The holiday season is over, a new year has begun and I’m approaching the midway point of my coop. Here’s a little re-cap on the last month’s worth of events…

Week 16: Mon Dec 29th- Fri, Jan 2nd

Monday we were leaving for a 5-day trip to the Sahel (the desert in northern Burkina). Our plan was to leave at 8am, so 10 of us rendez-vous’d for 7h30, but when one of our vehicles was much smaller then we had expected, it led to a 4 hour delay while our friend/driver Issiaka found us a second truck. Finally on our way, we stopped not long after as it was lunch time. Okay, so I realize that African time is much slower then Canadian time, and going to a restaurant, you have to go at least 1hr before you think you’ll be hungry so that you don’t starve while you’re waiting. But this was the record (we broke a lot of food waiting records that weekend). Since a bunch of our group had opted to go into town and buy sheep off a street vendor, there were only 4 of us waiting for food. In the end, we waited 2 hours. And it’s not like we ordered a well cooked steak here, we asked for 2 plates of couscous and 2 plates of rice…2 hours people!
We drove into the night as we had got a late start on the day and eventually found ourselves in sand dunes which led to our encampment. The trick we found out was to drive fast enough so that you wouldn’t get stuck in the sand, so our friend in the other truck seemed to have mastered the concept, but our driver got stuck 5 min in. We got out and watched as the wheels spun deeper in the sand and we tried pushing it loose, but ya, that didn’t work. So our friend dropped off the first bunch, came back for us then went back to tie the truck and try to pull it out.
The encampment was pretty cool. We got there to a lit fire beside a long table (we hadn’t eaten supper yet). Around the outskirts were a series of mattresses set out on the sand, where we were going to sleep. I hoped there weren’t any scorpians there :S. It didn’t take long until we bundled up and headed to bed. Man, did I freeze that night. The desert night gets pretty cold, I don’t know how cold it was, but around 15*C I’d say. I had leggings, a long sleeve shirt, my pjs, a hoodie and socks and a small fleece blanket with the one sheet provided. Brrrr. I hardly slept all night and most of the group went inside (there was a building we could move to if we were too cold). But the view was too amazing. When you went to turn around in bed, you opened your eyes to a clear sky full of stars, and as cold as I was, I figured when else would I ever get the opportunity to sleep under the stars in the middle of the desert, and so I opted to freeze.

The next day we took a walk through the sand dunes to a museum. I opted to wear shoes, but without socks and that wasn’t a very good idea. Within 10 minutes I had open blisters on both feet full of sand, so I took off my shoes and opted to chance walking through the sand which was full of pricklies. We checked out the museum which was an archeological site, then headed to a small water spot, where there were thousands of cows and donkeys (the appeal, I know, too much).
We ate lunch then argued with the owner of the encampment as he was charging us more then we had previously been told ($7 per person for a plate of couscous!). We then left for the next encampment, where we were spending a couple nights, including New Years Eve. So we packed up our things and were off.
Okay, try to appreciate the irony of this next bit. So we’re driving out of the encampment when our driver decides that he rather veer off the frequently used path to ride through the slightly forested area. And of course, we are driving through sand. So he goes to drive between 2 trees, and a combination of not turning fast enough and speed led us, yes you guessed it, right into one of them. I have never been in a car accident before, and it’s pretty humourous that my first car accident occurred by hitting a tree in the middle of the desert! Luckily no one was really hurt, just some sore limbs. I totally saw it coming though, and tried bracing the impact with my knee and was a little disoriented when it happened, but we all got out and were fine. So we waited while the other group was brought one hour or so away to our next camp while we waited around and were eventually picked up by a tourist going to the same encampment.
The camp was cool. A big sandy hill with a bunch of tourist groups all spread out around huts and campfires. We beat another record that night. 3.5 hours for spaghetti and fries! Man, and a server in Canada gets in shit if they don’t bring out food within 20 minutes of ordering! Imagine… 3.5 hours!

