Ok, right off the bat, we should apologize...it has taken way too long to publish our first blog posts, but as this is our first blogging try, we get a little slack.  Now that that's out of the way, I'll try and get you up to speed on our lives here in West Africa.  Aside from the motos (which you can read about in the other post), the first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane in Africa was an American flag...seriously!  When you come off the plane there is a little shuttle that picks up all of the passengers for transport back to baggage claim.  And hanging from the rearview mirror of the shuttle was an American flag air freshener.  Talk about a warm, sweet welcome!  As this was our first experience in Africa, we were very curious as to how America would be viewed here, and we could not have been more pleasantly surprised.  Not a day goes by that we don't see a young kid walking down the street in an Obama t-shirt or those wonderful little air fresheners hanging from rearview mirrors.  Politics aside (because most people here are not that interested in US politics), having someone that they can identify with as President of the US has really energized US support in Africa.  In fact, Kelly even heard a speech recently where the local speaker implored the audience to do a little research into Obama's policies so that they could love him for what he does, and not just because of who he is.  Whatever it is, we feel very welcomed here and the African guide books certainly do not exaggerate when they say that the Burkinabe are the nicest people in Africa.  Mostly because of their hospitality, this has been a relatively easy transition.  We have started to find a nice group of friends made up of Americans, Europeans, North Africans, Burkinabes, Africans, Asians, and everyone in between.  Even Farofa (or "Randolph" if you are our maid) could not be happier.  She loves playing in the backyard near the garden, barking at the guard, and has even ventured to the edge of the pool (she is still way too scared to jump in).  

Some highlights:  The first few weeks were very much about figuring how the embassy works and where one buys food, what one does for fun, and where one goes out to eat.  It is a little hard to describe (maybe the pictures will help) but this city is like none we have ever seen before.  Just not built the way we are used to, so you could easily drive by the nicest restaurant in town without even recognizing that there was anything there.  That, and navigating through the motos, were the biggest challenges at first.  When you first arrive here you basically just have what you brought with you in your suitcase, so not much.  The other things start to arrive 1-4 months later, depending on the shipping situation in Togo or the flight schedule of Air France, so you quickly become very used to living without much.  It turned out to be a nice lesson though, in that we really discovered that we don't need all that much to be happy.  We're not complaining that everything arrived reasonably quickly, of course, but it was very comforting to find out that we can be perfectly happy without all of the trappings we've accumulated over time. 

We'll include some pictures so you can get a good idea, but the most incredible/terrifying experience here was when we sat on/rode crocodiles.  Some background...the Burkinabes consider crocodiles sacred, believing that throughout history both crocodiles and humans have saved each other’s lives so that there now exists a sort of detente between the two species.  So for a "nas'arah" (white person) that means you have the opportunity to go to the local watering hole (just 30 minutes outside of town), hire a guide for an hour, and go out to meet the crocs.  Your friendly guide (CPR and first aid certified I'm sure) goes to the water's edge and brings out the largest croc he can find with a big stick...by large we're talking 12 footers here.  The idea is that you also purchase a live chicken at the park entrance to feed to the crocs.  You feed them the chicken, the crocs love you, and then they let you sit on them for a minute or so.  Well the day we went, they ran out of chickens.  So here we are, playing the role of chicken, as 20 crocs slowly make their way out of the lake and up onto the shore.  The friendly guide assures you that these crocodiles are indeed sacred and just don't eat humans, so why don't you come over and sit on one.  As he says this, the other 19 or so crocs begin to take an interest in their guests and start to form a circle around you.  So you timidly walk over to the largest croc (you don't want to be called chicken, lest the crocs think you really are one) and do this sort of fearful squat thing where you bend your legs over the croc, force a smile for the camera, and the guide pushes you down even further onto the croc, saying "tu n'es pas assez proche!" (you're not close enough!)  TERRIFYING!  Needless to say, we made it and will certainly bring any and all of our guests to visit the sacred crocodiles when they visit...who's coming first?!

As for other wildlife, we have had the opportunity to take a canoe into a hippo lake and see a young hippo at play from about 30 feet away.  In our backyard we have the most incredible lizards and geckos, brightly colored and so sticky that they can hang upside down over the patio as you swing in the hammock.  We were also here for Ramadan, which was a very interesting experience for us.  We can now definitively say that the dates from Tunisia, Burkina, Egypt, and Morocco don't hold a candle to fresh Algerian dates.  One of the most beautiful things about this country is the level of religious tolerance that we've seen.  The country is about split between Muslims and Christians, with about 20-40% of the population also following Animist religions.  Maybe it’s because there has been so much intermarrying or because so many people already believe in two faiths, but I have never seen such appreciation and respect for other religions.  Burkina might be a little behind in development, but when it comes to religious tolerance the rest of the world could definitely learn a lesson from our friendly Burkinabes. 

So, just a small taste of our lives so far...we promise to write more often and paint a more complete picture of everything that we are experiencing here.  We have a lot to look forward to this month...a visiting Tenor from the Paris Opera Company, our first horseback riding lesson, and our first vacation...a trip to Morocco!  On top of that, the raining season should be drawing to a close, which means the best weather of the year is not far behind.  We do miss all of you (and America) very much.  Watching college football last weekend definitely brought up bittersweet memories of autumn in America...the chill of autumn and pumpkin picking here just won't be the same.  All are welcome to visit and we hope to see as many of you as possible here riding our crocodiles in the next two years!