More Pictures

Finally, I'm posting some more pictures from Laura. If she gets online again, maybe she can add some comments. There are a bunch to choose from, so Laura, if there's one you want me to share, let me know!!

Mary Ann

Laura's "Swearing in" style...These ladies to the left were my companions in village during my three months of training, they rocked


The new house!...This house is a mansion by Peacecorps standards, I have THE bachorlette pad There are more pics of the rooms and the courtyard that I'll try to put up later. It's pretty sparse, but she's got some shelves and some minimal furniture. She's putting murals on the wall around the courtyard!


Cats! Who woulda' thunk?.....Yeah, me either, but the momma kicks ass at killing rodents, insects, etc.


The Mohawk!!...Just so you know, it was shaved off shortly after that photo and now has grown back in to a nice shag carpet again

Yo, I'm back

Oh, here's an interesting tidbit, the other night it was "freezing" here and someone had a thermometer and it only got down to 75. he he. I haven't really been cold yet at night, but some of the Volunteers sleep with flannels and multiple blankets already. I guess after the hot season, I'll be doing that. Have a good Holiday Season and Merry Xmas!
Take Care
L

Hey today

How's it going? Today, I'm going to go through the mail bag and answer some questions you guys thought about weeks ago. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to everyone's. Oh, by the way, my friends here were amazed that my friends from college sent me all this stuff. "You still keep in touch with your friends from college?" they asked amazed and slightly in awe inspite of my age. Yep, my friends in the states are cool.
Oh in case you are wondering if your little complaints are appreciated, I read Amy's letter to some friends and we were rolling at your descriptions of kiddy b-day parties. Hilarious. I don't read all mail to my friends, but some are just priceless. Little details like that are real entertainment and relaxing to be a part of.
Onward:
Okay, you all might be wondering what I'm doing in my spare time, there's not much of it, but I do read and I've begun sketching again, so some of you may get some sketches for Xmas. They are rough, but capture enough of the subject to give an impression of the person. I have a landscape in progress, but I continually find other little sketches to start and finish instead. Folks here, are hard subjects to capture, they refuse to sit still. Oh, well, I'll have to draw faster. That's been a nice re-immergence of a quite joy that I grew up with. There were a lot of negative vibes that I experienced during my military career that seemed to squash all desire to create or draw anything. I'll call that my dry period. I'm not as good as I was, but I rediscovering forgotten techniques and perspectives which for a while were missing in my drawings, which also caused me to lose my courage to draw. Sometimes, it's scary to let other people see your drawings.
Oh, in my spare time, I also tend to stare off in to space, just wool gathering or organizing my thought or reactions to things. It's rather pleasant and it takes place of TV so easily, I'm amazed how time flies when I do this. I do it a lot by the way. I guess it's one of the methods of getting used to the slow pace.

I did recieve the pictures, and they are great, and I've been giving them to respective people and they are loving them. Thanks Encore Encore.

My new location is good, there's plenty to do, but it's bad for the same reason. It's a really large village for a Volunteer of Health. Normally, a health volunteer will be in a village of about 1500 people, and have satellite villages having a total of about 5,000 people. My village is 10,000 and the surrounding satellite villages total another 10-12,000 people. That's really big. It's good because there's plenty of community groups to work with and a lot of options for projects. The bad part so far, is differentiating btwn people within the community who are genuinely wanting to improve their community and/or be a friend, and those who are plain frauds.
I'm getting used to being in village and the pace. My schedule is starting to solidify as much as it can. Besides work at the CSPS, and traveling to villages for vaccinations or sensibilizations, I walk around like a politician saying hello to EVERYONE and try to integrate. I suggest everyone should try this one day of you week. Walk around and say hello to EVERYONE, not just hi, no. You must say, "Hello, How are you, how's your family? Your health? your sleep last night? Your kids? great, hope you have good health, See you later." Yep, I honestly do that to everyone I see around village, it's a lot. Now, do that in 4 different languages. Ugh, I still can't do that, but I'm working on it.
Oh, and if you don't do all that salueing before you start a conversation of whatever subject, you're being rude. So like, for example, you go to the shoppette for stick of gum, you GOTTA salue the dude who's working the counter like that. Little things like that, every time. Try it, I think the first time you do, you'll get some people seriously thinking your a freak, but if you do it all the time, you make friends in no time. ;-)

