Laura's Drawrings

Laura's room with a view?

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Family

Letter August 14, 2005

Dear Jen and Frank,
Hey, how's it going? I'm sitting in my family's (host) courtyard listening to the news in Moore, I don't understand a thing, so I have no problem concentrating. It's been two weeks in country and I've had a great time so far. However, if you could tell everyone who wants to send anything - tell them to send Chocolate. It may melt, but put it in a bag and I'll drink it! :) Overall, I'm good. Learning two languages at once is hard, but would have been harder if I didn't get tutored, Moore is a very simple language, without verb conjugation - it's awesome, but I may not be stationed in a Mossi region, so learning it may be useless.
My host family consists of about 24 people of varying generations and multiple wives. A friendly, gregarious group whom treat me with the utmost hospitality. Only the men speak any French and the women only understand a little. They've been relaxed and patient with my languages, or lack thereof.
The sun is going down so I don't have much time to write, but I'll send a drawing of a few of the kids that are part of my family.
I'm not homesick yet, but I do dearly miss everyone from the States. I hope to get email or phone access soon.
The flies here are constant throughout the day and blessedly dead by nighttime.
I asked about the possibility of your coming and working. They said I need to wait and ask the clinic I'll be working at to see if it's okay. So it'll be at least 3 months before I find out what they would want, if any help at all. I'll write you more about their health system when I have more light and more information. Hope you guys are doing well and write me when you can, take care.
Always, Laura

August 10, 2005 Letter

Hi all, Laura sent us a letter and asked that we post it here for everyone!

Dear Jayne & Steve

This is my third letter. It's been a little over a week & a half here and I'm still trying to acclimate to the heat. I think having to wear dresses is what bothers me the most ;) I'm in a group of about 50 folks and I'm finding myself not socializing very much. I guess I should seek out their company but I don't see anyone in the group I really gravitate towards. 2 people have left. Which shouldn't but does surprise me. We really haven't been here that long. In all honesty, I'm starting to keen for contact with home that is more immediate than this but I also feel it's necessary for me to remember why I'm here. There are times when I think of home as being so far away, but others when I listen to the quiet night here that I feel ready to find my place in it.

Tomorrow we meet our host family and really start the meat of our training, in culture, language and health. I'm excited and scared to meet the family, but I hope for the best. My host family's name is Ouadraogo, Salom. Two very common names in this part of the country.

It's the beginning of the rainy season here and tonite's lightning display was fantastic. The sun is usually down by 7:30pm & disappears so quickly I often miss it's last moments. Last night, I actually got a chill andhad to cover up - a real change from sweating through the first week.

The food here is heavily Carb-based and not much variety. There's a few beef dishes but usually served w/ a huge plate of pasta or rice. I've found myself craving meat. I go by people's plates, astonished that they don't eat the meat. I have to admit, I ended up eating someone's leftover meat when they disregarded it. Veggies are around but only seasonally. So for the next few months I can enjoy them, but in Dec & January I need to get used to rice & "Toe" - which is a pasty form of grits. The faculty said that women usually gain weight because of the heavily carb-based diet. So there goes my plan to loose weight. I would like to request that if you send anything besides vitamins, please send protein bars or something of the like. There is meat here, but it's mostly goat meat, which isn't too bad.

On a personal level everyone seems to accept me being gay w/o a blink of an eye, they seem to be much more interested in the military background more than anything. I think because of this I have a hard time really identifying with anyone here. We've had several current Peacecorps Volunteers come to our training telling us all their stories, but after so many you become dull to them. I'm ready for my own stories now, I hope they're all good.

Hope to see you soon,

Always,
Laura

Arrival in Burkina

We arrived safely in Burkina with about 50 volunteers. The flight over was tiring as expected. Charles de Gaule airport is the most annoying airport ever! The way they've set up the arrival and departure procedure for connecting flights is so time consuming, we almost missed our connecting flight. And we had 2 1/2 hours! Ugh!

Anyway, we were well received in Burkina by the Peace Corps administrative officers. They gathered us up and shuffled us through customs with hardly a hiccup. They took our bags and sent them off to Gourcy, our training site, while we met the current Peace Corps Volunteers who waited outside the terminal, cheering our arrival.

Then we headed to a hotel to eat and settle our overnight bags. They served us pizza and chicken! Very good comfort food for a bunch of shell-shocked newbies. We settled in and then we hung out on a patio and played games and drank the local beer to relax.

The next morning we had breakfast and began our entry paperwork to set up finances and secure our valuables. Next we boarded some shuttles and headed to our training site in the town of Gourcy.

To describe Burkina so far.... Ougadougou, the capital, is a large expanse of shanties that hava a few buildings more than 3 stories. The nicer homes are characterized by tall walls that surround them. The roads and countryside are very dusty due to the deep brick-red soil. Traffic flows crazily, like a waterfall over several rocks, and the rhythm is hard to figure out. Scooters and bicycles are predominant throughout. The terrain is flat and green as we travelled to Gourcy. I saw several corn fields interspersed with local vegitation; the stalks varied in height from 2' to 7' one to the next.

The people are darker than the soil in Illinois and are ready with a smile upon first greeting. We are abnormal looking and already I've had children come up to me and grab my hand to either study it or feel it's texture. Very endearing!

Gourcy is a town of about 5,000 and mostly consists of brick structures, one-story built with a courtyard layout.

Our schedule has been packed so far with intro briefs and explanation of our jobs. We'll stay here until we move to our village with our adoptive family. For the next 3 months we'll move in between here and the little village, working on community projects and training.

I'll write some more soon. It also looks like I'll get a cell phone here after training and be able to set up times for phone calls. The current volunteers say they call their family weekly. I hope to do so with both family and friends. Until then, I'll continue to write the best I can.

Take care!
Laura

Just before I hop on the plane

I have about 3 minutes to write, but just so you guys know. The prospects of regular update won't be likely. I'm thinking about mailing updates to one person and have that person update for me. It would be a more regulare occurence from what I'm told. My access to the internet will be more dismal than I originally thought. So for a few people who are checking this and I can't contact before I leave.
Mary-please continue to login into mail every month
Jayne-I may start sending you my updates, I'll try to contact you again regardless.

Other than that, I'm heading off tonite with about 50 other PC folks. There's a mix of business, health and women's empowerment. I'm the only one from a military background. I believe I'm the second oldest. I also think I'm the only one from a rural community, cause they thought when I worked on corn fields a real phenomenom. :-) Anyway, It looks a good group of over-achievers and solid volunteers. I hope to make some real good friends.
Just got my shots today, woo woo and I'm about to check out of my room. I'll start writing letters as soon as I get there. I hope to keep in touch with you all regardless. So, take care and see you again soon.
L