random things about my site

Although I’m having a rough time at site, there are moments that are pretty magical. The sense of community here is outstanding. A lot of the people don’t have much but they still find ways to share with their friends and family. While I was sick these past few weeks the CSPS staff (whether I wanted them to or not) visited me throughout the day. The whole village knows that I’m sick too. I’ll walk up to someone that I barely know and they will say, “ Hey Jalysa, how is the diarrhea going?”, embarrassing yes, but definitely thoughtful.

I said before that my site is mostly Muslim but I actually found some Catholics the other day while taking Neuf for a walk!! I say that with exclamation points because that means DOLO!!!! Dolo is a drink made of fermented millet. It’s a very social alcoholic beverage; less alcohol content than beer. People usually sit down in circles and pass a calabash (bowl) filled with dolo around. It looks like one of those bowls Rafeki from the lion king mixed his magical herbs in. I really like the taste of dolo. It’s a bit zingy at the start with a nutty finish. Definitely an acquired taste.

lionking.org (I reference lion king way too much)

Sometimes I go to the pump and just watch people fill up their basins. I can’t communicate with them so I either say random things in Moore to them or they yell things at me and laugh. The other day I was at the pump with Neuf. Neuf was standing near some donkeys and he may or may not have been bothering them. The next thing I know, this big pregnant donkey is chasing my dog, trying to stomp him. I’ve never seen a pregnant animal move so quickly! Luckily Neuf was faster. After that he comes over and stands near me for protection. He slowly begins to wander away again and this little boy goes up to him, picks him up by his back leg and starts shaking him! Neuf is yelping at this point and I go over to the kid and yell at him in French. I think I said something like “No, that  is my dog, let go!” At least that’s what I wanted to say. The little boy lets go. It’s so weird here. Some of the kids are very mean to animals. I had to make Neuf a collar just so people would know that he belongs to me and not to abuse him. I’ve seen little kids try to stomp chickens and smack dogs and donkeys around. I wonder why they are so mean to their animals here. 

I just cannot wait to find all the gems in my site and make this place my home. I think building relationships with people here is going to be very rewarding. 

Bad trip

I have heard many horror stories about people falling ill when they visit foreign parts of the world, but for some reason it never occurred to me that one of those stories could become my reality. Maybe because of my youth or my hard head, I convinced myself that I would finish my two year sentence (I mean service) without getting sick. Mother nature had other plans for me.

About two weeks ago I noticed that I started getting the bubble guts (commonly known as diarrhea). I barely had an appetite and I always felt nauseous. This lasted for about a week or so then the symptoms went away.

The next week I took a trip to Ouaga, the capital, and hung out with some friends. We stayed at the transit house and went to this really fancy restaurant (American fancy not Burkinabe fancy). Me being the vegan that I am ordered the veggie platter. Most of the veggies were cooked except the tomatoes. Towards the end of the evening my stomach started to feel a little upset but I figured it was the usual I-ate-way-too-much-food-for-one-normal-sized-human-being feeling. I woke up the next morning at around 5am, rushed to the bathroom, and projectile vomited all of the dinner that I ate the previous night. For the remainder of the day I felt very fatigued, nauseous, and of course no Burkina sickness would be complete without diarrhea. I was bedridden for the whole day and night. I kept coming in and out of consciousness to either throw up or use the bathroom. I figured those raw tomatoes were to blame.

The next day I felt strong enough to go back to site. After I finished greeting all of the people in my site I realized how tired and ill I felt. I went to sleep and the next morning the vomiting and diarrhea started up again. My major (the nurse that works at my site) told me to call the PC doctor. The doc told me to take ciprofloxacin (an antibiotic) 2x a day,  to clear the bacteria out of my system and compazine 3x a day to stop the vomiting. For the first two days I followed these instructions but towards the end of the second day my jaw started to feel tight. I usually clench my jaw when I sleep so figured since I’ve been sleeping all day that must be the reason.

the culprits

 Some time goes by and my jaw is getting worse and worse. It starts to jut out like I have an underbite and cross over its self. It then begins to clench down really hard; so hard that I can feel bits of my teeth breaking off from the pressure. I start to lose control of my tongue too. It becomes really big and I get a lisp or it gets really pointy and hard and sticks out of my mouth. I call the PC doctor again and tell her my symptoms (she could barely understand me at this point). She then calls my major (who lives across the field from me) to come and check my vitals. Everything seems normal other than my spastic jaw and tongue muscles. We stay on the phone with the doctor and she tells me to take Benadryl and ibuprofen. I go to my major’s house so that he can keep an eye on me. Can you picture my face doing all of this weird stuff while my major and his family sits there trying to watch tv? He then gives me a shot of something that is supposed to make me sleep but it doesn’t work. At this point I am very scared and nervous. I begin pacing around and putting my fingers between my teeth to stop the clenching. The symptoms continue to get worst and I begin to lose control of my eyes! This is when I freak out for real! I tried to tell myself to look at the tv screen but my eyes just roll to the back of my head and cross over each other. I can still see but everything is blurred because my eyes are all crossed and twisted. The doctor calls back and tells me that this is a bad reaction from the antibiotics and the anti-nausea meds. Since I took all of the doses that day there was a lot of the drug in my system. It lists it as a rare side effect on the box called hyperreflexia. Just imagine losing control of all the muscles in your face and mouth. Finally she tells my major to give me an injection of Valium to knock me out.

