Want to know why everyone loves the Burkinabe?  It’s because in every situation they will wish you well.  Whether it’s have a good day, have a good trip, have a good class, or even good digestion, they wish you the very best.  A complete stranger in a restaurant will tell you, “Vous êtes invités.” This doesn’t actually mean you should sit down and help yourself, but if you were really hungry, a Burkinabe would give you their last spoonful of benga (a delicious heap of rice and beans).

Our host family is particularly warm and inviting.  We have three host grandmothers (wives one, two, and three) and over twenty assorted cousins and siblings.  We share the courtyard with the gravesite of our host family patriarch.  We have so far tiptoed around the topic, but I'm sure we'll soon learn more about him.  In the evenings some of the women do household chores while others crochet and grade the children's homework.  Sometimes I help with English lessons in exchange for help with my Jula.  The kids laugh at me a lot, but I just keep telling myself it’s because they like me.  Visitors come and go unannounced but spend the obligatory few minutes upon their arrival asking how is the family, how is your work, how are the children, how is your health, how have you been sleeping etc.  Another reason why the Burkinabe are the nicest people. 

Yesterday we witnessed the behind-the-scenes magic of our nightly dinners, which usually just appear before us. Apparently, every day around 2pm our host sister Ramata walks down the street to her aunt Lala’s house where they cook together until dinnertime.  Last night, we went with her to “help.”  In other words, we watched the ending of Inglourious Basterds in French while they made spaghetti sauce tomate in the courtyard.  By the end of the movie I had worked up the courage to go outside with the women and talk to them.  We drank some delicious homemade bissap (hibiscus tea) and laughed at a little kid trying to eat chalk.  Then Lala told me that she had picked out a nice and very trendy fabric for us and the tailor would be by shortly to take our measurements.  It was a little awkward but we’re very excited about the matching outfits that we are having made.  I promise I will post pictures when they’re done.  Believe me, you can’t wait to see the motif she picked out.

Most of the animals that we have around us here are the same as in the States, but the way they interact with the people is quite different.  Adolescent chickens hop about our house but they stay out of the bedrooms.  A puppy lives in the corner of the patio and helps us finish what we can't eat after dinner.  The other night when we were sitting in the moonlight, a pudgy rat scampered across the courtyard and fumbled all over our host brother as it tried to climb the wall behind him. It ran away and everyone laughed while our host brother looked bewildered and violated.  Then, of course, they made him get right back to his studies.  And finally, to anyone who thinks that praying mantises are cool, I just want to let you know that you are wrong.  They are relentless and inconsiderate when you’re slicing onions by headlamp after sunset.