My Third Interview
Preparations
Going my third interview I chose another country
called Burkina Faso. My intentions were to gain a better understanding of a
different culture from my own. I am interested in knowing about their
traditions, customs, food, religious beliefs, and daily activities. I would
like to then compare this information to my own culture. I thought about who I
wanted to contact for my third interview. I decided to approach a friend named
Patrick who is introduced from my roommate and also from that country. We
decided on Thursday 11/8/2012 at 12:00pm in the library. I reserved a study
room to conduct the interview, and I brought my recording device as I did
before.
Description
I thought my third interview went the best because I had a better understanding
of the interview process than I did in the first two interviews. I was more
confident which made me less nervous as well. Patrick was nice because I bring
some snacks to him. He had informed me even
though the interview went well there are some things I could do to make it more
successful. Instead of jumping from topic to topic I should find ways to
connect the topics with questions that lead into each other. I thought I did a
much better job at doing this.
Country Report
"The
country of free men" is known to the world as Burkina Faso. It is a small
nation, about the size of Colorado, located in the north-western region of
Africa. It is surrounded on all sides sharing boarders with six neighboring
countries including: Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Niger. The
French occupied this area from 1895 until they gain their independence in
August 1960. During the time of colonization this area was known as Upper Volta
(1). Though the country is very poor the government has remained relatively
stable for a number of years in an area of the continent which is hit by
frequent instability. Also, the government “is attempting to improve the
economy by developing its mineral resources, particularly gold, improving its
infrastructure, making its agricultural and livestock sectors more productive
and competitive, and stabilizing the supplies and prices of food grains” (2).
Today,
the government of Burkina Faso is a Republic. They have a multiparty democracy
in which the citizens vote on elected officials (1). Though, this hasn't always
been the case. The history dates back before the colonization period. At that time
it was ruled by the Mossi Empire. Then the French invaded and took control over
the area. In 1960, Burkina Faso gained their independence from France. Over the
next thirty years there were a series of military coups that took power over
the government. It wasn't until 1991 that a democratic election was held(2).
The
national language is French because of their history of colonization. Oswald
informed me the main greetings are Bonjour, Comment êtes-vous? They also greet
by shaking hands, hugging, and kissing on the cheek. According to Patrick
though, it is polite for you to wait to greet people who are older. Out of
respect you must wait for the elder to initiate conversation or a handshake.
Education
in Burkina Faso is highly valued and respected. Parents save up a lot of their
money in order to send their children to school because their education is not
free. Like in the United States, it ranges from 1st grade to 12th grade but
there day to day schedule differs. In Burkina Faso, children go to school from
7:30am until 12:00pm. They have a two hour break to go home and eat with their
families. They then return to school and finish at 5:00pm.
The
most common modes of transportation include walking, bicycles, motorcycles, and
cars. They do have a bus system but it is crowded and unreliable. Many children
get their own motorbike around the age of 15 to drive themselves back and forth
from school. To travel between countries the most common form of transportation
is by train.
Burkina
Faso is comprised of the two main religions Islam and Christianity. There is
little conflict between the two religions in this country. Oswald told me,
"During Christmas it is tradition for Christians to cook and bring food to
their Muslim neighbors and vice versa during Ramadan." Patrick also
confirmed this fact. He said, "It’s difficult to decide who is Christian and
who isn’t because we tend to celebrate those together [...] we kind of like eat
and celebrate together. So sometimes it difficult to tell is Christian and who
is not. I think that is the main difference with the U.S."
According to Oswald and Patrick the main staple food is
called tô. It is a paste about the consistency of mashed potatoes but is made
from millet or corn flour. It is then combined with your choice of sauce.
Patrick said, "[we] have all different types of sauce you put on the side.
Can be baobab, spinach, it can be different stuff." During the interview I
failed to ask details so I did a little more research myself. I found that
baobab is a type of tree that produces fruit. "Baobab fruit looks like a
large velvety-green coconut. Inside are large seeds, coated with powder that
has a tangy taste of caramel pear with a hint of grapefruit" (3). It also
contains a wide variety of nutrients.
By taking part in the interviews and
doing my own research I learned a lot of interesting facts about a country I
didn't know much about. I found some similarities and differences between
Burkina Faso and the United States. It is similar in terms of the government in
power and parts of the education system I believe this may be due to the
Western influence inherited by France. However it differs greatly because of
their economic situation.
Work Cite
Me: Hi, How are you doing today?
P: I’m good, how about you?
Me: I’m so-so. I’m going to start
the interview with asking where are you from.
P: I am from a West African country
called Burkina Faso, it used to be called Upper Volta 40 years ago but now it
is called Burkina Faso and Its about 60 million people and a little bigger than
the size of Minnesota.
