More on Diabo

Bonjour, tout le monde. I'm back, still in Fada until this afternoon, when my nearest PC neighbor, Nancy, and I will head back to village.  We'll catch a bus headed to Ouaga and descend at Maouda, the town on the goudron 
(paved road) where the road to our villages branches off.  We'll bike back to our villages, 10k for Nancy and 21k for me.  Not a bad ride, unless it's rained recently, making the roads less passable.

I just had a very Burkina moment.  I'd written several paragraphs of my blog and the power went out, erasing all that I'd written.  This is definitely not an uncommon occurence, so one learns to take it in stride...and remember to save intermittently next time.

Anyhow, as I mentioned in my last entry, the past ten days have constituted a barrage of impressions and experiences.  I tried to render a physical description of Diabo and my new home, but the people I've encountered so far, particularly my homologue (counterpart) and the school faculty of école 'B', have definitely provided the foundation of my introduction to Diabo and experiences thus far.

I guess I'll start by describing a typical day en Diabo:

I typically wake up between 6:00 and 7:00, to the sounds of roosters crowing, donkeys baying, and my noisy pig-neighbors.  If it's cool (ish, this is relative, of course), I'll head out for an early morning run along the main road or any number of footpaths that traverse the village and head to the smaller outlying villages around Diabo.  My favorite so far is the path that goes past école 'B' to the barrage (a sort of resevoir) of Yentenga, a neighboring village (there are crocs!).  People here don't seem as suprised by my athletic endeavors (which they refer to as "faire du sport") as people in Sananga, my host village during stage, did.  In Sananga, my runs evoked a combination of amusement and confusion and typically caused a parade of children to run behind me in pied piper-esque fashion.  I chalk up the greater degree of acceptance in Diabo to the fact that it's a larger, better-educated village with a host of battery-powered televisions (hence exposure to the notion of exercise).

After my run, I'll boil water for Nescafé (delicious) and oatmeal, which one can procure in Fada or Ouaga, while listening to the BBC.  BBC World News and Focus on Africa are a god-send, as is my shortwave hand-crank radio.  In general, I feel better informed in regard to world news here than I ever did in the States.  I think this is a result of the amound of undisturbed time I have to listen to the radio and the effectiveness with which I'm able to absorb information here as opposed to in the States, where every day we're presented with an onslaught of information.  I typically read for a while in the morning as well, having stocked up on books at the Peace Corps hostel before heading ot site.  I have a motley collection ranging from Salinger's "Nine Stories" to Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" to "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations" and "A Beginner's Guide to the World Economy."  The ability to read often and undisturbed here feels almost decadent and is definitely a huge benefit of Peace Corps life!

I typically have a few visitors throughout the morning, most often the gaggle of kids from my neighboring quartier and Moussa, one of the teachers at école 'B' who has stayed in Diabo during the vacation and has been incredibly helpful in helping me to settle in.  I try to venture out by mid-morning and will head to the marché around noon on market day (every third day) where I'll sit with Aisattu, my homologue, and Alice, the secretary of école 'B', while they vend gateaux (fried cakes) and peanuts.  They're situated in a prime socializing and people-watching location, so the market presents the best opportunity to get to know new people.  We'll causer (chat) in French and I'll listen as they talk (read: gossip) in Zaoré.  The market in Diabo is impressively large with scores of vegetable and fruit vendors, a number of butchers, shops to buy hardware and household goods, and shops selling clothes, shoes, and brightly colored cloth and pagnes.  There are also several tailors, mechanics, and hair salons (there are some incredibly intricate hairstyles here).

Aside from the marché, I'll often just head out for a bike ride or walk and inevitably end up talking to someone en route or stopping for tea in someone's quartier.  Every journey outside of the house presents a host of opportunities for social interaction and it is impossible and completely impolite to pass someone you know without inquiring as to their health, that of their family, the state of their work, etc.  

The first full day I spent in Diabo, Moussa and I made a tour of the local authories, the Prefet, Gendarme, Inspecteur, the Centre Medicale, etc. so I was introduced to most of the functionaires in Diabo and had an opportunity to see their offices.  Since then I've also visisted two of the outlying villages. Alice took me to her quartier in Yentenga (the quartier of her husband, her family is from Diabo proper so she'll stay there from time to time as well).  I met her three children and members of her husband's family, including her father-in-law, who is the chief of Yentenga.  We had a long chat in French and he expressed how happy he was that I was here and promised to take me to see the barrage during the season when the crocs come out of the water frequently.  

I've also visited a number of other quartiers, including that of Aisattu.  (A quartier is a large, family compound which is home to 3-4 generations of a family and is typically made up of a number of mud-brick buildings and round, mud huts with straw roofs).  In general, I feel like I've gotten to know so many people and already seen so much in village, which is more than I expected to accomplish during my first week and a half at site.  It's definitely a testament to the preparation and cultural knowledge we acquired during stage that I've started the process of integration so smoothly.

So you're probably think "that's great, Chrissy, but what about your JOB?" which is a very reasonable question.  Because of the nature of Girls' Ed, our sector, and the fact that a lot of the sensibilisation (don't know how to say that in English) we'll do is on an informal, social level, we're encouraged to hold off on diving into projects until we bien integré and get to know our schools and communities well.  Beyond that, school doesn't start until mid-October, after the rainy season and harvest.  I am, however, already a bit restless and have definitely experienced some moments of boredom so far.   I look forward to the return of the rest of the school staff and the opportunity to start brainstorming some projects.  In the meantime, I hope to conduct some community assesment meetings and activities with various community members to guage village needs and resources and generally garner necessary and useful knowledge as I meet people and learn more about Diabo.

So for now, my days consist of socializing, improving my French (by socializing), and working on local language.  I try to take a bike ride each evening if possible, to explore the greater-Diabo area and check out the outlying villages (not too mention the gorgeous vistas en route).  I took one such ride a few nights ago, venturing far down the road to Koudougou despite the ominous thunderclouds looming in the distance.  I deservedly got caught in an absolute downpour, arriving in centre-ville drenched but amused and a bit of a spectacle for the villagers.

I've also had the pleasure of a visit from Nancy, my neighbor of 12k, who came to Diabo to take advantage of our market, check out the village, and engage in some much needed English conversation.  Before we travelled here to Fada, I spent the night in her village and received a much needed haircut.  I'm lucky to not only have a neighbor in close proximity, but one skilled in the art of cutting hair, so that I won't look like totally ridiculous when I come home in two years. We indulged in some chocolate, peanut butter and jelly, and American tunes via my iPod during my visit - a much needed dose of America.

So that's a bit on my last ten days.  I could go on but I think that this would turn into even more of a rambling incoherent mess, so I'll sign off now.  Overall things are great and I'm really happy with the beginning of my sejours en Diabo.  There are still lots of trying moments of frustration, loneliness, and fatigue and there are some people au village a bit disdainful or skeptical of my presence.  Luckily, I was proceeded by several well-liked volunteers in other sectors, so many people have some knowledge of Peace Corps,  understand my general purpose and are overall very receptive.  Beyond that, I have found myself amongst a group of people ready and enthusiastic to aid me in my integration and endeavors.  Alice and Aisattu, in particular, have shown me so
 much kindness and will, I hope, evolve into good friends.  It's almost stunning how we've 
already developed a rapport, despite our differences in race, ethnicity, age, language, and 
circumstance in general.  If anything, this experience is an incredible education in humanity
 and the essence of human relations.  As much as I learned and gained in four years of college, I'm certain I'll take more with me from my two years in Africa.