The next day was New Years Eve. We woke up that morning and decided to take a walk around. A bunch of kids followed us around as we walked near villages and saw random groups of donkeys and camels just hanging around. Ok, so I have always wanted to ride a donkey, so when the kids grabbed one of them, I ceased the opportunity and got on. Okay, so I didn’t really ‘ride’ the donkey, but I sat on it .
That afternoon, we had arranged to take a camel ride. So as I walked towards the herd of camels awaiting us, I scoped out the one that looked like it had the softest blanket on the saddle. It just so happen to be the biggest of the pack, so I wasn’t sure if they were going to let me have it (maybe it was the leaders?). So as some of our group starting getting on the camels, I walked up to the guy and asked if I could get the big one. He laughed and said I was small, so I tried to breathe in lots of air and make as if I was getting bigger. He laughed, but eventually let me have it…success!
They are tall though, when we got up, I was afraid I’d fall off, since these are single humped camels (dromadaires, not sure if that’s a word in English) so the saddle pretty much sits in front of the hump and is ‘strapped’ down. But one bad turn and I was going downhill, and far. Yikes. It worked out though, eventually I got comfortable with my camel and my guide even gave me the reigns, so I got to control him myself.
Got back to camp and waited for our mishui, which is roasted sheep (the new years specialty they were cooking up that night). Ate at around 10pm then headed to another part of the camp, where they had set up a large fire so that everyone could come ring in the new year together. We brought out some sparklers and sat watching a group of Italians sing and dance around the fire. Rang in the new year, danced a bit, then were off to bed by early morning.
That night I was determined NOT to be cold. So I loaded on the clothing. 3 pairs of socks (one of which knee highs), leggings, pj pants, a tshirt, a long sleeve shirt, pj shirt, and a hoodie. And guess what, I WASN’T COLD! Woot!

The next morning, we were off to Gorum Gorum, where there was a big market to check out. So we piled all our bags on the top of the truck and piled into the truck (yes the 10 of us plus the driver). An hour later, Issiaka (our friend/driver) dropped half of us on the side of the road as we were getting into town as he didn’t want any trouble if we were stopped by the police with 10 people in the vehicle. So he pulled over, told half of us to get out and ‘start walking’ and that he’d ‘be back in a bit to pick us up’. We’re in the desert! You can’t just drop people off and tell them to start walking and that you’ll be back later lol. Luckily it wasn’t too far and he was back within 25min.
Since we were 1 truck down (yes our truck that hit the tree stayed in the tree), half of our group were going to take the bus back to Ouaga and the rest be driven by Issiaka in the truck. But since one of the main attractions to come to the Sahel was the market, the group didn’t want to take the next and only bus to Ouaga which was leaving in 25min (since it wouldn’t give them time to check out the market). So after much frustration and arguing that we had paid for the use of the truck and driver and should get to use it however we wanted, the driver agreed to wait for the group to check out the market and drive half of them to the next town an hour away where they could catch another bus to Ouaga, then drive back to pick the rest of us up and drive to Ouaga.
We all got back around the same time. But built up frustrations led to some arguing between myself and some others as I was trying to mediate the situation and they were pissed off by the series of events. So that got me pretty upset, but luckily they apologized and by the next morning, I was fine.


Weekend 16

I hit the 4 month mark this weekend. So far so good. The only thing I really miss is just being able to see my friends and family and just hanging out and being able to give them hugs (more on that later…)
This Saturday was Anne’s bday, so we went out to a Vietnamese restaurant, which was amazing. Something I could buy in Canada from an Asian restaurant, I was impressed and very satisfied. Made a cake for Anne with strawberries that just came into season (we had heard a lot about Burkina strawberries), but at $10/kg I think we’ll wait a bit for the price to go down before we buy more.

Went fabric shopping today with Fanny, who is visiting Anne and Benoit from France. She wanted to get some outfits made before she heads back, so we took her downtown. I have never been (I’m sure I’ve started many sentences that way already haha) more harassed to buy stuff in my life. There were about a dozen men surrounding us at all moments, trying to pull us towards their shops. I kept telling them not to grab my arm and to get out of my ‘personal space’ lol. Oh man, I was totally in the mood for shopping that morning, but after 20min, I was fully annoyed and ready to head home.
Sunday night is Bollywood night at the cinépark, so we headed over to catch the flick. There were some songs where people starting brraping, and I so wish someone was there to appreciate the gansterness with me! It’s really too bad.


