One more thing...

I am so thankful for the biking in W Africa (well, Burkina Faso). A lot of W Africa is off limits. Stories this weekend of some Europeans kidnapped while on holidays to Timbuktu, Mali. We are so lucky here to be safe and free to explore.

And another. My Health! i was back on my bike today, 5 weeks after my big fall and broken collar bone. I am sore tonight, but it was a glorious ride. The bike gang watched after me and made sure we did a safe and easier ride today. But we got in 50km and it felt great (i was only a little slow). Then we had a bike group gathering tonight and i think everyone showed up with families (30 people!!). We watched "The Flying Scotsman" (a cycling movie of course) that one of our previous bike group members sent to us. It was a great true story.

now some more photos. life on the Niger River...

Otto and his friends being spazzy. but if you look beyond him, that is a termite mound.

Happy Thanksgiving!: a photo essay of things I am thankful for

 My life has been so full since my last blog post - i have done many trips with enough photos for 10 more blogs.  but i would rather go out and experience my environment (and get a good nights sleep) than write a blog entry.  So, instead, i give you my holiday thanks in photos.  We are so lucky to be living here and experiencing a different life.  My younger brother Sten visited for a month, which gave us an opportunity to share with him the highlights of Burkina Faso. Next month when Otto's dad visits, we are taking a road trip to Ghana.

 In early October, we drove to Niamey, Niger about 7 hours NE of us for the annual NUTS softball tournament. A friend/colleague of mine (we went through State Dept orientation together) is the Nurse Practitioner at the Niamey Embassy. it was so fun to see her and her clinic (she is in an older Embassy). She planned a fun filled weekend for us.

Our boat for the ride on the Niger River that runs through the city. It was lined with comfy mattresses where we relaxed and watched the city and villages pass us by, on our way to see....

The Hippos!!

Otto was on his school softball team and competed in the social group against about 8 other teams. The kids did such a fantastic job. For many of them, including Otto, it was their first time playing. Everyone had a blast.

So far i have to say, this is one of the most magical events of my time here. The last wild herd of giraffes in West Africa. We drove around with a guide for about an hour and finally found them...lots of them. A mom with babies. They are just wandering around, unafraid. So graceful and beautiful.  They were almost extinct because of competition between them and the farmers, but a lot of work has been done to teach the farmers how to live with them and how tourism can be beneficial for the animals and villages. Their numbers are increasing.

This is not shot with telephoto. The Giraffe was very close to us and was checking us out. Otto even loved this outing and he usually complains when we go on Safari or other sight seeing trips.

 While my brother was here, Otto had his mid-winter break, so we took a trip to Banfora.  I have a previous blog entry with pictures from there. We hiked around the domes and the waterfall. A colleague/friend and I rode our bikes from in town to Sindou Peaks (about 50km) - it was a great ride.  Unfortunately the next day I broke my collar bone riding with the Sunday group back in Ouaga. Thank goodness my brother was here to help out!! I couldn't let it slow me down though and we continued to tour the country on the weekends (by car).

Stone Sculpture Garden at Laongo - just outside of Ouagadougou. Can you see the sculptures carved into the rock?

This garden is quite large (unfortunately not very well maintained) with granite sculptures scattered around as well as carved into large boulders.  it was an international project in the 90's. well worth a visit.

Otto on Safari (awake this time). We took my brother Sten to Nazinga (we were there last christmas). it is currently early in the season for seeing animals, but Sten felt like it wouldn't be a genuine trip to Africa without seeing elephants. There were no guarantees...

But we totally lucked out! We were the only ones to see elephants that weekend - there were 3 other groups that just missed this one. We saw another one - very close - on our way out of the park.

Otto was very proud of this action shot.

 

 As I sit at home this morning writing this blog, sipping my stumptown coffee, birds are singing outside my window. Feels surreal writing about the many things i have to be thankful for with this bird chirping away almost close enough to touch. Otto has school today, but we are going to some very good friends later this afternoon for turkey dinner. Last year at this time we had only just arrived and this same family had us over on Thanksgiving and welcomed us into the community. Many people are new in Ouagadougou, so it feels good to be welcoming them at this favorite holiday of mine.

