the talents of burkinabé

so last weekend I had what I would call a bien intergré weekend. I spent is all with my host family and had some fun adventures. I want to share about this weekend because I think it will help describe the lives of burkinabé in my region at least, and a bit overall. And also share some fun things I've been experiencing.

So friday nights in my village are just like any other for the most part, at least during cultivation season. this past friday night the other volunteers and myself ran a ¨girls club¨ of sorts, which was basically getting a bunch of kids together to play soccer and a version of duck duck goose (sheep sheep goat). It was a blast actually and the kids loved it too. For the most part all the youth were under 10 because anyone over ten was preparing dinner. But these kids are really good at soccer, when they don't use their hands, and had some good moves.

After that I go and sit with my older sister for a while then my younger sister makes me dinner. After that I inform people that is was my birthday so I bought cookies (well kind of...). The kids were all excited and afterwards joined me in my courtyard for some dancing. Another talent of Burkinabé would be dancing. The dancing here in general is very different than in the states, but they sure can move in ways my body doess not.

Next day I inform my host sister, before goingto language class, that I am going to town in the afternoon to buy a pagne (material) and get a outfit made for the swear in ceromony. I ask her advice and she decides that she is going to borrow someone's bike and come with me. We had a fun adventure biking to town, picking out a pagne and repairing flat tires (not to mention on a crazy burkinabé bike). There was lots of laughter and I got to see my sister in action, out and about in the maeket, showing me around and where everything was.

The evening was spent sitting under trees, talking with my family and playing lots of cards with all my cousins.

The next day stared with the grand adventure of doing laundry! I've done it a few times already but this time I helped a lot more in the whole process. First my younger sister informed me that we needed to go fetch water from the pump. No problem, we grab our bikes, strap on the big yellow bidons (containers), and then go another village! I guess the pump in our village is always busy so my family usually heads over to another village near by. This isn't normally that big a deal, we have class in that village sometimes, but the path there is a crazy one. There actually isnt't a real path, but lots of dirt, sand, rocks, bumps... you get the idea. So after filling up the 3 bidons, my sister carefully balances 2 on the back of here bike, one on each side of her back wheel, 1 goes on the back of mine, I pray that I won't fall, and we head back to our house across the rocks and all. Did I mention each bidon is probably 40 pounds? Here is the amazing talent of Burkinabé, my younger sister not only balenced these two shaking bidons on her bike across this crazy path, she often did it with no hands! I think she was just having fun and showing off, and it worked because I was definitely impressed, and a little scared for her as well. We drop off the water and go back for a second round. It was really fun at the pump too, for my sister and me to work together to get into the rythm of the foot pump. There was also a beautiful breeze that day and it created this affect where I almost thought I was at a pool.

The the laundry part begins. I start washing but both my sisters come over quickly and show me the ¨proper¨way of washing clolthes. It's actually really incredible to watch. I think that I am fairly good at doing laundry by hand but then I see them in action and they look like they are doing magic the way the clothes just glide through their hands and move from one article to the next in a matter of a moment, all while getting it much more clean than I could do in triple the time.

That evening I tried my hand at cultivating, just for 30 minutes. Cultivation is the way of life for around 75 percent of Burkinabé, and it is tough work. It takes up all their time right now because it is rainy/cultivation season. Unfortunately Burkina is experiencing a serious drought right now, and many people will sufer because of it.
Anyways, cultivating is tough work. You take this tool, like a hoe, bend over and pound the ground, for hours. I cultivated with all children which made it interesting. Everyone does it, from age 7 to age 70. And if you take a day off, you do something else, like my host dad makes rope from rice sacks when he is too exhausted to cultivate.

The evening ended with some tossing kids around, chatting with my sister as she sells samsa, and others around her, and some more cards.

I learned a lot about my host family and was impresesd with how despite the fact that they lack some of the basic things that we as americains use on a daily basis to function, that they are able to accomplish so much and have an immense creative ability to use what is available, and in some ways don't seem to be lacking anything (besides cold drinks haha).

In other news, site visit went well. I am excited to get started with my actual placement in a couple weeks, though I will be very sad to leave my family, the town, the other volunteers and the staff.

I was sick with some fun things most of july but have been really healthy for a little over a week and I'm a much happier person because of it. We've had a lot of projects due lately, which have kept me busy but they've all gone well.

Hope you all are well!