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So about 2 months ago, I heard rumors of a fair in my town. I didn’t really think much of it because often times this kind of thing is either false information or the ideas never actually take off. Well, as time passed, more and more people started talking about it. I told one of my neighboring volunteers, and he said it’ll probably be nothing so don’t get my hopes up. Too late, I was already expecting face painters, carnival rides, cotton candy and clowns…. haha just kidding!
Some time passed and the fair was out of my mind, when all of a sudden, my neighbor tells me, not only is the Burkinabé government going to construct a brand spanking new market for the fair, but the president is coming! I also found out that the last time they held a fair like this was in the 1990’s. So yea, it was a big deal.
Well, the week of the fair rolls around, and I’m still not sure what to expect, but I’m excited. The admin at my school calls a last minute (as usual) meeting for the staff. We find out that the school will be closed for not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 days to “prepare the town for the fair.” Prepare the town for the fair? Ok, why not.
The Tuesday before the fair, was the day everything would be closed to “prepare the town.” All I know is that I don’t have school, so I slept in haha. I get a call from my site mate, another Peace Corps volunteer, saying, “Sara! Get up! You have to get into town! It’s crazy down here!” Ok, I’m up and heading into town. Well, no kidding. Every single man, woman and child was out with a shovel, rake or broom cleaning the town. They were pulling all the weeds, cutting down branches, clearing the roads, and picking up the trash. And to top it all off, there were drummers there to “inspire” and “motivate” the workers. (Could you imagine the Borough of Downingtown announcing the town will be closed and everyone must go down to Kerr Park to help clean for Good Neighbor Day? HA! Yea right!) My other site mate told me later in the day that he went out to buy a broom for his house (just conveniently on the same day as all this), and they were sold out everywhere! HA!
So finally, Thursday rolls around… the day of the fair. I’m up early and excited. I put on my best clothes and head down to the mayor’s office for the opening ceremony. This, again, included drummers and a lot of important Burkinabé government officials. They also had a wonderful thing called bonbon glacé (a frozen yogurt and coconut popsicle-like thing). The ceremony is finished and we head down, along with about 1000 other people, to the fair grounds. When we arrive there, they aren’t letting anyone from the general public in yet, only the important officials. Well, as I quickly learned, I’m not the general public… I’m white. I got in with the important people, which included government ministers and people from the French Embassy. We wandered around to check out everything. It was amazingly organized and clean. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, in Africa that is.
I run into my bamuso (my adopted mother) wearing a full green and white “Burkina Faso and USA friendship” outfit. Well, coincidentally, I have the same fabric made into a dress. So, of course, I had to go home and change so that we were wearing the same thing. Now, if this were America, I would never be caught dead wearing the same thing as my mom (no offense, Mom). But, this isn’t America, it’s Burkina Faso, where it’s totally acceptable and encouraged to dress similar. So, now, I’m back at the fair, wearing the same outfit as my bamuso. HA!
I head around one corner, and there’s a huge mass of people surrounding one stall, so of course, I had to go check it out. When I get there I see three old men sitting covered in various furs, teeth and bones from different animals and that’s when I saw it. The thing everyone was there to see… an elephant head. It was humungous! You don’t realize how big these animals are when you’re at the zoo. The elephant was accompanied by a hippo head, a warthog head, and a full cheetah! It was quite something! (Sorry, I tried to take pics, but the men didn’t like that ha.)
The next thing I come across is the row of traditional medicine men. (Now, if you forget how fascinated I am with medicine men, please refer back to my blog about my bike accident.) Needless to say, I was really excited to check them out. Most of them were normal (well, as normal as any old, traditional medicine man will be) and selling various herbs and plants to cure everything from hemorrhoids to blindness. I asked about a couple of the plants they had, and as curious as I am about this stuff, I’m still nervous about taking any it myself. So, I continue down the row, when I come across one man that really creeps me out. So, naturally, I had to stop and check out his stuff. The first thing I notice is a pile of about 50 human teeth on a mat on the ground. Not only were they human teeth, but they were still attached to the root, as if they had been pulled straight out of the gum! Then, I look over, and he has a huge scorpion crawling up his arm! I tried to chat with him, but he didn’t speak any French, only Jula (the local language here). And, once again, I tried to take a picture, but he wasn’t having any of that. And the last thing I need is some weird African spell put on me because I took the picture of a traditional medicine man.