Oh, the other thing that fills my day(everyday) and ruins my moments of peace are the kids who come by and ask for my bottle, my glasses, my chewing gum(bad mistake on my part last Ramadan), my notebooks, etc. They aren't polite and they don't say please. Curiousity seekers, I can handle. I've been stared at ever since I stepped off the plane, but kids that are rude and expect things are just a waste of time and resource. I don't play with the kids because I'm not a playtoy for them, even though they want me to be. The kids I do like are the ones who are respectful when asking for things(when they are I'll give things if I have them) and the ones who don't ask for anything at all.

Each week I typically bike about 50-60 miles a week. Depending on my cycle of schedule, maybe 70. You'd think I'd be losing wieght, but I'm not, I'm eating up whatever I burn. The good thing is, having the protein you guys send me really helps me do this. Trying to bike during training on just a carb based diet, I had no energy and I felt really fatigued after a medium ride. The added protein helps me get through the day and have energy for salueing and rebuilding my body for the next day of riding. It's amazing how much a difference it makes in my energy level. So, I"m not joking about the request for protein, not granola, protein.

I'm the only health worker from the U.S., or from any other country for that matter, in my region. They are working hard at making a self sustaining health system in this country, the problem is the infratstructure to support all the needs of the health system. Like supplies, personel, facilities, roads, education on hygiene, and cultural traditions. Alot of factors are hindering the improvement of health, I think, personally, it's cultural. Women aren't thought of as important enough, at a local level, to really include in on education of any sort. Therefore, the majority of women in the country do no speak any languag besides their own.
I'm in fact the only health volunteer in my region.

I work with a melanger of people. A good portion of my work is with the folks who work at the local clinic, nurses and mid-wives.
I work with the local schools for sensiblizations.
I work with the village agents of health to sensiblize the people of each village.
I work with the village chiefs and prefets to organize community projects(whenever that happens for health purposes)
I work with local groups to aid in their sensiblizations or help develop micro-lending systems.
And every now and then I watch a really bad kung-fu movie off a battery powered TV next to one of the boutiques. Kung-fu is huge here. HUGE.

I do have some privacy, When I really want to just be alone, this sounds bad, but I have to close my door of my house and stay inside. Most of the time this works. If I'm outdoors at all, I'm open game to anyone.

My french is improving as my English degrades. It's interesting, but encouraging. It improves in spurts and then lulls.

OH, I got two more letters today, Yippy!
But, I think this is a pretty good post for now, I might another one later on today.
Oh, one more thing, if there is something that offends you on this blog, by what I wrote, please let me know in a letter. I would really like to hear both the good and the bad. Thanks. later
L

For the next month

Hey guys,
I won't be able to check mail until Xmas, but I'll trying to get out Xmas cards as soon as I can within the next week or so, they may or may not have an actual card inside them, however, think of it as a surprise...anyhoo.. My schedule for the next month will consist of touring the satellite villages giving vaccinations one week and then 2 weeks later giving education classes. I'll also be working with the local high school and talking with the kids on sex and AIDS. Last, not least, I'll also be trying to integrate into the community(without killing any children. ;-)° )
I will try to make phone calls to people on Sundays, but my time available to isn't very convenient for folks who like to sleep in so, in advance, SORRY! Expect a call at 0600-0800, I don't have the telecenter # on me now but I'll post it so you can call or understand the person calling you at the but-crack of dawn is me. :-))
Better sign off for now.
Oh, books, I recommend:
-The Book of Flying-very lyrical and sweet, very lite read
-Isaac's Storm-excellent description of the powerful hurricane that wiped out Galveston TX and the blunders of bureacracy.
-Dark Star Safari-if you want an excellent description of the state of Africa today.
-Running With Scissors-Laughed out loud too often with this book for the natives to be comfortable.

oops, gotta go

Hey, guys

Recuperating from the latest bout of GI, and things are coming out okay, ;-) Thanks so much for the latest bout of mail, I just opened today. I really do like hearing about the latest minutia of people's lives, so please don't think that your details are ridiculous. When I ask people on the phone, what they think of the blogger, it's been really positive, but i keep thinking, do they really think my little meandering are that interesting? I'll keep meandering and I hope you do too in your letters. It makes me feel more connected to you guys. 2 years from now I'll be able to reference the same mistakes and frustations that color your life as the experiences here color mine. And it won't seem like I have to get to know people all over again. Anyhoo...

