Happy Father's Day!
Since I have time and internet, I am maximizing my blog time this weekend.. oh how I miss email and technology and America sometimes!! I found out about this restaurant here in Bobo yesterday where you can get a cheeseburger, so of course I was there about 30 min later. You know when you are craving something like a hamburger like nothin' else, and it puts you in a state of bliss for a little while after eating it... well, multiply that by 100 because that was my first cheeseburger in months... aah... stomach so happy...
I wanted to wish a quick Happy Father's Day to my dad, and all the other dads reading. I found out (from my Dad) that today is father's day, so I thought I'd send a message from Africa to all you Poppas. Here they really don't even celebrate birthdays, and sometimes people don't even know their age, so I guess that explains why I couldn't find a Hallmark Father's Day card.
I wanted to share a snippet of an email I got from a fellow volunteer from our group who got placed in the Eastern part of Burkina - it's NOT Tyler, so if his parents are reading this, DON'T WORRY!! It's purely for amusement sake, and these things are pretty normal to us nowadays:
"....i am also the first to break a bone in country. it was actally quite exciting....2 donkeys were chasing after one another (aaaah, its donkey love season) and ran full speed into me on my bike. down i went and i was on the bus to ouaga the next morning. so its just a fracture but im sticking around ouaga for at least 4 more days.
"other than that, village was going great! bandits hit up the road from matiakoali the night i got in, so the next day i got to watch lots of heavily armed gendarmes ride around. im told that they will randomly shoot suspected bandits on sight and leave the bodies lay by the side of the road. another volunteer in the east told me that his transport has stopped twice to check out dead bodies on the side of the road. sigh...."
It's interesting, no?? I got a laugh out of it.. and as far as security stuff, they have briefed us on all the regions of the country and roads where there are likely robberies and such, so we are aware of hot spots to avoid.
I have bought some paint in Bobo with the intention of painting the interior of my house. I was thinking murals or something. Either a big map of the world, or maybe just some cheeseburgers and fries, so when I go to sleep I will have happy dreams. Though, since it is really hot indoors ALL the time, and there are spiders trapped indoors with me, I sleep outside most of the time. I make a tent out of 2 chairs, my sleeping bag and my mosquito net. Pretty much I'm just sleeping on concrete, but at least I don't wake up sweating. The nights have actually been getting cooler and the wind picks up pretty often. The Burkinabe think I am crazy when I sit back, close my eyes and enjoy the cool air, but it's so fantastic. They are so accustomed to the heat. I swear that every day I see at least 10 or more people that will actually be walking around in the middle of the day with winter jackets on and wool hats!!! can you believe that? And I'm not talking about on cooler days, I'm talking about in the middle of the day ... scorching heat... and wool hats?? I don't get it.
Last night I went out in town with Awa, the woman I am staying with. We went to a movie first and watched this Burkinabe film that was playing in Moore with French subtitles, so I got the gist of it, but was lost a lot, too... it was about a mother in a village who was accused of being a sorcerer because a lot of children in the village had been dying and the only rational reason was sorcery and witchcraft (of course). Anyway, there was a happy ending, but it definitely wasn't Hollywood. I kept feeling like I was waiting for the big plot twist or some special effects or something.. but alas, it just sort of ended. So afterwards we went out dancing, and I don't know why, but I don't think I have felt so aware of my own skin in quite a while. Just walking into a place where there is immediately attention on you just because of your skin is kind of uncomfortable. I have had discussions with some of my black friends back home about that feeling, and I think I can now honestly say that I understand what you were saying and how it makes you feel. Anyway, you'd think that being in Africa, all people would be dancing to the beat and really just shaking their asses, but the people here don't move a lot when they dance. At first I thought there's no way in hell that I would get up and dance so that they can all look at how I dance and laugh, but then some Latin beats started playing, and I can't resist that!! So, it was a fun time, and after a while I stopped caring who was looking.
It's so annoying sometimes when you walk down the street and people will just yell out "Hello, white person!!" which, by the way, I now know how to say that in at least 3 more languages. I usually respond back with "Hello, Black person!" and they will typically laugh at that...... Or punch me in the face...(just kidding!!) They love pointing out the obvious, like screaming to you that you're white, as if I wasn't well aware. Sometimes I look around me with a puzzled look on my face and go, "who, ME??" And then there's Awa, who is a pretty large woman, so her friends and even strangers will refer to her as the "fat lady." Even when we were eating one time with her brother, he was like "this is why you're fat, you eat so much!" Now if that was me, I'd be crying and vomiting over a latrine hole, but I asked her if it bothers her and she said no. She said that it's just something that everyone can see and she's happy with her body, so why should it? In Africa, larger people represent health and wealth, too, so I'm sure that is a contributing factor.
The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz was just here in Bobo the same day I came to Bobo!! He's doing a tour of some African countries to determine how much money to dispense to the countries in need here, and started here in Burkina... unfortunately I did not see him here... perhaps he did not know there was me, the international celebrity so close, but oh well... next time we'll grab a drink! Here are some interesting links about it:
http://allafrica.com/burkinafaso/
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20540809~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2005/06/14/africa_may_be_at_turning_point___wolfowitz/
OK, I'm going to end here, so I can finally email people back one on one.