I hope everyone is with family and friends enjoying a meal made with love and pondering all of the things you have to be thankful for.

A classic Ronald ride

Finally some photos from one of my Sunday bike rides. they continue to be a highlight.  One of our group is a young Dutch teacher who takes us on these fantastic, single track, technical rides. we always know when Ronald is the leader. i would never be able to get us back to a main road because we wind through villages, fields, dodging herds of cows. they are some of my favorite rides - especially when it is muddy.

Here is the famous Ronald in the middle of the picture. Half my age, super athlete, nice as can be.

my first fall since i started riding with the group - amazingly enough. Ronald rides really fast on these technical paths - it is some work to keep up, but that is part of the overall challenge for me. love it!

some local 'riders'. bicycle is a major form of transportation here. the locals are in no hurry. they must think we are so crazy in our fancy outfits, riding fast and furious.

"Hardship Post"

I am working in what is considered a hardship post. what exactly does that mean? some days i think i have it so good, i am offended this is considered 'hardship' and then there are all those other days.

Case in point. i arrive home from Minneapolis on a Friday evening (after COB of course for all you DOS people reading this) to find this very large crate in the middle of my living room. the shippers thought it was a great idea to leave it here for me - and scratched the marble floor in the process.

Another joy here. eServices. if you look closely at the photo below, you will see little black dots. those are black flies. now imagine what you see covering every surface of our secondary bathroom. it took me 3 months and multiple requests to get this taken care of. it is frustrating as a former home owner. i would have had this taken care of within the week.

 Ultimately i have little to complain about. We are lucky to be in Ouagadougou. Oh right, but i am talking about what makes it hard... the oppressive heat, not being able to find grocery staples for weeks-months, crazy traffic, donkey carts blocking your way, nobody speaks English :), having to wash and sanitize all produce and the worse thing of all.... no dishwasher.

Not so bad huh!

CALS - Minneapolis

I have just spent the past week in lovely Minneapolis.  I feel a bit bad, because I was badmouthing it here before I came (because it is one of 'those' middle states). Of course i had never been here, but being a PNW snob, i felt it my right/duty to judge it as inferior.  It rivals Portland (at least at this time of year). lots of water, bridges, biking/running trails, amazing buildings and a great mix of old and new. i really like it here.

The course has also been good (Comprehensive Advanced Life Support) - a lot of review of managing emergency situations and practicing procedures (fresh cadavers!!). all of this makes me very glad my background is in emergency medicine. it is frightening to think about what my resources are in Ouagadougou and how i would manage a truly bad medical condition. I realize how much i have taken for granted all of the resources and ancillary support i have become used to, working in the US. now i will just go back and keep my fingers crossed that i will never have to use any of this knowledge.

a little side note about the fresh cadavers. can i just say (to anyone listening), that the people who donate their bodies to science cannot be thanked enough for what they provide us learners. there is just no way to compare practicing procedures on an animal and/or plastic mannequin, compared to a human. it hurts my heart to work on these folks and think about the life that has ended and the loss that is felt by their family and friends, but i hope that they can realize what heroes these people are for giving us the chance to learn.

as for photos. once again, i could fill this entry with pictures of this beautiful city, but you can just look it up on google and the photos would probably be better than any of mine. except for this one...

My crew. These are the people i went through orientation with (Cece, Jerry and Kayle) a year ago. it has been fantastic beyond words to spend the past week with them. I don't know how we lucked out and were brought together. i feel like they are my family (and Jerry likes to call us his wives).

I head out tomorrow. It will be good to be home. I miss Otto and i know there is plenty of work to be done waiting for me.

bad luck

i think i am cursed when it comes to getting items delivered to me in Ouagadougou. Anyone following this blog knows my pain related to getting my car...6 months after it was shipped!! so then i had my consumables shipment (also sent through Abidjan...bad idea). so, it finally arrives 6 months later. but the good news, is that i now have a real camera (no more iphone avant garde art). I have plenty of comfort food with my consumables and even some photos with my new camera.

Proof I bike every Sunday. Here is the wonderful group i bike with at one of our many regular coffee (sometimes beer) stops.