So, I’m back, wandering around the food section, buying some amazing bananas right off the stalk, when I get another frantic call from my site mate, “Sara! You gotta come over here! There’s a man with a monkey on a rope!” Apparently, there was a whole other section of medicine men that I missed, and one had a monkey! So, I had to go check it out, and got distracted on the way buying more bonbon glacé. I round the corner, and see another swarm of people, so I know I’m in the right place. And once again, I’m white, so I was immediately dragged to the front of the group by the medicine man. I’ve seen a few monkeys here and in Guinea, and none of them were very big. They reminded me of the little pet monkey that Ross (from Friends) had. This man had two monkeys, and one was really big. The little one was just sitting contently eating bonbon glacé, but the big one was mad, probably because he wasn’t eating bonbon glacé and was wearing a tee-shirt that said (in English) “Who’s my Daddy”. Anyway, I saw the monkeys, and it was fun, but nothing I would want to get too close to.
The chaos of the fair lasted for three whole days, and the whole while, everything in town was crowded and the cell phone reception was overloaded so I couldn’t make or receive any calls. But, all in all, it was great! I bought a lot of good stuff (which I will be sending home as Christmas presents), and ate some really good food! I saw an elephant head and some crazy medicine men. I mean, how many people can say that they’ve done that?
On a side note, a lot of my devoted blog readers have asked how my gym classes are going, and I proudly want to say that I was not chosen as the gym teacher! Thank god for the youth of Burkina Faso.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Le Conseil (09/28/2010)
I’ve been at site for about a month. On September 15, the other teachers at my school were supposed to arrive, and we were supposed to have a big, important meeting, Le Conseil. From what I understood, it was a meeting to discuss teacher’s schedules, the last school year, and problems at the school. It would be my first school related meeting and my first meeting in French. I was nervous, but also excited to get going. So, September 15th rolls around and no there’s no conseil. I wait, and wait, and eventually it comes. I get a call yesterday morning from my homologue (the person at my school who’s my contact for any problems and pretty much in charge of me), telling me that the conseil will be held that afternoon at 3. Finally! Only 2 weeks late hah.
I show up at my school around 2:40, as a good American, I’m a little early and ready to go. There’s no one there. I sit around and wait. Eventually, at 3, my homologue (who is also the Vice Principal) shows up. He tells me that the Principal is sick with “le palu” (AKA malaria. SIDE NOTE: Everytime someone is sick here, they think they have malaria, a parasite that can be deadly if it goes untreated. My homologue told me twice he probably had malaria because he was really tired. They’re usually fine within a couple of days.) So eventually some of the teachers start rolling in, and the conseil starts closer to 4. We start of with introductions, and, of course, everyone is wondering who is this new white girl. I introduce myself, “Je m’appelle Sara. Je suis une volontaire avec le Corps de la Paix. J’enseigne le SVT et l’Anglais.” (My name is Sara. I’m a Peace Corps volunteer. I teach science and English.) Whew… I made it! The other teachers seem satisfied with my response because they continue on. At this point I realize that only 12 of the 20 teachers and 2 admin showed up for the meeting, and I’m the only female teacher! Oh boy.
We continue on with information about last school year. Basically just a lot of statistics unimportant to me, but there was one shocker. He announces how many students passed the BAC (the equivalent of the SAT’s, but students are required to pass the test in order to graduate). 43%!!! Yes… only 43% of the students passed! I couldn’t believe it, and I think my face said it all because my VP stopped the meeting to ask me if I was ok haha.
So, next section of the meeting, problems at the school. The big problem for this school year is lack of sports equipment, athletic fields, and a gym teacher. I take a mental note that I may be able to help with sports equipment and athletic fields. Then, he asks for someone to volunteer to teach gym. I ignore the request because he could not expect this skinny, white girl with glasses to teach any type of sport when out of nowhere, “Sara, could you be our gym teacher?” Oh fuck. Well, I once walked the mile in 25 minutes, and almost failed gym another year, so I was probably the best person here HA! I politely tell him that I don’t think I’m the best candidate, and he assures me that he can give me all the resources required (except sports equipment and athletic fields…). I try to weasel my way out of this one, and I’m still not sure if it 100% worked. We’ll see if I show up for the first day of school and have “Gym” on my schedule.
