The Morning Commute

The steps of my 1.00-mile morning commute

1. Exit my courtyard

My host brother insists on walking my bike outside the courtyard every morning.

 2. Turn right outside my door. 3. Turn left onto the main dirt road.

The courtyard with the yellow gates is next door to my courtyard and where my host dad grew up.

 4. Dodge the ditches and turn right toward the bank.

The main dirt road that connects to my street (can you imagine the river road in the ditch on the left?)

 5. Ride toward the bank and turn right onto the paved road.

I drive by the entrance to the bank atm every morning and say "bonjour" to the security doorman.

 6. Head toward Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.

Turning left would take me to the market.

 7. Turn right at the roundabout. 

No traffic lanes, good luck getting around the roundabout!

 8. Ride uphill.

Typical paved road in Burkina Faso.

 8. Keep riding.

Vendors sell liters of gasoline to the motorists. It's cheaper than going to the gas station but of questionable quality.

 8. Slow for donkeys.

There's always that one "ass" backing up traffic. (Sorry, the pun was too tempting.)

 9. Turn left into the Peace Corps Training Center!

On the left you can see the boutiques next to the training center where we can top-up our phones with airtel time and//or buy items such as mangoes, soap, candy, etc.

My Host Family's Home

My Room

Le balai

I'm usually only in my bedroom for sleeping because it gets pretty hot in there during the day. Electricity is very expensive here and my host dad was nice enough to give me a fan, so I try to only use it when I'm sleeping. It makes a HUGE difference in my quality of sleep. It also works as fantastic white noise during loud thunderstorms. The floor is concrete throughout the house, so I always wear flip flops. My door is about 2 inches off of the ground, so it is not rare for me to see bugs in my room once in a while. I sleep under a mosquito net, so I don't worry about them then. It's the surprise 6-inch black beetle on my curtains that makes me jump and go grab my host brother for assistance. He's a 14-year-old boy. Bugs don't bother him. Anyway, I had my first sweeping experience after about 10 days in the house and now I understand why it's good to sweep every couple days here. A lot of dirt gets tracked in, in addition to bugs that die from eating my bug spray (I sprayed my room and then left for the day, as recommended by Peace Corps). The sweeping device here is the "balai" (buh-lay) which is only about one foot long. Talk about a good exercise for your back!

Shower

My host family does not have running water, so I take bucket baths twice daily: immediately upon awaking and again before dining. Whenever it's around the time for me to shower, I'll hear a thud of a bucket outside my door saying, "hint hint, take your shower." I grab my shower items from in my room, grab the bucket full of water outside my door and take a few steps to the other side of the hallway to the shower area. To take a bucket bath, I use my 12 oz. plastic cup to scoop up water and pretend it's a transient showerhead. It seriously saves so much water. Want to lower your water bills? Consider switching to bucket baths. Or turn off the shower when you're washing your hair, shaving, etc.

Latrine

Sorry if you wanted me to leave a little mystery, but I warned you that I would keep it real on this blog. Here's my toilet for the next 8 weeks. Some restaurants have toilets, but most places don't have running water and thus provide a hole in the ground. Usually the surrounding walls are only about 4 ft high and the area is home to flies having a party. I'm EXTREMELY fortunate that my host parents keep their latrine clean. I don't know what they do, but there are less flies in this outside latrine area than most gas station restrooms. I'll be sure to learn their ways so I can keep mine this nice at my future site.

Burkina Faso shower area

Burkina Faso Latrine

Courtyard

Chez Moi - My host mom came out the door just as I took the picture!

Voila my host family's stunning courtyard. Doesn't scream Africa? I know. Flowers mean bugs, especially mosquitos, so  seeing flowers is rare. Want a pretty yard? You're going to have to find another way in malaria-infested West Africa. So, am I safe here? Yes, of course. Peace Corps wouldn't allow a trainee to stay someone that isn't safe. I take malarial prophylaxis everyday and though mosquitos are definitely present, they don't seem to be too much of an issue here in Leo. As for my host family, I have no idea if they also take malarial pills. They're definitely wealthy by Burkina standards, but I don't know what their healthcare is like. 

My host parents' nursery

My host dad is a retired electrician, but I think he still makes a living by growing/selling/planting baby trees. Within my first few days living there I asked him if he sells the plants and he said no. Maybe he misunderstood my question, thanks a lot language barrier, but I don't really know.

