hello! so its been a long time since ive been online, over a month now i think. internet here is a difficult thing. i made it out to kongoussi, a regional capital, a month or so ago but the internet was down. several weeks before that i was in kongoussi and the internet worked but the next day it didnt work. anyway, then a few weeks ago i went to another capital, djibo, but it doesnt have internet. im very happy at my site so i guess i dont leave enough to have regular access to internet like that. now im in the magical land of ouagadougou which has AIRCONDITIONED internet! and its free! aaahhhh life is good in ouaga :) we're having chinese food tonight for dinner :) and for all the people who havent received letters (thats everyone) sorry! writing letters and getting to a post office is difficult here, but i have started letters for my parents, lex, hope, tom and meredyth, and sara, so sometime in the next two years i will send them... or ill just wait and put them in a mailbox when i get back to the states! My email is Catasyne_7@yahoo.com so if i dont have your email please send it to me and whenever im online i can send you a message.

so lets update the blog i forget where i left off i know its been a while. im at site, and life is good. the first couple of months at site were definately the hardest time in all of peace corps for me. it was very hard leaving my friends from stage and suddenly being the only american for miles and miles. the hardest part for me is definatly the language barrier. my french is slowly coming but those first couple of weeks at site i lost the ability to speak or understand french and those were a lonely couple of weeks. i figured out something about myself, when im nervous i loose the ability to speak french, and those first couple of weeks was a pretty nerve-wracking experience. but life is good now. i got four great teachers at my school, and were all really great friends. i see everyone everyday, we hang out everyday to the point where if i just come around at night they're like where were you this morning? so we chill all the time and we seriously crack eachother up its awesome i love my site and i love the teachers! the people are what make me love my village, the village itself doesnt have a whole lot but im happy with what i have. the simplicity of village life is nice sometimes. theres one bar where i go a lot to drink cokes with my friends or with people passing through who decide they want to buy the white person a coke. theres one church that has services on saturdays in french. theres no electricity or running water or paved roads until you hit either kongoussi to the south or djibo to the north, but those things arent necessary really, today i took a cold shower at the transit house by choice i actually prefer cold water over hot water now. the cooking situation is difficult, because there are no magical boxes called microwaves to cook my food for me and there are no magical boxes called dishwashers to wash my dishes for me and doing everything by hand is tedious and difficult and i still havent gotten the hang of it. but it will come.

I am teaching sixieme svt and cinqieme english, thats like sixth grade science and seventh grade english. ive got about three hundred students between three classes. i only have to work 11 hours a week which is nice but the other teachers work a lot more and i think they're bitter about that. oh well. it seems to be pretty normal amoung the peace corps community.

i have a puppy her name is sarabi, shes two months old and a little terror. she likes attacking my feet. but shes good company and we go on walks to the other teachers houses every night. shes starting to walk more and more with me which is great at first she would follow only as far as road right in front of the house and then she would turn back but now she goes a lot further before turning back and one time she actually followed me all the way to another teachers house i was so proud of her! usually if i want her to come i have to carry her until she doesnt know the way back and then she will follow. she mostly stays outside because she isnt house trained and she enjoys destroying the things in my house. the kids in my family are very good about playing with her and keeping her entertained. i really like the kids in my family, i give them sugar everyday to put in their to, which is this horrible millet-based food that they have to eat everyday but apparently with sugar its better. ive noticed i have grown accustomed to the burkinabe cuisine because i used to hate all burkinabe food but then i liked these things called bu-maasa which kinda taste like donuts without sugar. so then i would take them home and add sugar and theyre really good! now i like bu-maasa, somsa, gallets, and the traditional tea that they drink a lot here. its served in a shot glass and its very very strong and bitter even after they add a ton of sugar. i HATED it with a passion through stage and in the early days at site but now i love it i drink it a lot with the neighbors and the other teachers and the gendarmes. its definatly an acquired taste.

well lets see what has been happening lately... im in ouaga right now with another teacher from my village, he is going to help me by chasing away the crazy people and negotiating the prices for clothes at the market. hes a great friend did i mention i love my village??

okay i have to go eat chinese food now horray!!!

bye!!