JP in Ouagadougou: The Final Countdown Redux

Today marks the start of my final week in Ouagadougou. I have been here since mid-May, and I am definitely looking forward to coming home. My to-do list consists of a few things to wrap up at work, souvenir shopping and packing. Souvenir shopping may be thwarted by protests this weekend that are likely to shut down major roads, this time against the "vie chère" - cost of living increases. Le sigh.

My mom asked me what food I wanted at home, and I haven't really been craving anything, nor have I been suffering with my practically unlimited access to baguette, roasted chicken, and Diet Coke. However, I do have some things in the states that I am looking forward to, and some things from Ouaga that I will miss.

Looking forward to:

1.) Ice cream. It's hard to find good ice cream here, difficult to transport and generally less creamy than say... a pint of Haagen Dazs, the Powers family brand of choice.

2.) Shorts. I don't know if I've made it clear, but it's rather hot here in West Africa, and while I appreciate Burkina's liberalness with respect to women's dress compared with many of its neighbors, I will still rock me some jorts when I get home to what I understand is a rather humid and swampy Philadelphia.

3.) Fast internet speed. I have read a lot while I am here, which is a good thing (and yet, still haven't finished The Power Broker.) I have not had the ability to download anything too often or spend hours on the internet as it's quite slow, and I am still really looking forward to watching Arrested 2 months after it was a big deal.

All of these "wants" are what one of my friends here (who is returning to the states on Tuesday after 5 years in Burkina - dayum) calls "third world first world problems" so take with a grain of salt.

Things I will miss:

1.) The mangoes. THE MANGOES. Sigh. I should make my last week's diet consist exclusively of them.

2.) The pace of life. See above about relative lack of connectivity - it means I have had time to read and run a lot, and I worked closer to 40 hours than 60, and I think that has been good for me. I have had time to think about some stuff for next year at business school, and also to not think if I don't feel like it.

3.) The friendliness. People constantly shaking your hand and asking about how you a) slept b) ate c) digested and d) your family is something I could get used to, and I am not even particularly friendly. I was warned that men would cat call me often and that I should be constantly wary of my safety, and while I try not to do anything stupid or put myself in risky situations, I have not found myself constantly harassed or cat called and have found most Burkinabé to be incredibly friendly.

These lists are not exhaustive but they're what I am thinking about as the packing dread slowly mounts.

I am also looking forward to vacation in the Pacific Northwest, where my sister Jess just started working and where I will be drinking all the coffee and all the wine. Though I saw an episode of Bones last night on military TV, and right at the beginning of the episode, there were people at a wine tasting. I exclaimed "Oh, that will be me in two weeks!".... and then one of the wine tasters found a decomposing finger in their glass, which was the whole set up to the crime Bones was going to solve. That turned me off wine tasting a bit.

Here are some more pictures, some of which were stolen from one of the guys who was in the village with me last weekend who has a DSLR.