Everyone who came to Ouaga for the holiday, got to see all my awesome packages and were amazed. Many people were like, "Man, you ARE loved," or "You get the coolest shit". I do like to share with my co-volunteers and they appreciate you very much. Many of them honestly don't get that much mail and when I offered them some chocolate, it's literally liking watching a kid open a present at Xmas. They ooo and ahhh, and savor every bite. I don't share everything, like the meat or some really delicatable treats, but sharing packages here is common courtesy and everyone respects everyone's elses private reserve, and here getting a package is multiplied by the sharing and the joy it bring to more people. Thank you Thank you Thank you.
The first T.Y. is from me, the second from the other volunteers, and the last if from my stomach. :-)

Now, for suggesting for future packages, if you're so inclined to send more, I don't recommend sending any charity items you want me to give to people here, like clothes toys, etc. Part of the hard part of my job is convincing people that I don't have money and I'm not here to give you things. I'm here to help you help yourself, by training, developing, and discussing new means of working or learning that are self sustaining. For example, I train a healt agent on the subject of AIDS, the goal is for him to train his village, no money is involved, just good will. Also, if I start giving out to people certain things then I'll be known as Nasara(whitey)with clothes, toys, etc. for everyone in the village and I wouldn't be able to get rid of people asking for things more so than they do now. I'm already known as the Nasara of Chewing Gum and I won't make that mistake again.

The stuff I do have already, I will use as incentives for classes and student when I have projects with them and believe me, these gifts are incredible incentives for the kids here, so thank you in advance, but please don't send anymore.

The above paragraphs seems a bit hypocritical, one stating the joys of sharing and they other disapproving. But, with the volunteers, there's true respect with the exchange, but in the village, once one person gets something, everyone feels as if they deserve some too and even more so than the person in front of them. Honestly, some of the people can be pretty mean, just because you said, "No", but they know you gave someone else something. It's a little hard to explain it more, without really experiencing it day_in_day out the constant harranging for things. I have to say, I've lost a lot of compassion some of the people here because of it.

Sorry about that downer of a topic, but the positive side of it is I want to thank everyone who's ever sent a letter, package, etc. Being here can be frustrating, but honestly, knowing I have such a great group of people who make up my life back in the States and are people I can rely on, make being here, okay. I can handle things much easier knowing I have got such a great support network at home. You guys are the best moral boost around.

That being said, thank you to the Jen and Frank, Tom and Miriam, Grant and Fara, Hedlunds, Mom and Dad, Jayne and Steve for the great great packages. Very excited to take the goodies home to To.
Kurt, Ashley, Mom, the Fangs, and Amy Jolin, I recieved your letters, thank you for the insite into your lives.

The items that I like the best are the canned meat products sent and the strictly protein bars. I like chocolate and chocolate stuff, but I'm not a big sugar candy fan, I'll save those for the kids, whenever they stop annoying me. Oh, the condiment packettes really rock too, like salsa, ketchup, BBQ, honey. Those are great for adding flavor to the bland food here. Oh, I don't need anymore hot chocolate mix for a while, thanks.

Gotta sign off for now, take care and hopefully hear from you soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey guys, it's T-giving, I'm in Ouaga, sick as a dog, it sucks, but I got my meds and starting to feel human. I haven't gotten to any of my mail, but I just wanted to drop a mail. I'm going to try to make some phone calls latter. Happy Holidays! I'll write more as I feel better.

To the Hedlund's 11-2-05

I'm getting settled into my new home. I've begun painting the walls of my courtyard which measures about 20-25 ft by 30 ft. My home is a 2-room house made of cement and wood, with a tin roof. It's actually pretty nice. I've decorated the walls, using rope and twine draped across the rooms to hold up pictures. I have no electricity, but plenty of furniture and a pretty nice latrine/shower stall to keep clean.

