Speaking of Transportation.......

Here is Sarah, my niece, on her first driving excursion. I roused her out of bed (8:45 am) and she wasn't too enthused, so she will complain about how she looks.......But the important thing is that she drove. Almost 20 miles even. She did quite well. She is quite cautious. We have a lot of unpaved straight roads and she will be 17 in a month or 2 so it is definitely time. We will spend all summer learning the off the beaten path routes from her house to ours.

Eureka!!!! We have solved the electronic conversion problems!

Rakieta told me last week that the portable dvd player I left behind for her was working finally. Her tutor took her American cord and somehow figured out it wasn't getting any juice. So he stuck in an African cord (egads) and Viola! it worked. So she is now able to use it.... sort of.
Today she reported that it isn't working again. However, since they aren't too electricity literate any number of things could be the problem.
However, I decided that the trusty little tutor (He is about 20 and works pretty hard at getting our whiny oldest African daughter to enjoy school work. ) might be on to something. So I dragged out all the AC adapter cords we own and set to work seeing if I could get the same result. Well, of course none of the little plugs were the right size. But I remembered the extra universal laptop cord that we had sitting around from the prior laptop. We had to buy it to replace the original cord and it has a gazillion different little things to fit in the connector hole. Anyway, What do you know? It worked!!!!!
So, for any of you going over I highly recommend you purchase one of these. TARGUS 90 watt AC/DC Notebook power adapter. Best Buy sells them and you can get them online.
Here is the deal:
1. It fits many different electronic items
2. It reads how much electricity the device needs
3. It reads what type of electricity is coming from the source
4. It transforms everything safely so there is no Kaboom!!!!

One last thing-make sure you have 3 to 2 prong conversion plugs if you are coming from the US. They can not be gotten there and you will need them to insure you will not be having bare plug exposed when trying to plug in. In Paris I couldn't even begin to try to plug in because the 3 prong plug would interfere with the outlet's extra prongs. My handy conversion plugs were not adequate. You need both the 3 to 2 American and the European/African to get things working properly.

You learn something new everyday and it is great to be able to work in unison to solve problems. That 7000 mile separation is getting a little smaller with every positive thing like this that happens.

Transportation in Burkina Faso

We rode with a school group to a destination. This is a typical bus in Burkina Faso. To my knowledge, no mass transit exists at this time except for the green taxi's.

There are some semi trucks. I wanted folks to see that while things are very different, there are some similarities to the western world. There is a lot of other neat stuff in the picture I will comment on later.

Our trusty Mercedes. As you can see just because it is a Mercedes, these people are not living high. They do need our help, but just as importantly, our friendship and ideas. Here we are in the car repair. Big difference from what we are used to eh? This picture was very difficult to get. I will post on picture do's and don't later.

Typical family off for a ride on the motor scooter. Note Dad's work clothes and the baby tied to the mother. This is typical. I meant to get faces too, but I wanted the family actually moving. In the movement the faces were lost.

A man traveling to or from his little street side store. He is carrying goods on the back of his bicycle. He is dressed in traditional Burkina male attire.
By the way, this is the front of my American friend's house. The shack out front is a little hut for the driver and guard to sit in to escape the sun and heat.

This is a green taxi. This is a typical street scene during a busy time of day.

Donkey cart! He is hauling sand.

