I've Been A Bad Updater Person

Sorry I havent updated like I wanted but seriously so much happens here I forget or I dont have enough time. So I received my local language which is Dagara a language spoken by approximately 1 million in Northwest Ghana and Southeastern Burkina. The Dagara are known as the Indians of Burkina Faso in part because they fought off the French with bows and arrows when they came to colonize. I think thats pretty coo. I intentionally left the l off there. Im moving to a village with a population less than 2000 and Ill be in a jungle like region I think, thats damn close to Ghana. There will be lots of vegetation there and I hear its pretty. Our official swear-in date is the 27th so in less than two weeks I'll be sworn in as a volunteer! Not that Im counting down the days until the end of training or anything. But I am. Ill probably post pics next time Im here but I have to figure out how first. Ciao!

There and Here: A Dichotomy

First of all bigups to Miss Mary G for the care package you sent. You blew my Mom's package out of the water. No offense Mom, but this is mainly because my Mom's package included things that are readily available anywhere in Burkina Faso. Like peanuts. I already opened the One Ups when I was really sick. And the cookies are fantabulous thank you for baking for me. That was definitely an all star care package. I told my mom you had surpassed her because she sent me safety pins among other things. No I'm serious. Love you Mommy.

Moving along. I went to Church with my host family today and it was almost like I walked into the past. I saw so many things that reminded me of a traditional black church in America, the connection was palpable. For starters, the service was extraordinarily long, three hours to be exact. The very large church was packed and half the people attending had to sit outside including us. At least one third of the service was filled with song and some dance. There was clapping to the music and the obligatory woman who gets really into it and sways back and forth with her arms in the air.

There wasn't the showing out that you see at some Baptist churches. You know the woman who falls out on the floor and yells 'Praise Him!' or 'He is worthy!' repeatedly. I think on our journey from West Africa we brought a lot of our traditions with us, but some of them have become exaggerated. For example, the bright colors remain in the church, but instead of bright headscarves there are bright, giant, showy hats. The girls still come in fresh plaits and their finest dresses. They're saying the some of the same things in the sermon. At least I think they are since the sermon was half French and half Moore. The music even has a similar rhythm to what you might hear in a Southern Baptist church it's the language that's different. When did Christianity come to West Africa? I have some research to do.

So I've arrived in my new host family. They're rich. Rich for here. At first I was a little dismayed by this since the whole point of the host family experience is to immerse yourself and prepare for what your life will be like at site. As a health volunteer, my life will almost certainly be the opposite of this (no running water or electricity). But my roommate Viola convinced me I'd have plenty of time to get used to that at site. I hope she's right. Viola's a retired account executive who worked in PR/Marketing for 30 years. She can't stand just playing golf so she joined the Peace Corps. I admire her. She's like a forward-thinking person who fears nothing. Well my time's running out now so tooodles!

Woo Hoo a Blog Update

This dog is named Buddha. He's a cutie pie.
Some health volunteers n Buddha.

Hey people,
First things first: My health-- c'est bon! Today for the first time since I got here, I ate full meals. Like full meals comparable to ones I would eat in the US. With each day that passes, a little bit more Lariam (the malaria meds Google it now) leaves my body and I feel better and my appetite returns more and my mood balances out too. Fun fact, did you know that the military is banned from using Lariam because of its history of side effects? Well now you know!

So what's new and interesting in the fun-filled and packed days we have here? This weekend we did what's called "Demystification" which is where they "De-mystify" what the life of an actual volunteer is like. I went with a group of like 8 which is too many to one volunteer's site in the South of Burkina which was literally sweet. Why? Because it's filled with mangoes! Sorry to use so many exclamation points, but c'est vrai, it's mango season all year long in Southern Burkina. And the climate is more jungle-like but with mountains and Shea Butter trees! And veggies and fruits growing, mango factories, chiller people than in the North and puppies playing on the side of the road. Sounds like some sort of Ashley paradise right? So you know Ashley's gonna try to influence shit so she can live there right? Mais oui!

And c'est moi so you know I took pictures right which I will post later of course.

Tired of my Franglais??? That's too bad I don't care.

