because it is the rainy season, attendance at all meetings is rather low. I was excited to hear that three of the people had been using the leaf podwer PROPERLY for their patients. I guess some of what I said sank in after all.

After my talk, I was told that there was some other business they needed to attend to. Thinking it was their code for, "It is time to drink gin now," I got up to leave. They stopped me before I managed to escape and led me through the brush to an altar surrounded by trees. Around the altar were half buried bottles arranged, apparently, in a particular fashion. On the altar made out of an old wheel spoke, they each placed their fetishes (which are black smooth stones on a chain) on the altar. My friend who was translating for me then explained the backstory as to what was happening.

One traditional healer had accidentally killed one of his patients by giving him the wrong potion. To correct this unfortunate event, all of the healers were participating in a sacrifice to get rid of the bad spirits that would otherwise plague the healer. Now, it was about this time that I realized where the dog who was hog tied and muzzeled at my feet was fitting into the picture. Yes, it was all coming together now and making perfect sense.

I was surprised as everyone tells me that outsiders are not allowed to see sacrifices or go to sacreed places, but I am a little to bien integrated now.

The president of the association, who now apparently considers me a member in my own right, tried to get me to sit next to him during the ceremony. The look of horror on my face, however, spared me and I was allowed to stay near the exit. I watched as the offending healer kneeled before the altar and the president. They conversed for a while and the poured a few rounds, taking care to spill a few drops on the altar for good measure. The president then proceeded to sacrfice a chicken. He cut the chicken on the neck. The chicken flew around in circles for a few seconds then landed. The flight of the bird and subsequent landing of it held some sort of message for the crowd that sort of escaped my knowledge. When the chicken had finally died, they placed the blood of it on the altar. There was another chicken which then met a similar fate.

They then came for the dog. They untied him and sacrificed him as well (I will spare you the details). The dog's blood was drained into a container and on the altar as well. Each of the fetishes was then bathed in the blood of the dog in the container. I didn't really understand how tense the situation was until after we finished. Everyone seemed a lot lighter spiritually (except me of course). I was scared to ask if they ate the meat but I am hoping they did as they placed the dog's body on a fire after the ceremony and my ethnicity is known around Burkina for eating dog meat.

I now have been invited to a fete next Sunday at the president's house. I will keep you posted but am praying for no carniage.

In other news, I got stampeded by a cow yesterday. I guess the proper word is actually charged but I am not splitting hairs here. I was walking near our new dam when I heard a thundering behind me. I hopped quickly onto the dam and much to everyone's surprise I took it in stride. Later I was in the same spot when the same cow charged three girls who did not handle the situation so well, there was a lot of screaming, but all managed to walk away unscathed.

Needless to say, it has been an eventful few days. My theater troupe is preparing a malaria play and are going to sell the mosquito nets we got before I left. Since I have been back it has rained twice, but I got news that it did not rain while I was on vacation. As this is the height of the rainy season, everyone is really worried and constantly working to keep the millet healthy. Please pray, it may be a tough year.

Kelly's mom posting photos of our trip to meet her in the Canary Islands, often thought to be part of the lost continent of Atlantis, and a truly beautiful place.

Our condo was white with a Spanish tile roof and nice balcony. There was a cool breeze off the Atlantic, and the temperature stays around 70-80 degrees all year. Our island, Tenerife, is called the Island of Eternal Spring.

The capital city, Santa Cruz, has a new opera house on the bay, resembling the one in Sydney, Australia.

Kelly's mom attaching more photos of our Canary Island trip to visit her.

The volcano on the island is the highest point in Spain, and the Atlantic, as well, over 3700 meters.

Our town was Puerto de la Cruz, with beautiful blue ocean views and mountains in the clouds behind us.

Kelly's mom posting for her after meeting in the Canary Islands for a week. She said it was one of the prettiest places she had ever been, and I would have to agree. Her friend, Julia Paul, who is a Peace Corps Volunteer from Baltimore came with her, and they were also visiting the south of Spain and Morrocco on their way to/from meeting us. We had a fun week on the island, Tenerife.

Before I go any further, I have be told that I need to write a disclaimer that the views expressed on this blog an my own views and do not officially represent the Peace Corp. Ok, I hope that suffices.