I do have a girl, a maid of sorts, that comes everyday to clean and help get me water for my baths and drinking. She doesn't do a very good job, but to fire her would probably alienate the only cool neighbor I have. Alas, that's how it is here.

I'm chilling out at home cause there's a political rally going on down the street and that's a big no-no to be around. There's an election, national, coming up in a few weeks and everything "should" go pretty smoothly, but being a 3rd world country you never know. This is actually a pretty stable country considering how poor it is. Everyone here is pretty relaxed about the elections. Their only real concern is the war going on in Cote d'Ivore, a neighboring country.

As you might already know, I can't get to an area of reception very easily. It's actually about 20-25 kilometers away and by that time I can't get home in time before dark. So I'm going to have to change times of calling to Sunday's only. I don't know the time yet, but I'll try to call folks and work it out that way for now. They're putting in a land line in TO and hopefully by the end of December or January there will be a phone only about 200 yds away that I can schedule better call times.

I hope you guys are doing well and the kids are doing well in school. Tell me if it's getting cold there or not. It's still in the 90's here and time seems to stand still because of it, seemingly the weather not changing. Take care and have a good November.
Love Laura

NOTE: Laura asked for some iPod accessories for Christmas. I found one of them but our Best Buy did not have an "iPod recharger that works off batteries". If anyone can find them and can fit them in a Christmas care package, she would REALLY like to have them!! Please leave a note on the blog so we know!!

ALSO: I received more pictures!! I'll try to post them soon!
Mary Ann

To Kurt 10-31-05

I'm starting my day to the clang of the near water pump and the baying of goats. Pretty standard fare for any day in Africa I suppose. The weather today feels a bit more humid, but I hear it's supposed to turn cooler soon.Rignt now, I think temp still hovers @ 90 during the day and gets to 70 at night. Not too bad.

My back is slolwly getting used to the mattress available here. Each morning I stretch to get the kinks out the best I can. It's been 10 days in vilage and I'm starting to learn names and places a bit more. Peacecorp tells us we need to keep putting ourselves ou to public. Walk the streets/paths, converse w/your neighbors, hang out at the cafe's, etc. I didn't think that would be a big deal until it bacame part of my job.

I realize I'm perfectly content staying in my courtyard reading, sketching, or painting. But I know my job is to integrate into the community so I've given my self at least 2 hours a day (out side of the clinic) to walk arround and chat with people. I'm not naturally up for this, but I gird myself everyday and walk out the door. Surprisingly after every session I do feel revived and accepted in this community. I hope it continues to make me feel so.If not, the experience living here would sour quickly.

Today was the end of Ramadon. A grand muslim holiday, all the town is a stir because of it. The majority of the town is Muslim and they are truly content to be finished with fasting. Today they eat a bunch and dance all night. Unfortunately due to custom restraints, I'm not supposed to go dancing, because tonight the party is at a bar and that would lead people to believe I'm a wanton woman, and thus I wouldn't be respected to do my job. It's the little things here that will trip you up. If there is traditional dancing with the women of the village, I'll probably be asked to join and then promptly laughed at for being a white person dancing like an African. Ah well, so is the way it goes.

Tomorrow a family has offered to put He'nna on my feet and hands, as a kind of body makeup the men think is attractive. I just think it would be cool to try. They put this dirt like stuff on you and it takes all day to dye and then it stays on for like a month. Ill take pictures of that too. I'll try to send some sketches back soon that are of my village. I begun painting the walls of my courtyard like the sky. The brushes suck here, but so does most things. (smiley face)

Wish me luck on things continuing to improve. The real work, I think, starts next week when I start teaching the villages about vaccinations.

At the moment I have 4 cats. One mama and 3 kittens. The mothers name is Big Mama and there used to be another cat named Vima and a dog called Raven. Ever since big mama had kittens no other animal has been allowed in the courtyard. She's rather adamant. Thank God the kittens don't mew at night or I'd toss them out like the other animals. I'm still wating to see what the kittens get into. Im wating and hopeing that they start catching bugs just like their mom. Ah well, the excitement in my household is too much. I'll let you go. Take care.