Me: Ok, so a fairly small country.
P: Yea, we are a small country.
Me: Ok, What are you going to school
for?
P: Basically I came to study
information technology. I ended up having my two year degree in information
technology. I wasn’t sure about it so I went back for another two year degree
in business. I transferred here to St. Cloud and now I’m going for natural science.
So I am kind of looking like I’m everywhere probably looking a little lost but
I will find my way.
Me: Yes, you will. How long have you
been in St. Cloud?
P: Oh, it is my first semester.
Me: How do you like it?
P: It’s a little different from
Virginia where I transferred from. But I like it so far.
Me: Is there anything that St. Cloud
State could do to make your stay better?
P: You mean St. Cloud, the
university?
Me: Yep the university.
P: Umm, for the moment since I’m not
really used to the system yet and I don’t know exactly what’s going on around
here. I am not sure if really give an answer to that question because I really
need to see what is around here. When I got here I just started school and I
didn’t get time to get to know the environment better. I didn’t really have
time to know what could make it easier. But for now I think everything is ok. I
don’t have any problems
Me: When you transferred here, as it
easy for you to transition into school or is there something that could have
been better?
P: Ok, well I could say something
about the transfer because the transferring has been really tough. I had to go
meet with the faculty that had the classes that I wanted to transfer. And they
have to do an evaluation and stuff. Personally I wasn’t aware of that. That I
had to do it myself. Because I sent my transcript and when I opened my student
account I used see all the classes that transferred. But I didn’t know that
they weren’t final. I didn’t know they weren’t exactly where they are supposed
to be. So I had to go back and see. I got some of them but not all. And since I
was the first person transferring from my school in Virginia I think that was a
problem too. They didn’t really help deciding which credits transferred also.
But I wish there was better system between the Midwest and East coast
transferring system.
Me: Alright. Are you in a lot of
stress while in school here?
P: This school is tougher than I
thought. Stress, no I’m not a lot of stress unless I get a lot of assignments.
But not really, I can handle it right now.
Me: Well, that’s good! What age did
you start school? And can you tell me a little bit about the education system
in Burkina Faso.
P: School, you don’t mean college,
right?
Me: Yea I mean like all your school
throughout your life.
P: We start school when we are 5
years old. We go to preschool and stuff. And I think the major difference is
that we go to school at 7:30 then we get out at 12am. Then you go back at 3pm
and get out at 5pm. I think here you go from 8 or 9 and get out around 2.
Depending on the school and grade you are in.
Me: Yup you have your lunch break
but you would stay on campus.
P: Yes, but for us you go 7 to 12
then 3 to 5 from 1st grade until 12th.
Me: Is that so you can go home and see
your family and have a lunch break.
P: Sometimes, we have those schools
where the kids would stay in the dorms
Me: ok so if you don’t live on
campus for school how do you get to and from school, what kind of
transportation do you use?
P: Back home, it really depends
until about 15 years old your parents will give us a ride to school. When you
are about 15 they get you a motorcycle so you can be independent and going to
school by yourself. That’s when you really start to go by yourself.
Me: So, what are some other modes of
transportation people can use?
P: Yea, we have bus but as far as
respecting time it is not really accurate, it is not as developed as it is here
because we have really few buses because we are a poor city and stuff. So
people rely more on bicycle, motorcycle, and friends and family to go to
different places.
Me: So mostly cars, walking,
motorbikes. Would you maybe take the bus to the market to get food or is it
close enough for you to walk?
P: No, usually the markets are
really close. I think like Division would be like the same distance. But you
would have the markets about 5 to 10 blocks around you. So you could kinda walk
to the market or bicycle sometimes.
Me: Ok, So when you’re at the
market. What kind of food is popular to buy, or what food is your country
famous for?
P: Umm, we famous for a type of
food, let me see what it looks like. You know you have those uhh like at KFC.
What is the name of the thing again? Uhh Mashed Potatoes. Something like mashed
potatoes but it could be done with corn instead or wheat one of those two.
Me: ohh so it is the consistency of
mashed potatoes.
P: yea, you then have all different
types of sauce you put on the side. Can be bokra, spinach, it can be different
stuff. That’s mainly what we are known for.
Me: So that would be like your
staple food, what is it called?
P: It is called To. Like T.O.
Me: What countries food do you like
the most?
P: Well, in terms of food I’m not
picky at all. I’m not picky so. I’ve tried Chinese it is ok. I have had Tai,
South Korean, I like American food sometimes because it is greasy. But I think
everything is ok.
Me: do you like spicy food, or more
sweet?
P: Spicy, yes. Spicy because we have
some spicy stuff and I even think our food is spicier than yours.
