Dogs in a Basket and My First Week

So I am full of real news this week, not like last week's horrid attempt at journalism. But hey, somebody has to take a chance at a calling that he was never meant to be right?

Sooooooooo,

Last weekend I went to Komtaegha (I honestly have no idea how to spell it). One of my close PCV neighbors and friends Kirsten, a health Volunteer, currently lives and works at the health center in this remote town. How did I get there? Well that is the fun part.

I biked it. Yeah you heard me. I biked it. 45k one way (and back) with a dog in a basket on the back of my bike. Little bob ain't so little anymore, but he can still fit in a basket. And he loved the ride. I mean seriously why wouldn't he? He just sat there while I did all the work biking against that awful Burkina wind. Dad, I remember back in the day when you biked with me and sis strapped in one of those carriage things. Didn't realize how annoying it must have been until now for you to ride while we complained about heat or whatever it was that little Dylan and Hannah complained about.

We had a grand ol'time in my friend's tiny little village. She, unlike me, has no creature comforts. She lives with a family over of over 50 children and relatives that speak little to no French, and no food boutiques to eat at if she is feeling too lazy to cook. No trees either for shade. Compared to her my experience is posh. So why did I bring Bob?

Bob was born there, and as such I thought it was neccessary for him to see his family--oh us Americans and our dogs. When we got to his house of birth we learned some unfortunate news, Bob's mom died and his dad was nowhere to be found. But he had two brothers still there, who I hardly doubt that Bob cared for. Between you and me, I think Bob is getting too used to his status of importance. These two starving brothers were desperate to play with him, and Bob wanted nothing to do with them.

So after the visit me and Kirsten went off to drink Dolo, a local drink made out of millet that is served all over Burkina. Had a few cups at this gathering (the awesomeness of this gathering cannot be put into words--you will just have to come and see) and then we headed off to meet more residents of the town.

There was one particular interaction that may rank has the most hilarious greeting in my life. This child was said by Kirsten to be one of the few kids, if not the only kid, that was not scared or timid of her presence when she first arrived in village one year ago. When I met this kid, however, he did something that would make me a millionare Youtuber. When he went to shake my hand, I jumped and scared him (which his dad thought hilarious) and this kid booked it. I mean booked it. He turned around, and ran full speed the equivalent of two blocks to his home not looking back once. I unfortunately may have scarred the kid, but for me, Kirstin, and this kid's father it was the laugh of a lifetime!

My first week:

I taught my first math class this week. And you know what, I loved it. It was a total blast. The kids (all 80 of them in one classroom) seemed to have a blast as well. While there was some confusion in class because I was not sure exactly where they left off from the last semester, nobody seemed to care.

For the first lesson I drew a map of the USA with some cities on it. While my map was horribly not to scale, it served its purpose. I connected each of the cities to form shapes like squares and rectangles and had the students calculate the perimeter and area of each figure. They had a good time of it asking questions about each city (New York, LA, DC, and Las Vegas--kids love Las Vegas for some reason) and which state was Burkina Faso. That was a fun explanation.

For another fun lesson I had kids measure the area of the school room and calculate the maximum number of students, 3 to a desk, that the room could hold. While already way overcrowded, we learned that we could actually stuff a few more in there, like another 90 students or so. That would of course leave no room to walk and I would have to teach by standing on top of desks, but why not, I like a good challenge.

Next week I have to start my computer classes for students and teachers alike (the teachers are desperate to learn about computers, even more than the students). Looks like I'll be teaching 7 hours of computer class to the older students, and 6 hours of private tutoring times for teachers. Like everything in Burkina Faso, on va voir (we will see).

So that's it and once again I am safe and sound. Sunday night is the Africa Cup Final between Egypt and Ghana (no Burkina sadly) and I will type it now, Egypt will win. I think they are angry about their failure to qualify for the World Cup, so they are pummeling teams right now. Take poor Algeria in the semi-final, who took the World Cup spot from Egypt last November. Egypt took revenge on them by beating them 4-0 and making Algeria receive 3 red cards in the process.

But before I leave you, I would like to tell make a list of particular items that students here in Tenkodogo would love to have. I don't like doing this because I feel there are so many people all the time asking us for our hard-earned money, but sometimes it is nice to give back.

So I'm not asking you for cash, I am asking for supplies that you all have lying around your homes.

Kids here love:
Stickers (I like to put them on students papers when they do well)
Crayons
Pens
Colored Pencils
Notebooks
Balls (soccer balls are a premium, but they, the students, are not picky)
Simple Board Games like Sorry and Trouble
Old Computer Equipment (mainly for me to put in the lab, but the kids will learn to love a good optical mouse)

So that's it. Feel free to mail anything like that via post, or as of today, you can send it to my folks who will be coming in July to visit! I am sure they will be more than overjoyed to bring in a truckload of trinkets for kids here to enjoy.