Otto in our current Koulouba house. posing for our new camera photo shoot practice.

Otto's buddy getting a haircut at the local shop. I couldn't convince Otto to get a hair cut there at the same time.

Random street scene. classic Africa!

Back to school

Can't believe we have already been home nearly a month, but then again, Portland seems like ages ago.  We are getting back into the school routine. Sixth grade is much harder - well, more work anyway, not really that hard.  It has been a bit of an adjustment for Otto after a pretty easy year in 5th grade. He even went so far to say that he is mad at his 5th grade teacher for not giving more homework. He is now officially in middle school, so he gets homework in all of his classes pretty much every day.  He is also in band (not by choice...) and chose to play the trombone. he is pretty good - not as painful to listen to him play as i thought it might be!

Work has been more than its normal busy since i returned, because my nurse is on her vacation (for a month). i have been doing everything. some days it is hard to believe i was ever a nurse - but i guess it is like riding a bike. Still, I HATE giving injections - and of course our flu shot stock came in the week after i got back.

After nearly 6 months we finally got our consumables shipment (and after many, many emails...some showing my frustration). A couple of boxes worth of stuff had expired, or will very soon. Fortunately the shipping company is going to go out and purchase and then ship those items to me.  My beer arrived in good condition though and i have been enjoying my yummy IPA.  We also got our new camera, so hopefully i will be taking better photos to put on the blog.

My bike riding Sundays continue and now that we have had a whole new influx of people at post, there are about 30 people signed up and interested in doing the weekly ride. the only problem is we have needed to split into 2 groups, the gentle ride Saturday and the Sunday 'regular' ride (read: FAST and long). We have some good riders here (which i like because it pushes me), and it hard to manage all of us together with the different abilities.  So far it seems to be working - those of us in the regular group are taking turns going out with the Saturday group to show them some of the routes. I went out with the gentle group today to show them the ride we call the Brewery Tour.  And now i get to ride again tomorrow - what could be better.

Lets see if i have any pictures...

My best travel buddie

One of the consumables boxes i received. not bad considering it traveled all the way from Portland, got stuck on a broken ship in Amsterdam for nearly a month and then sat in Abidjan for a month. Even my bag of chocolate chips were in good condition on arrival. just would have been much nicer to get it in June as originally promised...

More Portland love

There has been a food cart explosion in Portland.  somewhere around 500 of these i am told. i have mixed feelings about them (i have had some good and some completely mediocre food, have had to wait 15 minutes a couple of times). and where do they wash their hands? but i couldn't pass this one by with the lovely garden sitting area and bright cart. a great place to enjoy this beautiful summer day and get in some people watching.

Aaahhh Portland

 

Being away definitely makes me appreciate being here even more - if that is possible. i spent the first week in Eastern Oregon. recovering from a very bad cold i got the day before i left Ouaga (I still dont have my voice back fully). then went camping at Clear lake near Sisters. it was so beautiful there - glass clear lake (way too cold for me to swim in!!), amazing hiking to 2 spectacular waterfalls.  Otto and his dad, my brother and dad all came.  i love being outside!!

the weather has been gorgeous here - after what sounds like a less than summery summer. I like to think i brought the sunshine with me.  We went to the Oregon coast for a day trip (Tillamook) and had a picnic on the beach and ran around collecting rocks with Otto. I have been staying at my mom's place - a bit far out of Portland, but it is very nice to have a chance to hand out with her. I have been lucky in that Otto's dad has been working quite bit, so i have been able to spend plenty of time with Otto. Otto has also had a chance to reconnect with his Portland friends (even Liam who now lives in Yuma). I have been catching up with friends. Visited the clinic where i most recently worked - i miss all my work friends/colleagues.  Did a great bike ride yesterday and visited my neighbors.  Life is good in PDX, esp when you dont have a job.

I thought about taking pictures, but i am sure a quick google image search for Portland would show photos much better than any i would take. so instead i have just one photo to share that really describes one of the reasons why i love it here.

