Dad Makes it Over to Burkina

So yes, I am really bad at keeping up my Blog. It has been over 2 months since I wrote anything and lot has happened.

First of all my Dad came to visit. He arrived like Sri, looking way too clean and over loaded with baggage. Getting off the plane he was pretty “FIRED UP” and kept trying to speak Spanish to the Burkinabe. After a few beers at the airport he calmed down and we started our 2 weeks together seeing the Burkina Faso. We spent a couple of days in Ouagadougou, which my Dad pronounces “Ouagadoubadou, the birth place of Scooby Doo.” He recuperated from jet lag and got used to the heat in time to head to a big game animal park in the south called Nazinga Nat. Park. We saw more than I expected. (Elephants, Buffalo, Warthogs, Antelope, Baboons, and Crocs.) Dad kept referring to feeling like was in Jurassic Park and went through about 4 video tapes, most of which are just bushes and dashboard. After that we headed north to the Sahel, where the Sahara desert is creeping south. We rode camels, hiked the sand dunes and learned about the trade routes across the Sahara.

After that we headed east to Bobo-Dioulasso my regional capital. From here we hired a driver and spent a couple of nights in each my old village where I was a teacher, and my new village where I am currently a health volunteer. I know what my Dad saw in this week he will never forget. A life few people can imagine and fewer can understand. It was great for my Dad to see where I have spent the last 2 years of my life. We were welcomed in grand style as everyone in my village knew of our arrival. It was pretty impressive to see the entire village waiting at my house when we rolled in to greet us, and the party they planned the night after was something as my Dad put it… “Straight out of National Geographic” We ate traditional food and sat as balafones and drums played all night in our name. It was a pretty rocking party. When we left around 1 am, a group of over 200 people were dancing in a cloud of dust in a giant circle to a rythym only West Africa can produce that didn't relent till sunrise.

After that we headed back to Ouaga and continued to Cario were we visited the big sites for a week. We saw Cairo, then down to Luxor and over to the Suez Canal and Sinai Peninsula. Again probably 4 more video tapes were used here. Words really can’t describe the grandness of ancient Egypt and photos can only try. It was amazing. After that we parted ways and I landed back in Burkina Faso for the 4th time in my life.

Getting off the plane and walking down the stairs on to the runway, I felt so confomortable. I remember my first arrival. I was nervous, excited and full of wonder. Now I was content, confident and watched others for the first time take in the deseily air of Ouaga. I got out of the airport and the taxi men left me alone, somehow they could tell I was not fresh off the boat. Maybe it was my dirty clothes, my accent, or just the way I carried myself, but somehow they knew I had become African in a way.

I have spent he last few weeks in village trying to catch up with my good friends before I head out of here. I am currently in Ouaga where I will be working with the new group of health volunteers. I will be helping lead a technical training to for about 3 weeks. Then I go back to village to a weeks then, sign out of Peace Corps for good. I am excited for the future, sad for the friends I will leave behind and thankful for all that Burkina has given to me.

As for me I am looking at places I want to see on my way back state side. I am thinking Mali, Guinea Senegal and Morocco at the moment. Since I hear nothing but horror stories from other volunteers and friends looking for jobs back home, I think I will take up the grad school idea.