T plus 1 mois, 5 jours

i've sent in samples to megavoice, but as of yet no response, that of course was only this last weekend, i sent in 16, 15-second samples, it took me just less than two hours on friday afternoon in bobo at a nice air conditioned internet cafe, oh yeah, and about that, i ended up returning home on saturday morning rather than friday night ...

the plan was to come back by the last bus on friday evening, the 6:00, home by 7:30, however, susan (the fulbright scholar from john's hopkins doing research here in burkina and staying at the mission) was returning the states and was meeting friends for pizza and invited the flemings and myself, this was at 7 and so this would mean i would have to stay the night in bobo and return the next morning; i hadn't decided for sure whether i would stay and so at the time when we got on the bus it still stood with the family that i would return that evening, therefore, to get a message to felix, i wrote "if i wasn't back by supper time i will have stayed in bobo for the night and will return in the morning" on a piece of paper, folded it into a paper airplane and threw it out the window as we passed the walkway to the house, i wasn't sure if felix would receive the message and so i figured that i would call pascal and have him deliver a message to felix if i decided to stay; i ended up staying, as you know, and tried to contact pascal but couldn't reach him, thus i remained in bobo and decided to return home on a bus the next morning; i returned on the 10:00 and got home about 11:30, i discovered that felix had received my message earlier that morning and had thus known what i had done, he had figured that i wouldn't be able to get home friday evening because the bus would be full of people coming to the market the next day and so figured i had stayed with the flemings; God is a worker of miracles and somehow got the message to the house and to felix, and i can even put it on my resume as real world experience with airplanes

donna and kay are working on muffling the echo in the recording room of the studio with egg cartons, 500 of them arrived on saturday form bobo and are sitting in my "office" as we speak waiting to be hung on the walls and ceiling

i've got a few things to find in the market tomorrow, so that should be fun, actually going to the market with a purpose rather than just looking around and seeing what's available

my place/job/various tasks in the megavoice project clicked the other day when donna and i were talking about the various source material that she had for me, i had read the process for cleaning audio and now was seeing the material and the future of my work here, my job is clear and it looks like fun, especially because i get to work with nice, new studio, building and equipment

T plus 28 jours

sorry, i just realized this post is 10 days after the last one, but then again, that'll probably be fairly regular later in the year

the past week has gone well in the studio, i've been getting together some samples to send to ed zagofsky, the megavoice technician in israel, i'm heading to bobo soon to get to a faster internet connection which will hopefully take less time to post the files on ed's ftp site, it turns out i might get pizza in bobo with susan and the flemings if i stick around long enough

the equipment is still working beautifully, especially the mac, he he he, i'm actually starting to get a little hooked on the whole setup too, for recording/editing audio kinds of things, it's really pretty cool what i can do with all this stuff

felix and i have been working on typing in the evenings every once in a while, i read a bit from a national geographic and he types it out on the old pentium two comp running win 98, then again, it's still newer than the one my family had as our second to most recent home computer (though he does have an ancient laptop and i've seen two of them that are maybe close to as old as i am)

he and i butchered one of his roosters the other night to have for meals the next day, it was very tasty and very intriguing to see the differences between north american and african processing, they sure do save and eat a lot of things that we would never think to do

we've had fruit for lunch everyday and so going to buy it we've found that the price doubles when a white man walks up to buy instead of a black man (or woman), they think that the white man has too much money that he doesn't know what to do with it all, i'm starting to think that's really the case, even in other countries than the u.s.

God is great
God is good
He teaches me patience
He teaches me truth
He shows me the way
to be real

sorry i can't get some pictures out just yet, i've had some complications on this end but will hopefully get it going here soon

just for information's sake, i don't think i'll be taking near as many pictures as i figured, but i've got some decent ones

T plus 18 jours

deb byler is arriving in orodara at approximately 5:00 (this evening), donna went to meet her in bobo

the internet cafe in orodara finally has a connection, i haven't used it yet so i have no idea how fast it is, it's 500 cfa for and hour, and a respective amount for a half-hour

i'll be sending some samples of what i've recorded to megavoice in israel, they'll then give me feedback on how i can clean it up and make it good enough for them to make an audio player with it

i got the speaker back that i blew, they work beautifully now, though i can't ever hook them up to a 110V current, the new transformer won't accept it, and yet that's not a problem because you can get just 110V straight from the wall in burkina, so we're good

we've had rain for the past few days in a row, today we had a fair bit of rain and so i don't know how i'm going to get from the studio to the main compound without getting myself muddy up to my ankles, this is gonna be fun, and i get to bike home yet too (~ 2 km)

i talked with phil bergen the other day about cool hobbies to pursue, not just here in burkina, and we talked about some of the things that he and john mark (his son) had the silversmith make, to make a long story short, i'm planning to hang around the blacksmith's place and maybe pick up a few things

i'm learning how to:
- stop counting days
- have a life
- learn

T plus 15 jours

the studio work is coming along nicely, i got some of the lessons for loren and donna's radio program pulled on to the mac, it looks as though everything will come together nicely and i might start recording with pastor abdias next week sometime