To Mom&Dad 10-28-05

Well, I'm in village now and I'm almost through my first full week. It's kinda flown past due to the busy schedule of vaccinations we've been doing in satellite villages. They're pretty remote and don't have any form of health care except for the monthly vaccinations and/or peddaling 15 miles to TO for professional help. Of course, there's traditional healers, but I've seen enough scared people to know their methods aren't quite as amicable. I'm beginning to see how I'll be spending my time. One of the major obstacles, locally, is getting vaccinations to everyone. Going door to door is unrealistic considering the remoteness of villages and homes scattered throughout the countryside. The obstacle is overcoming ethnic differences amongst the people. There's a melange of about 4 different ethnicities, who live in relative harmony, but don't really talk to each other. Mostly due to language differences, but there are other underlying reasons, too. Each village has a health extension agent, but if he's Poule', he won't talk to the Walla`s or Mossi, and they won't know of ongoing vaccinations and thus the majority of the population won't get vaccinated. Voila! Make sense? No, not really, but that's just how news or nothing travels around here.

All the food people have sent me has been FANTASTIC. I've been biking about 20-30 miles each day over some tough terrain and the protein and power bars have made my days really manageable. Then coming home, knowing I've got some canned meat available, it just makes the adjustment here really easy. I can't say enough about the food people have sent. Really great! The only thing I haven't been able to stomach is the Vienna Sausages. I don't know what it is, but they're hard to eat. All the chocolate goodies I've received have been great. Also, someone sent me chili in a box, Stagg chili. Oh my god, that was good! I burnt my mouth happily as I ate it. I also received some Chunky meat and veggie stew. Awesome! Those were my dinners and I just felt so at ease with those. I'm starting to make a dent in Janet and Steve's awesome package. I'm using all the hotel stuff Mary and Jeff sent. The conditioner is especially nice. Every shower, I'm basking in Joy Jean's Olympic Club towels. All the power, protein and trail mix bars are going to good use as my breakfast and re-supply meals on the road. The flavor drink packs are really nice to have also. They give a little change to water all the time. Everything people have sent is definitely going to good use. I'm holding on to the books for now because I'm still studying French and Moore' as I can.

Anyhoo, I got off on a food tangent, sorry, but my weeks look like they'll probably go in 2 week cycles. Every two weeks I'm planning on visiting every village to teach about preventative health and to remind everyone that there's vaccinations. Hopefully this will help the turnout. The weeks I'm not gone, I'll probably work a day or two at the CSPS and/or in the community of TO, and with the local schools talking about AIDS prevention. That's my tentative idea of a schedule. We'll see how it goes.

If it makes you feel any better, I've already been asked for marriage twice.:) That's a hard one to explain away here.:) No worries.

I hope things are going well on your end. I found out that the cellular reception is farther away than I thought. I need to change the times that I'm available to 4-5 pm due to sunset at 5:45 and me having to get back in time of darkness. Reception is about 15-20 kilometers away, but today I saw a crew of men working on putting in telephone land lines. So, whenever they start working, I'll give you all the number. Other than that, hope you are all well. I'm good right now and will hopefully stay that way.
Take care
Love Laura

Letter of Elbert and Joy

25 Oct. 2005

Dear Joy,
MY full 1st day in village will be a memorable one. I started today @5"30 am, getting up with the donkey, dogs and pigs. The sun came shorly thereafter. I woke up cold and put water on to boil, while I did some calisthentics, just outside my door. I finished my warm up as the water boiled and enjoyed some peach tea and granola bars for breakfast. Taking my time, I studied some Moore before leaving @0700 to (salever) my neighbbors before starting work at 7:30. Upon arrival @ work, 200 ' away, I happened upon a group of men trying to open the pharmacy door that has been newly barricaded W/steel bars crisscrossing the entrance. Unfortunately, the new cement job wasn't measured correctly and the bars weren't able to come off. I offered my hammer and they proceeded to dig into the fresh cement and remove the base of the barricade, to start all over again.

As I watched, the chief nurse, my counterpart, shows up a bit late and we headed off to an adjacent village to perform vaccinations against a water transferred bacteria,. I don't remember the name, but the village was 12 kilometers away and biked my ass off to keep up with the nurses scooter. I'm not allowed to ride or drive scooters or I'll get administratively seperated. Anyhoo, we vaccinated 279 children at this village and then came back to TO in the afternoon and and went to the elementary school ad vaccinated about 560 kids there. I thought my day was done then, Nope.

