Mid-training update

My first week of training was fantastic! It has been wonderful to see all my co-volunteers with whom I came here from Philly and spent the first 2 months in Burkina. We started with 39, 1 girl left in October, 3 girls left in January, and 1 girl left in February (some were medically related and others just didn't want to stay here). That's not so bad considering the circumstances (i.e. Burkina Faso). And the rest of us seem to be getting along nicely at our sites. We all have our struggles, but on the whole people seem happy and motivated.
Of course it was so great to spend time with my host family too. They really are fantastic. This week we will spend in the capital city visiting various NGO's (non-governmental organizations) with which we could potentially collaborate on projects at our sites. Now that I'm back to 100% health I'll be ramping up the workouts this week and taking advantage of the pool (at the Embassy) and the great food here in Ouaga - life is all about timing my friends:)

When I read other people's blogs I notice that lists seem to be great way to present a decent amount of information while still providing maximum humor (kind of like David Letterman's top 10). So I started a list of things you can get here for 100CFA (the equivalent of 20 cents in America according to my last exchange rate check). So here goes...
1. 1 bike tire repaired (I should know)
2. 1 small bag of cashews
3. 1 pack of lotus (the small packs of kleenex that serve as our toilet paper)
4. 4 tomatoes
5. 1 thumb sewn back on at the local health clinic
6. 1 calabash (see the half-shell bowl looking things that I hung on my wall in my house - pictures are a few posts back) - these are often used for drinking dolo (the local made beer)
7. 3 carrots
8. 2 wicker baskets
9. 1 watermelon
10. 1 day of parking your bike at the internet cafe
11. 2 teeth pulled at the local health clinic
so this is my top 11 things that you can buy here for only 20 cents each! I would say that's a bargain!

The countdown is getting exciting!! Almost in the teens! 20 days and 20 nights! Wooohoooo!!Miss you all!!