"la table ronde" is going on this weekend here at the mission compound, we met last night, got an overview of aimm's work here and the current situation on a bunch of things, i also met a bunch of the missionaries that are still working in burkina, phil and karen bergen, blaine and michelle , and anne kampaore, it was good to be part of their discussion on staying mennonite and evangelising through relationships rather than through large blanket campaigns

the dakuos have received me well, as i did not doubt they would, and i am beginning to settle in to their family on some levels, though i still don't understand half of what passes between them, felix and i talk a fair bit of english together and so i am learning what he perceives in this curlture and his beliefs on many things, and he still maintains that i do not ride a bicycle to the studio everyday, i ride a horse

one thing i have heard previously and also pulled from the conversation last night was that this is a culture of fear, as phil said "when the child asks if there are monsters under his bed his mother will reply 'yes, and they will eat you if you talk to loudly,'" with this came their concept of missionary work as being involved with relationships rather than making converts

another good quote came from loren "mennonites are like manure, if you heap them in a pile they begin to heat up, but if you spread them out in the field they can start to do some good"

God offers freedom

Jesus said "follow me"

and i chose a relationship with both

T plus 13 jours

today was the first full day of work, no more messing around with the software and microphones (like in church when they leave the microphones on after the service), i got some samples of the story of amos recorded with two different tape players, deciding which one gives the best recording and thus which one to use to collect all of the cassette material, oh yeah, i also fried a speaker by hooking it up to 220V without flipping the switch in the back from 115V to 230V, we'll see what it takes to fix, it doesn't look to be worst case scenario (i promise i won't do that again)

i moved in to felix's house last night at 11:30 (my time) and got everything set up, everything is going well, it looks to be a good year, the kids are great and felix and justine are very kind, it is good that felix speaks english so that i am not lost at all times for these first few months

i still have plenty of time to read, i think i will be doing a immense amount of that this year, still plugging away at sherlock holmes, i'm thinking i'll have to save some of that to read throughout the year, i'm also starting things fall apart by chinua achebe (we read a critique by him of the heart of darkness, joseph conrad, in ap english), i've got a few books on islam to read after i finish the achebe book, and, yes, loren and donna do have "celebration of discipline" (which i plan to read)

when felix took me to the studio this morning on his moto, we noticed that the children said "toubabu ca va?" but didn't greet felix as well, interesting, i also had a talk with felix at lunch yesterday about black people changing their skin color to try to look white, he is disgusted at the practice, coincidentally, the first time i say anybody that had done this (besides michael jackson) was as i was riding home on toussaint's moto that same day

God is showing me africa

God is revealing their lives

God is pointing out my privileges

God is showing me that i am a white man

T plus 11 jours

we arrived home (orodara) from saraba later than expected, we actually finished the journey in the dark, loren and donna have always said that nothing is that important that you need to travel at night in burkina faso, you must surmise the rest

village life is very relaxed, it's kind of nice, naps every afternoon for an hour (or maybe two) plenty of time to read, and always someone coming around to give their greetings, stopping to talk before going to the field, etc.

currently in saraba, everyone is harvesting their crops after a very wet rainy season, loren and i walked out to the fields this morning to see friends and their crops, we walked around various fields and even saw a farmer that was working there for a year to earn some money to take back to his family in bobo, i also got some pictures of an enormous termite hill and a few scorpions we found in a tree

we keep getting rain, the big topic of discussion was how much it has rained, they've had a rain a week for the past 5 months, it was raining this morning when we went out to the fields and so on the trip home, loren got a good running start with the car and flew over the bridge and up the hill on the road going back to somogohiri just north of saraba

i was known in saraba as the nephew of the man that helped roof the kitchen/storage building in the entz courtyard (that would be russ toevs, my mother's older brother)

many people said that my work was important because it was best to have loren and donna present in that area, i was freeing them of the job of being in orodara doing the computer work so that they could live with the somogho people