Week 17: Mon Jan 5th – Fri Jan 9th

Back at school today after the 2 week of school break and I was glad to see the kids. My friend and taxi driver lost his taxi today. An insight, in Burkina, if you are rich enough to own a car, you can ‘rent’ it out as a taxi. So you pay a guy to take care of renting it out. That guy finds a driver, who pays $20/day to drive it and receives about $75-100 at the end of each month as salary. So the owner of my friend’s taxi has a little brother whom my friend was teaching how to drive. Once he succeeded in getting his license, the owner of the taxi decided to put my friend to the street and give the car to his little brother. So my friend was left trying to find friends to work with and they’d share the salary together. Luckily 2 days later, that little brother got into a car accident, so the taxi was given back to my friend. It’s so frustrating because so many people here are paid so little per month that the owners of things can keep them on such a tight leash that they will never be able to come out of it, which leaves them pretty much dependent for life.

Did some work at the office this week, but I haven’t been able to sit still for more than 1 hour at a time as my back has been a little sore. So after some confirmation with the insurance company that message therapy or chiropractic sessions would be covered if prescribed, I went to the clinic to see if I can get that done. My leg was causing me the most hassle right after the accident, but as that got better, I started getting pain in my back and neck, but not severe enough to worry. I just wanted to take care of it now to avoid more problems come 2-3 months from now. But my attempts to seek a natural solution ended in a prescription for pain killers and muscle relaxants. The side effects on the latter were so concerning that I opted to only take ½ of the prescribed dose one night before bed before stopping to use them (even though I got a 20 day prescription). The box was covered with warnings of seizures, addiction, etc. so I opted to put them in the drawer and forget their existence.

Went out Wednesday night for a drink with some friends. Invited a friend who was a Burkinabe student who worked and lived with the engineering students who were in Bama. Since they left, he has been by himself taking care of the building they built, so he was happy to hang out since he was in Ouaga visiting family for the holidays. We agreed that next time I’m in Bama, we will eat caterpillars (supposedly they are a big thing in Bobo)

Got a couple birthday cards in the mail this week. Thanks for sending them! They were very sweet and don’t worry, I didn’t open them until my real birthday!

Our house is still full this week. We have Sevrine who is a cooperant in Bobo and her husband down to pick up her mother who is arriving from Canada to spend a month with them. Fanny and Melanie (Anne and Benoit’s French and Canadian friends) who were here for the holidays are also here, but are leaving this weekend. So for their last night we figured we should take them out to experience Ouaga night life, but our tiredness led us to just go to a local bar, in which we were the only ones there! So much for showing them the nightlife haha.

Mom also called to say hi and told me Eric had a surprise to tell me. He gets on the phone and says “I bought a Mac” lol. Eric, how is that a surprise for me? Here I was expecting ‘Im gonna come visit you sis’ haha. Now that would be a surprise. Silly Eric.


Weekend 17

Went for a walk this weekend. There was a nice little breeze, which made walking in the sun bearable. Spent the afternoon at the artisans village with Melanie and Fanny as they wanted to pick up last minute souvenirs. That place is like my second home, the vendors even know me since I’m always bringing friends there to buy stuff. Went for ice cream that afternoon before heading over to Gigot A La Ficelle for dinner to complete their experience in Burkina. Then it was off to the airport to say our goodbyes.

Week 18: Mon, Jan 12th – Fri, Jan 16th

One week before my (and Benoit, who shares the same birthday as me) birthday. Since it’s both our birthdays on the 22nd and Anne’s birthday earlier in the month, we used it as an excuse to throw a big party. Our friends and collegues always bug us and ask when we’re going to invite them over for dinner, so this was an opportunity to invite them all at the same time (since individually we’d always have someone over!). So I worked on birthday invites and sent those out to our friends and workplaces.
The last couple weeks have been the most productive weeks since I’ve been here. I really hope it continues, because I want to feel as though I have made a difference during my time here.
Checked out a movie at the French cultural center with a couple friends. Kung Fu Panda was playing, which if you haven’t seen it, is a great movie. One of the best animations I have ever seen.

