taxi brusse

 Just imagine a chester molester white van that hasn't passed inspection in 27 years, 18 people piled in (some on the roof) not including the animals, no AC, plus a country that doesn't use deodorant. You have just imagined a taxi brusse (bust taxi). Me and my fellow stagiares have the pleasure of riding in these vehicles to and from our sites. I was honestly amazed to see how they keep these things running. They literally had to push start the car. This particular taxi did not have a set ceiling, so whenever when went over a bump I had to guard my head to avoid getting cut by a rusty piece of metal.

barb, gerard, ryan (he ETed), and marci enjoying the forbidden backseat of the taxi brusse

me smushed in the brusse with amy

barb admiring this guys ashy ankles as he sits on the roof of the moving taxi brusse

My second experience in a taxi brusse was worse than the first despite the fact that it was more luxurious. I was slightly hung over, stuffed in between what seemed like a million other Burkinabe. I'm sitting by the window in this super hot vehicle when I realize that I am nauseous. I start to tell them to pull over when I realize omg I'm in Africa and they speak french. Its hard to think of the french phrase for "pull this GD thing over, I'm about to hurl" when on the verge of death. Luckily my fellow trainees got the point across and they pull the taxi over. After the door opens and we all spill out of the van I sit on the side of the road. The driver then proceeds to tell my friends to give me a bag to throw up in so we can continue our journey. Mind you, Burkinabes are not known for their promptness so why did this guy pick this very moment to hurry me up. Because my french sucks I could not argue so I took the bag and road the rest of the way in silence. 

I've only ridden in a taxi brush 2x so hopefully the next time around will go more smoothly.

disclaimer: not all taxi brusses are this tore up. Some are really nice, but a lot of them are pretty shabby.

Lion King

I have a nephew!!! My older sister had a beautiful baby boy on November 16th 2011 and am officially an aunt! It's crazy how quickly things begin to change after leaving for less than 2 months. My cousin is engaged, my sister has a son, kim kardashian and her husband are divorced. I don't know what I'll do if Justin Beiber impregnates a girl while I'm while I'm away! 

On another note, a lot of people think that Africa looks like Disney's Lion King or like certain scenes from Coming to America but this continent is very diverse. Even within Burkina Faso there are many differences when traveling through regions and cities. The place that I am in right now looks a lot like any hot 3rd world country, but sometimes, at certain moments, in certain places the landscape actually looks like a scene from Lion King! I love it when that happens. The sun will be setting in just the right place and I swear I can hear Mufasa's rumbling voice in my ear, telling me that all this land will belong to me one day. I savor those moments.

this is when it looks like a 3rd world country

I have been in Burkina Faso 7 days shy of 2 months. The second month went by like lightening. But now December seems to be creeping along because I have something to look forward to in mid december. SWEAR IN!!! I will officially be a Peace Corps Volunteer on the 15th of December. We will have a grand ceremony in the morning and then we will fete (party) the night away. I cannot wait to be stripped of my trainee title and move to my site! 

Speaking of official business, my fellow stagiaires and I went to the US embassy and it was pretty boss. Not because it was clean, not because it was full of English speaking people, not even because it was air conditioned. It was great because of the porcelain toilettes, and running water! We all looked like we were 10 year old children on christmas morning. I swear I washed my hands three times, when to the bathroom twice, and stared in the mirror for a good 10 minutes. I have a little hand mirror at home that allows me to see parts of my face at a time. When I saw my whole face all at once I was shocked. Lets just say Burkina will do things to your exterior..terrible terrible things. 

I tutor this 12 year old boy and it is so rewarding. Not only does he help me with my horrible french, but I can actually see his progress. I also see the gaps in my English grammar education, I should have listened more closely in Ms Sadusky's 2nd grade class!! This little boy is so motivated and eager to learn. Last night we were actually talking in complete sentences. I hope that after I move to my site he continues to work really hard. 

Papi

So I am already thinking of my post peace corps plans and going to medical school in still number 1 on the list. But before that I want to go on a really good close of service (COS) trip. I also want to WWOOF for a while. It seems like it will be really interesting and a really cheap way to travel. Check out the website. 

WWOOF - World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

I also apologize again for not posting pictures on Facebook or on my blog. Internet is super hard to come by and it is really slow. I am going to try to put some up tomorrow.