the honeymoon is over...

i think it is safe to say that i fell head over heels in love while i was in college. not the kind of love you are probably thinking...this is not that kind of blog...i fell in love with africa.

in spite of its problems, or probably more accurately, because of its problems, i have felt called to africa to make some kind of a difference. i mustered up all the courage i had, decided that, yes, i love africa enough to pack up my life and go there, and made a commitment to move to burkina faso for two years and prove to the continent just how much i love it.

after the first couple of days, i was overwhelmed by just how happy i was with my decision. i really do absolutely love it here. i cannot speak for the whole continent, as i am only in one small country, but burkina faso is amazing. the people are so welcoming, the weather, though hot, is almost always sunny and beautiful, and what the country lacks in money it more than makes up for in diverse and wonderful cultural experiences.

however, as it is in most relationships, my love for africa is being tested. now that the exciting novelty of being in burkina faso has begun to wear off, certain realities are setting in. the reality of the oppressing heat that makes you wish you could just sleep under a tree all day; the reality of sickness, both my encounters of the sickness of people in my village, and my own sickness from the strange new foods; the reality of the poverty that words could not begin to describe; the reality of just how inconvenient it is to not have electricity and to journal only by the light of a lamp at night; the reality that, damn, i really am living in africa.

it appears as if the so-called honeymoon period is over.

it was inevitable, really, because anytime you decide to embark on something big, challenges will arise. i knew that my idealistic love for the continent, studying it and wishing i could help, and longing from afar, could not continue forever, but i have been taken aback by just how many challenges i will face here.

my daily life varies, but right now i am staying in a small village called Rikou with a host family, in a small hut, with no electricity, and dirt walls and flooring that seem to trap heat, making me feel as though i live in an oven. my host family is very kind, and though there is a language barrier, it is wonderful to begin to learn about the burkinabe culture from people who are actually a part of it, and not just sit and read about it from one of my many text books.

the training that i have begun can only be described as intense. i wake up each morning with the sun, because there is really no need for an alarm clock in this kind of heat, i take a bucket bath (no running water, remember?), and bike 10K into the training facility in ouahigouya. i spend all day in training classes learning about what i will doing in the health facilities i will be working with, learning how to adjust to burkinabe culture, or taking language classes learning moore, or learning how to avoid certain diseases, inevitably end up getting at least one or two immunizations - my poor arm is turning black and blue - and then i bike back to my village to eat with my host family, and sit in my courtyard with some of the children for a while until i just crash.

it has been busy and stressful, and my patience with this country has been tested over and over again after only two weeks, but my love for africa has made me stick it out. as with any relationship, once the honeymoon is over, the real work, and the real difficulties begin...but along with the difficulties will come the real substance of this experience. i am glad to be over the initial excitement, and i am now eager to begin to make this *relationship* work.