so that people don't think I'm Jon Rudnicki...

Hi, this is Molly! I guess it's about time that I write something in my own blog. Unfortunately I have no pictures with which to entertain you all right now, so my tangential rambling will have to suffice. ...but do not fret! There's lots of it. :)

Holy moly it's been almost twelve weeks, right? When did that happen? Next Wednesday I will be spending my final night with my host family...after a couple of nights in Ouahigouya, all of us trainees (yes, all of us...all 32 that came in together at the beginning of June) will head to Ouagadougou to swear in as actual, legit, this-is-what-your-tax-money-is-paying-for Peace Corps Volunteers. Woo!

I'm starting to get a bit nervousexcited, and I'm definitely feeling a bit bittersweet about leaving my host family. Every morning I walk out of the door to my courtyard to a flurry of Moore greetings from tiny children who extend their hands tittering with "ça va!"s and "ne y yibeoogo!"s, excited shouts of "Mariam! Mariam! Aujourd'hui tu va ou??" I greet my host father with smiles nods and "laafi bala"s as he shakes my hand warmly and happily, wishing me a great day and bidding me goodbye until the evening. Then the kids -- five or six of them at least, sometimes even more -- take my bike and my backpack and walk with me past the goats and the cow (or "boeuf", which I love to say) , out of the family's compound and onto the little path that will eventually lead me to wherever training is for the day. The little ones often walk with me for a little while, seemingly making a game out of how long they can maintain control of my bike before I finally give in and tell them I need to start riding. ...to be honest I love every minute of it, even the period of gear-shifting adjustment I must go through every time I finally mount and begin my journey because Ousanni, Safi, Azeta, or whoever it was that commandeered my velo that particular morning clicked through some crazy combination of the 21 speeds. It always throws me off a little since at that point my NesCafe hasn't kicked in yet, but it never fails to make me smile a little, especially since I'm usually still shouting goodbyes to them over my shoulder as its happening.

I ride my bike through the village, greeting pretty much everyone as I head to the school to meet up with the other trainees who live in my village. Unless that day's training is happening either chez us or in the next village, we have a lovely 20 to 45 minute morning bike ride to start our day. It's really pretty nice...it's not too hot before 8am, and it's nice to enjoy some breeze, some exercise and some conversation before getting started with the day's training activities.

I don't hate training (or stage, pronounced French-like, as it's called here in Burkina). "Go with the flow" might be a phrase of mine that's bordering on overuse, but really that's what I'm doing...going with the flow and enjoying things for what they are. So I suppose I can say that I'm enjoying myself...because really I am. That's right. I said it. I'm enjoying stage. ...and not because each day is packed full of useful and pertinent information. Not because there has been value in all of the activities we've had to do. Not because GEE training fits comfortably into a 12 week time frame. Pas de toute. ...but I really like the group of Americans I'm with, I've really enjoyed spending time with the people in my host family, I've had a great experience learning to be comfortable in my little village and in Ouahigouya. I've found value in a lot of the things that we've done and I've also come to realize that the experiences I'm brining to the Peace Corps are going to suit my life here well.

It hasn't quite hit me yet that all of my new friends and I are going to be spread out all over the country, and the people that I've grown accustomed to hanging with, venting with, laughing with, blundering with, and drinking Brakinas with will soon live hundreds of kilometers away from me. What? Peace Corps? I'm going to be getting some mileage out of my cell phone for sure. Who woulda thought that sending text messages in Burkina Faso is as easy as having 30 CFA with which to do it?

Speaking of cell phones, I'd like to point out that receiving both text messages and phone calls on my plan is free, and that www.uniontelecard.com supposedly has a pretty good USA to Burkina deal with its bharatt phone card. ...voila some classy Burkinabé indirect communication skills. :)

Where were we? Ah yes...stage. Training. Every day, training. Four blocks of different stuff, plenty of time for lunch and relaxation in the middle. When us GEEs are in one of the villages we laze around with each other during lunch time, eating some meal prepared for us by one of our host families and talking or listening to music. The day officially ends at 17h15 (c'mon, you know what time that is!) at which point we generally bike back to our host families. Sometimes I visit with one of my other village trainee friends and their families. Sometimes I bike into Ouahigouya to indulge in frozen yogurt in a bag. This by the way is the best stuff ever. The plane ticket to Burkina will be worth every penny as soon as you put some of this in your mouth.

When I get home, I greet everyone I see...generally my oldest host sister, age 17, busts my butt about something or other...it's a sense of humor I've learned to enjoy and play along with. After a little bit of conversation in my host dad's courtyard I enter my little courtyard, shut the door, and get my water ready to take a bucket bath. If it hasn't yet become dark, I don't have to worry too much about cockroaches and gatingargas (that's Moore for HUGE ASS FREAKING HOLY SHIT SPIDERS). Taking a bucket bath is like diving into a pool...once I brace myself for the first cup of water that I dump over my head, it's wonderful. ...and I am clean! ...no more sweat, a negligible amount of dirt, and usually pretty good spirits. I join my momma in her courtyard where I either help fix dinner or just sit around on a mat and look at the sky and talk to her (and her kids...or any kids!) about our days. We eat dinner together, she and I, back in my courtyard outside of my house. Vrai Burkinabè the two of us...voracious appetites, hands mixing rice and sauce. Afterwards, she generally leaves to take care of her kids and her husband. I stay in my courtyard and talk with my oldest host brother and/or whatever members of the Mariam Fan Club happen to be around on that given evening. Sometimes I gather in front of a television that's been brought outside, along with dozens of other family members, to watch African music videos or Burkinabè movies.

Usually I'm in bed by 22h. The days are so long! But you know, I've enjoyed pretty much all of them. I'm here and I dig it. I knew I'd feel good about being in Africa, and I'm confident that this confidence is going to follow me into the next new phase of my life.

...but wish me luck! On August 25th I'll be swearing in. It'll be starting for real. New home. New neighbors. New job. New town. New life.

That's how it goes.