Now that the pictures have been posted it's time to answer that age-old question, "But what exactly do you do as a Peace Corps volunteer?" Ahh, yes...this is much easier for me to asnwer than most because I am a math/science teacher. So first and foremost, I teach 15 hours at the lycee in my village. Only 15 hours you say? I teach four different courses, two biology, one physical science, and one math. Since everything is in French and I didn't go to school in Burkina (absolutely shocking!), it takes a while to prep lessons everyday. Also grading hundreds of papers takes a while too. Now that I've been at site for a few months I'm ready to take on some secondary projects. Perhaps a poetry/drawing contest for women's day and a science club. Aside from that, it's sort of just like living in the US in that you go to work, go home, hang out with your friends, etc. It's just all in French and occassionally involves swearving so you don't hit the mouton while biking to work in the morning. Here's what a typical day in village usually looks like:
5:30-wake up to the call to prayer from the mosque next to my house, eat, get dressed, etc.
6:45-bike to school
7:00-start teaching
9:45-morning break, usually go to the teacher's room and greet my collegues-always entertaining to listen to them joke around. Maybe eat some gateau for a snack.
10:10-morning break ends, back in the classroom...
11:00 or 12:00- go home, sit down, drink water after talking for so long.
12:00-3:00-officially known as the repo in Burkina. The time when everything shuts down and people eat their lunch and take a nap. Usually I make lunch, read, grade papers, or take a nap. But if it's a market day then prime time to hit up the vegetable stand.
3:00-5:00 or 6:00-return to work, grading, lesson planning, go to school, or hang out with villagers.
6:00-? Come home, take a bath, make dinner, listen to BBC, sleep
Wow...my life in Burkina looks a lot less interesting than it actually is. There's usually something weird that happens to me everyday though sandwiched somewhere in there...running into someone, someone coming to my house, ugh...I can't even write most of the stuff here...it's just too weird...
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1 comments:
Hi Lara,
The following was placed in the wrong commment section.
Happy New Year. Again, you seem very busy with assignments. The day must fly for you and your colleagues.
In Chicago, winter has arrived. I know how much you miss the cold and snow, and rain, and sleet, etc.
We enjoy look at your blog site, but get discouraged when we do not see recent up-dates. But we know you are too engaged with work.
Take care.
Toni
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