What a topic! There are a few late model vehicles. Most of them are 4 wheel drive because even busy roads are not paved and can be impassable especially during the rainy season. I did ride in a couple of the newer cars. One was with my friend from the US. Her family had a Toyota station wagon and they employed a driver. (more on that in a bit) The others were families whom cars were provided by the place of employment. One was the government, the other was Catholic Relief Services.
Everyone else was driving themselves and most had what Americans call old rattle traps. (Now we proudly own the hoopty, so buckets of bolts if they run good, are nothing to stick your nose up at.) I think most were Mercedes which does say a lot about how good the cars are, but I think they are stripped out in the home country and then shipped over. Once here, whatever seats can be found are bolted in. No adjustment options, some were missing windows, seat belts-what are those? Comfort controls, tape decks (remember those?) etc were long gone. The people who did have them really cherished them.
Now people are very proud of their cars no matter what shape they are in. They have helped a country who is not industrialized for the most part become mobile. The weather conditions there are mild-temps never dip below 60* F so no heat or missing windows is really not a bother too much.
I watched people a lot. I mean after all I was there to understand the life our girls live. People lucky enough to have cars kept them immaculate. Not easy with all the red sand/clay and no vacuum cleaners. They also lock them religiously no matter where they are. I assume hot wiring is a popular hobby for the dubious characters in the community.
People were very generous about rides. Some, I think, wanted to be a part of this American person who came all the way to Burkina to stay with the people. But I think it is just how things are, too. If you need a ride, someone who has transportation is pretty cooperative about getting you where you need to go.
Motor scooters are very popular and plentiful now. I did see a few motor cycles on the last day. And mopeds are also plentiful, but motor scooters rule. They are what most people have.
Bicycles are owned by most everyone, even the very poor.
And people still walk...a lot and a long ways by most American standards. However, I doubt you would ever see an extremely obese person there. You just have to get too much exercise!
Then there is the green taxi's. They cost about 30 cents which is not small change in Burkina. They will take you wherever you need to go. Rakieta uses the green taxi to go back and forth to school.
My favorite of course, was the donkey carts. They use them like we use pick ups and dump trucks. I assume you would hire a donkey man for things like moving concrete or bricks. Although maybe the brick and concrete people keep their own supply of donkeys and carts much like a concrete business keeps a fleet of trucks here.

In my mind, I think transportation methods rank very high in the minds of the people. So I think they will forfeit food to save or pay for a mode of transportation. In fact I know that to be the case because Rakieta's family is hungry quite often, but they have motor scooters and her dad has even somehow ended up with a car. I am not sure if it runs. I do know he can't afford to learn to drive or put gas in it yet so it sits in the compound to be admired. They live very far out so his logic is that they need the car even if they can't use it yet.

I'll post separately about the roads in part 2.

Happy Birthday Delilah and Stephanie!

On Monday morning I went shopping with my friend who was from the US. That was an excellent idea, especially to go so soon after my arrival and with someone who shared my language and culture. She helped me change my money. Not easy by the way, for any of you on your way over. Anyway, I wanted to get a birthday cake for the girls since both had had a birthday in the last week.
So my friend took me to the bakery, probably the only one in the country, and we bought the best looking thing they had. Now best looking is relative there. It wasn't pretty but it was a cake so I took my selection to the counter. I was in a tepid room, trying to learn to use CFA's and my French was not good enough nor was their English good enough for this to be a great experience. Most shops that resemble anything remotely like what westerners are used to are run by Lebanese. One thing I'll say for the Lebanese no matter what country they hang their hat in is that they know their neighborhoods and try very hard to make sure the goods needed get in. Hence a bakery. Paltry, tepid and not what we would consider a good one, but nevertheless a real European/American style bakery.
My selection was about $20.00 American which is an astronomical amount for most Burkinabe so I know this was a really big deal for our girls and everyone who was there. I brought over some nice decorations from the grocery store here in the US. So nothing fancy for us, but it was a really big deal for them. Of course in my culture overload I forgot the candles so Mam'e came to the rescue with the baptismal candles. It was definitely something they and I will remember and cherish forever.
One last thing. People are always wondering what is appropriate clothing. Well, my experience is that the younger the person the more western the dress. Mam'e and others her age never dress western. Middle aged people wear a mix of clothing, but never jeans or what is common in the US really for Burkinabe women. But the younger people are all wearing anything western they can get their hands on. However, thongs, hootchy skirts or anything suggestive or sleazy is not OK.
I wore capris and was pretty comfortable. Being white I stuck out anyway so I didn't worry too much about blending in. But loose fitting, light clothing is the most comfortable. Nothing should be above the knee. So capris ok, shorts, especially short shorts or skirts no.
As I promised I will do a post on shopping as it is really interesting and I am sure those going over will appreciate the information. But it will have to wait for another day.