Mmmmm, breakfast at Gravy

I have been floating between coffee houses, favorite restaurants and brew pubs - 3 weeks is not long enough in Portland to cover all the places i love.  This is the good life.

We have moved!!

Still in Ouaga, but we moved into town (Koulouba neighborhood). We were able to switch houses with a family that needed more room and although we had a lovely (and HUGE) house, i was tired of cleaning all 7 bathrooms. now we only have 2 bathrooms - shocking i know. 

I actually moved a few weeks ago and have been saving up photos, but i wanted to tell Otto in person because i knew he would be very sad about moving out of our neighborhood because he has a couple of very good friends that live close by. He took it very well (helps that he now has another couple of good friends close by to our new place). we are closer to his school and we can walk to shops, restaurants and to our friend's house who has a candy closet - and Otto does love candy.

The house is exactly what i envision when thinking about a house in Africa. we have a lovely yard with big flowering bushes and trees, produce growing here and there, a much nicer pool and an outdoor patio area.  the house is smaller, but still 3 bedrooms and an office. the kitchen is very quaint.  i am already so much happier in the past few weeks knowing that i have a home that i really like to go to every day after work. it is much better for Jackson (our new dog) as well to have plants to sniff and grass to roll in.

coolest flower i have seen in a long time!!

Our cute little kitchen. guess i should have washed the dishes before i took the picture...

Eggplant is growing randomly around the yard, i was surprised and delighted to discover this and it is very yummy

The plant in the center of this frame is all basil. this is the back side of the house and i was out there one day walking from the laundry room that is near by and i got a huge whiff of basil...that's when i figured it out.  i have never seen it grow so prolifically before.  I will have to start making homemade 'Burkinabe basil' pesto. if i sell enough, maybe it can fund my next trip to Paris :)

What home garden in Africa doesn't have banana trees. these should be just about ripe when Otto and I get home from our vacation. we also have a huge mango tree (good for Otto, not so good for me) and a custard apple tree. i am sure i will discover other thing growing that we can eat the longer we live there.

Sporting in Burkina Faso

Finally got to go the famous bike market today - where you can find a lot of things, some hidden treasures even.  as always the Burkinabe are friendly, honest, gracious. where do these people come from - they live in this hot, land-locked, poor country and if you were to drop some money on the ground, they would chase after you to give it to you.

i also learned today why biking is so big here. the former president (Sankara) decided to give his seal of approval and support to a bike team (touring) long ago and ever since then biking is a huge national sport. i remember my amazement the first time i saw a Burkinabe pelleton (fancy bikes and bright colored shirts/shorts included) racing by on the outskirts of the city.  there is even a 'Tour du Burkina' that takes the riders all across the country (i think it lasts a few weeks...but i could be making that up). what is even more amazing is that many of the roads here are dirt or in very bad shape and here these guys are riding on those skinny tires. so much to love about this place.

here are a couple of photos from the market - hard to photograph the essence of the place. one of my colleagues got a great cross bike for $140. we were all ready to bargain hard, but when the shop owner's first asking price was $150, it seemed dishonest on our part to take a reconditioned Trek bike for much less.

Mechanic for the national team. working on one of their very nice bikes.

 Wanted to throw in a few more photos from the Banfora trip. these are the beautiful rocks.  reminded me a lot of a small version of Red Rocks Nat'l park just outside of Las Vegas. exact same sandstone rock.

this is a good bouldering problem and nice photo op, too bad i only had my running shoes on

this is at Sindou Peaks, the center area, with cliffs surrounding, has been used for movie sets

dont you just want to climb this...

and this...The Domes. i actually think the climbing would be better here as there are tons of features and the rock is more solid

just like at Red Rocks, the rock has an oxidized patina coat that makes for great/interesting hand/foot holds. and it is beautiful to look at...rock as natural art

The weekends here have been so fun filled of late. i head home next week for my vacation in the US and i am not looking forward to it as much as you would think i would be. i just keep thinking about all the stuff i need to take care of - it will be a busy few weeks of errands and appointments. weekends here are truly about hanging with friends and the African pace of life.  i cant wait to see Otto, my family, do some camping, get away from the heat and hang with my PDX friends - so of course it wont be all bad :)