Am recently getting over the panic of having the Director of Peace Corps Africa come and visit me at my site. It seems that she was visiting Burkina to check up on the office here and wanted to visit some volunteer's villages. Because I am relatively close to Ouaga and I have a business volunteers as a close neighbor, my site was chosen.

I say I was panicked because I only had about two days to prepare my town for the visit. My theater group was asked to preform a short skit and I had to notify all the nurses at our clinic. Now, you might think that two days is more than enough time to be prepared for a short, morning visit. Let me just remind you, however, that this is Africa and when my gas tank for cooking ran out it took a month and my trying to bike thirty km with the tank to get the tank filled. As a further complication, the president of our group, who is one of the few people who can understand me and has a leading role in the play that was chosen to be preformed, was out of town working. Amazingly, however, it all came together and the group worked really hard to make things happen.

The director of the health proggram came out with the visitor from Washington as well as the director of the business program. All three women enjoyed the play and were impressed by the humor and intelligence of the piece. After the play we went to my neighbor Elizabeth's village to eat and visit with a women's savings and loans group that she had started.

All for of my close neighbors and I had gone around doing sensibilisations on the savings and loans groups. Elizabeth did most of it but with her and Amanada's help I started three groups in my village and have helped with three others in a neighboring village. On the whole the entire project was very rewarding and sucessful so it was good that Elizabeth was able to talk about the project.

Because the savings and loans group worked so well, Elizabeth and I are planning a similar approach for these amazing trees called moringa trees. They are incredibly nutritious and can really help with malnutrition. It is good because it is a health related topic as the last event was more business oriented. So, in June wee will bike around to villages in our district and talk to people about the benefits of the trees. We are going to hand out sapplings to those who would like then. Then in August we will go around to the people's houses who took the trees and do follow ups with them. Likewise, because we want to be able to track the progress of malnurited kids who eat the moringa leaves we will work with the nutrition clinic in our villages and monitor the kid's weight. I am really excited about the whole thing.

Other than that I am awaiting Spain in a month and a half. In June I will spend a week in Ouaga with two members of my theater troup learning about malaria and TB. Also I am going up north for a week to do talks on the Guniea Worm. Yes, that disgusting worm that gets inside you then tries to break out of the pores in your skin and you roll in out cm by cm with a match stick. Fun stuff.

Oh yeah, and last night I went to this concert of a famous Reggae star from Cote d'Ivorie. His name was Alpha Blondie. It was great and the fans were all so enthusiastic. We had heard about the concert on May 11th (Bob Marley fete day which is apparently a big celebration here -- my neighboring town had a parade -- and pot is legal here for the day only). Accidently two friends and I happened to be in Ouaga and stumble onto this reggae festival with local bands. It was one of my best nights in Burkina and also it made me feel a little like I was in Austin. So I guess on the whole things are looking up now.

Kelly's mom here - asked for pictures of HER so here are some she brought home when she came for my mom's funeral.

After a somewhat rocky month of March, I am happy to say that things are looking up here in Burkina. Some of you have, by now, heard about the fiasco of women's day and the fight I got into with the village elders. For those of you who didn't, let me briefly

explain.

The day of the women's festival we were running behind (although I have yet to ever see a burkinabe on time the village elders were shocked by this news). Although I had asked for their advice ahead of time and they had shirked their responsibilties, I was informed by them that the committee, which they had formed that morning, was canceling the family planning play so that we could move on the the soccer match. Being that the reason we received funding for the festival was the play and that everything was set up for it and that all the people were already gathered around, I put my foot down as said that we were doing the play. A thirty minute argument then ensued and the play was indeed canceled. Let me just add that the play was only 15 minutes long and that by arguing we effectively lost 15 minutes of daylight.

After the argument I decided I needed to take a break from Tiogo. Luckily the next week was our national bike-a-thon. Two of my village friends and I headed east to a town named Zorgo. About 20 other pcvs and their burkinabe friends were there and we spent the next week doing daily talks at small villages over AIDS.

When I got back to village my closest neighbors and I spent the next week biking around our region. We talking to women about starting savings and loans clubs. Currently I am helping five groups of women in Tiogo and more groups in a neighboring village will get started in the next few weeks. So far everything is going very well.