On particularly hot days, it's probably about a 15-20 degree Fahrenheit difference under the large tree (below) than outside and probably a larger difference compared to the house. It gets so hot in my room that sometimes my liquid makeup sounds like water when I shake the container (P.S. at this point, most of us girls have stopped wearing make-up, it's wonderful). This is also the tree under which I do my laundry ever Sunday morning. If it's too hot inside during a soccer match, sometimes I'll go sit under the tree and right letters, journal and/or do homework. I call moments like these "Peace Corps moments." There are certain expectations that a lot of us have coming into Peace Corps, and sitting under a mango tree writing a letter is definitely a #peacecorpsmoment.

My brother (right) and his friend staying cool under the tree.

Donkey (left), latrine (center), cactus (right)

My host family has a donkey, but I have never seen him in use. They don't have a farm, so I don't know why they have a donkey. Maybe he was a gift. I need to figure this out. He stands there tied to a tree all day, every day. My room is right next to the back door of the house, which has a direct route to the latrine. So, I pass him every day on my way from my room to the latrine. If he's feeling especially sassy, he'll follow me toward the latrine (square walled area in middle of picture) so that my exit is blocked when I am finished. If he's in a particularly bad mood, he'll back himself up so that his rear end is facing my escape. This immediately becomes a game of dodge the donkey kick. So far, I'm winning, but I'm well aware that one of these days he'll throw some kicks when I least expect them. If I feel like pushing my luck outside of the dodging games, I pet him on the nose. After about the third stroke he decides it's time to snap at my hand, so I stop. We have a love-hate relationship. At least it's mutual. ;)

Family Space with TV

The chair on the far left is where I eat all of my meals.

I played recreational and competitive soccer from ages 5-15, but I never got into watching professional soccer on tv. I've watched so many soccer matches in the past 3 weeks that I now accidentally call it football during conversation. It seems as my French fluency increases, my conversational English decreases. I've just come to terms with speaking Franglais at this point. All of our classes are instructed by locals following Peace Corps procedures from Washington DC. So, even though I'll be in a cultural, technical or safety course, half of the material is delivered in French. I wake up thinking in French. Just wait until I learn third and fourth languages here. My head might explode.

Well, that was quite the tangent. The whole point about me talking about football was that I watch it every night with my host father and brother. It doesn't matter which continent is playing, I have seen majority of the matches. I come home from the training center, take a bucket bath, then bring my homework out to watch the game and socialize. Okay, let's be real, the socializing consists of me and my host brother making "ooo" noises at the tv whenever there's a collision or goal or whatever. My host family always has "my chair" ready for me and facing the tv. Since it's the best seat in the house for watching the tv, the cushion of the chair has completely lost its integrity. The wooden bar is pushing through my tailbone as we speak. But, if I move anywhere else, they will insist that I move back. The only time they don't say anything is when I make a note of how many insects are bothering me. As you can see in the photo, the tv is pretty close to the front doors of the house, which are always open. At this point, I'm used to casually flicking off small flying African beetles that land on me.

GO AFRICA. But seriously, the entire continent is united in supporting any African team to win. It's pretty amazing. My host brother woke up at 1:30am with his dad to watch the Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) game one night. Cote d'Ivoire is next to Burkina Faso and so is Ghana, so those games are more exciting for my host brother since he knows a fair amount about the countries from school. Unfortunately I haven't seen either of the USA matches because they always start at 10pm here and I'm passed out asleep by then. The morning after the USA v Ghana match I was expecting the usual morning update from my host dad about who won the match because he always gives me the update each morning. He said nothing. I assumed USA won, and sure enough we had! I'm currently watching the Brasil v Cameroon match. I really want Cameroon to win because one of our Peace Corps physicians was born in Cameroon and he is hands down the funniest professional I have ever met. Also, he hands out chocolate during all of his lectures. I'll talk more about him another time.

There's Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself.

All of us volunteers know that at some point we're going to have a hot mess, terrifying but sort of hilarious story to tell. Three of us didn't expect it would happen so soon to us. It happened Sunday June 15. I'm safe and sound, please don't worry. It's just a funny story to me at this point. I wrote it the night of the incident. Enjoy!