After the whole gym debacle, we move on to the part I’ve been waiting for… teacher’s schedules. Now remember, this conseil is being held 3 days before school starts and the teachers still have no clue what they will be teaching, and no one seems concerned about this except for me. I browse over my schedule… it’s looking good so far, 2 sections of middle school English (74 students each), 1 section of high school English (60 students), and 1 section of Geology (99 students!)… wait, Geology? When was the last time I studied rocks? Let me tell you, it was with Ms. Davidheiser when I was in middle school… 10 years ago! Uh oh… I’m in trouble. After the conseil, I head to my homologue’s office and the “library” (a room with one locked cupboard filled with old textbooks) to collect the books I need for my classes. I immediately get overwhelmed when I come to find out that there is no curriculum or book for my high school English class, and the geology book is a really in-depth, wordy book about rocks. Do we have a rock collection at my school? How am I supposed to teach this?? Not to mention, they throw in a section of Sex Ed after rocks… can you say “le penis” haha.
So, the whole day today I spent running around to different bookstores and the other high school in town trying to collect the books and materials that my school was lacking, and trying to figure out how to teach 99 kids about rocks. It’s been overwhelming, stressful, and frustrating. But, hey, it’s Peace Corps… “the hardest job you’ll ever love.”
I show up at my school around 2:40, as a good American, I’m a little early and ready to go. There’s no one there. I sit around and wait. Eventually, at 3, my homologue (who is also the Vice Principal) shows up. He tells me that the Principal is sick with “le palu” (AKA malaria. SIDE NOTE: Everytime someone is sick here, they think they have malaria, a parasite that can be deadly if it goes untreated. My homologue told me twice he probably had malaria because he was really tired. They’re usually fine within a couple of days.) So eventually some of the teachers start rolling in, and the conseil starts closer to 4. We start of with introductions, and, of course, everyone is wondering who is this new white girl. I introduce myself, “Je m’appelle Sara. Je suis une volontaire avec le Corps de la Paix. J’enseigne le SVT et l’Anglais.” (My name is Sara. I’m a Peace Corps volunteer. I teach science and English.) Whew… I made it! The other teachers seem satisfied with my response because they continue on. At this point I realize that only 12 of the 20 teachers and 2 admin showed up for the meeting, and I’m the only female teacher! Oh boy.
We continue on with information about last school year. Basically just a lot of statistics unimportant to me, but there was one shocker. He announces how many students passed the BAC (the equivalent of the SAT’s, but students are required to pass the test in order to graduate). 43%!!! Yes… only 43% of the students passed! I couldn’t believe it, and I think my face said it all because my VP stopped the meeting to ask me if I was ok haha.
So, next section of the meeting, problems at the school. The big problem for this school year is lack of sports equipment, athletic fields, and a gym teacher. I take a mental note that I may be able to help with sports equipment and athletic fields. Then, he asks for someone to volunteer to teach gym. I ignore the request because he could not expect this skinny, white girl with glasses to teach any type of sport when out of nowhere, “Sara, could you be our gym teacher?” Oh fuck. Well, I once walked the mile in 25 minutes, and almost failed gym another year, so I was probably the best person here HA! I politely tell him that I don’t think I’m the best candidate, and he assures me that he can give me all the resources required (except sports equipment and athletic fields…). I try to weasel my way out of this one, and I’m still not sure if it 100% worked. We’ll see if I show up for the first day of school and have “Gym” on my schedule.
After the whole gym debacle, we move on to the part I’ve been waiting for… teacher’s schedules. Now remember, this conseil is being held 3 days before school starts and the teachers still have no clue what they will be teaching, and no one seems concerned about this except for me. I browse over my schedule… it’s looking good so far, 2 sections of middle school English (74 students each), 1 section of high school English (60 students), and 1 section of Geology (99 students!)… wait, Geology? When was the last time I studied rocks? Let me tell you, it was with Ms. Davidheiser when I was in middle school… 10 years ago! Uh oh… I’m in trouble. After the conseil, I head to my homologue’s office and the “library” (a room with one locked cupboard filled with old textbooks) to collect the books I need for my classes. I immediately get overwhelmed when I come to find out that there is no curriculum or book for my high school English class, and the geology book is a really in-depth, wordy book about rocks. Do we have a rock collection at my school? How am I supposed to teach this?? Not to mention, they throw in a section of Sex Ed after rocks… can you say “le penis” haha.
