April Showers Bring...MANGOS, MANGOS, MANGOS!

It’s official.  Hot season is here in Burkina Faso to stay, and day by day, more of me just melts away.  In two years, I will probably just be one big pool of sweat, lying on the side of road, somewhere on the route of my daily commute to work.  Every day, when I arrive at the atelier and greet all the tailors and apprentices, I can only gasp out “Il fait chaud”  (it’s hot) as I stagger off to sit and drink as much water as I possibly can.  In fact, I comment on the heat after my bike rides so much that I am beginning to think that my colleagues think that “Il fait chaud” is the extent of my French-speaking ability (which honestly isn’t particularly far from the truth)!  I am really starting to take “small-talk about the weather” to a new level!  However, besides the blanket of upper 90’s to 100’s degree heat that has settled over Burkina, I really cannot complain about anything here.  I love being at site and meeting people, and I am also starting to get an idea of some projects I want to do throughout my sojourn in the Southwest.

 

In the past weeks, after my time in Banfora for language training, I have been practicing my Jula as much as possible.  Even though many people here speak French too, Jula is a more natural language for the locals.  The more I can use Jula, the more intégrée I will feel, though I do study my French grammar a lot too.  In addition to language learning, I have also had several very productive meetings with local leaders and business owners, and hopefully these gatherings will lead to future collaboration on projects.  Slowly but surely, I am starting to get to know more people in town and explain why I am in village.  Eventually, within these varied relationships, I can work with the Burkinabe to improve their businesses and also give trainings and sensibilizations on nutrition, hygiene, disease prevention, management, gardening, and composting.  In addition, soon I will start tutoring local high school students in English, before their final exams in June.  But as for now, I am enjoying the free time that comes with the process of integration: visiting neighbors, discussing cultural differences with friends, and having apprentices over for dinner.  I do find time to read, watch movies, and play with my growing puppy too, so most days, I am quite busy! However, I have had to adapt my schedule a bit with the advent of April, because now I have to find enough time to…

 

EAT MANGOS!  Mango season has arrived here in the Southwest, and the roadsides are full of women selling them.  Also, I have to be careful when passing other bikers these days, because often they are dragging 15 foot poles, used to reach mangos high in trees behind their bikes.  I do get a bit stressed out though, as day by day, my pile of mangos in my kitchen grows larger, and I must find ways to eat as many as I can before they go bad.  As of now, I am averaging about eight a day, but unfortunately, my pile is still growing!  Take yesterday for example:  I set out for work yesterday morning and was stopped on the side of the road by a young woman I know, who was, of course, gathering mangos.  She gave me four.  Then, at work, I received two others from one the apprentices, which I attempted to eat.  By the end, I was covered in slimy and delicious mango goo.  It is physically impossible to eat mangos in a ladylike, polite, not completely messy way!  Then, last night, I received five mangos from a neighbor kid and then another neighbor brought over a sack of about fifteen for me too!  Even though I tried to give some away and eat as many as I could, I still had about 12 this morning.  Then my homologue came over with a gift; guess what?  Ha, mangos, of course.  Mango season is quite the never-ending battle, I have learned, but it is pretty satisfying…the mangos are DELICIOUS!

 

That’s the news in my life in Burkina these days.  Other than that, if anyone has been following the news, you might have noticed that there’s been some issues here in country.  No worries… I am safe, but I am just hoping that everything cools down here soon!