3 Weeks In

We have been in country for 3 weeks now, and for some reason it seems like we've been here for a lot longer than that. I don't really know what accounts for the change in time perception but those last days in the US seem like a long time ago.  I have spent the past few weeks in a town called Sapone (south of Ouaga) and I'll be here until December. I spent a weekend with a current Peace Corps Volunteer in a town called Latodin (up near Yako for those of you who want to track my travel in Burkina Faso and I'm actually curious if Google will be able to find those places. Every morning I wake up with the sun and usually go for a run, it's pretty cool because it's so flat here. I haven't had to run up (or down) one substantial hill yet. The Burkinabe staple diet is filled with carbs, so I eat a lot of those. I managed to find some peanut butter too (in fact the market here is filled with people who make homemade peanut butter but I visit the same woman everyday and she has excellent peanut butter). I think she's pretty psyched that she has the nasarra (foreigner) that visits her most days to get 20 cents worth of peanut butter. It's great on bananas and bread and it actually contains a lot of nutrients that I have trouble getting otherwise. I've also been experimenting with yogurt especially because I would hate to return to the US and be lactose intolerant.
Life here has become pretty regular. The classes stress cultural integration so I'm doing my best to pick up local customs while at the same time not looking like the white kid who is trying to blend in. I think I'm doing an alright job of it. I'm pretty psyched about my language progress, my french is coming back faster than I thought it would and everyday I'm better at understanding Burkinabe french (which is way different than French french). It's hot, close to 100 degrees but that doesn't bother me too much. It's pretty cool how the body adapts to new surroundings in an efficient manner. Although, it would be really nice to be able to go for a swim. One thing I'm still working on getting adjusted to is all the animals. There are dogs, chickens, goats, donkeys, cows, roosters, etc. The first two aren't too difficult to live with most of the time. But when donkeys make noise, they really make noise- it's ridiculously loud and drawn out, and it sounds like it's dying. The rooster likes to start up around 4AM and then repeat itself every 8 minutes until 6ish. This usually gets the dog and the donkey going so it's a nice chorus that I have outside of my hut every morning.
I guess it'd be nice to share a little about my daily routine during training. Class starts at 8 everyday and it's made up of 4, 2 hour blocks. One or two of those blocks is usually language, one is usually a health technical training (how to set up a mosquito net, how to make mosquito repellent, HIV/AIDS statistics, etc), and then we usually have one block that is all the trainees together which will usually integrate a cross cultural component. We have a 30 minute break after each block except for lunch which is an hour and a half after the second block of the day. After the fourth block we have an hour of daylight to work with and then it's pitch black and usually time for dinner. That routine then repeats itself throughout the majority of the week.