27 January 2012
FN: 5
Work!
Yesterday evening, I learned that I will finally be getting my FAIJ training in Ouaga so that I can actually begin doing the job that I am putatively here to do. This means I’ll be leaving for Ouaga Sunday afternoon, and I’ll be working and living there until the following weekend. I get a per diem, so the cost shouldn’t annihilate this month’s budget, and I stay at the transit house for free, so I don’t need to worry about that cost either. Hopefully, it will be a week of good work, good food, and fun.
However, what it may not be is a week of blogging. We have high speed internet at the transit house, but my days are going to be very full. I can’t accurately predict in advance if I will have the time or inclination to blog or not. Hopefully I’ll have both, but since the social schedule in Ouaga can be a bit hectic[1], consider this fair warning.
With that being said, I can’t describe how pleased I am to finally have real work. I know I’m supposed to be here for the community and that my “job” is really secondary to what I’m here for, but my town is large enough that making a go of it purely out of secondary projects has been daunting, to say the least. After next week, I should have a scheduled something to do each day (if I want it), and a scheduled place to go do it. That should really help me get out of the house and into the community in a less transitory manner.
One final note: my right tear duct is clogged, and the eye is all puffy and swollen. Effing dust. I can barely see right now, and to be honest I can barely think either. So apologies for what I know is a short and unusually disjointed post. I’ll try to be better next time.
[1] The transit house is basically like a small dorm: it’s nice, but people think nothing of staying up until 3 am chatting, playing soccer on the porch, what have you. There are many things to do at the transit house (including hot showers every morning!!), but getting 10 hours sleep a night is not one of them.
