Hello from Ouaga! I'm here for a brief visit, to have the brakes on my bike repaired (as my mountain bike is American and way nicer than anything you'd see in village, the repairs are a bit beyond the scope of the mechanic au village). I left village this morning with the marche day bush taxi after a breakfast of cafe au lait (Nescafe and condensed milk) and bread at the buvette in the marche - as always, an excellent oppurtunity to socialize. Arrived in Ouaga four hours later (it's a 200k trip) but I can't complain as the taxi wasn't full so I had lots of leg room and good tunes via my iPod. Travelling here is always an adventure, between the frequent stops, the array of cargo (from potatoes to goats to people on the roof - it is AMAZING how much crap can be piled on to a bush taxi), the people you encounter sur la route, and the potetnial for mechanical disaster. But, 'wend barka' (thank god), I am here after an uneventful voyage.

Things au village are good. School is in full swing and I've been observing classes and meeting the faculties of the other primary schools and the high school. The students are totally fascinated with me which is usually endearing, but sometimes overwhelming, specifically when they cluster around me, pushing and hitting each other in the process. Though some of the novelty of my presence will surely wear off, I am definitely a fun anomalie for the kids in village.

I met with the director of the middle/high school this week and I think I may teach English at the sixieme (7th grade-ish) level since the other teachers teach a ridiculous number of hours. It would consist of just 5 hours a week and would give me a great opportunity to get to know the school and students, since it is entirely separate from the primary schools. Teaching isn't specifically in our jurisdiction as Girls' Ed volunteers, but a number of other volunteers in my sector teach classes as well and I think it's a good way to make a solid, visible contribution that will prove useful for promoting girls' ed as well. As passionate as I am about our sector, it is difficult in that it is very ambiguous. Teaching will give me a concrete role in the eyes of the villagers and will hopefully make it that much easier to commence with other extra-curricular activities.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet as I have nothing particularly noteworthy to report. My life in Burkina have ceased to be the onslaught of new experiences that it was a first, now that I'm settling into my community and really habituating to life here. I'm sure I'll have more to report the next time I'm at a computer, when I've commenced with teaching and other work. Also, I have been terribly negligent regarding photos but I will post a lot at the next opportunity, it's just tough to be on top of things here in the technological dark ages!

'Til next time,

Chrissy