Morning

Today was my first day off since I arrived in Burkina Faso. I slept in until 8am, took a bucket bath, ate breakfast and hand washed my clothes. Bam, 11:30 hit and I'd only done those things. Hand washing clothes is quite the process. Anyway, it's a super hot day so my host dad showed me a chair I can sit in under a giant tree in their courtyard. It's probably 20+ degrees cooler under that tree than it was in the house. My room is an oven.  So, I spend most of the day under that tree reading, writing my blog, writing letters, [insert other unplugged activities here]. Before I realize what's happening, my host brother and his cousin are bringing over the kitchen chairs and table that we usually sit at. They brought lunch to me! It was spaghetti and a sort of tomato sauce. It's safe to say my lunch was half spaghetti, half mangoes and bananas. They really don't appreciate how little I eat here. I promise I'm eating until I'm full, I just don't have an appetite. I do more unplugged activities and then decide it's about time to head over the internet café in town since it's late enough in Burkina for people in California to be awake. Also, I really wanted to get another blog post posted.

My Host Family's Courtyard. Left to right: host brother (14), his cousin (13) and the family donkey!

At the Cyber Cafe

On my bike ride to the cybercafe, I see another trainee riding his bike. I haven't seen another trainee in 24 hours, so I'm stoked and catch up to him. We ride to the café, where I find other trainees and some of them head out to play soccer. I take my sweet time at the internet café. Well, there's really no other option because it can take anywhere from 5-30 mins to upload ONE picture to my blog. After 1.5 hours, I'm ready to head home when it starts sprinkling [insert Jaws theme here]. I pay a whopping 450 cfa ($1 USD) and am about to pack up and leave when a torrential downpour and thunderstorm begins. Great. I'd told my family that I would only be gone for about an hour and it had already been over that. I'm not the only one there. Two of my other friends are there. We think, "let's go beat the storm before it gets worse," but the men working the cybercafe tell us, "vous devez attendre!" (you must wait). I know I shouldn't be out there anyway, but it's getting dark. I take off my backpack and set it down and we settle in to wait for the storm to pass through.

It's a Peace Corps rule that during training, we must return to our families by 7pm every night, with the exception of two nights per week when we can stay out later with friends as long as our families know. Welp, I don't have my family's phone number (my own fault), but they have mine, so I figure they can call if they get worried. Wrong. Cell phone service rarely works during thunderstorms. Cool. After about 45 mins, the rain finally starts to calm down and the lightning no longer seems to be within 1-3 miles like it had been. Yes, 1-3 miles. Bright. Loud. Scary. We take this as our chance to get home.

The Journey Home

I live the closest of the three of us girls to the cybercafe. However, half of my route is dirt road. And when I say dirt road, I mean currently river. Torrential downpour for 45 mins creates 6-inch deep rivers in certain sections of the road. I turn my bike light on and we wade out into the road river to start the trek home. We hit a point where the water isn't super deep, so we jump on our bikes to try and get home faster. All is well until BAM rider one hits a dip in the road and her bikes stops, BAM rider two hits the dip in the road and almost falls off her bike, and BAM I try to swerve to the right to not hit them, but the angle of my turn makes me hit the dip and fall sideways until SPLASH I'm in the river. I start cracking up laughing because I'm not even the slightest bit surprised that the first time I fall off my bike is in a muddy road river. Let's talk some more about me falling in the water. I'm coming from the cybercafe, so my laptop is in my backpack, the same backpack that gets submerged when I do. My laptop is in my North Face hiking waterproof backpack. Doesn't get wet. So, now I feel like I'm one of those hardcore people in North Face cliff climbing commercials. But, then I remember I'm not. I'm in a road river, in the dark, in Africa. I seriously couldn't stop laughing.

Anyway, back to the story. We get back on our bikes and my wimpy light shows me that I wiped out literally 10 yards from the paved road. You have got to be kidding me. So close. So, I we ride our bikes on the road, I wave bye to my friends and I'm super close to home. I ride around the roundabout, take my exit and then turn left onto another awesome road river. My cue is a set of golden yellow doors to turn onto my street. When I say street, I mean another unmarked dirt road. I get off my bike and start walking. I remember from the previous thunderstorm that the roads are hard to bike on because they're soft. I walk my bike close to the right side of the road so I can have a better glimpse of the golden yellow gates with my wimpy bike light. It's still sprinkling and the thunder and lightening are coming back. Great. Searching. Searching. Searching. I'm used to riding this section, so I have no grasp on how soon it will be while walking. It's seriously probably only a quarter mile from the main road, but it's pitch black and I'm walking, so I have minimal spatial awareness. People walk by saying "bonsoir" like we aren't in the middle of a thunderstorm and I politely respond with "bonsoir" even though it is NOT a "good evening." Closer lightening. I really don't like lightening. I'm not used to it in California, so being outside during a thunderstorm terrifies me, the girl on a road river, pushing her metal bike. Real smart, Kathleen.