Me: Yea…
P: Have you tried it before?
Me: No, but I know that they say a
lot of foods are spicy in the U.S. but when you try them they aren’t.
P: Yea, sometimes we have food that
we cook, and it has that real spicy things in it. So kind of spicy, yea.
Me: Ok, what is a kind of food you
would eat during your religious holidays?
P: umm, I’m Christian so basically
no we don’t have a specific food but for Muslims they have a specific food that
they eat at the beginning of the fasting period. It’s a pancake like, more like
a bun cake kind of like a donut. It’s done with wheat. But I’m not really sure
it depends to differ between cultures. But at the end of the fasting the
slaughter like the sheep and stuff.
Me: Ok, so what are some religious
holidays that you celebrate?
P: Christmas would be the main one,
Easter too.
Me: Is there something specific you
do for those holidays in your country that you don’t think Christians in the
United States do? Like what do you is culturally different rather than
religiously different?
P: Ok, culturally different back
home when we have those holidays, sometimes its difficult to decide who is
Christian and who isn’t because we tend to celebrate those together. Like
assume it is Christmas time, for example, some Muslim families what they do is
go get some groceries and stuff and bring them to their neighbors for them to
do their celebration and that’s what Christians do when Muslims have their
celebration. So we kind of like eat and celebrate together. So sometimes it
difficult to tell is Christian and who is not. I think that is the main
difference with the U.S. I think it tends to be more individual, if I may.
Me: You have more of that community
based faith but in the U.S. it is more individualistic. They don’t really mesh
well.
P: Yea, exactly.
Me: I really like that. I wish it
was more like that here. Is there anything you do on a daily basis for your
religion?
P: something that I was supposed to
do but I am not doing is that every time you wake up and go to bed you say a
little prayer or something. But sometimes it is a little tough because
sometimes we wake up thinking about the work we need to do. Or this and that
but we forget. We are supposed to go to weekly mass or follow some rules like
at the end of this week we are done with our fasting period. During this time
we are not supposed to eat meat on Fridays.
Me: ok, so what is like a typical
day for you?
P: A typical day is, wake up in the
morning, listen probably to some music, go to school, spend an entire day
studying, go back home, umm cook something to eat if I did do so during the
weekend and check emails and stuff call friends. Go back to bed.
Me: Yea, the life of a college
student!
P: Yea that’s life.
Me: What would be a typical day in
the life of a child in your country?
P: Oh, that’s pretty easy. They wake
up in the morning, make sure you get your breakfast, then go outside with your
friends and do what you want to do. And probably around 5 it is time for you to
take a shower. I mean if you are 10 and below. Probably around that age. Then
make sure you eat around 6 and around 9 you go to bed. That is the typical life
for the children back home.
Me: Yea pretty similar I would say.
Is there any sports that the children like to play or watch?
P: Yea, Soccer, that is what we do.
Me: Yea, I think much of the world
besides here. Huh?
P: Yea, I don’t understand why you
guys don’t call it football.
Me: I don’t really know either.
Let’s move on to another question. Is there something you could tell me about
yourself that people don’t really know when they first meet you? Something that
would give me an idea about who you are as a person.
P: Yes, probably one thing is that I
don’t talk too much. And people, when you don’t talk too much, people don’t
know how you are inside. I don’t really know who I am at first when we talk.
It’s like time after time I will let myself out so you can see who I am. And
ahh, people tends to have this first impression about you that in my case it is
always different impression you would have after some time. I don’t really let
myself out.
Me: So, like until you get
comfortable with the person and get to know them.
P: No not really get to know them
but if I am comfortable with them.
Me: well, you are very friendly at
work. Very outgoing and nice.
P: Thank you, I try to. I don’t know
if it my personality or culture but I don’t think it makes sense to work with
people you don’t know. I believe that, like think, you never know what is going
to happen. It is always good to know the people you are working with because
they might need you or need them like somebody might be in trouble. If you
didn’t know that person well you might not step in to help that person. I think
it is always good to know everybody you working with. I feel like some people
at work it doesn’t really matter to them. I think maybe it’s the culture or
something.
Me: Yea especially like some of us
work in the front of the house and some work in the back. I feel like in the
front we know each other so much more and then you guys know each other well
but a lot of the servers don’t come back and try to get to know you. They just
come back there and try to do their own thing. But to communicate well you need
to get to know each other. So when you first meet someone what are the
greetings you use in your country?
P: In my culture whats happening if
you feel that the person is older than you, you don’t sake their hand or
initiate. You need to wait for the other person to initiate that then you can.
Otherwise we say like Hi, how are you? Are you doing ok? No, like hug or kiss
on the cheek.
