Anywho, Will R. from Alison Hill writes in with this request: "I'd love to hear about what people do recreationally there. I know you probably don't have a ton of spare time, but what kinds of sports, games, or other activities are enjoyed there?"
Thank you dear reader for your question! Permit me to fill my Third Peace Corps Goal quota for the day (sharing Burkinabé culture back home in the states) by answering! Yep, absolutely going to answer that. Any day now...
Have I built up the suspense? I've been working on that for my short stories. But I suppose here is neither the time nor the place. But! If you're REALLY hankering for an activity that takes a long time, go no farther than the classic go-to Burkinabé recreational activity of choice- making tea. It ain't your Grandma's herbals either, hipster readers. This stuff is legit.. Brewed with fresh mint and vanilla sugar, one can take a healthy two shots worth of tea after only two hours of work!
Thank you dear reader for your question! Permit me to fill my Third Peace Corps Goal quota for the day (sharing Burkinabé culture back home in the states) by answering! Yep, absolutely going to answer that. Any day now...
Have I built up the suspense? I've been working on that for my short stories. But I suppose here is neither the time nor the place. But! If you're REALLY hankering for an activity that takes a long time, go no farther than the classic go-to Burkinabé recreational activity of choice- making tea. It ain't your Grandma's herbals either, hipster readers. This stuff is legit.. Brewed with fresh mint and vanilla sugar, one can take a healthy two shots worth of tea after only two hours of work!
Ok, disclaimer, found this picture from cdn.wanderlust.co.uk. I don't know this guy, never seen him before in my life, but it's a much better picture than I could take. Also, my battery charger died so I'm not taking many pictures these days... I'll try to figure out how to give you guys something each post though. Anyways, note the care he puts into serving this tea. Here, you pride yourself on making a good shot of tea. It's basically the ritual of manhood. Maybe. All I know is I really won't be integrated until I can do it myself. EVERYONE drinks tea, and by everyone I mean just the men.
Anyways, you need that mini tea pot, a glass, you're little 100 cfa box of green tea, mint, a TON of sugar, some vanilla sugar, charcoal and a little basket for it and you're good to go! Start by boiling the water over the charcoal (go figure) and add the tea. And then sugar. And more sugar. And more sugar. And other stuff. But the cool part is making the mousse, or foam. If you pour the tea from up high, it creates a ton of foam which is mainly used for showing off. It's necessary to pour the tea back and forth between the tea pot and the glass at least 30 times if you want a decent drink.
Have I mentioned you're serving up to 6 people with this one tea pot? That's why you use shot glasses to serve it. That, and it's extremely sweet. I heard somewhere it's the number one cause of diabetes in hummingbirds. Which are here. And outside of my house. Pretty cool actually...ANYWAYS, taking tea is a group activity. The men gather into groups called Les Greines (maybe that's the spelling?) and just talk about life, love, possibly things a shade below love, and American politics. Seriously, the people here are much better informed than I am... But they brew a pot of tea up to three times, recycling the tea in the pot. Thus First Tea is SO much better than Second Tea, and I'm not even going to mention Third Tea in this blog, it's so not-as-good-as-First-and-Second-Tea. Yeah, suck on that Third Tea. These groups also play music, or play checkers and cards or even play Bocce Ball. Yep, that's right. Crazy popular in the middle of the country. It's pretty fun to watch actually...
But! Back to tea. You drink it, pass the glass back and wait some more for the next batch. Before you know it, you've passed your entire siesta (12-15h) drinking tea, laughing, or asking when you're getting married and having kids. Also, I had a long conversation about Viagra without realizing what was going on at the time. Seriously, I'm into euphemisms as much as the next guy, but not in a second language! That was... awkward... Meh. Now this is awkward... Let's call this post quits for brevity's sake and I'll see you next semester?
Anyways, you need that mini tea pot, a glass, you're little 100 cfa box of green tea, mint, a TON of sugar, some vanilla sugar, charcoal and a little basket for it and you're good to go! Start by boiling the water over the charcoal (go figure) and add the tea. And then sugar. And more sugar. And more sugar. And other stuff. But the cool part is making the mousse, or foam. If you pour the tea from up high, it creates a ton of foam which is mainly used for showing off. It's necessary to pour the tea back and forth between the tea pot and the glass at least 30 times if you want a decent drink.
Have I mentioned you're serving up to 6 people with this one tea pot? That's why you use shot glasses to serve it. That, and it's extremely sweet. I heard somewhere it's the number one cause of diabetes in hummingbirds. Which are here. And outside of my house. Pretty cool actually...ANYWAYS, taking tea is a group activity. The men gather into groups called Les Greines (maybe that's the spelling?) and just talk about life, love, possibly things a shade below love, and American politics. Seriously, the people here are much better informed than I am... But they brew a pot of tea up to three times, recycling the tea in the pot. Thus First Tea is SO much better than Second Tea, and I'm not even going to mention Third Tea in this blog, it's so not-as-good-as-First-and-Second-Tea. Yeah, suck on that Third Tea. These groups also play music, or play checkers and cards or even play Bocce Ball. Yep, that's right. Crazy popular in the middle of the country. It's pretty fun to watch actually...
But! Back to tea. You drink it, pass the glass back and wait some more for the next batch. Before you know it, you've passed your entire siesta (12-15h) drinking tea, laughing, or asking when you're getting married and having kids. Also, I had a long conversation about Viagra without realizing what was going on at the time. Seriously, I'm into euphemisms as much as the next guy, but not in a second language! That was... awkward... Meh. Now this is awkward... Let's call this post quits for brevity's sake and I'll see you next semester?
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