The guard of the house across the street, who is kind of our friend told me he’d teach me some stuff on the jembe. So he took me to his hood and taught me some stuff as a bunch of his friends came in to join our ‘jam session’ I guess you can say. Myself and my friend were on the jembe, another guy on a guitar, another guy freestyle rapping, another guy saying random gangster words like ‘checkk checkk’, and a bunch of kids dancing around us. It was pretty gangster. I tried to get the ‘checkk’ guy to brrrap, but he didn’t want to. (I’ve uploaded a clip of that day on facebook if you want a visual… http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=28123092#/video/video.php?v=698393012922

Weekend 18

I felt lost this weekend. There are tons of things I can do, but nothing I particularly want to do. So my moral is a little on the down side. Being yelled at today did not help that situation. Some people who have been here a while are frustrated more easily and maybe they were just having a bad day, and I just so happen to be the target of their vent. The last time someone yelled at me was in 11th grade when the principle of my high school was unhappy about some of the images we used in posters promoting positive body image. So being yelled at twice (today and after our Sahelian trip) within a couple weeks was not appreciated and I took it pretty hard. I was pretty much in my room the rest of the day and watched movies to cheer up.
Its times like these that I especially want to talk to my mom and dad or friends, but I hate upsetting them over the phone since I’ll just be emotional and they’ll just feel bad that I’m sad and they can’t really be there to consol me. Reading and watching videos that my friends made me ‘for a sad day’ or videos from good times with friends is like laughing while being more sad because it reminds you how awesome your friends and family are and how much you miss them. But don’t worry; it’s all part of the experience. I have been more emotional in the last month then in the last 4 years, but it’s all part of being in a strange environment and situation with nothing familiar. In the end it always works out and I’m sure it’ll make me a stronger person. By the night I had calmed down and we were all off to a restaurant as one of the cooperants was leaving that night.
The next day was pretty calm. I worked on organizing music for the bday bash next week (I downloaded a cool dj program, where you can easily mix songs and sort music by speed, its super cool). That afternoon, a cooperant’s family came over and we played a German postal board game, woot good times.


Week 19: Mon, Jan 19th- Fri, Jan 23th

Today I was hoping would be the day. To receive my Magic Bullet that is! A wonderful personal blender that I got for Christmas which can make really good smoothies. I had convinced my parents to send it to me from Canada instead of buying one here for $50-60 which would maybe work for a couple months before breaking down. So it was worth spending that much money sending it to me knowing that it would work really well and it wouldn’t be a waste of money, considering I was going to bring it back to Canada. And so it was the day. I got a couple slips for received packages and headed to the post. The second package was not found though. Pretty sure it’s the package my mom told me about last Friday that my folks had sent 3 months ago, that got lost, sent to South Africa and eventually here. So I got the important one (the bullet!) and stopped to pick up some fruits to make smoothies when I got home. That night had an avocado banana smoothie, it was delightful! And wait till the hot season comes, I’ll be drinking them like water.

Got to the school today and was told that the teacher had an appointment, so I’d be taking over the class today (this is not the first time that happens). So I followed what the other classes’ ‘theme’ was for the day, learning about objects that are used to get washed. I opted for a more interactive lesson and tried to get the kids to act out how they wake up in the morning and go about getting washed and with what objects, but they were completely lost on my style, so I resorted to the African ‘lets write on the board, say the words and get the kids to repeat them over and over’. The teaching style here is very memoristic, it is based on the French system, which could be an interesting thesis topic… (something I have yet to pick, ayayay).
The sheep we are killing for our birthday party arrived this morning. Screaming and calling out to the neighbourhood’s sheep…at 5h30 in the morning! Ayayay. So giving that it was super annoying and noisy, we opted to kill it that night instead of in a couple days (meh, extra time for it to marinate). We found out that in order for our muslim friends to be able to eat it, it had to be the oldest muslim who had to kill it. So that would be our guard. Hmmm…how to ask/explain to him that we need him to kill the sheep when he gets here to work, when he hardly understands French nor speaks the local language… Well in the end we managed to convey the message to him, so they said a prayer, cut the main vein in the neck and let it bleed out (the Hallal tradition). It was much less dramatic then I thought. I was expecting to hear the sheep cry out and try to escape, but it was very calm and we had people over to help hold it down and stuff.