Just as we were returning to tally up all the #'s and go home, a woman comes in carrying a child, about 3 or 4 years, who had fallen off a scooter while it was moving. The little boy's head had a major cut upon top of his head and was bleeding profusely. About 2- 3 inches of his skull was visible along with a good flap of skin missing. His face, shirt, and most of his body was covered in blood. Madame Sowedgo took charge and directed the infant to the suture room. The child was screaming and kicking. So much pain for the child was ahead. Knowing, I'm not supposed to hand anything bloody, I help anyway after putting on some gloves. The child being in so much pain is hard to handle, so I grab his legs to help hold him still so they can operated on his head, no painkillers. This child endures a slow kind of torture to help put him somewhat back together. It takes 3 people to hold him still while the "surgeon" works on stitching his head. A good protion of the top layer of skin is gone on his cheek and right arm. after about an hour, the power goes out and we have to use a flashlight to finish the last stitches. The child is exhausted and his father is very distraught since he was driving the scooter. Tonight the child is in the infirmary. I honestly don't know if he'll survive, I think he will, with the amount of fight he showed, but here, with the facilities as they are, I don't know.

I have to say today, is one hell of a way to start my tenure as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I hope I can live up to it. My heart goes out to that family, that child will take a while to recover. Tomorrow is near, and I'm writing by lamplight. Wish me luck for the next day and from then on.
Peace.
Love
Laura

Letter To Ashley

Burkina is getting better for me, but now I have to worry about gaining too much weight back after initially losing about 10lbs. Here it's a good thing to be fat and so both my host families push food on me pretty strongly. Lately, I've begun to refuse adamently and they are starting to back off. Our swearing in ceremony is on the 21st of October to signify our completion of training and our becoming actually voluteers. Since Halloween is the closest holiday to that date, we're all going to dress up for Halloween for the party following the ceremony. I haven't quite decided what to go as yet; Either french maid or a hippie. What do you think? (i think neither laura~Ash) The Last 2 days have been funny and filled with activities. Today's Sunday, but Friday I started in a goofy mood noticing the odd ocurrences happening around me. I started the day with a bucket bath, of course, but accompanying me int he stall was the family dog, Bobi. She just sat there chilling on one side of the stall as I proceeded through my shower. Next, I had to go pee and so I walked over to the toilet stall, which consists of a hole in the ground. There were a bunch of frogs in the stall. They are EVERYWHERE in Burkina. I've gotten quite annoyhed with them lately and so I've made a game of kicking them into the hole of the toilet stall and then using it. He He:) It gives me a little tickle even if it's slightly cruel. The day progressed pretty slowly after that but consisted of talking french poorly and eating peanuts just harvested from the ground. The next day Saturday was really exciting. That day we had a sensibilization on AIDS with the local theater group. We had met with them 2 weeks prior and had asked them to perform a skit teaching about the facts of AIDS/HIV and how you get it. Fortunately they knew a lot about AIDS already and came up with a skit pretty quickly. What we didn't know was that the community members also organized for the local traditional music group to play after the skit and ahve a little market to set up during the day. AFter the theater, they organized for a soccer game to be played.(I played a little:)) And then they organized for a mopvie to be screanned on a TV for everyone to watch and then have a dance that lasted the whole night until 0400. For such a small village, this is a ton of activity-so people from all the surrounding villages came for the theater and the dancing. It was a very cool day. They gave us credit for getting it all started, but they're really the one's who did everything. Incredible. There had to have been 3-400 people from other villages there and a lot of them watched the theater. A really cool way to get good information out to everyone. The other trainees and myself were kinda overwhelmed with the showing and the credit, but it really gives us motivation going into our next village to continue organizing activities such as this. We've been training in Mako for the past 2 months while moving back and forth to Gourcy to go to the classes. The moving between has been good overall. Living in Mako is a good experience to prepare us to live at our sites. While being in Gourcy we can relax with our fellow trainees and enjoy the company of others. English speakers. Soon, we're going to Ouaga to finish our training and get sworn in. I'm looking forward to living on my own and ontrollling my own schedule, but I'm definitely going to miss hanging out with other trainees. The following 3 months will be quite an adjustment, to be sure. Hopefully, I'll be able to write and to continue to send letters as often but it may be a bit more delayed. Also, I probably won't get letters or packages nearly as quickly as before. Partially, because I'll only be checking every couple weeks or once a month for mail at Ouaga. However, I hope that doesnt keep anyone froma mailing me. I treasure every letter and package sent and I'm grateful for everyone. Thank you for sending the letters and packages you've sent already. I promise to keep writing as long as you want me to. I'm really excited everyone has contributed to the blog and is helping post my letters. I think it's truly a great thing created by a bunch of really good ppl. These letters have taken the place in my journal recently, due to time and encouragement for the blog. So there will be times of frustrations ahead and you'll be sure to find out about them and hopefully therew will be mroe greaty times like yesterday that i can share with you as I continue to learn and grow in Burkina. I just got a surprise package from my brother's family, which I was pretty pumped about and I'm looking forward anxiously for yours. I hope you're going well and I hope to keep in touch with you and everyone the best I can. Take care.

