There are a few things about Burkina Faso that, after a few weeks of acclimation, you get used to. You get used to the diarrhea-inducing, oil-doused food; you get used to herds of goats invading your front lawn; you get used to old women walking around with their breasts hanging out for all the world to see.
As a Peace Corps Volunteer/American/white person, however, one thing that is nigh impossible to get used to is the amount of attention you get. I’m talking about “attention” in the simplest, most basic sense of the word. In case you haven’t read the little blurb about Burkina on the sidebar to your left, this is one of the poorest countries on the face of the earth. As such, there isn’t much of a tourism infrastructure here, so the only non-African visitors you see are the few who work for foreign aid/service organizations (such as yours truly). Occasionally, you might catch a glimpse of some chain-smoking, parachute-pants-wearing* French vacationers who have briefly stopped in Burkina on their way down to Ghana. Otherwise, you are the only freckled white dude you know.
In short, the paucity of other Westerners here makes you instantly exotic to the Burkinabé. Everywhere you go, you turn more heads than you can count. Everyone screams your name, wants to talk to you, tries to shake your hand, tries to latch onto your clothing, etc. It must be somewhat akin to what it’s like to be Diana Ross.
I, along with a few of my fellow Peace Corps kids, have developed a term called “The Nassara Gaze.”
Nassara is the Mooré word for “stranger” or “foreigner,” and is the word every Westerner will hear more than anything else in northern Burkina (in Bobo, you hear “tubabu,” which is the Jula word for “stranger/foreigner”). When I’m out and about on my bike, all I hear is “Nassara!” exclaimed a thousand times in every direction, as if the locals are collectively putting out an APB on me. The "Nassara!" is usually accompanied by a facial expression that consists of a wide-open, droopy mouth and bulging eyes, as if the person bearing the expression has just seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a Pizza Hut ad or something -- hence The Nassara Gaze.
All this attention can lead to some safety and security issues if you’re not careful, but, for the most part, this is just a solid representation of the hospitable culture here. People just want to welcome you and greet you. I'll be honest, though: it's obnoxious to have hordes of people all up in your grill when you're trying to fix a flat tire on your bike in the 100° heat -- when this happens, my intenal monologue is just like, "WHAT THE %$/?# IS SO &(%$ING FASCINATING ABOUT ME THAT POSSESSES YOU CREEPS TO STAND LITERALLY -- AND NO NOT LITERALLY IN AN EXAGGERATING WAY -- 2 INCHES AWAY FROM MY FACE?! #%$&!!!!!!!" However, I ultimately understand that this is merely an extension of the innate Burkinabé curiosity and take it as an invitation to step out of my shell.
Plus, it's just kind of fun to pretend to be Diana Ross in my head.
*Seriously, what is the deal with French people and parachute pants, and who told them it was okay to wear them constantly?
I have no reason to post right now other than to tell you all that a total of FIVE Burkinabé have told me I resemble one Chuck Norris, better known as Walker, Texas Ranger and the designer of the renowned Action Jeans that bear his namesake.