                   

The next thing that I remember is waking up on a cot in my majors house at 5am. The doctor calls me again to ask how I’m doing and she tells me to come back to Ouaga for further inspection. When I get to her office my tongue and jaw start to go crazy again and she gives me a shot of Benadryl. Apparently this is a very rare reaction to the meds but it’s a side affect of both drugs. The doctor has only seen 2 people react this way during their whole practice. Since they were still in my system my body would go into episodes of the hyperreflexia. And that’s why I’m still in Ouaga now. The drugs should be all flushed out soon and I’ll be cleared to go back to my site. But man was that a scary night. I don’t think I would want to live in a permanent state of hyperreflexia. It’s so uncomfortable and a little painful. I just wanted to share that nightmare with all of you. I will be steering clear of Compazine and Ciprofloxacin.

Now that its all over it is kind of funny to imagine how crazy I must have looked that night on my major’s couch in front of his family. lol

Being black in Africa

...or should I say Americain noir

So far that has been the hardest part of my service. I feel that my skin color is a constant source of disappointment or confusion. A lot of Burkinabe think that all Americans are rich and white. When I arrived in village I think that they were expecting a white American to give their community some meaning. I say that so bitterly because I was expecting to be welcomed with open arms, because I am a foreigner, a visitor to this country. Instead when they see that I am just another black person they seem to be somewhat disappointed. It makes me feel bad..sheesh am I not good enough?

The confusion comes in when someone tries to speak to me in French or in Moore (the local lang). When I am slow to respond or do not understand, they ask “why don’t you know the language?” I tell them that I am American and English is my first language. They either look at me like I’m lying or they are totally surprised. I’m happy for the cultural exchange and to let people know that America is diverse, but I feel like it makes being alone here a lot harder. People expect me to know things that I don’t know yet. I knew this would be hard but I think that my service is going to hard in ways that I never expected.

Another thing that I found interesting is when I was talking to one of the doctors at another village; he asked me what my origin is. I asked “in the US? New Jersey.” He says “No, I mean from African, what is your ethnic group?” All I could say was I don’t know. He then thinks for a few seconds with a sad look on his face and then asks me why I don’t find out. I told him that it would be really difficult to do so and maybe not accurate. This is not the first time that I have contemplated this but it would be nice to trace my roots back to the motherland.

Most of the time people call me rasta and Americain noir. I get really offended when they call me that. “Rasta come here.” “Americain noir, how many do you want?”  etc. In the US people are taught not to openly classify others by their appearance but here its completely normal. You call the taxi driver taxi man; the president of an organization, president; a white person, blanche/nassara (white), and a fat woman, fat woman. I noticed that I am really sensitive to such titles. Its weird.

What do you guys think? Do I have a right to feel a little worried about my impact on this community? Was it stupid of me to expect a grand welcome just because I am from America. 

life thus far

You should know that I have officially signed the next two years of my life over to the US Peace Corps. My swear in was on the 15^th of December and I left for my site on the 16^th.

Marina me and Hilary 

the health (Sante) sector group 25

 So far its been very difficult. I have some problems with some of the people in my village. Also I did not get the warmest welcome. I have to admit that I cried for the first time since I’ve been in country on my second day at site. Although the tears have stopped, I find myself thinking about when I told my Uncle Greg about my intentions to join the Peace Corps. He just looks at me and says “Why?”. Well Uncle Greg I question those reasons that I gave you everyday lol. But other that the initial shock, things are getting better now. It’s happening very slowly though.

Right now, and for the next 3-6 months, I’ll be getting to know my community, and learning how to live alone in Burkina. Visiting people, the schools, the big cheeses of the village.

My house has two rooms, no running water or electricity, outside douche and latrine, and a little courtyard made of cement. It also comes equipped with people sitting outside of my bedroom window talking all day and night.

my bed/bug hut/ cot

My village is also mostly Muslim, which is great, besides the lack of alcohol consumption. During stage we went out for beers at least once a week and now I haven’t had an ounce of spirits at my site. It should be interesting. I also don’t want to offend anyone by drinking beer so I’ll have to feel things out before I do something that could jeopardize my position in community.

There is a lot that I could say in this post but I find myself trying to be politically correct and holding my tongue. So instead I’ll post a bunch of pictures. Yay!

Neuf (he's almost a dog grown) I hope you got the game of thrones reference

Ps I’m at the transit house right now (where volunteers stay when away from site) and I just watched lion king again. It was absolutely magical. I don’t know if it because I’ve been away from the glitz of American culture or because I’m in Africa right now but that movie seemed way better than before!

Oh yeah I also think that I forgot my book with all of your addresses written down. Can you email your addresses…or just send me a letter and I’ll write you one back. =]