-AF

Okay So...

Right didn't mean to scare people with my last post. I'm fine, but yeah I felt really sick a few days ago. I'm still not like 100% yet, but I'm 100% better than I was. Yeah, in other news, we've been moving a lot and we're unexpectedly back in Ouagadougou now and will be here for the next few weeks. At least I'll be able to get packages quicker =D.

I'm On Limited Time!

What the title said. Ok I didn't write this post out beforehand like I shouldve knowing I have to pay by the hour for internet and the keyboards here are very different. Anyway, I'm in Ouahigouya near our training site and I just moved in with my host family two nights ago and they are reeally sweet. Every morning my mom makes me tea and leaves bread out for me for when I go to training. Also one of my little sisters and my Papa wait for me to come home at the end of the day. My Papa speaks fluent French and Moore. At least one of my sisters speak French the rest speak Moore only. The first night I thought mice lived in my ceiling but it turned out they were just bats. A giant National Geographic spider crawled into my bed. My family has several sheep but they look like goats. Health volunteers live in villages and have to bike to training which stinks like dog poo. Our village is the closest one and its still 10 km. I have been very ill and unable to eat for the past week or so but today Im much better. My appetite was low when I got here and Im sure some of you have heard of the wacky shit many people go through taking anti-malaria pills. A few have hallucinations many have vivid dreams and and extremely small number experience psychosis from this med but most people are fine. Well the malaria shit destroyed what little appetite i had left and my body began actively rejecting food. Some days I couldnt have more than a banana and a piece of bread that was all I could take. The nurse was very understanding though and now i can eat fruits and and small portions of regular food. I cant stop taking the malaria med though so there is no alternative. Its much better and i dont fall asleep in the middle of the day anymore because ive had nothing to eat or what i ate my body threw it back up.

I can check the internet more often now during training btw so i'll be on at least once a week.

ZZZzzzz

Hey everyone it's me. Obviously I should be in bed right now, but again, it's me so I'm still up.

2 things:

1. I seriously fear how stuffed my luggage is. I fear in the airport my duffel bag will spring open and the contents inside will fling open and injure a small child. It is possible. I tried weighing my carry-ons. The limit is 50 lbs for one and guess how big my first one was. That's right Jimmy, it was exactly 50 lbs. I just realized I have to dump shit out of my second bag at least 10 lbs worth in order to board the flight.

2. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who thought of me and made me feel special my last days in the U.S. I truly appreciate people who took time out of their schedules to drive across the state and drive me to a theme park (no names) and people who came from the northeast visiting relatives and made their relatives come pick me up so we could hang out in Richmond (again no names). And people who gave me a crap-ton of music including Jamiroquai that I could bop my feet to on the plane (...). People who made time to Skype and wish me well in various ways I will do my best to stay in touch and update you with "the happenins". I fucking need to sleep now. Out like a trout.

Books, Books, Books!

Now, I'd like to take a minute to ask people if they have any suggestions for good books or any good reading I might be interested in, in case I have lots and lots of free time on my hands.

Big ups to Meagan who recommended The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier. I generally read nonfiction exclusively, but I might want some escapism from time to time so if you have any book suggestions for me, I would be much obliged.

Also, don't recommend any of the books in the picture above because they look like they're dulllll.

-AFT

One Week, Bitches, One Week Left!!!

UPDATE: I lied. I will still be in training for 3 months, I'm pretty sure. You can send me stuff in August.

That's right.

Also, P.C. keeps sending me e-mails with new stuff I need to do even though it's the last minute and the last email they sent said my Pre

-Service Training ends August 24th not September like I thought. So if you were planning on sending something in August, that is too late. The latest you can send stuff now is like mid-July, before my address will change. Regardless though, I'll post my new address when I get it and keep you posted.

This probably will not be my last post before I go...

Also, important question:

Is my hair to the point where I can wear it out yet? No? Almost? Thoughts?

Sex Slaves at World Cup

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/9/embassy-row-852059191/

By James Morrison

SEX SLAVES AT WORLD CUP

The co-chair of the House Human Trafficking Caucus is urging the South African government to crack down on the country's widespread sexual slave trade during the World Cup this month, when a half million foreigners are expected to attend the international soccer tournament.

