Lessons in Patience

Today is the beginning of my third week in Burkina Faso. In those three weeks I have learned quite a bit, but know so little. Patience is not my virtue right now.  I want to know French NOW and I want to be working NOW.  I learned how to ask "how much?" in French. Yesterday I walked to an outdoor market not far from our house to buy avocados.  I was able to tell the women that I wanted avocados, but they didn't have any.  One of the women took me back through a maze of vegetable and fruit stands until she found a woman that had them.  The area was somewhat covered overhead so it was darker and flies were everywhere.  It was a little disconcerting at first, but I proudly asked "how much?" in French and when she replied I had no clue what she said!  Woops - need to work on the answer once I ask the question!   Daniel helped me this morning on the names of different currencies. Definitely something I will need to concentrate on learning.

I also drove by myself yesterday for the first time.  Although that doesn't sound like much, here I felt triumphant when I made it to my destination and back!  There are no road signs with the names of the roads, many of the dirt roads look the same, and there is no point of reference like mountains. There are so many types of vehicles such as bicycles, motorscooters, motorcycles, donkey-drawn carts - you name it!   I'm driving a 8 or 12 passenger van and am very thankful that back in the States I drive a Suburban . Next time I will venture a little further out.

We attended the Central Church again yesterday.  There was quite a bit of confusion because a woman who had breast cancer had died that morning.  She had no money, so the church was attending to her burial and caring for her four daughters.  The Youth Group was to have a meeting that afternoon, but it was cancelled so that they could dig the grave.  Since the woman had no money, her body had to be buried quickly to avoid costs for holding it to the next day.  It was very impressive to see the response of the group.