Life Is Getting Easier

Well, no skunk last night. So we'll try a different strategy tonight. I'm not anything if I am not persistent. The hay is all hauled, the sidewalk bricks are all moved, the chimney bricks are almost all moved and the tree trimming is making headway. Those are all things that exhaust me and make me very grouchy. Especially when Matt is in his usual procrastination mode. The shed is being converted into the studio on schedule, the garden is getting caught up, the fences are making their way up, the trees are getting planted and in general life feels pretty good. Still do not have the costumes put away and cataloged nor have I really gutted the house but that will all come.
I am finding that I actually have time to catch up correspondence, post the blog stuff and play with the horses now. It is a pretty good feeling.

A hunting we wiw go, A Hunting we wiw go, Hi How da dawy ow, A hunting We wiw go!

Well the nuisance critters are back. Isabelle got a baby coon while I was in Africa. Her mother is a bit too rascally to get. Or maybe it is Daddy. Whatever it is, it is big, old and seems a bit creaky. Probably very hard to outsmart. Could be why this is the second season we have seen it and still haven't caught it.
Last night a rather audacious skunk came out of a hole just too close to the chicken coop. Now I know what has been raiding the duck eggs. Mrs. Duck the Second is sitting on eggs as we speak and last night the little stinker (no pun intended) grabbed eggs out from underneath her.
So tonight the trap came out. Hopefully the grand buffet meal provided will get us our culprit. More on this later.

Papiers Du Sahal

Paper from offices at the Embassy, etc that needs to be recycled

These are the tools that are used to mix and cook down the paper mix

Hay to mix with the broken down paper

What the paper mix looks like once it is browken down and ready to make into new paper

Paper mix being placed on paper form. The liquid is allowed to run off

The paper is pressed and later hung up to dry

I made a friend online in the last several months who was living in Ouagadougou. Turns out she is a neighbor of Grandma. She has been a wealth of knowledge to me in my preparations to go over. She has a blog also. It is http://bethinburkina.blogspot.com I also have a link over in the links column. It is really good reading.
Anyway, she helped some of the women start a paper co-op which has given them financial security. I told her I would give the business a plug when I got home so here it is. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Ol' Kalinowski had a farm, Ey , i, ey, i, O!

Daisy the sheep getting sheared

Merry pitching loose hay

Well the hay is finally done. It was a lot of work, mainly because we aren't set up to store that much extra hay but we got it. Each bail averages 60 lbs and there were at least 6 truck loads of loose hay. I am glad to be done. Today Daisy was sheared. That was so quick and easy. I was amazed. I am getting the wool washed and sending it over to Africa.

Toil, Toil, Toil!

A very tired and crabby me hauling wood

Merry thinking she is cute catching us all sleeping. That's the corner of Matt's head on the far couch

Did I comment that I thought the African people toil a lot? Yes, I did. Well, I forgot about how much toiling the small farmer can do in Michigan in a cool, wet summer season. It has rained pretty much every day since I have been home. I can't keep up with the grass for starters. The hay season is becoming more and more frantic. So we are moving hay and moving hay and moving hay. The deal is great. The neighbor needs the old hay moved along with all the loose stuff so when it finally dries out they can bust their butts getting it all off and stored before it rains again. So we are getting a very good deal on the old hay and the loose hay is free. But it means heavy labor, really heavy labor.
The trees are growing and growing and growing. That is awesome but the tree trimming is not. The garden is doing very well, but so are the weeds due to the rain.
In addition there is the studio that needs to be finished, the painting that needs to be done, the wood that needs to be hauled and the list goes on and on.
Right about now I could use a housekeeper, and all the other hired help that the more affluent folks in Africa have. Oh well, such is life in good ol" Michigan with no hired help.
When I am not grousing about being exhausted, I really am proud of our place though. We bought it in 1992 and have worked really hard to get the trees to be so beautiful and the outbuildings so nice.

Pets, Burkina style

One of Mam'es escargot. She keeps a little bowl of water out for them. This one is about 6-8 inches long. They are pretty big there.

The lizards. They are everywhere. They are like squirrels here in the US. They don't bother anyone and they keep the bugs under control. They are funny to watch.