Rep. Kay Granger, Texas Republican, this week introduced a resolution calling on Pretoria to expand its law enforcement efforts during the tournament, which opens Friday. It also urges South African police to arrest any tourist engaging in the sexual exploitation of men, women and children.

Mrs. Granger on Wednesday also acknowledged South Africa's first two convictions for human trafficking. South Africa has only weak laws dealing with sexual exploitation and forced labor, but a tougher bill was introduced in parliament last month.

"I am pleased that the government of South Africa has had its first two successful convictions for human trafficking," she said. "We must continue to work to ensure that we protect men, women and children enslaved in this vicious cycle. Light is being shed on these disgusting acts against humanity, and justice will be served."

The State Department considers South Africa to be a source of sexual slavery and forced labor, as well as a destination for human trafficking from other countries and a transit nation for the modern slave trade. It said girls are usually sold for sexual exploitation, while boys are frequently used in forced labor. South African human rights groups estimate that 38,000 children are trapped in the country's sex trade.

South African President Jacob Zuma also has warned about a possible increase in the sex trade during the World Cup.

"While we are excited about the World Cup tournament, we are mindful that an event of this magnitude unfortunately also opens up opportunities for criminals such as those who traffic in women and children," Mr. Zuma last month during a ceremony to mark children's protection week.

"We must therefore work closely together to curb this crime, which is in essence modern-day slavery."

T- Minus 15 Days and Counting

Me gets on me flight in 15 days! Started practicing Moore which is supposed to be a useful language to know throughout the country. Although, at my site , they may not speak Moore they may speak something else. Confusing huh? Notice how short my blog posts are getting. They will get even shorter probably until I leave, I just gotta really focus on packing now. After I get in Burkina and find a computer with internet, my posts will suddenly become long again watch and see.

Consumed by Consumerism....

Soooooo, let's see how much of the crap I bring will be completely and utterly useless once I'm there! It'll be interesting to see because I've definitely spent a load of time scouring the internet trying to find the "right" items. Most of which I know are probably unnecessary when I get them, but my thought process is always wants to try to be "as prepared as possible, just in case". In reality, I'm aware that the experience I'm delving into is not about the stuff I bring. And I know that I cannot fully "prepare in advance" for the experience I'm going to have and I definitely can't prepare for it by getting "stuff". Stuff won't help me do a good job (ok maybe it depends what stuff) and won't help me integrate into the community. Unless of course, it's stuff the community needs. You never know.....

But still.

The Little KoP

Source: China Daily

This here is a very important up-and-coming young lad...

Adorable tyke/prodigy child

I Will Be Gone in One Month.

.

Got a New Skype Name...

Since me forgot me old one, I got a new Skype Name: missfaye25 . So add me if you have Skype and if you don't--Shame on you.

Learning to Speak Like A Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey...

So today en classe, I did French exercises with an old man. There's nothing wrong with that except once when he couldn't understand the correct way to do a sentence and la proffesseur tried to explain it, he muttered under his breath to me "And they wonder why the French lost the War!"

...

...

He then added, "But don't tell her I said that!". Ahahahahaa, what a clever joke he came up with! "They wonder why the French lost the War!". Yup, that's the first time I've heard that one. Actually, that's the first time I've heard something that profoundly ignorant since the run-up to the Iraq invasion. Seriously, why is that whenever a small-minded ignoramous wants to make a joke about the Frenchies, the first and only thing they think of is "They lost to the Germans in WW2 until we came and saved their asses!!!1231111" "And tha Immigrants arre taken our jobbsss!! GaduRRrrr, Donna go an' bring me dat der shot gun, damn raccoons runnin' all 'round tha house."

Hey Old Man, which country is this?

Isn't it sad that you know so damn little about France that you try to come up with a stereotype to insult them with, but since you don't know anything you're forced to bring up an event from 65 years ago? How sad is that? There are so many stereotypes you could've come up with, but you're so ignorant you know none. Hahahahahaa, you old man.