I am starting to freak out because I cannot seem to find my golden yellow landmark. More lightening. I pass an overhang area and consider stopping and staying there and wait for another storm to pass, but change my mind and decide to push forward. I hit a large intersection of road rivers. I must have gone too far. I turn around and head back. I see the overhang again and consider stopping, but another person wishes me "good evening" and I begrudgingly keep moving. I see doors to my left and I literally walk right up to them with my light. Yep, yellow. It had looked red before with my dumb wimpy bike light. I also see a bunch of unfamiliar trees, but I turn anyway. Sure enough, there's the small opening in the wall to my host family's house. Made it!

I open the house doors and my host brother stops watching the World Cup match and says my name, as he's the first one to see me. I immediately say bonsoir like I'm supposed to, even though it is NOT a good evening, and my host parents come out from the kitchen area. My immediate reaction is to apologize profusely because that's my automatic instinct as an American. I should apologize for being late and for the worry I've caused my family. Before I can begin my French apology, my host mom walks out with a look I will never forget. Burkinabe people are always happy and smiling. So, when she walked out with a worried and sad face, I didn't know what to do with myself. I just said I was fine, "ca va aller?" and I need to take a bath. Everyone laughed. Ca va aller is a big joke to us trainees because anytime we say that we get food poisoning, or our bike break or whatever other hardship is happening, our trainers and host families almost always say, "ca va aller," which essentially means "c'est la vie" or that's life, everything is fine. And, I'm definitely shaken up, but everything is fine!

This is another one of those emotionally scarring moments where there's potential to change your perspective indefinitely. I didn't break down during or after the terrifying episode of being in a thunderstorm in the dark. I'm proud of myself, not because I didn't break down, but because I know that I can do this. I can be a Peace Corps Volunteer. We all have moments that make us question whether or not we can finish out our service, but I figure if I can live through an ordeal like that on my 10th day in country, then I can be ready for anything else that comes at me.

Needless to say, I no longer plan to be out after dark for the rest of staging, even though we're allowed to. I'll of course make exceptions for celebrations like July 4th, but in those cases I'll have friends to help me home. 

My bruised hip, knee and ego wish you bonjour in California and bonsoir here in Burkina!

Peace Corps Host Family Adoption

On Wednesday, June 11, we all jumped on Peace Corps buses and made the two hour drive south to Leo, the city we will be living in for the next 3 months. Since I was having difficulty with nausea from Doxycycline (my daily malarial prophylaxis), I was assigned to sit in the passenger seat next to the bus driver. As much as I would've loved to be in the back singing to 90s classics with the rest of the crew, I was grateful for the opportunity to take some awesome video of the drive and the villages we passed through. I am unable to upload them now, but I'll do my best to show them to you when I can!

Peace Corps bus!

Arrival

We arrived at the training center and received a warm welcome from the Peace Corps staff (Americans and locals) and host families. I was immediately overwhelmed by the banging of African drums, dancing, cheering and smiles. Thus far I hadn't really felt overwhelmed, but there were so many people there and they were all there to welcome us. I wasn't the only one who teared up because of this. The staff made two single-file lines to receive us. It's a Burkinabe tradition that anytime you visit someone's home, they offer you welcome water. So, I took a sip of the safe-for-Americans water and was refreshed by cold it was. Then, I followed the other trainees into the reception area and took a seat.

Introductions

Once we were all seated, the musicians played for us and the dancers moved in a line, circling through the imaginary stage. Some of the trainees jumped up and joined the line and before I knew it, I was in the line, too. It was awesome.

We sat back down and Siaka, our head language and culture trainer, made introductions and welcomed everyone to the adoption ceremony. It felt like the Olympics hearing everything three times in French, English and local language. One of the host father's also gave a speech to welcome us to their families. I was super glad that I could understand his French because everything he said made me feel very at ease about the prospect of staying with a host family for the next 3 months. Then, the MAYOR gave a speech. He welcomed us and gave us "the key to the city." It was pretty incredible hearing welcome speeches from so many people. Everyone truly is happy to have us here.

