The Life Of Dylan

So I receive the question, more often than I want, and more often than I would like to answer, "How's Africa?" Well I don't know how Africa is. I can tell you about Burkina, and maybe about the coup d'etat in Niger yesterday, but Africa? Oh yeah let's generalize 1 billion people and a boatload of countries in one cure-all adjective, Africa.

My dad was in Kenya the other day, and now passing through South Africa. I can tell you I have no idea of the life or events that go on in those two countries, they are other planets as far as I am concerned.

So a little bit about my life on a daily basis. Yes I'm sure many of you who have read other blogs have tapped a bit into the uneventful, normal life that we live in our respective posts around the world. Honestly, our lives are not that much different. We all have jobs to do and routines--I'm not going on a safari everyday or anything.

But while I'm not willing to admit my life is terribly exciting by any stretch of the imagination, I will concede that it is bizarre and different from the American life--and it suits me quite nicely.

I wake up every morning when it becomes too hot to stay in bed any longer, usually around 7:30 or 8. Twice a week I have 7am class, that being the exception to my normal routine.

Generally after being annoyed that I have to leave my amazing bed, I search for breakfast from several ladies selling avacado and veggie sandwhiches. After a cup of tea (Nescafé here is gross) I head across the path to my school where I then greet--as is custom--every single teacher that happens to be around.

After a few awkard conversations because of my not-so-amazing French, I make up an excuse like I have to teach a course or something, and head to the computer lab (or to an actual math class on the days when my excuse is true). In there I generally have to deal with a hundred kids yelling and running around all wanting to use computers. This is exactly what I want, to encourage kids to use computers, but managing all of them is not easy.

Then lunch time rolls around. Lunch here is so much better than in the States, not the food, but the idea that we go home, nap, and hang out with friends and families because it is too hot to work. The USA has a serious problem with the importance of family and chill time. During this break I generally eat some beans and rice, read a book, and play with the not-so-puppy anymore Bob.

Then the afternoon rolls around, where I generally return to the computer lab after greeting everyone once again and asking about their meals and naps. Being social on the job is super important for getting anything done here, and for that I really envy the Burkinabé way of life.

After the two hour afternoon session we are all done, and depending on the day, I either have teacher (and hopefully community soon) computer literacy classes or I simply play some basketball or football, the real kind, with my students and neighbors. They are all leagues better than I in football, but I get the respect with my basketball skills. Kids here are not so good at this sport, so it makes me look real good.

After that, it's go home, wash up, cook up a meal, play with Bob, and go to bed. Then tomorrow.

So you see, my life essentially is very routine, much the same as everyone else's. And besides the whole Nisara thing, I very much enjoy the routine.

Now on to more interesting matters.

Last weekend was the Tenkodogo village annual bike race. I wanted to enter as a joke, but after watching these men and women pedal these village bikes, I am glad I did not. They were awesome. Without gears these folks pedaled faster than I could ever do, and they did it in boiling hot Burkina sun. I would have been dead last (or dead) easily. I had three visitors for the weekend and the race, three other female PCVs, which has still been the talk of the town. They all ask which one I take as my wife, which I respond "no, the woman has as much of a right to choose her partner as I do."

I also administered my first test this week in math and held my first computer class. While I don't know how my students did on the test, I can assure you that there are 0 perfect scores. Because even with the sentence "Montrer tous les travails" (show all work), nobody did. The computer class was with the other teachers, all of which are eager to learn to type. They believe that with me they will learn typing in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately for them, they are the ones who must learn to type with practice and time, not with someone telling you how to use a typing program.

Oh well... Til next time!

The Word Nisara

No matter where we are on the planet, life is not easy. Take Washington DC, for example. My city has been absolutely pounded with snow. More than 2 feet, or a small child. That's an insane thought to someone living in a place where rain is difficult to come by. So in DC, we have the struggle to heat the home, make it to work, and get to the grocery store so we can put a plate of food on the table for our loved ones.

Take a 180 turn and you might find yourself in Burkina Faso where daily struggles are far different, but still are related to our basic needs as human beings. Over here, we struggle with extreme heat and infertile land to cultivate, leading us to the basic need of putting a plate of food out at night for our loved ones.

This world may have its extremes, but the basic human needs of water, food, and shelter still plague all of us everyday.

Except me. I have the good fortune of being a Peace Corps Volunteer, where we have enough money to eat everyday, the neccessary healthcare required to live in such extreme conditions, and a staff fully equipped to counter the problems that we may face. So my basic human needs are met, what next?

I struggle everday to fight the stigma of being a white guy. I have been a minority at middle school and high school, but I still grew up in a very good home in a good situation. I am one of the fortunate ones. For the first time in my life, I am experiencing the effects of being a minority. A student of mine who speaks pretty good English asked me the other day in a concerning tone, "Why don't you have friends here?"

That question has plagued me for the last week. And the truth is, I don't know why. I am limited greatly in my abilities to communicate, but it runs deeper than that. I come from a background that is impossible to describe to folks, even in English, and a culture with qualities that clash greatly with the culture I have been dropped off in.

The word Nisara is the most hated word in my dictionary. It means white person. While it does not have the connations of racial slurs in America, in fact having Nisara things (cars for example) is a good thing here, to me it is an extremely divisive word.

Today as I was returning from lunch I walked past a dad and his daughter, with the father pointing at me saying Nisara so the child would learn that is what you call white people. I struggle everday to fight the stigma, to have people call me "monsier" or my actual name "Dylan." I gave up trying to tell adults, but instead I try to tell the kids that words like "Nisara," "Toubabou," and "Le Blanc" are extremely impolite and disrespectful. While I have managed to get a few neighborhood kids, there are still a thousand more left to go.

Judge me not by the color of my skin, but by the content of my character. -Quote adapted from Martin Luther King Jr.

In other news, I met the President of Burkina Faso at a Taiwanese Fisherie last Sunday. The Taiwanese built a fantastic fish farm in Bagre, a town of my closest PCV neighbor Carolyn, that has been handed over to Burkinabe government. The meeting was actually a complete suprise--I was wearing shorts and t-shirt as it was Sunday morning. I was completely embarrased.

I am in the process of transferring computer lab rights to some students who formed a computer lab committee. While I still have full control, I am eager to lessen the rope of access so that I no longer have to spend every waking hour dealing with whiny students wanted to play Zuma and Pinball. For those of you who don't know the program DeepFreeze, familiarize yourself. It is the greatest program I have ever used.

Also, read up on Guinea with the link I have posted here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/world/africa/03guinea.html