Waiting

Last week I was in Ouaga to work on consolidating Peace Corps resources for Physics/Chemistry classes.  Overall it was successful and I'm hoping to have lesson plans and exercises posted on our community website in December for new volunteers to use.  It's easier to create good lesson plans if you have something to start from.

I left Ouaga Thursaday afternoon after biking in much to hot weather to catch the 1pm STMB bus back to Ouahigouya.  Luckily another PCV in my region was working on the P/C lesson plans and caught the same bus.  It's nice to travel in pairs here:  one to make sure bags and bikes get on the bus and the other to find seats and save them.  Our bus was late in arriving so it was essentially mobbed by people trying to get on.  STMB is pretty good about this compared to another bus company STAF.  Believe-it-or-not, but STMB tries to make people form a LINE to get on.  In general this is not and orderly process.  Anyway I ended up getting in the line, which was cut by people numerous times, with both our bags, our bike helmets and my backpack.  I made it to the door, shoved the bags up the steps (someone even managed to get my into the overhead compartment) and found two seats that would be out of the afternoon sun (very important!).  Meanwhile the other PCV was negotiating the placement of our bikes under the bus.  I believe he ended up paying someone to get them on since there was no room and stuff had to be taken out and reloaded. 

We finally left Ouaga only a little behind schedule.  Usually the bus trip takes about 3 hours with STMB.  We were making good time until we stopped.  Our front right tire was flat.  A spare had been loaded in Ouaga so it shouldn't have been a problem except the jack to lift the bus wasn't working.  So we ended up waiting for about 2 hours by the side of the road. 

Now I've heard horror stories from other volunteers who wait much longer, even overnight, when their bush taxis break down, so I'm not complaining.  Actually I'm happy we did break down, since I can now say I have seen a dung beetle!  When I was little, we had an Apple IIe computer and I used to play a game called Dung Beetles.  The graphics were horrible and it can best be described as similar to Pac-Man.  You, as a blob dung beetle had to go through a maze eating all the dung blobs before these other blobs ate you.  A truly riveting game.  :)

Waiting broke down like this:  the women grouped together and sat in the tall grass next to the road, the men formed a separate group and sat in the shade of a tree on burr grass and dirt.  As a white female I could have sat with either, but preferred not to.  The other PCV and I stood off to the side in between the two groups.  During the wait I started looking around and discovered the dung beetle.  It was really cute, purple in color with orange wings.  Information on dung beetles here and video here.

the dung beetle

beetle with dung ball

 beetle rolling dung ball with back legs

Other pictures from the wait:

a herd of animals passing by and another waiting passenger

the bus

reloading the flat tire

Pretty Pictures from the North

As I've mentioned before, Djibo is (so far) my favorite Burkina town.  Here are some pictures from my trip to Djibo and Baraboulé at the beginning of September.

At first when I stumbled upon the rocks and sticks hanging from the tree I was confused, but then I put it together - it's a "playground"!  The sticks and rope are a swing and rocks are always good fun.

 The Djibo library, novels on the left and science/how-to books on the right.

 

 A group of girls (6ème age) that came in for a meeting with two of my fellow volunteers.  They came in, said "bonsoir" and started reading right away, a few out loud.  I was completely impressed.

 

Rocks around Baraboulé at sunset.  A little too small for climbing.  There was a really nice hand crack splitting one of them though... probably need to visit again and try it.

 

A field - the "rock" is a mileage marker for the next village.

 

Reason #1 why the north is so cool:  camels!

 

 I talked to the owner and was informed that this camel is 4 years old and that they can live to be 40.

Keeping Occupied

[Updated with responses to reader questions.  Thanks for making this post better Rachel!]

Last post was at the beginning of August... You'd think with all the free time I have (classes start again Oct. 1st) I would have been able to write a bit more. The thing is, life seems pretty boring here, at least from my perspective, and I haven't been able to motivate myself to write a "little things" post.

It looks like I'll be teaching the same classes this coming year.  This will be wonderful since I already have the lesson plans ready.  Now I'll have the time to make them better and more entertaining.  :)

So how have I been keeping busy?
1. Reading:

• may I recommend "Supreme Conflict" by Jan Crawford Greenburg for those of you who love the US Supreme Court 

• also McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses" for a quick western/horse fix (I'm only half way through).

2. Knitting: one sock with the second one started and a lacy shawl that could have used another skein.

3. Marilyn Monroe photo mosaic puzzle

4. Auditing my lycée's cyber café books from 2007 to the present. I have discovered that my calling in life does not include accounting! The spreadsheets I designed were a mess, but success was achieved.

5. Gardening: my courtyard is BEAUTIFUL. The moringa (arzan tiiga) I planted in April are thriving and I'm training the plants along my porch to block out the sun. Overall there were a couple casualties:  a jasmine and a moringa from my second planting.

my courtyard with colorful laundry - notice the climbing plants along the porch

6. Visiting other villages:
Aorema (10 km north of Ouahigouya) - gold mines, coolest rocks, insect and barrage (separate post later)
Tangaye (12 km west of Ouahigouya) - beautiful bike ride with lots of birds, there is a stream with turtles.
Bougounam (25 km south of Ouahigouya on the highway to Ouaga) - really nice people, a school with round classrooms, a beautiful horse and fantastic crops.
Djibo (115 km northeast of Ouhigouya) and Baraboulé (30 km northwest of Djibo) - part of the Sahel, significantly less water, sandy with expansive views reminding me of Montana oddly enough and camels(!).  So far my favorite region in Burkina, the desert must be in my blood.

7. Surviving "huge bug September": I've seen gargantuan dragonfly, praying mantis, wasp (who insist that my door is the perfect place to build a nest), and a whip spider in my latrine one night last week (not funny!). Check out the picture and for textbook info go here.

Update on the whip spider:  after reading more about these guys (here), I feel really bad about killing the one that found me.  Sure it frightened me with it's scary looks and it's uncertain nature, but I regret my actions now.  I'm reminded of all the stories, fables and idioms about outward appearances being just that, outside.  It really is what counts inside and I judged my whip spider on appearances alone.  Evidently they are utterly harmless and may even show affection to their young!  I won't forget my "whip spider lesson" quickly.

 

the harmless and missunderstood whip spider

dragonfly and gecko