Saturday, June 23, 2007

Okay, Ive got 20 minutes

Hey, first of all, I have no idea how to do an apostrophe on this french keyboard, so Im not even going to try right now since I dont have much time. The rains have come, and the cooler weather is great. It still gets into the hundreds, especially in the village where I live, but its a lot better than 120, and a cold drink every few days makes everything perfect. A few of the city people are coming into the villages after our soccer game today to spend the night with us, I cant wait! They have fans, electrical appliances, cold drinks, and ridiculously good food every day, so its going to be great seeing all of them out in the village. My Mooré is starting to get better, so Ive been practicing with the kids each evening before I finally go to bed at 8 30 every night. Things are still hard, actually not things, just one thing - missing everybody is by far the hardest thing Ive ever had to go through in my life, but this is such a good experience. Tomorrow will make it 3 weeks since I left for Philadelphia, and Im honestly surprised that Ive made it this far. Whats an average day like here? Ill try to explain:
6 15ish - I wake up and take a bucket bath, which is by far my favorite part of the day. Its the only time I have to myself and its great to watch the sky take shape and feel the wind and cold water before the sun heats everything up. After that I have beignets and coffee, my french press is one of my favorite things in the world right now, and a certain Aunt will be getting a letter in the mail very soon explaining how much I love it.
8 - Language class usually consists of french and mooré and me sitting outside on a rug looking at the village and everything and being half freaked out that Im here and half loving it with all my heart.
12ish - lunch time and a nap
2 - more language classes until 5 30ish, when i go back to my house and straighten up my house and courtyard, and hang out until dinner.
rinse. repeat.
As you can see, things are really structured right now, and its actually pretty hard. Once Im an actual volunteer Ill have tons of flexibility and free time, but right now its all about culture classes and language classes. Its great, though, and Im learning a lot. I stepped over a snake a couple nights ago, and I probably jumped 10 feet into the air, but other than that Ive been healthy and out of danger. Okay, I dont have enough time to send pictures. Tomorrow is our day off, so after I get a couple beers with everybody Ill come back and see if I can get some on. Trust me, I actually am in Africa, haha. Alright, love you guys and hope you are doing well. Clay.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

It sounds like everything's going well and you seem to be having the adventure of a life time! I'm proud of you..you know "my brother's in Africa" totally tops anything any other kid will be able to say. mwahaha.
-maggie

Keli said...

I'm so excited for you...you're having this unbelievable experience and it's so great being able to share it with you through your blog.

jhumple said...

i miss you. im sending a letter this week on all of my thoughts of chicago.
i love you and enjoy it to the fullest, plus stay safe.

redkat said...

I'm so happy I got to talk to you for a little while yesterday- I know you are scared but you sounded really good and that made me really happy. We're getting a cheaper calling card so that we can talk more... I love you and am so proud of you.

KatieLady02 ( ha)
Ben says hi.

Unknown said...

I left my radio on the other night and when I woke up, Girl From the North Country was playing, and I thought of you sleeping under all the bright stars in Africa. Then it occurred to me that it was probably day time there-you being halfway around the world and all...anyway, glad to hear that you are having fun and learning a lot. Watch out for the snakes. Gus killed a snake (a really little one) on his walk a couple of weeks ago, and one of my friends said that the location where he killed the snake was where I was supposed to build my empire. Too bad it was in someone else's yard!

Take care,
Tiffany

wisdom said...

watch out for the snakes. they have a species in burkina called "big snake". there and garner state park are the only two places it exists, so watch out.

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