Housevisits and Goodbyes…

Today was a fairly relaxed day. Kirsten and I slept in until about 8:00. I ate our left over cous cous in cinnamon chicken raisin sauce for breakfast.

Snickers and her new cast

Susan and Lorinda took Snickers to the vet again. She came back very drugged and with a cast on his front left leg. Since she was so calm and drugged, Susan, Kirsten, Lorinda, and I signed her cast!

Alice dropped us off at the Village Artisanal to get some last minute things before going home (She didn’t go shopping with us because Charity had a fever this morning and needed to go into the doctor). We went into the Village with a mission—we only got sidetracked once or twice—but it was worth it. I was happy because I had a much better experience with the Taureg vendors. The man that followed us around the Taureg display was much less pushy and friendlier then the other men that I met last time. He was very reasonable with his pricing as well. When Kirsten said that his first price was too expensive (it wasn’t a terrible price to begin with…) he immediately took 1,000 CFA off of it. He wanted me to buy more, but was very respectful when I didn’t want anything else. The Taureg work is so beautiful. It is so interesting to think that these desert travelers…very weathered, tough, and scary looking men…make some of the most gorgeous things with leather. They make very ornate swords…which suit them perfectly. The actual sword is such an intense and intimidating object (like the Taureg)—yet the sheath is such a beautiful cover that masks the sword (like the rest of their leatherwork).

When Alice dropped us back off at the Hub, it was packing time. We moved one of the big dressers from our room into Jess’s room and got mostly everything packed into our suitcases. We were constantly going from the Cap to the Hub bringing things to the girls that we are leaving behind…tape, some first aid, kool aid, etc. After getting a sufficient amount of packing done, Kirsten and I stopped for a coconut cream pie break. Sarah made it the night before…and it was DELICIOUS!

A visit from Virginie

Virginie stopped by to say goodbye to us. She came over wearing the pair of earrings that we gave her, the necklace, and one of my t-shirts. It was awesome to see how happy she was to wear them. She brought us really cool bowls made from a coconut shell. It was really great to see her one more time before leaving. She is such a kind and beautiful woman…I will miss her very much. She has been such a wonderful help and fun to interact with. I am impressed by her humbleness, ability to teach, and fantastic English!

Jess, Kirsten, and I walked down to the shoppette to get some laundry detergent (since we have been using Susan and Sarah’s since we have been here). We walked through the market to get there. It really hit me as we were walking that I am leaving tomorrow. I love it here so much—the people, the sights, the culture, and even some of the smells. On the way home, we stopped at the Marina Deco…it is this mini department store on the street. We have always passed it but have never gone inside. It is full of the most random things. There are sofa sets in the front window, sphinx figurines covered in gold paint, dolls, kitchenware—it was very weird.

Nema (Dr. F’s wife) came to visit us as well this afternoon. She came to the gate and when Susan answered she asked if “the girls” were in. Susan had never met Nema…so it was a good thing that I came out pretty quickly. She brought gifts from the staff at the clinic. They gave us these mini purses with a necklace and earring set inside along with a card that had the names of all of the staff on it. She gave us each 2 big hugs before leaving. Nema gives the best hugs that I have received in Burkina (not many people hug here). Her hugs just make you feel so loved and happy! I found out yesterday that Nema means Grace in her native language (She is from Mali). It is so fitting because the Greek word for grace is charis, which means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness”.

Around dinner time, Mark came back with all of our tailored items. The only item that as new today was the apron that I had made—I figured since I learned how to cook from scratch here in Burkina, I should have an apron made out of African material. It has a huge pocket in the front. Jess joked that I would be able to put a rolling pin and a whole bowl of dough into the pocket! He asked me to send his greetings to my family when I get home.

Then the Brokopp family picked Kirsten and me up for dinner. They took us to Le Cordon Bleu. It was a very nice restaurant (it was where Pete took Alice on their first date). I got chicken in a red wine sauce with fried plantains. The plantains were AMAZING! The best I have ever had. They were very sweet—it was hard to eat them all. My chicken was good—but I couldn’t eat much of it because it was really red in one part of it…I was advised not to eat the rest. The sauce was really good though! This was our debrief session with Pete and Alice. We talked about our most positive experience. It was really hard to choose one…I decided that medically it was probably the clinic visit to Tougan since it was a bit more hands on. Outside of medicine, the trip to the bush was probably my most positive experience. Then Kirsten reminded me about going to Compassion and seeing Tinwende…and experience which could possibly rival the all night dance party. It is impossible to choose just one experience. He also asked us about a negative aspect of our trip…we talked about how it would have been nice if the Tougan trip could have been a longer one, the transportation frustrations, and not connecting with the youth of EAC right away. Pete told us how much he appreciated our flexibility and positive attitudes—things got changed around for us right off the bat and we just went with it and made the most out of each experience that we had. They are still working on getting short term missions smoothed out and this was definitely a good learning experience for the missionaries as well. I feel so blessed to have gotten so much one on one (well two on four) time with the Brokopp family. They have taught me a lot about life as a missionary. I appreciate how hospitable they have been to Kirsten and me—they have opened their house, cupboards, and family to us. It was really nice to hear that they have enjoyed their time with us as much as we have enjoyed our time with them—and to be affirmed that we didn’t bring a burden into their lives (I’m sure we did at times, but I’m glad that the good overtook the bad).

When we got back to the Hub, we hung out with Jess and Sarah…looking at what we were going to wear to Central Church tomorrow. We are all going to wear African outfits!! I am so excited. I took some of the scraps from the fabric that I had an African outfit made of and figured out how to make a headpiece to wear to church (seen in the following photo)—it isn’t nearly as beautiful as the headpieces of the women here…but it’s an attempt to be a ¼ as gorgeous as them!

Goodbye Gilbert! Nin Dare

Kirsten and I gave Gilbert an American Eagle shirt and a nice thick windbreaker as a goodbye gift. He asked Sarah to thanks us for him…and that he really liked the gifts. He immediately put the jacket on. Sarah said that he will probably wear the jacket every night until December. We heard the other guards and Gilbert talking excitedly when he went back outside. Gilbert has been such a comfort to have around. I have never worried about my safety at night while I have been at the Hub. He really likes working at our house and he is always so happy. I love that he always greets us when we come home and he puts up with me saying the same phrases to him in More over and over and over again.

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