i have successfully avoided holding babies in burkina faso thus far...

but only by pretending i think they are cute. i like to think that this is a preventative measure and therefore a worthwhile compromise.

so, i did laundry and got rid of the trash in my house. in america, that would maybe take two hours and not be such a big deal, but in burkina faso, it took about two days and everyone in village was amazed that i did it myself.

laundry involves going to the pump three or four times and luging 25 litres of water back to my house on my bike. then i have to swish clothes around in water and detergent (think of the "cheer up charlie" scene in willy wonka and the chocolate factory) until the water is dirty and my clothes at least smell clean and then rinsing (or swishing again) them in cleaner and slightly less soapy water. the last step, involves hanging my clothes up to dry and then hanging around to watch them (in burkina we don't watch paint dry, we watch clothes dry) so they don't fall off the line into dirt.

getting rid of trash is an even bigger pain. there isn't a landfill or dump, so you have to sort through everything to see what can be burnt and what can't. the stuff that can't be burnt, i either have to get rid of (little kids will take just about anything from you - empty bottles, old pens and pencils, etc.), which usually means throwing it down the latrine, for lack of a better option. i've tried not to throw anything too bad down there, in case the latrine ever gets used for fertilizer in the future. that means that i have a ziploc bag full of batteries that i have absolutely no idea what to do with. i'm hoping that i can take them into ouaga at some point and the bureau will have started a programme to recycle batteries.

i almost started a small brush fire last week when i lit my burnable trash on fire. i'm thinking it light be a good idea to burn it directly over my latrine next time. but i cheated today and took the small plastic bag of trash that i accumulated in the past week and brought it into fada with me.

living in burkina makes you hyper-aware of the resources you use. i used about 50 liters of water in the past week for bathing, drinking, cooking, and washing dishes (not including doing laundry, but that would probably double it) and have a smal bag of trash that can't be burned.i don't think that i will have access to electricity in my new house, but i will be able to recharge my phone and ipod with my solio charger (thanks dad!). i read at night by candle light, though i am usually in bed by 8-8:30, since that means it will have already been dark for about two hours.

fada this weekend and then hopefully school will have started with a vengeance so i will actually have work to do.

i should be in ouaga withing the next two weeks to see the pcmo, so pictures soon!