O-M-GGGGGGG

UPDATE: Nope!! I was wrong! I went downstairs when my Dad informed me that this morning a wild gang of about SEVEN squirrels took turns gangraping my feeder till there was no food left. He said, one squirrel climbed onto the feeder and shook it for at least an hour while the other six waited down below to eat the seeds that fell to the ground. I believe the squirrel on the feeder was Steve and he called those six hooligans over to our backyard and showed them the feeder in order to gain status in squirrel-land. My question to my Dad was "So you sat here and watched as a gang of squirrels viciously shook and emptied out my bird feeder till there was none left and didn't do anything. Just sat and watched them for an hour like 'Hmm. That was interesting.'" RAWWWWWRRRR!!!!!!!

Who the hell new bird feeder maintenance was such an arduous task?? I took a glance at my main feeder yesterday and noticed it was half full even though I filled it to the brim only a week ago. It should take maybe a month for it to be half gone. My first thought was "STEVE!!" But even Steve doesn't eat that much. My bird feeder has been getting tons of traffic recently from many different species of birds from Blue Jays to strange spotted birds I can't identify. But they eat like a few seeds at a time. So who ate all those seeds?

I went out there and underneath the feeder I spotted deer droppings. How do I know they were deer droppings? There are only so many animals in this neighborhood so it was either deer or fox droppings and a fox couldn't reach my feeder. But a deer could. They are tall enough. "But deer don't eat bird food, Ashley!!" I thought. So I brought the feeder in yesterday and then said "Whatever's eating it probably eats at night so it's not fair to bring the feeder in during the day when the birds eat" And I brought it back out there and waited.

Today, when I woke up, all the food was gone.

Now all the birds are out there flying to the feeder and flying away because there's no food left for them. The culprits of course are the neighborhood deer! Ugh I have a new foe now!!!

I Found A Grey Hair.

I'm about to go to my first French class in a few years in about 30 minutes. It will be every Tuesday from 7:15 to 9:15 I believe. This means it will cut into LOST. There's nothing I can do about this. I'll just have to watch the last month of LOST online. I will probably go to class and try not to talk much. This is because think this is like intermediate conversation. Like people here might be decent speakers. I don't know, but I haven't even reviewed and I passed up many opportunities to get/use Rosetta Stone and/or learn to speak French in some other way. The official language of Burkina Faso is French, BTW. I'll talk more about this stuff when I get back.

In other news, I found a grey hair the other day. It's very short, but it's near the front of my head. I tried to be very accepting of it. I think people can look very cool with grey hair. But my mom has only a small patch of grey hair near the front of her head, that's it. And she's 62. So why do I have one at 22? I wasn't expecting to see a single grey hair for many many years. So I googled "I found a grey hair" and it turns out many people have found a grey hair at my age or younger and it can be a sign of stress. I don't understand how my life is more stressful than the average person's though. I understand that I worry a lot and have anxiety about a great many things, but still I say I believe my life is significantly less stressful than let's say the average person with kids. And if I'm this stressed at 22 with no kids, maybe having kids isn't for me. I mean come on seriously.

Will update when I get back.

UPDATE: Okay, so yeah I went to French class last night and all in all it was a pretty solid class. It's mostly old people of course and one ambitious high school sophomore. I did not study at all going into this class, I just kind of showed up. And stuff started coming back to me which I was happy about and I learned some new things. Yay. However, I am still on my ROSETTA STONE QUEST to find a FRENCH ROSETTA STONE. Big ups to you if you can get one for me. I'm glad to be getting back into French because I was intimidated by it for a while, but there's really no reason to be. Everyone's just trying to learn it and we are all making mistakes.

On a very different note,

I want to go on a vacation. Before I leave. I'm serious. I've been thinking about this for a long time and I thought it would be a nice idea to go on a cheap cruise to like the Bahamas or somewhere. Ahhh. And I will be going.

Questions: Where should I go? Who should I go with? Who wants to go?

Just Thought of Something...

Click--> M.I.A.'s new video "Born Free" - The song I think will take some getting used to, but Mary, you will like this video in a very sick and twisted way because you are an evil person.

