nassara bonjour!

so i cant even believe ive been in burkina for almost two weeks now. im in ouaga, at an internet cafe right now and the keyboard is a little bit different so bear with me. wow so much to say. let me start with amazing and just totally totally different. already i feel that i have learned so much on so many levels.

i think my favourite memory so far is the first night in sapone, i went for a run in the forest with the children. there i was, running at sunset with a trail of the cutest black little kids behind me, as a heard of sheep ran by us. actually every night before bed th e village children come to play with kristin and i and it just makes my day. we sing songs and play games under the stars. the night sky is incredible in sapone because there is no electricity aka no light to hide the stars and the crescent moon actually hangs opposed to being on the side.

in terms of what i see... it is all red sand everwhere and beautiful large mango and eucalyptus trees. and even in the middle of nowwhere there will be random children under the trees. there are these lizards that we like to call fanta lizards because they have orange heads and theyre aabsolutely everywhere. in terms of wildlife, no elephants yet. actually there are pigs, chickens, donkeys, goats, and sheep absolutely everywhere. hilarious.

the first week we spent in ouaga, the four of us, getting adjusted which was really good. then kristen and i went to sapone on friday. i actually really like being in such a small village and then getting to come to the city on weekends. this whole week, kristen and i went to all of these villqge schools to do evaluations. absolutely a,azing. we would drive in the middle of nowhere for like '2 hours, where there were no roads or paths to follow, just trees, and then randomly there would be school. i am starting my agricultural project monday which i am really excitedabout. tonight the four of us are going dancing i think and going on a mad search for some ice cream.

the food is interesting. i never thought that i would be able to eat the pigeon that i just saw alive next to me....but i did! the mangos are probably the best thing ive ever tasted. in terms of culture shock, not so so much but the main thing is that everyone just stares at us everywhere we go and yell out nassara all of the time which means white person. interestingly, burkina is the first place ive been that is practically untouched by globalization and tourism. really refreshing and allows us to really experience the culture.

aug 11 seems like a super far away time right now but im sure it is going to go by so quickly. not sure when ill be able to get internet again which is why i made this post rather ridiculously long but i hope everyone is well enjoying their summers so far and hopefully things are a bit cooler chez vous: à la prochaine!

standy by

so i am off to burkina faso, africa on monday, may 14th. just thought i would give a little background info so you know what i'm going to be up to this summer. i will be travelling with 3 other queen's students on behalf of queen's project on international development. the four of us are going to be volunteering there for 3 months. kristin will be my partner in a village called sapone, which is just an hour south of the capital ouagadougu, which is where the other 2 kids will be (anthony and kat). kristin and i will be working on an a preliminary agriculture community development project. i'll let you know more about the details when i get them. we're working with an ngo called la fondation pour le developpement communautaire. it's all french there as well as the traditional language, more [mor-ai]. so things are going to be pretty different this summer as there is no electricity, or internet, or running water and stuff. i'm so excited! we'll be going into the city every couple weeks so i'll be able to update my blog then. that just means that i might not be able to email everyone back all of the time but please email me with your summer news! looking forward to have crazy stories and hearing from you. peace.