First weekend in Ouaga

Hi all...

So...the weekend has passed and I must say it was quite good...

Friday, I spent the morning at the pre-school that I am now teaching at to prep up with the other two teachers there for the evaluations that the kids are going through this week...it's pretty intense considering they're in kindergarten! That night, we went to the ISO's restaurant for dinner...and then headed to the Dartnell's for a movie...it was great...Christina (who is staying in the guesthouse until this Wednesday and who's my age) was staying at the Dartnell's for the weekend because the guesthouse was getting a bit crowded with visiting families from different part of Burkina who were taking a weekend off from being in the bush to come to the city...oh my...

Saturday was a bit of a funny feeling stomach day...but I pulled through...it had to happen eventually....heh...and after I started feeling better (at around 10 am...) I came down to the guest house and Christina, Pauline (who I might have forgotten to introduce...she flew here on the same flight as me and we've had some really good chats!!...she spent 10 year in Benin as a missionary and she's from Australia!), and I went to the ISO garage sale!! (I know...garage sales in Africa...how odd...). I actually found 2 peices of the same fabric and I am hoping to get a few tops out of it...the rest of the day was pretty quiet and I made my first dinner!...Tuna MacNcheese!...lol...it's really hard to cook for one I must say...going from a dorm of 8 to that makes it even harder...so from now on I think Pauline and I might try to share dinners...while she's in the guest house anyway...and later, there is supposed to be a girl my age coming in from Fada...so maybe she'll wanna team up with me... :)

Here's a map of the part of Burkina that SIM works in... just so you can situate where Fada is compared to Ouagadougou...it's East...

So Sunday was the interesting day!...

I went to the International Church of Ouagadougou (ICO) with the Dartnell's and Christina...I was quite something...it reminded me of why I always wanted to go to a Haitian church!!...Bring on the clapping and intense enthusiasm! The message was really good and given in English and translated into French. Next Sunday I might go check out a more local church that is in French and translated into Moré (the local language here in Ouaga!). We had lunch with the Dartnell's and were joined by an elderly couple who is actually one of the attending pastors and his wife. They came with their 7 years old granddaughter who lives with them and their 12 years old youngest son!...it was quite odd to me...but considering they have seven kids...I guess it makes a little bit of sense...

After Church, I sat in the guesthouse with Pauline and Christina for a while and then we heard the wind pick up!...that, in Burkina, is a sign of rain...and I'm not talking about a little bit of wind either...it lifted so much dust that the sky looked like this!

Soon afterwards, one of the most massive downpours I had ever seen happened and just mesmorized me!...(unfortunately rain is kinda hard to take pictures of, so this is the best I have...)

Afterwards...since the power kept cutting in and out...The girls and I decided to have a pizza (there are frozen ones here in the guesthouse freezer...) unfortunately, we let it thaw before putting it on the pan which made it really had to take it out of the plastic...after some folding and such, we ended up with a nicely half thin-crusted and half deep-dish pizza... :)

It rained all night, and all the rain allowed for a beatifully cool night where I even had to use the sheet on my legs!...it was the first night I didn't wake up from, drenched in sweat from the heat and most definitely my best night here so far!...Come come rainy season!...It will mean more cooler nights!!!!!

Today was my first day of actual teaching at the Pre-School...I can honnestly say I did not enjoy the bike ride there and I am not looking forward to having to do it every morning...but the kids there are just something else, and that made it all better (until I hopped on the bike for the ride back home...) I will make sure to have some pictures of the kids before I leave there just to show you...but I am sure there will be many differnet stories to tell from there. They all love me (partially because I'm new and a foreigner...) and they all wanted to play with me...only problem...slight language barrier. The kids only know a little bit of French and so even getting them to do something is kind of hard...but the other 2 teachers are more than helpful, and since we are doing testings for the week, it has been pretty easy. It's a good tool to learn the kids' names too...I get to call them out and point to letters and shapes and colours and get them to count up to 10 in French. They are quite an adorable bunch!...There are 48 kids registered although some don't always come...and 3 sections...petite, moyenne, and grande (take a wild guess at what those are!.. :)...and ages range from 3 to 6 years old.

Tonight, Pauline, Christina, and I went to a restaurant called the Paradisios and had some really good meet!...it was totally worth it. I also bought some more mangoes!...I can't get enough of them!

So that's about my weekend (in a big nutshell) and beginning of the week...maybe I should post more often so that they're a bit shorter!...

I hope you are all enjoying whatever it is that you are doing and that the weather is nice at home too!

God Bless!

P.S. I get to teach my first ESL class tomorrow!...do pray for me...it's a little nerve recking!