Love, Laura

Laura, I must say after typing all that my hand has cramped up extremely. I'm sure you will smile to that~ Ash

Letter to Jen and Frank

Dear Jen and Frank,
How's tricks in San Fran? Been enjoying your new life outside of residency? I bet. Live it up girl, you deserve it.
How's everyone else in S.F., like the Iowa Sailing Club of S.F.? Tell everyone "Hi" for me, whenever you see 'em.
Things are good in Burkina Faso, and I'm almost done with training and a friend is traveling to the states so I'm trying to squeeze in another letter for her to take back, before all my pens die.
Things are going pretty good, but lately there's been a couple pretty hilariously disgusting things that I've witnessed and I just had to write them to someone. One of the events occurred about a week ago. I was chilling in my courtyard watching the kids play when I noticed one of the kids, who's about 18 months old, squatting to take a crap. They usually don't have pants on kids of that age, mostly because no one can afford diapers. And it's easier just to wipe them up after they're done. However you gotta be spry with the naked baby, you never know when they'll blow. Anyhoo, this kid is having a serious case of diarrhea, right there in the courtyard and right next to him are about 3 chickens pecking away hungrily at his feces. I was shocked and disgusted, but I also started laughing. I couldn't help it. Anyhoo, the kid gets up and moves away from the chickens to crap like 5 feet away, and they follow right behind him, waiting for the next pellet of food. I cringe even now when I think of it. Anyhoo, I had a really good chicken soup dinner a couple days later ;) It's true.
The other one happened today. I was having my breakfast of tea and bread when I needed to clear my throat. So I did. I spit the phlegm onto the ground not too far away from my seat. Well shortly thereafter the family dog, Bobii, comes trotting up hoping for a pat on the head. I am in the middle of eating so I'm not touching him. So he decides to wander and he immediately goes to my spit and licks it up. Phlegm and all. Isn't that a great story! I hope you're not eating anything at the moment :) Probably just ruined your appetite. You're welcome.
There was another odd occurrence yesterday when I came home from class. I was chilling with one of my "grandmothers" and one of the kids, who's about 14 months, walks up and hands me a string. At first, I thought, no big deal. Then I notice a live bird attached to the string. That's when I noticed something wierd. The kid was so nonchalant about it. I handed him back the string, with the live bird hanging upside down very calmly. I started laughing at the random nature of the incident. Kids here play with anything that's available. There's no designated toys. There's plastic sacks, sticks, mud, parts of flashlights, bits of metal, and animals. Those are the regular source of "toys" these kids got. I once saw a plastic figurine that had a couple limbs missing.
My timex ironman watch has become a piece of constant fascination with the kids because it lights up indiglow. It's very exciting for these kids.
Also because of their limited exposure beyond their general surroundings, everything that I own is exotic. So unfortunately, I have to guard it, unless I want it gone or broken. Even my clothes are fascinating for the kids to play with so I'm careful about how long I let my clothes out to dry. Their interest, although somewhat innocent, is intense. It's not uncommon to gain a following while walking through a marche or have 7 to 8 kids just watch you write a letter for 30-40 minutes. I thought my privacy in the military was scarce, here it's practically non-existent.
Things could be worse though. I better let you go since this is the fourth pen I've needed to write this letter. Take care and hopefully see you soon.
Always,
Laura