God has patience to be with his children

God has time to wait

God has time to listen

why shouldn't i

T plus 8 jours

i think that this blog thing may end up being just me telling stories, after looking at yesterday's entry i realized that each paragraph was probably twice as long as any previously published

the second day of lunch with the dakuo's was noodles and fish, i am still being treated as a special guest there, slightly more simple than yesterday but more expensive, we also had china green tea afterwards today, it was very sweet and strong, good stuff though somewhat of an acquired taste, felix says that he cannot sleep after drinking it

felix also says that he likes his afternoon naps, he says he always takes one or else he feels tired the rest of the day, i told him i like naps as well

the internet is still being annoyingly slow on the entz's computer, they have 40 messages and they aren't cooperating in coming in, though tussaint's computer seems to be doing fine, that's the one i'll be using after he is done each day

we got the flemings' "vila" cleaned out today so that they can paint the living room, stored a few things and then did a bit of repair work as well

i got to go to the market this morning with donna and kay, they bought lots of things, mostly food, and i walked around with them carrying a few things and taking some pictures

i am getting better at catching more french but there's a lot to go, it seems as though everybody that knows english knows a lot more english than i know french, then again that may be because they aren't afraid to speak

it's the last day of the quarter, loren checks the exchange rate and i realize, hey, tomorrow is the first day of october

i'm an american

but i can change

because i have to

to burkinabe

with His help

i will change

with His power

i will abandon america

with His grace

i will become a missionary

in burkina faso, western africa

T plus une semaine (7 jours)

things are coming together for the studio, i got a desk for the computer and accessories today when loren, tanko (daytime guard), and i cleaned out one of the storage sheds (magazins, yes i already knew that word) we also found some long lost language tapes which will be given to the bergens (another missionary family here), everything is shaping up and starting to roll forward

today i got some things recorded with the mbox, pulled it out of the box (not really since it was packed in a suitcase without the manufacturer's box), plugged a mike in and set it rolling, of course i read a little in the book to figure out how to start the thing recording, but other than that it's pretty simple, i ended up just keeping 11.5 minutes of the power-glide french tapes that i had this summer for study, i had recorded a little of my voice to test the microphone, but put that aside in order to get something that mirrors my first job(s), now all i need to do is read some more on how to clean up these audio tracks that i'm recording and i'll have everything down pat that i need to know for the year, ha, i'll just have to start getting creative if that ever happens, that could be really fun (evil smirk), don't worry, i'll bring it back with me

i was talking with donna this evening and she said that we might just have one of the best systems in the country, for audio recording that is (by the way, the mac will last for, max, just less than 5 hours on it's own power, another reason to get a mac), she then told me that i should go look at the setup at the the radio station if i doubted her, as she was talking she said "... they got a computer ...," i laughed pretty hard at that one, thus they may eventually have people/groups coming from far and wide to do some work or have it done, that way the church can pay for the electricity for the building, etc., sounds like a plan to me, we'll see how many times they get me to come back here, or maybe somebody professional like orlando penner, the guy from canada that helped them decide on all the equipment in the first place

the internet finally started working for us again today, the company had cancelled the whole missionary account instead of just the sub-accounts that were requested to be cancelled, evidently loren and donna have 40 emails coming in to them, however, they've only been able to receive 8, the system is still being a little sluggish, but the connection is 46.6 kbps, rather than the usual 52

i also have many emails waiting for me on tussaint's computer but haven't read one yet because we had a hopping game night tonight with "the old geezers" (it's their own words not mine), the entzes, tom fleming, and i played a game of seven-up while kay (tom's wife) observed and joined in story telling, it was pretty great, what a friday night of entertainment

lunch today for me was with the dakuos, felix came and picked me up on his moto and returned me as well after an excellent meal of rice and cabbage sauce along with cucumbers, tomatoes and onions, also a couple hard boiled guinea eggs, oh yeah, and evidently his family is fond of a mexican soap opera that they have on at two that's pretty horribly dubbed in french, the mouth doesn't really match and then you see the mouth do the break-into-pixel-squares thing, anyway, tv may have beneficial value after all if i learn some french from it yet, don't worry, i won't be attempting to star in any french soaps until hell freezes over; however, the rolling stones did get back together

saturday is market day, i may get to take some more pictures, i've only taken about 90 so far, if this was any other vacation or entertainment event i would've easily had 300 by now if i hadn't already started my second card (409 on the one card), looks like i might have to get with it, pictures here are more the property of the subject than the photographer

