Blog Post #16, IST Over, 6 Months Done
So it’s
been a while since I wrote in this thing. This is long overdue. I have now been
here 6 months and as I write this I am getting over my first real medical issue
I’ve had in this country, which is just a wonder. Yesterday I visited the
bathroom (yes, an actual bathroom because I was staying with Kelly in Reo and
her office has a real toilet!) probably about 20 times. That is just
unreasonable. My fever spiked to 101.6, which is the highest it’s been in
years, and I had a splitting headache. I came to the conclusion that it sucks to be sick in this country. I
took oral rehydration salts and kept a steady influx of liquids, but it was a
rough day. I stayed in Reo an extra night because the office has an extra room
with a fan that plugs in, and I was not about to go on transport yesterday when
I felt like I was going to pass out at any second. It was a good decision, and
today I feel much better, though I’ve visited the bathroom more times than I
care to. I will probably head back to site today. As I am prone to do, I forgot
my ATM card in Bouldie, so of course I have to return to Koudougou on Friday if
I want to have money to survive. I have also completely run out of household
products, so I should probably get on that.
Anyways,
since the last time I posted in here I had my three-month in-service training,
we hit the 6-month mark, and the Cards won the National Championship in
basketball. I will discuss all of these. First on the list is IST. We spent a
week in Ouagadougou and then a week in Koudougou. It was nice to spend time in
Koudougou because I actually know the city and had an easy transport back to
site afterwards. What we had previously learned, and learned again, is that
when you put all of us in a group together, things can get pretty darn rowdy,
and they did, on numerous occasions. The first night in Ouaga I can
proudly/shamefully say that I (along with a friend whom shall not be named)
joined the 5-liter club. That night was sloppy on everybody’s part, but it was
unbelievably fun. It was one of the better nights that I’ve had in this
country. We went and got huge burgers and liter beers (hence why I headed down
the 5-liter path) and then went to what I know to be the only place in this
country (probably not, but maybe) with a pool table. We had a great time and
returned to the nunnery we were staying at very late, which made the next day a
very long one.
I woke up
feeling slaphappy. We had classes all day and most people were feeling very
much under the weather. As the day wore on and hangovers either increased or
decreased, I started feeling worse and worse. By around 3 PM, I felt like I was
about to die and my ankles had swollen to twice their normal size. I can say
without a doubt that this is the first time that has ever happened to me, and
it was very bizarre. The next day I went to the medical office and got tested
and all that what not, but I was just horribly dehydrated… gee, what a shocker.
I half learned my lesson that night. The rest of the time in Ouaga was
relatively tame; it was a good time nonetheless.
We hitched
on over to Koudougou via Peace Corps bus that Saturday. We were supposed to
take the Visionnaire bus, a local bus company that most people take to get from
Ouaga to Koudougou that is actually quite comfortable. It never showed up of
course and Peace Corps learned a lesson they had long preached to us. Never pay
in advance. We got there after dark and only about half of the bikes had
actually arrived, so most of us went to the nearby place and had dinner. I went
home and found myself projectile vomiting at around 3 in the morning. That
restaurant has since been renamed Maison de Diarrhea (House of… you get it) by
my buddy Todd. I was not the only person that got sick from eating there. The
next day was St. Patrick’s Day and we spent it at a pool in Koudougou, which
was actually quite lovely. We drank Pelforth, which cannot be found in most of
the country, and we ate chicken. We swam, and we had Mimosa’s. We even made a
whirlpool! It was a great day. That night we went out to a bar that would never
recommend anybody ever go to alone, but in the group we had, it was a blast. We
got to control the music, and our friend brought out the wolf ears she had
received in a care package from home. It was fantastic. Every time the ears
were put on you, you had to howl, and howl we did. We even got the Burkinabe in
the bar to join in. It was a howlin’ good time (get it?!).
The rest of
the week just sort of cruised on by, as it did in Ouaga. I went back to site
afterwards, joined by my good friend Todd. He lives down south near Banfora,
where they are already enjoying rain…lucky. He stayed with me for a couple
bro’ed out days. We drank some whiskey, some lukewarm “Belgian” beer that was
bought form a boutique in Bouldie which was surprisingly not terrible, and
watched the Superbowl that was sent to me via DVD. It was a very enjoyable few
days that made the readjustment back to site a lot easier. Todd stayed with me
because it would have made no sense to go all the way back down south when the
following week was the Close-of-Service (CoS) conference and really, party for
G24 (we are G27). Todd also had a committee meeting in Ouaga that weekend.
