Burkinamom has transformed herself into a French housewife, Burkinacat is doing her best to turn into a dog and a Life in Africa has morphed into a « Vie en Rose » in the Alps of the Haute Savoie.

We left Ouagadougou as scheduled on the 19 of July. Emotionally, I was all ready to go- don’t get me wrong. My mental bags were packed months before I physically packed up our belongings . But it seemed like they weren’t going to let us leave the country when I got to the airport that night . And that wouldn’t have been a good thing, as I think that even one more day in Burkina would have taken me beyond « edgy and stressed-out » and on onto the realms of « deranged and in need of medications ».

In the weeks leading up to our departure, everything seemed to go wrong. Hence my last post, which was, admittedly, a bit dramatic and worrisome.
Our house was robbed back in June and things just kind of got worse from there : endless car break-downs, money concerns, staff problems, etc… Add to all this the astounding work of packing up a six-person household after nine years , then mix thouroughly. Then preheat the entire country to 42°C and bake until done. Really done. And there you have the recipe for one miserable little muffin. That would be me.

I'll go into the details of the move and the trip home in a future post...it was not pretty, is all I will say for the moment. It involved my weeping piteously at the airport, begging to leave the country. Like I said, not pretty.

But now I'm in the green mountains of France in my lovely old house (pics to follow, asap). And my little Burkinacat, Cleo, follows me about the yard as I hang out laundry and clip hedges. I think that she decided that a proper French house in the country really needs a dog and is doing her best to fill the role. I'm not sure about teaching her to herd sheep, but she seems game...

Anyway, I am fine, the children are fine and I am back online as of this morning at about 10am!

I will no doubt soon be moving my blog and reformating it to reflect the fact that I'm no longer Burkinamom. You will be the first to know.

BTW- Many, many thanks for all the messages of support and concern!

Also- Are the Olympics cool, or what? I woke up at 3am this morning to watch the swimming live on tv and got to see Alain Bernard take the gold and make a world record in the 100 meter freestyle!
And Michael Phelps???? Wow!!!!