A few weeks ago I hosted Demyst. This means that trainees of the new agriculture stage came to my little village, my litte courtyard, my little hut and learned what it's like to be a real-live PC Volunteer. To be demystified. Right.

The frequency with which I reference movie lines should be a clue as to what I miss most (or almost most) about home. I miss movies. And it's not as if I'm without movies here in Burkina. Between what I brought and what's been given to me, I've watched enough movies to make my APCD cringe. Favorite movie? Well, it used to be Lawrence of Arabia . . . look right and you'll see my favorite quote from that (or any) movie.

But let's examine more closely that philosophic line given by David Lean to the character of ol' T.E. Lawrence. At the time our pal T.E. says, The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts,  the good Lieutenant is still in comfy Cairo and hasn't yet ventured into Arabia. Nay, he's not yet eaten Bedu food. Hasn't yet drunk from the Harith well. Ah, the Harith are a dirty people. And so he doesn't yet know that he'll have five days of diarrhea from the Bedu food, nor that he'll get parasites and amoebic dysentery from the water at the Harith's well. I believe the same can be said of my demysters and their upcoming 27 months in Burkina. . . and who am I to warn them. Oh, wait! I was their demyst hostess.

I had a good group of new trainees. I'm confident that they'll each find their way and become excellent volunteers in the new agriculture program. Despite all my complaints about my French skills, I know that they've got the best LCF (Language and Culture Facilitator), Cathy, because she was my LCF. Here are the girls and I at the farm, or maisonette, sitting in chicken poop and saw dust. Remember, the trick, new PCTs, is not minding that it hurts. Although the chicken coop is far from complete (still awaiting those high-volume egg producers), it was a fun experience to show off my first real project and run our fingers through dozens of chicks.

Two of the new trainees discovered the wonders of my marche and pagnes. I think you can guess which two. And there's Kyle holding my pet genet, Ono-Flower. Little Flower has now gone to live at the farm, and no, that's not a euphamism. Flower is now at Ranch Nazinga where she'll thrive until she's old enough to make baby genets and assist with the repopulation of genets here in The B.F. Cute, huh?

So is that a shower cap that Elijah is wearing? What tailor would create such a cap? And if Cathy indeed is the best LCF, how do we explain my lack of French? So over a year in country -- do I yet mind that it hurts? We can only speculate.