We went
into Reo for two nights to stay with Kelly so we could all go into Ouaga
together, which is always more fun than being alone. The party was fun, the
theme was thrift store things so I had some pretty amazing clothing I had
picked up throughout my service here, which means that very same day. I don’t
know if it was worth the five mille that we had to pay to attend which covered
lasagna and jungle juice. The general consensus was that there was not enough
food and definitely not enough booze
for the amount of people that were there. Either way, it was fun doing some
night swimming and going back to Ouaga. As I headed back to site a day later,
my friend Kelly was leaving for a European vacation that consisted of Brussels,
Amsterdam, and a few places in Switzerland just as my friend Chris was
returning from a week in Paris. The moral of this story is: holy crap I need a
real vacation. Another group is currently in Ghana, with another group planning
on heading to Senegal next month! I have nothing planned. I am trying to save
up some money so that when I do go, it will be extravagant. Of course, seeing
all of these things makes me oh-so very jealous.
Moving on
from my impending misery from all of my friends’ happiness, I have now been in
this country for over six months. The first two (training) moved a little bit
slower than molasses. These past four have really flown by, and the days all
just sort of blend together. I have read a lot of books, and continue to just
sort of fly through them. Chris, the one who went to Paris, gave me his
Internet USB so now I have access in Bouldie, though it is incredibly slow. I
cannot decide if it is a good or bad thing. I would say both. I now have access
to the world and was able to follow the Cards throughout the tournament, but I
also get to see all of the incredible things I am missing on Facebook… like my
friends going to Rome or Atlanta… or Chipotle.
Speaking of
Atlanta and missing things, wow. I cannot believe how much I have missed in the
sports world since I’ve been gone! The Cards win the Sugar Bowl. The Redskins
win the NFC East. The Cards win it all in basketball, which I called by the
way. It is bittersweet. I know that just being here is a good thing, but it
really, really blows to miss things like that in America. The best/worst part
about it is that the Cards have a chance to repeat next year! What hell that
would be for me if they make it all the way back to win it all and I miss it
two years in a row! But that is getting ahead of myself. Luckily, as I said before my friend Chris gave me an Internet USB so I was able to follow the ESPN GameCast of the Elite 8, the terrifying Final Four game against Wichita State, and the riveting Championship game against Michigan. I woke up at 1 AM on April 9th, it was still the 8th in America, and followed the game little text box after little text box. We finally pulled ahead for good and when the game ended, I did a little happy dance in my house. 4 in the morning and I was sweating bullets, but it was totally worth it to actually pay attention to the moment my team won it all. I saw the next day some of the pictures that popped up from both Atlanta and Louisville and the celebrations that were had. It looked like a real blast and I really hope I get can experience that some day. One thing that is for sure is I will not be missing another Louisville Final Four game if I live in America. I will either be in Louisville to celebrate the win, or at the game to experience it first hand.
Life is
slow here. Not much happens on a day-to-day basis. I have decided to change my lifestyle. I stopped drinking at site. It is a massive waste of money and I think I was developing an unhealthy problem. I was also developing a belly, and I am not ok with that. I started working out again, almost every day, taking breaks only once or twice a week (or when I'm sick like now). If I am going to be here, I'd like to get back into the shape that I used to be in. I may as well take advantage of the opportunity I've been given and use it to get smarter, stronger, and have a better attitude. If you can't adjust your attitude here, it is a very tough life. My groupement that I work
with is so disorganized that if I get anything done with them it will be a
miracle. I have lowered my expectations, while trying to stay motivated. All I really want is for them to be
organized enough to take care of themselves after I am gone, and for them to be
growing green peppers and producing tofu. If they are doing these things, I
would say my stay here is a success, which is not saying much after two years
of living there. I guess this is what Peace Corps means when they tell us that guilt
hits hardest in those first eight months, You really do not get much done,
you don’t understand the languages, and life is just really challenging. I am
grateful that I know I am not the only one that is having a rough time with the
feeling of uselessness, but it is still a daily challenge. Coming from a culture
of schedules and constant, progressive work (minus Congress of course), this
has got to be one the hardest adjustments to get used to; slowing down and
learning how to just get by day-to-day, without panic or manic episodes.
The adjustment continues, and hopefully by the nine-month mark I will have
something positive to post about the work I’ve done. Maybe this soap-making
thing will take off. I guess we’ll see.
In the
meantime I will just keep on keeping on, checking Facebook and thinking about
the meals I am going to have when I come back stateside. I also eagerly await
my mother’s visit to this continent late this year. That should be a hoot. If
anybody else plans on hopping the Atlantic, let me know, maybe we can get
together over some rice or something.
GO CARDS! NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2013!
The following pictures are all thrift store clothing. The top one was what I wore to the CoS party. Excellence at it's best.