On Wednesday, I decided to get my hair braided with extensions. It took 5 hours, not bad for the work involved, but it looks cool.

Thursday is my birthday! Went to school (bundled up, tshirt, long sleeve shirt, hoodie, wind jacket and scarf to ride to school). The nights have been just as cold. I searched the house for all the extra sheets I could find (I now have 3 sheets and a fleece blanket) and I sleep with my hoodie.
Went out to the Vietnamese restaurant for dinner (seems to be the bday hot spot). Ate well once again, crispy noodles with veggies, and apple donuts for desert, yum! For the first time EVER I think in the history of my life, I did not eat cake for my birthday! I know crazy. I was going to have a slice of pineapple cake in our fridge, but I opted to eat a pack of Pringles that my parents had sent me (the package that was lost, well it was found today, woot, a box of singles Pringles and a Xmas card hihi). My dinner was free, which made it even better (my friends paid for myself and Benoit) and Anne also got me some leather Xmas ornaments and a cotton scarf, both from the artisans village (things that I had spotted and loved, but didn’t want to spend the money to get for myself).
Spoke briefly to the rents over the phone and opted to go to the cyber café to webcam with them (got the webcam in the package too!). So headed there, talked with them for an while, then as I was leaving Ange called me to sing me happy birthday. We talked for an hour, it was just like good old times.

The last couple nights have not been very productive in the sleeping department. Touching my head hurts. The extensions kill with any pressure applied to them, so laying on them was not so hot. The only solution was to sleep on my face, but I figured breathing was a little more important then a painful head.

Friday night is the bday bash. Did a bunch of running around today. Premixed and recorded 3 hours of music for tonight. I could ask a friend to dj but that would result in hours of endless African music that all sounds the same, with no Western music at all. So to please both sides (our Burkinabe and oriental friends), I mixed 50%-50% African/Western music). Got home, the house was set up for the night. We put the furniture outside on the porch as we were hoping most of the party would occur outdoors, and it would leave an open space inside for dancing. We even set up a bonfire in our driveway to keep people warm if it got too cold.
Overall, we invited about 60 people, but we calculated that about 150 showed up. That’s what you get when you have a party with free beer and food (which is the standard for any African party, you furnish everything). So our neighbours, their friends, their cousins twice removed all showed up. Half of which we didn’t know, answering the door with them asking ‘this is where they are serving people?’…uhhhh…..i guess…
It worked out well though. We somewhat ran out of food (well we had to go buy more meat twice that night, ran out of ‘side dishes’ like salads and such) but we were okay. We controlled the beer too, serving people and keeping the beer in another room in which only we went. People were so needy though. Myself, Anne and Benoit spent the whole night serving others who were impatiently asking us to serve them food and beverages. That resulted in us not being able to talk to any one of our friends for very long, but our friends seemed to have a good time. People inside talking in one room, dancing in the other. Others outside with the jembe (drum) playing, talking, and sitting around the fire (which people told us reminded them of their time in the village when the village elders would make fires and tell them stories).
My remixes did not fly with the people though. I only started to play one and the locals were changing the music, impatient to put on African songs (that were in my mix, just further in). It was a bit frustrating. The locals like what they like and that’s it. So I didn’t do too much dancing that night (only later, when Anne put on my mix, which had the only non-African music that played all night). But that did allow me to more easily dodge guys constantly asking me to dance. I kept insisting that I like to dance by myself and that dancing with someone else just ruins my flow haha.
I am frustrated with guys here. I miss my Canadian guy friends so much! Being able to give them hugs and them not think anything of it. I can’t even look or talk to a guy here without them thinking it means something more. It’s frustrating because I am always reserved and can’t fully be myself because I’m afraid that they’ll think that I want more then just friendship. And even when I am clear with them that I do not feel any emotion nor will I feel any more emotion other than friendship with someone, they still don’t get it. I was even told that night that ‘I can tell you have more feelings for me the way you look into my eyes’. I tried to convince that particular guy that the way I looked into his eyes was the same way I looked into any of my other friends’ eyes. I don’t think he got the message though, but I don’t know how I could have been any clearer. I have the feeling that guys have all the say here. That they say ‘give me your number’ or imply that you are their girlfriend and that is that, the woman doesn’t really have a say in the matter. I say this because no matter how many times I tell a guy that it’s only friendship or that I will not give them my number, they are super persistent (I always love it when Marie-Helene is with me because she’ll raise her voice and say ‘listen, when a Canadian woman tells you no, it’s no, she’s not going to change her mind’) lol.
By 1h30am, we sent the rest of our guests home, including the random passed out guys on our balcony.