Me: if you know the person, or
friends or family would you hug or kiss on the cheek?
P: Uh, ya know we not, as far as
hugging and kissing, we not really into those two types of things. Were not
really into hugging. We only kiss during celebrations, like wishing a happy new
year. Otherwise if someone is coming to visit in your house, it is hi, how are
you? And a handshake. That’s about it.
Me: I see, would you say hello in
English or do you speak French since it was at one time a French colony?
P: yes, we do speak French. But we
do speak the native languages as well. And in school we learned English but
since we do speak it a lot. The speaking wasn’t that well.
Me: So more of the writing.
P: Yea, writing is better.
Me: I’ve heard that before. So,
since for a time period your country was taken over by the French and then you
gained independence, what kind of government is in charge of your country now?
P: they say the government is kind
of a democratic government. But I don’t think so because after 1960 the first
president, he wasn’t democratically elected it has more to do with ah,
colonization and stuff. I think 4 or 5 years later there was a coup. They took
him down. I believe the following one we had another coup. 3 or 4 presidents
out of 5 presidents were taken out.
Me: So they were taken out of power?
P: Yes, by a military coup. Then the
military in charge of the coup would then get power. So they were like I don’t
like this president. They take him out of power.
Me: Right now was the president
elected in to power?
P: Ok, because it started twenty
years or so ago. He took power in 1987. Then in 1991 there was an election that
he won. Then at that time the president would be for two terms of 7 each. And
at the end those two terms he kind of changed the constitution to make it to
five years. Since the constitution had to be changed it was like the two 7
years didn’t count. So he was able to go back to his first term. Right now he
is on his second 5 years. And there were some rumors that about the fact he did
something to the constitution to be in. so we don’t know yet. But thanks to him
the country is stable. This is something we owe to him. Besides that we still
have poverty. It’s really hard on the population. Before the military coup, a
president that was for four years, during that four years we didn’t need to
import any things. But since then for years now we still have to import stuff.
So I mean about how you handle the government. It’s the politics.
Me: Yea all about politics. How has
that been different from living in the United States, they are both technically
democracies, but how do u think it differs?
P: I think it is pretty much, back
home we don’t feel like it differs much, because here and back home we are not
close to it. We go on with our day to day lives. But the main thing I see here
is that it is more likely cultural and economic. Here you have more
opportunities to get a job, everywhere and stuff. You know? Easier to start
your life and stuff. Its better.
Me: Ok, yea that’s good. Well I am
done with my interview. Is there anything you would like to add to our
conversation that we didn’t talk about?
P: One thing I may say, I was doing
presentation on my country for a cultural event and I was doing some research.
And you know the united states peace corp? right. We do have some members from
this corp that tends to go back to my home country to do their different
things. I found out that 1 out of 10 doesn’t come back to the U.S. They don’t
come back because, what they said is that the life over there is much more,
people are more welcoming and stuff. I’ll tell you my first experience. When I
came to the U.S. my first problem was I am living in an apartment I don’t even
know who my neighbor is. I’m like ok, that is the way it works around here.
When you go out, even if you know who the neighbor is, if you meet the neighbor
in the stairs or something and he is on his way. I’m like ok, what am I supposed
to do am I supposed to stick to myself or not? It was really cultural shock but
as you go you start to find your way.
Me: People can seem closed off
unless you know them personally but sometime I wish that we were more opening
and welcoming to our neighbors and get to know each other. Ya know, you may
live on a block with all these people but you don’t even know who they are. You
might get the wrong impression about them. But if you don’t really know them
how can you judge them.
P: It’s like I said, your neighbor
might be in trouble without you even knowing it. I don’t think the U.S. is
going to get to that level soon.
ME: no I think it may have had that
more friendly to each other but now it is so closed off and individual. You are
supposed to live your own life. You need to do this and live on your own. You
don’t need anyone else, kind of.
P: I understand it from the fact
that it is tough in the country. You need to be working and make money to pay
rent, and the bills which is a little different from my country. If you are
late on your rent you can just go to the landlord and they will give you a two
three months delay. But here if you are late you’re going to have fees and it’s
a little different. I think its based on society you tend to be more of a
capitalistic kind of society.
Me: yea I think our society is based
on this merit that you have to provide for yourself and do things on your own
and it is acceptable to get help from others.
P: Yea, that’s a good feeling too. I
think if we had that back home it could help. Like you should do things on your
own but if you need to get help from friends and family its ok too.
Me: yea that is true. Sometimes you
need that. Life is hard.
P: Yea, life can be hard.
Me: Ok, but thank you so much for
coming to meet with me. It’s been great!
P:
No, it’s my pleasure.
