Wild Wonderful Ouaga

Hey guys!  Since I have nothing to do around here, why not start this up again?? 

Its been a long four years,  but we are back in Africa!  Burkina Faso, to be exact! Ryan and I knew that we would be back on the continent sooner rather than later, but we both had different ideas about where we would actually be posted.  I have three rules when it comes to moving to Africa.  It might make me sound "boujie" or stuck up, but they are my rules. 

Sabrina's Three Rules of Postings to Africa are:
1-There must be a beach with in an hour driving distance.
2- The at least second language of the country must be English
3- There must be DPO mail available.

And with Burkina, I got the mail. (which might be going away :( ) And now that i see it written down, my list is boujie.  Oh well, deal with it! 



OK, so lets go back a couple of months.  Almost a year to be exact.  Ryan was scheduled to go TDY from Stuttgart to Norfolk VA.  And while he was there we were going to find out where our next PCS would take us.  So this did happen.  And at first we were headed to Kinshasa, DRC.  Ummm.  Well, that is certainly not what I expected.  But I started to do my research.  Eh, seems like it will be ok after the initial psych out that comes with these big moves.  Fast forward a couple of weeks, to this phone call:
Ryan- Hey babe,  hows it going?
Me- Fine, why are you calling?  (See people, I don't even talk to my husband who is across the ocean on the phone!!)
Ryan- Weeeeeeellllllll...
Me- Lawd, where are we going now?
Ryan- You are so good.  Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Me- Gesundheit.

Cue the freak out again.  And cue the research.  Thank goodness we had friends that were already posted there, and we were in touch on the regular. (Thanks Dom!)

Here is a little disclaimer.  Do not google Burkina Faso.  Unless you want to know things that you probably do not want to know about the country.  Its one of the poorest in the world.  Things are not safe outside of Ouaga.  And this is now where we live. 

I know, I know.  K and I would not have been able to come here if it were not safe.  Ouaga itself is great (so far).  Our neighborhood is ::nice:: But the icing on the cake are the people.  Holy moly, you will not find a nicer group of people.  Always offering help, and definitely always with a smile.

This move was a little different than our last to Africa bc of the training and experience we have as a family.  When we arrived in Rabat and Ryan went straight to work, I locked Knox and I in our bedroom and didnt leave until Ry came home.  And i did that everyday for about two weeks.  I was terrified.  This time around was a little different.  Yes, Ryan went to work right off the bat. Grrrr.  But I came in with a better attitude.  What is the point of being scared?  (Of course its ok to be scared, but it didnt help me last time) This time I had to show Knox that everything is and will be ok.  I was harassed more walking around the streets of Morocco than I am here.  I just get looks now, but always followed by a smile and a wave.  I have gone out by myself.  I have walked to and from the school a dozen times.  Yes, its only two blocks away. But I did it.  I have ventured to the embassy on my own.  I can do these things now.  I have grown as a person, and I have a little person who depends on me to be the mom he needs.  We have a housekeeper and a gardener who are here every weekday during the day, and a night guard every night.  So I am never alone in the house.  Oh and of course we have LaceyLu and our newest addition, Franklin.  (oh my obsession with tortoise health should be a whole different blog post!)

Wow, this is turning into a long rambling post about blah.  Sorry, folks.  I promise other posts will be more organized and thought out.  This is a great way to bide my time until I might have something to do.  I am **patiently** waiting for our shipments.  Supposedly one will be here this week and another next week!  If there are a bunch of rambling posts about nothing, just read them and laugh at me, for my amusement. 

Im going to try to remember to bring my stuff out with me when i leave the house, I dont usually bring my phone anymore. Hopefully there will be photos to add soon.  Everyone keeps asking for a tour of the house, so maybe Ill do that today.  Maybe.

Also, our old skype phone is up and running and you can call it like any other US number.  Let me know if you need it.  Facebook is always a great way to get a hold of us, also we both now have BFA whatsapp numbers, and now thanks to Cam Im on something called MarcoPolo.  She cracks me up! 

OK, well let me publish this and get the ball rolling on our ever exciting and always expanding Malarone and Mosquito Nets Adventures!

Cheers from Ouagadougou!