I have posted a couple of pics of pets Burkina style. Well, I don't think the lizards are actually pets but they are everywhere and everyone just gets along with them. The lizards kind of make their homes in each compound and lizards and humans are able to coexist without bothering each other too much. This pic is of a gecko. They are pretty fun to watch. There is another kind that lives in the houses and eats bugs in there. They make a funny noise that sounds like the Nextel walkie talkies. Mostly they hang out behind pictures or other dark things. I did have a little one that got emotionally attached to Matt's big camouflaged duffel bag I took. We tossed him out a few times. Luckily he didn't make the journey back to the US.
Don't worry about them crawling in bed with you or anything. That would be as yucky to them as it sounds to you. I am not a reptile lover and I was very ok with them.
The other pets I saw were assorted livestock-donkeys, a few horses, chickens, rabbits, turkeys-I'll be posting on all of them .
There were some dogs. Most looked alike. They are about 30 lbs and have short hair and have a kind of a jackal or greyhound look. I did see cats too. In fact the neighbor has one and it patrols the tops of the walls of the compounds looking for mice and stuff. Pretty cool.
The last thing I want to mention is this little shrew that lives a Grandma's. Shrews are these mole looking things. Anyway, they are pretty harmless. They eat bugs and worms and are nocturnal. This one lives Grandma's garden and seemed to have gotten lost one evening. They communicate the way bats do so the noise was a little weird. But it was a cute little critter.

Ellie Mae Is Off To The Trainer

Well, Ellie Mae headed off to the trainer today. We happen to have a couple of teen/young adults who live just a mile to the north of us who are very talented horse people. They are working the roping circuit. So Julie, the daughter who needs a part time job like all teens, has volunteered to take our hapless haflingers. Seriously, Ellie Mae should be very easy and fun. We have started her, but I am just not qualified to finish her and Jeni doesn't have the time so sending her down the road was the best solution.
Now George will be a bit more of a handful. I will have interesting posts on him I am sure.

Grandma or Mam'e

Mam'e, Rakieta and Stephanie the first day

This is Delilah and Stephanie's grandma. Everyone calls her Mam'e, including me. She insists upon it. I have always enjoyed her and respected her, but after spending so much time with her I love her as much as her birth family does. She is kind and gentle and has a heart for everyone.

She is very intelligent and thoughtful and went to a huge amount of trouble to make sure I had a wonderful trip. She doesn't have a whole lot of money, but it was the little thoughtful things like powdered milk, mango, banana and silverware. She has an awareness of how Americans think since she has a daughter living in the US and has visited in the past.
It was that and of course her grandmotheryness that made all the difference.
"Cyndy, you must rest." "Cyndy, you must sleep." Cyndy, you must eat." "I got to tell you though", the days I didn't stay with her I really appreciated her because Burkinabe who have never been out of the country do not realize how different their culture is. Thank goodness I had Rakieta to mother me a bit.
However, everyone I met went to a lot of trouble to show me their best hospitality and I really appreciated it. While not the kind of place you can visit as a tourist, it was a wonderful trip.

Mackinac Island

No motor vehicles allowed on Mackinac Island so this and bicycles are the standard method of travel. In the winter people use snowmobiles or snowshoes when needed.

Merry, Jeni and one of the dance girls investigating Lake Huron.

I thought I would take a short break from all stuff about Burkina to post on some of the American happenings. After all this is a blog to show Africa what we do over here too. By the way, they love this thing.
Anyway, Sunday a car load of us went up to meet some of the Just Dance crew and watch the Lilac festival parade.
Typical of northern Michigan, we started in 50*F (10* C) and rain. However, it quickly dried up and turned to a sunny 70* (21* C) Perfect for walking. This time we just walked part of the island.
The parade was pretty cute. It was mostly businesses from the island, but quite creative. The lilacs were just beautiful!

Cooking Burkina Style

This is a Burkanabe (pronounced Burkina bay) kitchen. All Burkina people have something resembling this even if they are fortunate enough to have a stove also. This is the preferred method of cooking. From what I can tell, cooking is a ritual that is taken very seriously. While the food is not plentiful by American standards, it is flavorful and being a good cook is something all the women are very proud of.
This is Lucienne standing in front. She is from the Fada tribe and lives with Grandma or Mame. She keeps the house very clean and is very proud of her job. She can speak some English so even the public schools are getting English taught. In fact I think the poorer schools are doing every bit as good of a job as some of the more expensive schools. She can tribal dance better than anyone else and is part of the choir at the Catholic church. She attends the tribal Mass. I would have loved to have gone but it was just too early for me. 6:00am Anyway, she is a very loved part of the family. I am sure she gets a wage, but just as importantly she is getting opportunity by living in Ouagadougou.
The other lady is Mame Salle. She is a lady who lives down the street who came to help that day. It was Mother's Day in Burkina and my first day there. So she came to help cook. The food was delicious.

