Landed! Travel to Burkina Faso

Loving it here in Burkina!! I'll post more pics when I get a chance.

New York JFK to Brussels, Belgium

As a group leader, it was my responsibility to keep a head count of my group throughout the trip, though ultimately everyone is really on their own at this point. I was also assigned to be the Bus Group Leader, so I was the liason between the bus driver and my fellow trainees.

We arrived at JFK and had to wait for 2 hours before we could check our bags. Brussels Airlines has very specific weight restrictions for both checked and carry-on baggage. Peace Corps told us that we could bring two checked bags, less than 50 lbs each. No problem. Peace Corps also told us that we could bring one carry-on item and one personal item to take onto the plane. The carry-on item needed to be under 12kg (26 lbs.). Well, we find out when we get there that the TOTAL of our carry-on baggage, including personal item, need to be under 12kg. Panic ensued. There was a scale to the side of the closed ticket counter, so we all began weighing and transferring weight to try to reach the requirement. If your carry-on was over 12 kg, which most of ours was, then we would transfer it to our checked baggage. But, if your checked baggage was over 50 lbs in any given bag, then you would be charged a $150 fee. Yikes. I luckily had space to transfer, so my final numbers were:

Checked Bag 1: 49.5 lbs

Checked Bag 2: 44.5 lbs

Carry-on Total: 11.8 kg

PHEW!

BUT, then we learned that in the back of our Peace Corps passports there are notes to airlines that we are to be charged no fees because we are involved with the US Peace Corps. COOL! Luckily, a lot of the other trainees weren't charged, even though they were well over the weight limits. Our Burkina Faso visa is also in our passports. Super cool!

With regard to the flight, that was definitely the oddest red-eye flight I've ever been on. We departed at 6pm (EST) for a 7.5 hour flight and landed at 7:30am Belgian time. Quite the jump of time zones! I did this when I travelled to London, but the flight was longer coming from San Francisco and it was during the winter, so it was dark outside for much longer. For the entirety of this flight, however, there was a stunning glow on the horizon after the sun went down. Most of the volunteers and I were sitting near each other, so we turned on movies on the fancy entertainment system and socialized. The flight attendants served us dinner and then turned the lights off. But, at this point, there was only 2-3 hours left of the flight. So, I took a short nap and then BAM it was morning outside. Where did the time go? Short summer nights and skipping ahead time zones. That's where it went. 

So, we're all hanging out in the terminal in Brussels, waiting for our connecting flight. Most of us are working off of 1-2 hours of sleep. I will definitely be sleeping during the next leg of the trip!

Brussels, Belgium to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 

I fell asleep pretty much immediately once the plane took off and didn't wake up until about four hours later when there was about an hour left of the flight. I looked outside and saw whiteness. Think about every movie or tv show you've seen where the character has a near-death experience and they're in an all white room. That's what it looked like ourside. Why? We were over the Saharan Desert and the sun was at a weird angle, so it was blinding.

We started our descent and could start to see the ground below. Yup, it looked like every picture of rural Africa you have probably seen!

Airport to Hotel

Ouagadougou only has one lane at its airport, so our plane landed, turned around in the cul-de-sac and then drove up to the airport terminal. I felt like the President as I descended down the stairs of the plane because usually I get off a plane and am immediately inside the airport. It was fantastic. We were immediately met by our smiling Peace Corps Country Director. We were handed entry forms to fill out and then we received our Burkina Faso stamp and walked through to baggage claim. Another Peace Corps admin met each of us with the warmest welcome I have ever received. He shook my hand with a firm grasp, looked into my eyes and said in the most genuine way, "Welcome. I am so happy you are here." He also said I have a pretty French accent in response to my "bonjour." The Burkinabe people have a reputation of being the kindest people you will ever meet. The first Burkinabe I met exceeded my expectations. It was very comforting, especially considering all of us had been jittery and nervous during the descent of our flight.

We then tagged our bags and left them for Peace Corps to transport to the Catholic convent we'd be staying at for the next five days in Ouagadougou. I was assigned with 7 others to a van, handed my passport and proof of Yellow Fever immunization to our embassy agent, received a 36 liter COLD water bottle and boarded our van for the short trip to the convent. Yes, it is hot here! We're lucky though because we just missed the end of an extremely hot heat wave (100-112 degrees Fahrenheit), so it was only 91 when we landed. I'm used to dry heat, so I was perfectly content next to my sweating friends from Seattle and other cooler cities.

The drive through the capital to the convent was incredible. I couldn't stop smiling. Burkina is one of the poorest countries in the world, so it was lavish or anything, but the French on the shop doors and hustle and bustle of the city made me smile. There are NO rules to the road, other than driving on the right side of the road, so it was crazy watching the cars and motorcycles weave with no particular pattern. Some lanes naturally formed (I geeked out watching that as a cognitive science major), but there were no defined lanes. Having a car is certainly a sign of wealth, so there weren't too many. The roads were covered with helmetless motorcycles and bicycles. Don't worry, Peace Corps volunteers are required to wear a helmet at ALL times while riding a bicycle and we are forbidden from driving a car/motorcycle.

The Day We Arrived

We are staying at a Catholic convent, so I feel at home since I've stayed in similar areas before. When I stepped outside of the car I was pleasantly surprised by the smell of the dirt. No joke, it smells like the red dirt hills in Sacramento near where my grandparents live. Instant nostalgia. We immediately walked into the conference room where we will be having orientation for our stay and were immediately welcomed by fans and air-conditioning. Surprised, I was. The training staff introduced themselves, we were handed malarial prophylaxis to take with dinner and we were excused to unpack, shower and hang out until dinner. We are in 6-bed dormitories that have fans.

A group of us walked around the compound and were greeted by birds, jumping lizards, chickens and a donkey. The trashcans are blue receptacles that are scattered between the buildings. My favorite part of the area is a brand new sculpture of Burkina Faso's newly appointed Cardinal. This is a pretty big deal since usually popes do not appoint cardinals to poorer areas, however Pope Francis appointed Burkina Faso earlier this year. I'm sure the people here are very proud. There is a bishop's conference here soon, though I am not sure if we will be here during their conference.

Dinner

We ate "riz gras" for dinner. This literally translates to "rice fat" in French. I think one of our Peace Corps Volunteer Facilitators (PCVF currently serving volunteer) said it's made by cooking rice with tomato sauce and then pouring a vegetable sauce over it. Anyway, it was delicious and served with an overcooked chicken wing and veggies.

For drinks, we had the option of having water and/or a soda. If you chose water, you were handed a bag, yes a bag, of cold water. Do drink a bag of water, you tear a corner with your back molars and then hold the bag and squeeze it into your mouth throughout the meal. I grabbed a Coca-Cola because I was in desperate need of some sugar after all that sweating. To my surprise, Ouagadougou was listed as the bottling source on the cap! AND this is the good Coca-Cola, the kind made with real sugar, like Mexican Coca-Cola, not high fructose corn syrup. It was delish!

Curfew

We have a dusk to dawn curfew while staying in the capital for safety reasons. So, after dinner some of us found a cool place and played Bullshit, the card game where you have to place consecutive cards and you're called out if someone thinks you didn't place the correct cards. Naturally, the game gets heated and some of my friends start yelling BULLSHIT and are laughing. One of my dorm roommates walks over and says, "we're at a convent, say bull crap!" It was hilarious, that certainly didn't stop them. Then we played a mean game of Egyptian rummy, or whatever you want to call it. It's the game where you slap cards when you see doubles, sandwiches, etc.

Dorm Room

Then we went to bed! Then woke up at 6am for 6:45am breakfast and 7:30am class time. I love it here!!