So, the whole day today I spent running around to different bookstores and the other high school in town trying to collect the books and materials that my school was lacking, and trying to figure out how to teach 99 kids about rocks. It’s been overwhelming, stressful, and frustrating. But, hey, it’s Peace Corps… “the hardest job you’ll ever love.”
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Pictures
** It took too long to upload pics onto my blog, so i updated my snapfish account **
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2589346022/a=1579671022_1579671022/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Enjoy!
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2589346022/a=1579671022_1579671022/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Enjoy!
Monday, September 20, 2010
My New Peace Corps Record
So, I'm happy to say that I've beat my old Peace Corps record of 4 days at site. I am now going into my 3rd week... woohoo!
But, because I've been at site, I have no internet connection (womp womp). In the last few weeks since I've blogged, I swore in (again) as a Peace Corps volunteer, and moved to my site where I'll be living for 2 years, hopefully! It's been chaotic, stressful, amazing, new! I had to say my good bye's and head off to live in a town all by myself (except for the 2 other Peace Corps volunteers, a few Americans doing a health study, and the 3 Japanese volunteers)... so, I'm really not alone haha. It's been really great so far.
Instead of writing a long detailed blog about every single thing that's happened in the last few weeks, I'm just going to put up some pictures. If there's something specific you want to know, either comment on the blog or email me.
But, because I've been at site, I have no internet connection (womp womp). In the last few weeks since I've blogged, I swore in (again) as a Peace Corps volunteer, and moved to my site where I'll be living for 2 years, hopefully! It's been chaotic, stressful, amazing, new! I had to say my good bye's and head off to live in a town all by myself (except for the 2 other Peace Corps volunteers, a few Americans doing a health study, and the 3 Japanese volunteers)... so, I'm really not alone haha. It's been really great so far.
Instead of writing a long detailed blog about every single thing that's happened in the last few weeks, I'm just going to put up some pictures. If there's something specific you want to know, either comment on the blog or email me.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
“But Mom, the bissap is finished” (8/22/2010)
Yesterday morning, before Katherine and I left for school, our dad asked if we would be around after dinner that evening. We said yes we would be around, we didn’t have any plans, and he was excited and announced he had a surprise for us. This coming from our Burkinabé host dad, we had no idea what to expect, but were really excited.
So after school we ate lunch (hamburgers and chwarma... yum!), and then hurried home for our surprise even though it wasn’t until dinner time. When we got home, our family was preparing a feast. They were making popcorn, crevettes (like shrimp flavored chips, which sound gross but are actually really good), bissap, many chickens, and there were a lot of drinks. At this point, we realized our family was throwing us a fête! We sat around for a few hours and watched them prepare the dinner and the house. They got out the good music, the fancy cups and plates, the new tablecloth, and of course, their party clothes. Katherine and I adjusted to the situation as good Peace Corps volunteers learn how to do, and put on our party clothes too, which happened to be matching green and brown outfits (AKA our mint chocolate chip outfits). Around 8 pm, the party began.
Our dad started with a speech, saying that this party was for us as a going away party. He said he wanted us to know that we will always have a family here, and whenever we pass by, he hopes we will stop by. The doors are always open and there is always room for us, even when there are 9 people living in a 2-bedroom house haha (as it is right now). He said their family learned as much from us and we did from them, and that they appreciated the experience to meet us. The speech was probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.
Then, as any good party, came the food. It was a buffet style feast that included salad, two kinds of chicken, couscous, chips, popcorn, and French fries. It was delicious! After dinner, our host dad opened the beers and wine, and then came the dancing. They put on a mix of traditional Burkinabé songs, some French music, and even salsa. They laughed at Katherine and me as we tried to dance. There’s no competing with African women haha. But, it didn’t matter, we danced away the night and had a great time. At the end of the night, my host mom announced that I had found “the rhythm”. For those of you who know me, you know this is not true, and I have never been able to dance well. She insisted it was true, but I think it could have to do with the amount of whiskey she consumed haha.
After we finished the second bottle of red wine and our family wanted to continue dancing, our 4 year old host sister said, “But Mom, the bissap is finished.” She had thought that the wine was bissap! Haha! After a few hours of dancing, eating, drinking, and me finding the rhythm, our host family decided that we “passed” and invited us back for their New Year’s Eve party haha.
This has definitely been one of my favorite and most memorable nights spent here. After living with four different host families across Guinea and Burkina, I had found MY family. A family that I felt comfortable enough with that I had adopted them as my own as well as them adopting me. It was a great night, and made me glad to be here.
