On the tail end of week one in Ouaga!

Hi everyone!!
(sorry...there are no pictures on this one...i'm still figuring things out...so i haven't taken too many since paris and getting here..)

So today is Thursday…almost the weekend!!…not that I’ve been working all that hard or anything…things have been quite easy going around here…kinda like how the whole African culture is…

So yesterday…I went for a few errands with Pauline Golder (who flew here on the fame flight as me…) and I went to one of the local markets and got a few things there like bleach for my fruit and veggies…I also went to buy fabric with Leanne later on that day because Pauline had told me that the tailor was coming today and I am dead set on getting a few outfits made!…I’ll have pictures when I get them…I got to take a little bit of a car tour around our area of Ouaga with Mark, but today was the big adventure….THE DOWNTOWN MARKET!!! I must say…if anything has ever been exciting/overwhelming/amazing…it was definitely that…There’s no “market place” per say…but rather…it spreads for like 5 or 6 streets…(maybe more…) basically…there are people selling things everywhere!!! And they are persistent to a level I had never experienced before (we got followed for a few blocks by some guys selling dresses and table cloths…which were all very nice…but I’m not quite at “souvenir buying” yet...I’ve got loads of time…and the tailor is coming today so there’s no need for me to buy a dress…J) So yes…there were a few grocery stores (2 main ones) where I got some staple foods like cheese and meats…and sugar!…oh…and coconut cookies!! Yumm!! Only problem is…today is HOT!!! And the power has gone down…so my fridge and freezer are doing a really pitiful job at keeping things cold…hopefully the power comes back on soonish…I’m longing for those fans to work again…they’re my new best friends!

After the Market, I got to go help the two teachers that teach at a pastor’s pre-school prep for the evaluations that they are going to be giving the kids…I was there from 11 am till 12:15 pm…and I got to draw elephants and chickens…and hear a bit more about the pre-school because I will be teaching there for the rest of the month (until the school year is done…at the end of May). I also got to prepare the biblical outreach that we’re gonna do with the ESL class that I will co teach with Alan Ashmore tonight…and take half of starting next week…so that’s what I’m doing…if anybody has an good ideas about ice-breakers and games to do with either the pre-schoolers (ages 3-6) or with the ESL class (university students who need more speaking practice than anything else…) PLEASE let me know…because in case you all don’t know…I’m not quite trained for teaching…I’m a social worker!..lol…

I was also told, to my great enthusiasm, that I will be spending 2 weeks in an orphanage outside of Ouaga. Those will be the last week of June and the first week of July. This is a well in advance warning that I will not be able to post anything during those 2 weeks…or be in contact with anyone…sorry…but I promise I will tell all about that experience as soon as I come back…

So that’s it for now…plan for tonight is dinner with the Watts…and ESL…and measurements taking for outfit making…I might also go to check out a kids program at a church outside of Ouaga in an area that is currently being zoned…that would mean that it’s an area where poor people all just settled in, not buying land or anything…and once the city is ready…they level everything out to make streets and sell off the lots…those who don’t get one…move to an other area that hasn’t been zoned until the next time that happens to them…

Do pray for this country…there’s a lot to mention and for fear of forgetting anything I won’t…but there’s a lot of sad times and incredibly hard work on the part of the Burkinabe for very little results in the end….

I’ll catch you all later
~Ariane