Too Much Information

SOO heres a bit of an update whether you like it or not!

I recently experienced a particularly unpleasant rumbling of the tum-tum. I ignored it, drank some oral rehydration salts (yum!), and ate a banana. Several days later, the rumbling persisted and was accompanied by burps tasting of rotten eggs (yummier!). I won't go into further detail. I'll just say I've been giving my quads a work out lately.

I looked up these symptoms and all signs point to (drumroll): Giardia!!! I've been treating it and it seems to be subsiding sans anti-biotics; though if it comes back our medical officers will be getting a call. The biggest threat from it is dehydration, and I've been making sure to drink plenty of (filtered) water.

It's just one of those things you know you'll end up facing at one point or another when you sign up for Peace Corps. The reality is, I've had spectacular health thus far. I know volunteers who have gone through several bouts of Giardia (or the rumblin' runs as I affectionately call them), had amoebas, and Malaria. So I'm pretty grateful.

In other news...

I found a local night spot that plays American music. I was walking along when I heard the unmistakeable voice of Phil Collins. I'm not a Collins fan, never have been. I was raised better than that. But the music piqued my interest. I walked into the bar and started up a conversation with the DJ. I asked him what other American tunes he had and he pulled out a stack of CDs. Among them: STEVIE WONDER! SAM COOKE! BOB DYLAN! AND.......the scorpions. Well 3 out of 4 ain't bad. Don't get me wrong, I thought that The Scorpions did a great job with the Freejack soundtrack, but they aren't my first choice when I want to relax with a cold one.

Needless to say I'm pretty happy about this find. Usually if I want to go out I'm berated by extremely loud African dance music. People here tend to crank the volume on whatever it is they are listening to. You can't hear yourself think in most bars, which isn't all that different from the states. It's even harder for me because of the language barrier. I find shouting imperfect French over blaring dance music to be anything but relaxing.

I've been at site for a little over a month straight, and I've got the itch to head to Ouaga and get myself a cheeseburger. I just received news that there will be a Halloween party in Bobo. Bobo is on the clean opposite side of the country, and I'm not up for 10-12 hours of transport for a Halloween party. Maybe I'll just head to Ouaga for the 30th and make a weekend of it. I plan on visiting Bobo at some point in time. But I would only do it if I had a week to spend there. It's just not worth it to ride for hours and hours on a hot, dusty, bus for 2 days in another city.

Thats all for now!

Oh PS I can Skype now! If you email me at emjdj1@gmail.com we can set up a time for it. I'm 4 hours ahead. My skype profile is emjdj1 also, or you can just search Evan Johnson in Dori, Burkina Faso. I'm fairly sure I'm the only Evan Johnson in this city.