So someone asked me yesterday if there was something she could get to help me prepare for my trip. This is a kind gesture and I appreciate it, but what I will appreciate even more is if people send me mail when I go overseas. I will REALLY look forward to receiving mail, letters, a package or whatever you can send when I am over there. These will mean a lot to me and I will judge our friendship based on what you send me... Just kidding =) =).

Or am I....?

I am not.

Acceptable things to send are like letters, photos, CDs that I want or that you think I will want, snacks (can apple juice boxes be sent overseas? maybe I should ask my mom for that), any sort of care package (and I've seen some impressive ones looking at other volunteers' blogs), etc. You can also send yourself, but I don't expect anyone to want to visit other than my Mom and Dad.

CDs that I will want, but won't come out until after I leave include:

1. That new M.I.A joint, which is currently untitled. It comes out literally a week after I leave.

2. Whenever Amy Winehouse gets it together she will come out with a new album. And I will want it, but I probably won't be able to get it unless I get internet long enough to download it on iTunes.

3. If OutKast comes out with anything, which I think they are this year (!!), that would be nice.

That's all I can think of right now. A mix CD, that could be cool as well.

Soon I will post my mailing address for when I'm at my training site. I will be in training for the first 3 months, then I will move to my real site and my address will change. I'll post the new address after I've moved but for the first three months I'll post what my address will be.

Also, I hear air mail usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to arrive. That means you have to send it 4 weeks in advance of when you want it to arrive. So if you want me to get mail at site you might consider mailing it before I leave (hint, hint). And it has to be sent via air mail at the post office or through DHL for valuable stuff.

Training site address:

A.F. Thomas, PCT

S/c Corps de la Paix

01 B.P. 6031

Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

Celebration

First, congrats to Avi on becoming Grad School student body president! Woo hoo!

Now, the bidness. There's a Peace Corps event recognizing new nominees and invitees that starts in about an hour. I'm expecting lots of nerdy white newly-grads with a zest for life. Will let you know how it goes when I get back.

Bridge leadin' to DC

Update: Now that LOST is over, I can reveal the grand mystery that was this Peace Corps event. First of all, they sent me an invite in the mail saying there was an "event" for nominees and invitees, but they didn't go into any detail so I didn't know what to expect. But it wasn't much at all they were just like "Welcome!" and I got a neat bag and luggage tag that said "Peace Corps" on it. And there was a little segment at the end where you could talk to nominees/invitees going to the same region as you. Unsurprisingly, it was overwhelmingly white, but less nerdy than I anticipated. But surprisingly, I met a girl named Takia who is going to Burkina Faso on the SAME day and is in the SAME program as me and who I already met before at a get together Sham threw last summer. This was a pleasant surprise. She is the one person I know now going into this process in Burkina now. She also brought to my attention how out of the loop I am with this stuff. Apparently there's like a Facebook group and all these networks and webrings and stuff I don't know about. Other than the Facebook group, though I don't think I will join these things. I'm already antsy about people who see my blog although there's nothing really awesome about it. I'd like to keep it private and not put it on a Peace Corps journal site, when I'm not sure yet where I fit in.

It's Saturday

This morning, I was supposed to go to the first ever Occoquan Farmer's Market in the historic town on the water, Occoquan, which is 5 minutes down the road. But instead I woke up, took my vitamins and Allegra, ate a biscuit and threw up. Now I'm back in bed. I had long-awaited the opening of this Farmer's Market. Occoquan is a very pretty place. But I have an oversensitivity to any perceived illness I might have/get. Plus, in the past around this time of year, I've had severe allergic reactions to things I still haven't identified. Thought maybe this was one of them. Better to play it safe.

In other news, Spike Lee is a making a movie called "Brooklyn Hearts MJ" about gentrification in Brooklyn. It is based on the birthday party Spike Lee threw for Michael Jackson last Summer in Fort Greene that caused controversy with some of the newer Fort Greene residents. =). Lee has made several of his joints about Brooklyn and I have seen almost all of them so this is exciting for me. Of course I probably won't get to see it for several years but this is a great picture of him.

For more about this movie Click Here.