So after school we ate lunch (hamburgers and chwarma... yum!), and then hurried home for our surprise even though it wasn’t until dinner time. When we got home, our family was preparing a feast. They were making popcorn, crevettes (like shrimp flavored chips, which sound gross but are actually really good), bissap, many chickens, and there were a lot of drinks. At this point, we realized our family was throwing us a fête! We sat around for a few hours and watched them prepare the dinner and the house. They got out the good music, the fancy cups and plates, the new tablecloth, and of course, their party clothes. Katherine and I adjusted to the situation as good Peace Corps volunteers learn how to do, and put on our party clothes too, which happened to be matching green and brown outfits (AKA our mint chocolate chip outfits). Around 8 pm, the party began.
Our dad started with a speech, saying that this party was for us as a going away party. He said he wanted us to know that we will always have a family here, and whenever we pass by, he hopes we will stop by. The doors are always open and there is always room for us, even when there are 9 people living in a 2-bedroom house haha (as it is right now). He said their family learned as much from us and we did from them, and that they appreciated the experience to meet us. The speech was probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.
Then, as any good party, came the food. It was a buffet style feast that included salad, two kinds of chicken, couscous, chips, popcorn, and French fries. It was delicious! After dinner, our host dad opened the beers and wine, and then came the dancing. They put on a mix of traditional Burkinabé songs, some French music, and even salsa. They laughed at Katherine and me as we tried to dance. There’s no competing with African women haha. But, it didn’t matter, we danced away the night and had a great time. At the end of the night, my host mom announced that I had found “the rhythm”. For those of you who know me, you know this is not true, and I have never been able to dance well. She insisted it was true, but I think it could have to do with the amount of whiskey she consumed haha.
After we finished the second bottle of red wine and our family wanted to continue dancing, our 4 year old host sister said, “But Mom, the bissap is finished.” She had thought that the wine was bissap! Haha! After a few hours of dancing, eating, drinking, and me finding the rhythm, our host family decided that we “passed” and invited us back for their New Year’s Eve party haha.
This has definitely been one of my favorite and most memorable nights spent here. After living with four different host families across Guinea and Burkina, I had found MY family. A family that I felt comfortable enough with that I had adopted them as my own as well as them adopting me. It was a great night, and made me glad to be here.
“Sometimes Signaling isn’t Enough” (8/20/2010)
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina, I ride my bike… a lot. We go through a few sessions of bike maintenance and bike safety. The most important things are always wear your helmet, and always signal when turning. Since I haven’t been on a bike since I was about 12 when I had a purple sparkly bike, I made sure to always follow the rules and pay attention when I’m biking. After about 2 months here, biking around on dirt roads, I was getting pretty confident on my bike and becoming a pretty good biker. Or so I thought…
A few days ago, after a long day of teaching and classes, I left the school and headed towards a nearby restaurant to celebrate the birthday of a fellow trainee. (Let me preface this by saying that as a part of our training, we have to give a 15 minute presentation in French about a cultural aspect here. I chose to give my presentation on traditional medicine vs. modern medicine in Burkina. After interviewing a few people, I found out that people who practice tradition medicine mainly treat using different parts of plants. Being a biology major, I was really excited about learning about the different types of plants here and what their uses are.) So back to me biking down the road, I was riding near a part of town where there are a lot of trees and plants, and so I was looking at the plants and thinking about what their possible uses are, and trying to remember what they looked like so I could look them up in my traditional medicine book when I got home. I was approaching the turn to the restaurant and signaled like a good biker… or at least I thought I did. So I’m turning left when a moto swerves around me and WHAM! I’m hit! My bike flew to the right, and I flew to the left. I hopped up really quick, made sure my glasses weren’t broken, and then checked out the rest of me. I had some nice scratches on my knees and my hand, but nothing was bleeding too badly. I decided I was ok, and after convincing the other trainees who witnessed my mini accident that I was ok, we continued to the restaurant for the birthday.
I’m there for about an hour or so, and realize that my elbow really hurts and is starting to swell. I decide its time to head home. I ice it and wrap it for the night hoping it would be better in the morning. Well, I woke up in the middle of night with it really hurting and couldn’t fall back asleep. The next morning, my elbow still swollen and in pain, I realized I should call the doctor. Luckily, he happened to be at our training site that day. He takes one look and it and says I need an x-ray immediately. Crap. All I can think about is the other trainee who was recently medically evacuated to South Africa for a similar incident involving his elbow and a bike. I don’t want to be evacuated. I want to swear in with the other trainees.