Letter to Jayne & Steve 10/6/05

Dear Jayne & Steve

Thanks so much for calling! That was a real treat! I've missed some phone calls and was pretty bummed, so please tell people to call again if I don't pick up the 1st time. I tried figuring out who called me one night and promptly lost all my minutes on the phone, which equated to about 5 minutes. When I get to the village I'll let people know what days of the week and times to call, so I can get to an area of reception. Hopefully that will help people out in the states. Supposedly there are some international phone cards that are like 10 cents/min. But I'm nto really sure what's available.

I realized I might have worried some people with some of my previous letters. I'm sorry for causing concern. Sometimes these letters take the place of my journal and my source of venting come out through the letters as a point of relief for myself. That being said, living here isnt' terrible and it isn't great. For me, it seems like a really long trip on duty in the AirForce. I still get told what to do and when. The food sucks. During the training, we're treated a little like morons and we do things repetitively. I don't enjoy any of those aspects. I do enjoy learning the local language, learning the technical information for my job and how to do it. I do enjoy the people of Burkina in general. All together there are days here I can see being here for years, and there are days here where I keep track fo the dates and the clock closely.

Having received the care packages from my family and friends has been a truly uplifting experience. My feelings about friends and family much more secure, despite missing them just as strongly. I've been keeping track of who writes and keeps in contact and I'm definitely working hard at sending everyone a good letter as soon as I can.

I'm thankful to all my family and friends who are supportive fo me during this job & work. Albeit sometimes, I feel like I dont' really deserve to be here. It sounds weird but true.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE :)
Today is a relatively cool day, it's about 95 degrees. When it feels sweltering, that's when the temperature is about 107 ro so. April & May the temperature is supposed to stay around 115 or so during the regular days, so I really look forward to that. It should be pretty funny when I go to Wisconsin next June following that weather. I'll probably be wearing a Parka while I'm there. :)

Oh, not that I had any fashion sense whatsoever before, I got a traditonal Burkinabe dress ensemble made for the Swearing-In party. It's really bright and gawdy and the clsoest thing to a rainbow flag I could get on my budget. I'll take photos to be sure :) I also bought these pants taht are literally made of scraps of different material - a total random mis-mash of fabric. Really crazy looking, but totally fashionable here. I'm starting to enjoy the pretty fabric & the vibrant dress here.

It's almost 10am right now & I'm getting hungry for lunch. There was a Peanut Butter Jar in one of the care packages & I'm so excited to have some for lunch, along with a protein bar! Yeah!! I can't wait! The protein bars are awesome.

Socially I think I've relaxed quite a bit with most the folks in my training group. Despite the forced homestays we ahve now in Courcy to improve our french. Our group goes to one of the only bars around and plays musci from our Ipods on their speaker systems. It's been a great source of release when your finished with a day of boring briefs. We usually grove untile the lgiths go out at 1am and then head home. Admittedly, I'm on of the more staid individuals and I usually head hoem by 12am, but for a few hours every few nights we dance our asses off just for the joy of it. We usually draw quite a crowd of locals that watch us dance weirdly, but we don't care.

One of the main motivators is that we know, after Swear-in, we won't be able to do this together or maybe at all for at least 3 months. So we gotta do it now, while we can. I even got some of the girls to swing dance and salsa with me a little. :) Times like that make it easy to forget where you are or why, but sometimes, that's a good thing :)

I never was much of a heavy-weight when it came to drinking and here is no different. Usually one satchet (which is a little bag fo whisky, about the size of 2 shots) is plenty to keep me going for most the night. I'm such a cheap date.

I just got a deck of UNO cards and an astronomy book from my Mom & I'm really pumped to look at the stars tonight with it. UNO is a great game to play w/locals cause it's easy & easy to teach.

I need to get ready for class, so I close this letter by hoping the best for you guys and good health to everyone. Thigns overall are pretty good and I'm beginngin to like it much more here. I think soon, I'll love it here. Hope to keep in touch and take care of yourself. Hopefully talk to you again soon!

Love,
Laura