Weekend 19

Tired of not sleeping, so decided I’d pull out the meches from my hair. But I like the look and opted to pull out the extentions and re-braid my hair to keep the look going. So that took 12 hours. Literally. I started at 11am, and ended at 11pm, but managed to rebraid all but the top portion of my head (which I don’t really sleep on, so opted to keep for the look). Pulling apart all the sides and the back allows me to sleep on my head and it not be painful, woot! So I watched a bunch of movies that day to keep my eyes busy while I picked at my head. In total, 4 movies and 2 episodes of House. Horton Hears A Who, good movie by the way!

Woke up and had a very good night sleep! Yay. Wanted to lay in bed all morning because I was so encouraged that I was finally comfortable and able to sleep in my bed. Took it relax today. Did groceries, visited a friend, then headed to a hotel to use their wireless internet for a Skype date with Ange in Ottawa and Anna in Honduras. It was good to gossip with the girls about random life stories and youtube funny videos (oh how hours can be wasted on youtube hihi). I left a couple hours later, not wanting to push my luck stealing the internet. I figured leaving a tip on my orange jus would make the guy not care that I was there at all, but I didn’t want to push my luck.


Randoms:

•Tired of the total lack of exercise I’ve been getting here, I opted to do a workout video. So the lack of exercise has made me…yes….imagine this…gain weight! Well I don’t know if it’s necessarily ‘gained’ weight, but moreso that the muscle I had in my legs from walking so much in Canada has disappeared. The lack of exercise has also decreased my energy levels, so I was hoping doing a little something might up that. But all I have as far as workout videos is pilates, which doesn’t do too much for upping the energy level. But none the less, it’s something.

•Dropping one of my friends off one night, a bunch of guys were sitting around the table playing cards at the bar (the regulars, whom she knows). One of the guys tells me to get closer to him so he can see my face, and eventually approaches me and says “you know that men were made to reproduce eh, show me where you live”. Are you serious? Is that really your best pick up line? I laughed, told him no and left.

•Got cut off by a moto the other day on the road. An idiot decided to cut me off and slow right down to a halt right in front of me. So I had to stop from riding 40km/hour to a halt within 2 meters. I succeeded with only an inch from hitting him to spare!

•The last couple weeks I’ve been having really vivid dreams. And I wake up in the morning and have to really think of where I am. Before I open my eyes, I always picture that I am in my bed at home and visualize my room, so I have to tell myself I’m in Africa otherwise I’d get a surprise every time I open my eyes haha. I’m blaming the Lariam on that one.

•I thought the days of Galloway mice were behind me. But they have found me. Yep, we have mice in our house, (non enthusiastic yay). They are big too, probably 2-3x the size of the ones we had infesting our house in Scarborough in 2nd year. Well at least we have a cat. Next step is to make the cat to realize there’s mice and attack!

So there it is everyone, the last month’s worth of events. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading, until next time…
Love Tiana

Ps. Here are the latest pics, most from my trip to the Sahel…
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2483290&l=d96fe&id=28123092