Call me! I'm 4 hours ahead of NJ, in case that is tripping anyone up on dialing...
:)
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
It's interesting, no?? I got a laugh out of it.. and as far as security stuff, they have briefed us on all the regions of the country and roads where there are likely robberies and such, so we are aware of hot spots to avoid.
I have bought some paint in Bobo with the intention of painting the interior of my house. I was thinking murals or something. Either a big map of the world, or maybe just some cheeseburgers and fries, so when I go to sleep I will have happy dreams. Though, since it is really hot indoors ALL the time, and there are spiders trapped indoors with me, I sleep outside most of the time. I make a tent out of 2 chairs, my sleeping bag and my mosquito net. Pretty much I'm just sleeping on concrete, but at least I don't wake up sweating. The nights have actually been getting cooler and the wind picks up pretty often. The Burkinabe think I am crazy when I sit back, close my eyes and enjoy the cool air, but it's so fantastic. They are so accustomed to the heat. I swear that every day I see at least 10 or more people that will actually be walking around in the middle of the day with winter jackets on and wool hats!!! can you believe that? And I'm not talking about on cooler days, I'm talking about in the middle of the day ... scorching heat... and wool hats?? I don't get it.
Last night I went out in town with Awa, the woman I am staying with. We went to a movie first and watched this Burkinabe film that was playing in Moore with French subtitles, so I got the gist of it, but was lost a lot, too... it was about a mother in a village who was accused of being a sorcerer because a lot of children in the village had been dying and the only rational reason was sorcery and witchcraft (of course). Anyway, there was a happy ending, but it definitely wasn't Hollywood. I kept feeling like I was waiting for the big plot twist or some special effects or something.. but alas, it just sort of ended. So afterwards we went out dancing, and I don't know why, but I don't think I have felt so aware of my own skin in quite a while. Just walking into a place where there is immediately attention on you just because of your skin is kind of uncomfortable. I have had discussions with some of my black friends back home about that feeling, and I think I can now honestly say that I understand what you were saying and how it makes you feel. Anyway, you'd think that being in Africa, all people would be dancing to the beat and really just shaking their asses, but the people here don't move a lot when they dance. At first I thought there's no way in hell that I would get up and dance so that they can all look at how I dance and laugh, but then some Latin beats started playing, and I can't resist that!! So, it was a fun time, and after a while I stopped caring who was looking.
It's so annoying sometimes when you walk down the street and people will just yell out "Hello, white person!!" which, by the way, I now know how to say that in at least 3 more languages. I usually respond back with "Hello, Black person!" and they will typically laugh at that...... Or punch me in the face...(just kidding!!) They love pointing out the obvious, like screaming to you that you're white, as if I wasn't well aware. Sometimes I look around me with a puzzled look on my face and go, "who, ME??" And then there's Awa, who is a pretty large woman, so her friends and even strangers will refer to her as the "fat lady." Even when we were eating one time with her brother, he was like "this is why you're fat, you eat so much!" Now if that was me, I'd be crying and vomiting over a latrine hole, but I asked her if it bothers her and she said no. She said that it's just something that everyone can see and she's happy with her body, so why should it? In Africa, larger people represent health and wealth, too, so I'm sure that is a contributing factor.
The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz was just here in Bobo the same day I came to Bobo!! He's doing a tour of some African countries to determine how much money to dispense to the countries in need here, and started here in Burkina... unfortunately I did not see him here... perhaps he did not know there was me, the international celebrity so close, but oh well... next time we'll grab a drink! Here are some interesting links about it:
http://allafrica.com/burkinafaso/
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20540809~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2005/06/14/africa_may_be_at_turning_point___wolfowitz/
OK, I'm going to end here, so I can finally email people back one on one.
Call me! I'm 4 hours ahead of NJ, in case that is tripping anyone up on dialing...
:)
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
posted by StephinBF @ 11:48 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Steph,
How are you feeling? I hope your infection is nothing to serious. How the heck did you get a liver infection anyway?
We are enjoying reading your blogs-you are a very good writer. When I read the spider stories , I feel as if I'm almost there. Which is a problem since I am more afraid of spiders than you. The hairy one would have sent me on the next plane home!
Jillian is putting your party shoes to very good use ( although in retrospect, some of them would have been good weapons on the spiders!). She wore one pair when she graduated Hoover this week. Yes- just to make you ( and I) feel old, Jillian is out of middle school and on her way to Edison High! She is looking forward to the new challenges that await her. Phil and I, however, are not. lol.
Anyway, get well and feel better soon. And keep up the blogs-they are great!
Love from NJ-
Marie, Phil & Jillian
just a short message to all who read this blog, including steph's parents and especially melissa, i bought several calling cards, and i mean several and tried calling steph last night. however the line was busy and i spent the entire night weeping, i tried again this morning and wouldnt you know it, the line again.... busy! now, i apologize if this sounds harsh but the reality is that steph is waiting for my phone call and well you guys are just making it difficult for us to get in touch. so please stop. or i will have to take away all of your phones. and i mean all of them.
i will advise once i get in touch with her and you can all resume your phone calls... but not for too long, just a couple minutes to say hi and bye.
;) toodles.
des
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