Did you know that the bacteria called Giardia Lambia is known as the cover girl of bacteria? OK kids, get our your pencil and paper. Draw the valentine-shaped heart. Now place three dots in the center, to form a happy face. You know . . . two dots for the eyes and a dot for a cute little mouth. Now at the tippy-tip bottom of your heart, draw a long curly line for a tail. Voila, the image of Giardia Lambia under the microscope. And no kidding, even in the medical community of infectious disease, it's truly known as the Cover Girl for its attractive little shape. Hey, I don't make the rules. There you go -- medical lesson of the day.

I was sick today. No, not what you'd expect in West Africa. Merely a little upper GI issue; and very likely not Giardia. Let me stress that again -- upper GI issue. Yes, toilet hugging was involved. Take a handful of Dramamine and get back in bed. A minor blip on the PCMO radar.

This week we're back to training here in the capital. More language; and I'm in love with my LCF (Language and Cultural Facilitator). She seems to know exactly what I need to gain language skills (besides speaking very slowly and exhibity an extraordinary amount of patience).

Also more SED classes this week. We SED trainees are brainstorming about what will become our IGAs (Income Generating Activities) . . . the ideas that will enable our host country nationals to bring-in just a little extra income. IGAs are in addition to our primary projects. So I'm leaning toward a cooking club, but perhaps that merely because food is an all-consuming issue here. Can you tell that my tummy is on the road to recovery? So regarding the cuisine, I'm always asking myself: What would Dede do? What would Alton Brown do? In all likelihood, the Burkinabe need mango-pineapple salsa like they need a hole in the head. Or maybe they've been waiting all their life for a Texan with a taste for home-brewed cider and southwestern chile. We can only speculate.