And The Rains Came!

The first rain of the season

The Pilot on the plane told us it was rainy and cool in Ouagadougou. They were wrong. We disembarked into hot! It was just hot. Dark and sticky and hot! We rode weird little old dilapidated buses from the plane to the airport. The airport looked like a military building out of the late 1950's with NO air conditioning. We stood in line a long time. They looked at our passports and immunization records.
Then we got into another line. There they looked at our papers we filled out and our passports and visas again. Because in our hurry to get to the airport we forgot the addresses and phone numbers I didn't have the stuff, it caused me a little problem there. One thing that was very noticeably different about Burkina from the US and Paris was the presence of Military police everywhere.
Anyway the woman Rakieta lives with was there and she came in and took care of the numbers so all was good. They did look at my bags and let me go without too much fuss.
Going out into the night was a bit of a trip. My welcome party was there and that was great. But there are street vendors everywhere and they are pretty aggressive. Luckily my party was able to whisk me out of there. That alone would have overwhelmed me if I hadn't had them to show me the ropes. There was a lady with 2 babies strapped to her who was begging. That was a little hard. The parking lot was very small and the cars were noticeably smaller and older than America is used to. However, I was reassured instantly that our family who is middle class was not helping out people who were upper class.
The ride to Grandma's was very overwhelming. It was dark, but it was just a lot on the senses since it is soooo different from rural Michigan.
We got there and went in the gate. It felt great to see everybody. We talked a bit and then went off to bed. The room they fixed for me was wonderful. I had a mosquito net which I had to learn to use and there was a room air conditioner. I set it at 27* c/81*f which was pretty comfortable for me and easy on the electric bill.
The next morning we woke to rain. Heavy rain. They were happy. It was the start of the rainy season.
The first picture is what happened to the road after several hours of steady rain. The second picture is of a rousing game of Uno with no power. I brought the cards and taught them. Uno is great when you have language problems because it gives you something in common. Rakieta always loved Uno. It was very popular this trip too.
I was told and witnessed that toys and games are very rare. A board game can cost well over $100.00 so Uno was a wonderful gift.

Air France

I still love God, my family and my country most of all, BUT Air France is one of my new best friends. The staff is all fluent in both French and English and many other languages usually too. Air France is an international company who understands their customer base and goes to a lot of trouble to make sure the client is comfortable. I was very pleased with the service and care I got on my flights with them. In fact, they made all the difference for me. I was traveling alone to an unwesternized country 7000 miles away. Air France gave me the confidence I needed to do this. I was told to make sure and take Air France many years ago by Burkinabe folks who have made the trip. Even though things have improved a lot in the way flights are going in and out of Burkina, for an American, Air France is the best way to go.

I'm baaaaaack!

Good morning everyone!
And early morning it is. I arrived back ino the US at about 12:30 pm yesterday. We went to eat, dropped Matt off at work and came home. I showered as the girls said I smelled like Africa, put on my jammies and went to bed. That was 7. It is now 5 am and I am wide awake. I guess it will take me a few days to get my sleep straightened out. But it was the most wonderful, fitful sleep I have had in a long time. My nice soft bed , my tv, my jammies. I am so refreshed.
Now I am off to begin my laundry, grab a "sausage, egg and cheese croisandwich" from glorious American Burger King and head over to the hospital to show my mom the pics and see where she is in her recovery. She developed a good case of pneumonia while I was gone. As soon as I get my American Mom and Wife duties caught up I'll begin to post. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience and I have a lot of stories to tell.
One last thing-I agree with our African family. America is just amazing! Seriously, the US is the BEST country on earth and we need to remember this and be proactive in making sure that never changes! Talk to you soon.