God is teaching me to see his plan

God is teaching me to have fun

God is teaching me life

T plus 6 jours

the studio is now cleaned out, all the extra wood is removed and all the doors are painted, the floors are also swept and washed (relatively clean), however the fumes are still fairly potent and so i don't get to move all the stuff in until later this week, there is also a need for tables in both the recording room and the computer room, when both of these things are accomplished, i will move the goods in, until then, i'm still enjoying writing these entries on the beautiful mac

donna and i met with felix today about my moving in to his place, the other young man that was staying there, immanuel, vacated his place prematurely, so i am able to make my permanent residence when i am ready, yeah for pit toilets and toe and sauce, but the dakuo's (pronounced dock-yo, that is felix, justine, and family) do have an indoor shower

it sounds as though loren and donna will be returning to saraba for a short time (three days) to introduce me and set a few things back in order after their absence, we will most likely head out on sunday, the 1st, and stay until tuesday sometime, loren and donna still have to get ready for and host "la table ronde," a meeting of the area missionaries on the following weekend, by which time i will be moved into the dakuo's and possibly have the studio set up in the new building

i am just now experiencing my first little bit of sickness, that is from the unfamiliar germs/bacteria with which i have chosen to surround myself, nothing much, just a little, oh wait, you don't really want to know, never mind

God is dependent

God is omnipresent

God is omniscient

God is omnipotent

God is the creator of the entire universe

God is my friend

God is worth my time

am i worth God's time

T plus 5 jours

i am beginning to understand more and more french, by no means am i close to perfect, however, i can respond every once in a while, though i be not secure enough to do so, and i can grasp much of a any average conversation; ha, all those years of french and this is all i can do, gotta love my language skills

meeting pastor abdias coulibaly today was an interesting event, we talked about many things related to the studio and set up to meet there tomorrow and work on cleaning it out so that i can set up the equipment as soon as possible, for now i am possibly setting up in my room at the compound

also, pastor abdias has worked out my housing situation with felix and justine and i will learn of the details tomorrow when donna is present to hear as well, he only informed loren and i today at our meeting that he had it finalized

well, it turns out that i haven't seen a monkey yet, then again i am in a "city" and probably won't see many all year, thus the chances of me getting one as a pet are quite minimal, also, it would most likely add another responsibility to a year that can easily be occupied elsewhere, though it would have provided a welcome distraction from other puzzling/troubling thoughts

it's kind of nice to take life slower for once, the break in the afternoon is absolutely beautiful, also, the sun seems to set much earlier and then there's not much else to do but have supper, converse a little, and then go to bed, it'll be nice throughout the year

oh what i would not like to give for a maybe a little taste of america again, yet i've realized that it's wonderfully fulfilling to not see waste like in america, nothing is wasted here, not even the cicada that kay fleming killed today, after leaving it on the floor and coming back a few hours later, most of it was gone due to the ants that had been at work in their absence, then again, evidently these two inch long cicada are also caught and eaten by the children, evidently they have some decent body mass to them, hmm, sounds like a tasty treat

need i be hesitant in my walk

need i stumble on a pebble

must i be distracted by insignificance

must i ponder secondary things

i am learning to be burkinabe, and

God is teaching me to be a missionary

T plus 4 jours

i see a little more of this beautiful country everyday, the bus ride out to orodara gave some good views of the stumpy trees and fairly widespread vegetation in the southern and eastern parts, farther from the desert and closer to the ocean

it truly will be interesting to learn more of islam as i grow up in this city of predominantly muslims, loren and donna asked if i wanted to read about a certain topic this year since they have quite a personal collection of books and so i am soon to be set up to read all i could ever wish on islam and muslims since they have an extensive collection of books on that topic, the year will tell whether i wish to move on to other topics as well

i continue to be reliant on God to keep me going amidst tiredness (not too much jet-lag, just the normal college kid needs more sleep kinda thing) and lacking in connections with more familiar things, especially because of the language barrier that i have kept in front of myself, partly still pride in not wanting to make a fool of myself and also perceiving that i do not have quite the vocabulary that would be good to have for relatively fluid conversation, i look forward to living with felix and justine so that i may feel more comfortable in showing myself the great fool that i am

God is faithful

God is just

God is willing to help me out

God is willing to let me learn

God is the one with his hand over all

God is the one who never sleeps

God is God

God is my God