Burkinabe food processor

I was excited when we bought a wooden mortar/pestle.  Now I have an easy time pounding garlic and parsley, rather than mincing! Sometimes all the vegetables are pounded in the mortar before adding them to a sauce.  


People also use the mortar for pounding spices and dried fish.  Some housewives actually pound millet, corn, or rice flour using this.  Pounding flour sounds exhausting.
The thudding of the pestle in the mortar is frequently heard an hour or so before dinner time. Some days you can hear it in houses all over the neighborhood.  When we first arrived in Burkina, Adama, upon hearing the thudding, would often say "Someone's cooking!"  I guess he never heard this kind of dinner bell while he was in America! 

How it's going

 A few days ago my husband asked me a question that I haven't forgotten.  "What time in your life has been the happiest?" he asked.  

I thought it was a question I should have to think about, but the answer immediately invaded my mind.  

It is now.

This is the time when I've been the happiest. 

My husband said, "If you tell that to people, they probably won't believe you."

Why would I be happy now?  

I'm in one of the poorest countries in the world, surrounded by dust, dirt, and lizards.  I miss my family.  I'm lonely and far from friends.  I feel strange whenever I go out.  I'm entertaining more new experiences than I've even recounted on this blog.

What would I tell someone who asks me what attracted me to Mr. Millogo so much that I left everything and came to harsh, horrible Burkina? 

What would I tell someone who thinks that I'm missing out on a the "free" years of youth, of schooling and society?

What would I tell someone who is caught up in whirlwinds of doing this and that, always keeping busy and entertained?

I would tell them that keeping busy and entertained is a trap to prevent you from giving time where time is due.  

I would tell them that schooling and society blind youth, keeping them in darkness as to what really matters in life.

I would tell them that there is someone more powerful and attractive to me than even Mr. Millogo, that worked through him to bring me here.

That someone is God.

That Someone is why I am happy, and why I am confident that every moment that I call "now" will be the happiest in my life.  I say this because every "now" of my accomplished life I have come closer to God, and it is my heart's desire that every "now" for the rest of my life I will come closer and God will come closer to me.  And He said that He will give me my heart's desire!

 I won't try to pursue happiness, because that leads in the opposite direction.  Looking away from so-called happiness means denying comfort in culture, acceptance in society, and applause from church, family, educators, and friends.  What can be pursued that will lead to comfort and peace beyond happiness?

Pursue God.

"Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you."

I believe that this happiness can only come about by obeying all God's commands through the grace of Jesus Christ.

If I tell this to people and they do not understand, then let them not understand.

To even once refuse to conform to the pattern of the world is to step onto a path that will thoroughly strip away everything until the truth is clear.  To be honest, it used to feel like a curse to not know how to do anything.  But now I see it as a clean slate to work from.   I am a baby again; emotionally, physically, spiritually... 

People will talk about nonconformity and so on, and they will pretend that they are different.  But it is easy to see that they, too, are sucked into the same culture they grew up with, boxed into the same morals and traditions of their society, acting from the pressures of those with whom they are familiar.

There is only one way to avoid conforming to the world.  Finding that one way is the Light that lights my path, even in the darkness of the darkest valley.  That one way is Jesus! 

The problem is that most people stop there.  Okay, Jesus saved me!  

True.

But don't continue to crucify him.

Make your life be about running the race to obey God in truth and in spirit.

This takes immersion in all of His commands and intentions - this takes the planting of God's words in your heart.  This takes much prayer.

This takes realizing that the truth can only be found when we turn everything upside down from what the world teaches because we realize that the devil has already turned everything upside down from how God created it to be. 

 I know that you all like when I post pictures of material things. But I don't agree that that's all you need to hear about what's happening in my life and why it is important for you, too!

Handshakes and Please

Adama was telling me about a student in his class yesterday. This student could hardly be convinced that a sentence with a "Please" could be an imperative sentence.  Adama, realizing this was a misconception fostered by culture, explained to her that in Burkina, a command is usually very demanding, while this is considered impolite in some other cultures.  The student was having trouble grasping that a command could possibly be polite!
I think I can honestly say that NEVER ONCE since coming to Burkina have I heard "Si'l vous plait."  It felt strange to say when I tried it. 
There is a different way of being polite in Burkinabe culture.  That would be greetings.  It is as strange to pass a stranger without saying Good day as it is strange in America to pass a stranger and say anything at all.  And it is appreciated when you say it with gusto! 
At any gathering or visit, if you cannot shake hands, you apologize sincerely.  If you're eating and your hands are dirty, you offer your wrist. 
Last month I led the English club at the American Embassy.  The American woman who normally teaches the club was absent but gave me all the materials to lead discussion about "fist bumps."  We were to read an article "Fist Bumps More Hygienic Than Handshakes."  We got some discussion going.  One guy in particular was a very avid defender of handshakes.  I think that if the rest of the class hadn't been asked to defend other types of greetings, they would have expressed the same sentiments.  Handshakes represent respect, acknowledgement, and connection.  It was conceded that fist bumps could be an alternative with the threat of Ebola. (Ha, that's what their usual American teacher mentioned they could talk about.) Someone said then that Ebola must aim at killing the culture. 
 One interesting type of handshake here that I haven't seen elsewhere is the familiar handshake with friends.  You shake, and as you're leaving the handshake, you snap your fingers off the other person's fingers.  Some people have tried it on me, but I haven't acquired the talent yet! 

fruit

December brought some delicious fruit - watermelon, pineapple, papayas, and mangoes to name a few.

 The fruit you may not know in the photo above is the grey baobab fruit.  It has a hard shell but is light in weight - comparable to a dried gourd.
I had no idea what to expect when I broke it open with a hammer...

 But I ate a whole half right away.

I tastes like tamarind, but is completely dry and melt-in-your-mouth chalky.

You suck on the white part and spit out the fibers and seeds.

 Enjoying mangoes. 

"I'm home in Burkina at last!"

Ca c'est bon.

I ate...how many?