The Journey Back again.....

With only a few hours left in the US, I can say that my vacation home was a great one. Not too much had changed, the places stayed, people matured. I fiqured I would have been really lost coming back to a place I hadnt seen in 27months. But, overall I adjusted very well. There are definatly somethings that I was like, "WHAT?" or "People do that here?"

I'm heading back to warmer(much warmer) climate. It will be intersting to see how well I readjust to the Burkinabe culture. Im adding a clip of something I wrote, but it really describes my time in West Africa.

When most people ask me to describe my 27months worth of experience in a sentence or two, I usually say, “It was great!” which is was, but it is better described as a rollercoaster. Once you start you’re normally scared for the future, you don’t really know what you got yourself into. Then you get used to the rollercoaster and start to like it. During the ride you have a lot of ups and downs, but in the end you love it so much it leaves you wanting more, and you beg to ride it one more time.

That’s exactly how my Peace Corps experience was, it left me wanting more.
After finishing my 27 month service, I decided to extend for another 12 months. I won’t be in the same village, but I will be doing a lot of the same things. I chose a village (with electricity) that has an existing association. Their employer is a Non-governmental organization (NGO) that made a project plan then went into the communities of Burkina to employ local associations to help with the work. I will be helping this association do their work, but also to help the association grow in outreach education. I am taking a blind leap since I haven’t met the association or been to the village. Since I did the same thing two years ago, I know that I won’t be in the dark for long.



Thanks again for all the support over the two years. I really enjoyed seeing everyone over break and catching up with everyone. Stay Warm, and I will see you in 2012!

My life in video......

Im feeding my chickens, and my friend decides to chase the chickens at the same time.


RICOLA...



Whoopie time....

African Dancing

These are some videos I took of traditional Mossi dancing




This is of a Men's group.



In Koupela every year they do a chiefs processional, the guy under the umbrella is the regional chief, and all the other village chiefs are walking beside him.



After my village Chief died, they held a funeral for him. This is of his daughters doing a dance for him. As they walk in a circle, they throw money and the children scramble to pick it up.



This is of my girls club doing a traditional girls dance in traditional clothing.