I head off to Ouagadougou, the capital, with our doctor to get my x-ray. I walk into the Peace Corps med unit when I hear, “Holy crap, Sara!” Who do I know here? I look over, and it’s Phil and Dylan (my fellow volunteers from Guinea)! They were coincidentally in the med unit at the same time as I was! This was a nice little surprise and comfort to see people I know. After quickly saying hi, I was off to the radiologist for my x-ray. I went by myself, which I was a little nervous about. But, I successfully got an x-ray and received the results from the doctor… all in French! This whole thing took about 45 minutes, and I found out that my elbow is fine. I have to wrap it and wear a sling for a few days (so embarrassing!), but after that, I’ll be good as new! Yay!
When I get back to the med unit, I meet back up with Phil and Dylan, who I think felt bad for me, and took me out for some pizza! So, all in all, I got a nice little vacation away from training, some pizza, and got to see my old friends… getting hit by a moto wasn’t so bad after all.
I learned a few lessons from this whole experience. One, there is a reason I haven’t done one physical activity or sport in my 24 years of life… because the one time I do, I get hit my a moto. Two, I now know how to wrap my left arm with only one hand. And three, sometimes signaling just isn’t enough.
A few days ago, after a long day of teaching and classes, I left the school and headed towards a nearby restaurant to celebrate the birthday of a fellow trainee. (Let me preface this by saying that as a part of our training, we have to give a 15 minute presentation in French about a cultural aspect here. I chose to give my presentation on traditional medicine vs. modern medicine in Burkina. After interviewing a few people, I found out that people who practice tradition medicine mainly treat using different parts of plants. Being a biology major, I was really excited about learning about the different types of plants here and what their uses are.) So back to me biking down the road, I was riding near a part of town where there are a lot of trees and plants, and so I was looking at the plants and thinking about what their possible uses are, and trying to remember what they looked like so I could look them up in my traditional medicine book when I got home. I was approaching the turn to the restaurant and signaled like a good biker… or at least I thought I did. So I’m turning left when a moto swerves around me and WHAM! I’m hit! My bike flew to the right, and I flew to the left. I hopped up really quick, made sure my glasses weren’t broken, and then checked out the rest of me. I had some nice scratches on my knees and my hand, but nothing was bleeding too badly. I decided I was ok, and after convincing the other trainees who witnessed my mini accident that I was ok, we continued to the restaurant for the birthday.
I’m there for about an hour or so, and realize that my elbow really hurts and is starting to swell. I decide its time to head home. I ice it and wrap it for the night hoping it would be better in the morning. Well, I woke up in the middle of night with it really hurting and couldn’t fall back asleep. The next morning, my elbow still swollen and in pain, I realized I should call the doctor. Luckily, he happened to be at our training site that day. He takes one look and it and says I need an x-ray immediately. Crap. All I can think about is the other trainee who was recently medically evacuated to South Africa for a similar incident involving his elbow and a bike. I don’t want to be evacuated. I want to swear in with the other trainees.
I head off to Ouagadougou, the capital, with our doctor to get my x-ray. I walk into the Peace Corps med unit when I hear, “Holy crap, Sara!” Who do I know here? I look over, and it’s Phil and Dylan (my fellow volunteers from Guinea)! They were coincidentally in the med unit at the same time as I was! This was a nice little surprise and comfort to see people I know. After quickly saying hi, I was off to the radiologist for my x-ray. I went by myself, which I was a little nervous about. But, I successfully got an x-ray and received the results from the doctor… all in French! This whole thing took about 45 minutes, and I found out that my elbow is fine. I have to wrap it and wear a sling for a few days (so embarrassing!), but after that, I’ll be good as new! Yay!
When I get back to the med unit, I meet back up with Phil and Dylan, who I think felt bad for me, and took me out for some pizza! So, all in all, I got a nice little vacation away from training, some pizza, and got to see my old friends… getting hit by a moto wasn’t so bad after all.
I learned a few lessons from this whole experience. One, there is a reason I haven’t done one physical activity or sport in my 24 years of life… because the one time I do, I get hit my a moto. Two, I now know how to wrap my left arm with only one hand. And three, sometimes signaling just isn’t enough.
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