Let it Snow

This will be short, but i promise a blog with pictures in the very near future.

I just rode my bike through a lake to get here. No joke, my road turns into an actual lake when it rains. I'm not complaining though, I would rather ride through a lake then embody one with my sweat. How does one ride through a lake, you may ask? Well, fine, I waited till the water went down some, mostly cause my villagers wouldnt let me go cause they knew i wouldn't be able to make it, but it was still up to my thighs by the time i left, and i pushed my bike through the parts of the road that were really deep under water. We get these crazy wind storms before it rains too. It's awesome, because you can clearly see the storm coming before it happens. The sky turns this dark reddish brown color in whatever direction the winds are coming from. Then literally, in a matter of seconds, and a sweeping first wind, the air turns from being incredibly hot to almost a bit chilly. The change is so evident, you can feel it going through your body. Everyone scurries to get inside and get all their things inside. And then it starts. Winds that bring dust and sand that keep you from seeing 2 feet in front of you. I did make the mistake of trying to bike in a dust storm once, and I will never ever do that again. I think i swallowed at least 3 big buckets worth of sand, and I had to get picked up by a camion eventually. It took me about 45 minutes to go the distance it usually takes me 5 minutes to go. I was the only one outside too, which I should have taken as a sign not to go, but I'm stubborn and thought I could outsmart nature. It was kind of cool though (after the fact), cause i felt like I was in the middle of the desert with no one to be seen for miles, which felt like a movie, which made me feel like a movie star. Wait, that IS what happened (minus the movie part). The wind storms remind me of snow storms in a way though, cause the sky is all stormy, but it's not so menacing, and everyone is inside hanging out together and cozy. You have to get inside whatever the nearest house is, so many people have ended up waiting out these storms in my house, gathered around my candles. It's cozy like a snow storm.

In non weather related news, things have continued to be productive, which is very encouraging. A couple weeks ago, I did a week long tour of HIV/AIDS sensibilisations with the the 4 villagers who had previously attended the HIV/AIDS training of trainers with me (back in february). We talked with groups of women in my village and in my 3 satellite villages about HIV/AIDS, modes of transmission, modes of prevention, testing, stigmatisation, etc. We did condom demonstrations as well, and I would say the majority of the people in the groups we talked to had heard of HIV/AIDS but had no idea what it was. They had never seen a condom before either, which made doing the demonstrations a hoot. Every single group we talked to though sincerely thanked us for holding a discussion about it, and said they want to have many more discussions in the future about health topics. This was the most encouraging, because not only do I think they retained the information, but they really appreciated learning about it, and will hopefully make positive changes in their lives. The best part was that the information wasnt coming from me, it was coming straight from the villagers we had previously trained. I was really only there to facilitate and to help answer questions.

I'm in Ouahigouya for the night, and then tomorrow I'll be traveling down to the South of Burkina to Bobo and Banfora for July 4! I'm really excited because I have yet to go past Ouaga, and the south is supposedly greener and cooler than the north. There are also waterfalls in Banfora, which next to Fespaco are probably the second highest attraction of tourists in Burkina. I was also just in Ouaga a couple weekends ago for the soccer game of Burkina vs. Cote d'Ivoire, but just as we were all getting there, we got a message that all volunteers were banned from attending the game for fear of riots breaking out. It was disappointing, but since almost all the volunteers in Burkina had the intention of going to the game and were thus in Ouaga, we still had a great time, and went and watched at a sports bar type thing. Burkina didn't win, but they played really well, and there was much Burkina patriotism and love felt throughout all of Ouaga. Enough to send chills through the spine.

Ok, off to see about getting something made at the carpenter.