Posting

This is my second blog post in as many days, and this is setting a (potentially) dangerous new precedent. But, the big news here is that we got our site announcements yesterday. Basically, we got the name of the village where we will be doing our service after we finish training. And, I will say this for the Peace Corps, from the descriptions of the sites, it seems like they have done a good job of matching the volunteers to their sites.
My site is a village called Poa (pronounced Pwa - the same Oa that makes the capital of Burkina Faso so confusing to pronounce). Anyway, most people don't know where Burkina Faso is, so Poa is even more obscure but it's in the middle-ish between Ouaga (the capital) and Koudougou (the city known for it's more-liberal ideology- it seems like most of the political riots start there). I'm 30 km outside of Koudougou and Poa is situated on a paved road. That is a luxury that most people don't have. The village has roughly 7,000 inhabitants and the CSPS (medical center) has a staff of 7 (which is big for CSPS standards). They have an ambulance service and they're trying to set up a health insurance program for the village as well- I think I'll have a lot to keep me busy. And, I can provide help at the district level if I want to as well. There is also a high school and three primary schools in the village, which has the potential for programs as well. There is a large chicken fair every December in the village, as well as a market every few days. My house is four room house with large windows, an indoor shower area (place for bucket bathing), and an outdoor latrine.
That's pretty much the extent of the knowledge that I have of the location but I imagine I'll learn more soon.
We also did a cooking session today, apparently banana bread comes out quite well when it's cooked in Burkina (as does pizza, chili, corn bread, key-lime pie, and stir fry).
We've been doing a movie night every week since we've gotten to Burkina Faso, it's kind of a run thing to do to unwind- hangout and get a little taste of home. We've watched Coming to America (Eddie Murphy- we thought there was a certain irony in the title), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Town. It sounds kind of weird when they're listed like that but they were all relatively enjoyable in their own way. There is a projector and speakers here that we can borrow and hook up to a computer so it's like watching something on a big screen. No sports here but we still get our weekly scores from different sources.
If you're trying to think of things to send me and don't have any ideas- I really like getting letters. I appreciate everything I get- from the pictures of my family and friends (and a handwritten note from my grandma) to spam e-mails that have been printed out and shipped across the ocean. This is, of course, not a demand saying "send me things", but, if you were so inclined- very simple things go a very long way here.
I'm looking forward to the weekend, I have a french exam on Saturday and then a day off on Sunday which I'll probably use to just hang out, relax- go pump some water or sweep my room. Regardless, sleeping in really doesn't happen here so that's not an option. But, I can read for a bit in bed and just "repose" as the Burkinabe say. I finished American Gods- if you haven't read it- read it. I also read The Hobbit- definitely read it (Cam, if you're looking for a book to read- I have a copy in my room, bookshelf on the left, bottom shelf).
Well, that's about all from here. Until next time.