Adoption

Siaka called out the host family name and his counterpart called out the trainee name. I'm sitting in my seat, praying that I won't be one of the first few called so that I could gauge how this meeting was going to go down. I was stressing for nothing because it wasn't bad at all! The host family and trainee both go to the front of the room, shake hands, and then gently bump foreheads four times. This tradition is fairly similar to that in Europe where people greet each other with kisses on the cheek. The women here usually greet me with kisses, not the forehead bumps. Anyway, my name was called and I saw my host dad and host brother walk up. The forehead bumping felt like it took forever. And then I had to do it again when I shook hands with my brother! It was super hot, as always, so there was a lot of sweat exchanged. C'est la vie.

The musicians then played again and we had the option to jump back in line with our host families. My host brother stood up, so I definitely had no choice! It was awesome though, we were all having a great time. Once the dancing finished, we had to grab our bags, bikes and head home with the strangers we called family. Well, my host dad had his motorcycle and my brother had a bicycle. How the heck was I supposed to get all of my bags home? My host dad grabbed my giant suitcase and strapped it onto the back of his moto, which left him about 6 inches of seat to sit on for the ride home. I put on my hiking backpack and shoulder bag and hoped my bike wouldn't give out. Thank goodness I only live about a 5 minute bike ride from the training center, because that bike ride was rough with all of that weight.

Home

When I arrived home with my brother, my host dad had already driven back to the training center and home with my other bags. As soon as I arrived, I realized that my family is definitely one of the wealthier families because I was greeted by a beautiful garden. We're in the sahel of Africa, so there's really not a lot of flowers and plants around. However, my host parents grow trees and plants here, so it's always beautiful in their courtyard. I was immediately snapped out of the shock of their nice yard when I realized I should stop my bike before I crash into a wall. I heard someone laughing and I looked over to see my host mom was waiting outside to greet me. I thought she was laughing because I almost crashed, but it turns out she laughs at everything I do, so I'm used to it by now. It actually helps break the ice whenever I'm in an awkward situation with them…which is fairly often with a language barrier. If I note that any of my host family and I talked about something, assume it was in French if not noted otherwise. They have very thick West African French accents, so I have difficulty being fluent with them.

My room is a decent size with a high ceiling, which helps with heat management. I'm actually writing this post from under a mango tree since it gets so hot in the house during the day. I have a twin size bed with a large mosquito net, as provided by Peace Corps. I have two small tables and a chair. One table holds my giant filter system that I use for my water (I'll go into details about this in a future post). I put my school books and journals on the other table. Peace Corps also gave us a "canteen," which is not a canteen at all. It's a long metal box that is large enough for us to fit our electronics and other valuables inside and lock. I also get my own bucket, bleach and insect poison.

In Burkina Faso, it is customary to bathe before breakfast and dinner, no exceptions. My host mom asked how I like my water. I should've said cold, but of course I wasn't thinking, so she brought me super hot water and has been doing so ever since. It's crazy African hot out here and to cool off, I get to take a bucket bath with hotter water than what I used during showers in California. Long term, yes it's probably helping me get a better wash. Short term, though, I kick myself every time I have to bathe, which is twice a day before breakfast and dinner. I actually don't mind not having running water at all. I thought it was going to be a major issue, but bucket bathing isn't bad at all! I'll probably continue a similar form in the US. I shower with probably 2-4 gallons each time. That's nothing compared to what a 10-15 minute adult shower contains in the current California drought.

Dinner was yep, rice with sauce and mangoes for dessert. The first 5 days in the capital, we had been trained on Burkinabe customs, so I was totally ready for my first meal. Nope, I was not. Everything they'd told us went down the drain. Usually the men of the family sit at a table and the women sit on the ground in a different area. Nope, we all sat at the same table. The father always serves himself first, then the oldest sons, then the trainee, then the mother, then the children. Nope, they had me serve myself first. You are never supposed to eat or shake hands with your left hand because that hand is reserved for the latrine. Nope, my host dad and brother are educated, so they understand that if they wash their hands then they can eat with whichever hand pleases them.

I immediately fell asleep under the protection of my giant mosquito net. I startled awake about 3 hours later to a HEEHAW!! I literally sat up in bed until I realized what woke me up. Almost every one of us volunteers has a donkey in our courtyard or nearby and this happens randomly all night long. They're beautiful animals, but if you ever see a donkey in a HEEHAW spat, he'll look asthmatic.  

I've been with my family for almost a week now! All goes well and I have some interesting stories that I will share quite soon! 

Staging in Ouagadougou

We spent Friday, June 6 - Wednesday June 11 at a Catholic convent in the capital of Burkina Faso. I have since been spending time in Leo with my host family and so far so good!! My host family is amazing and knows French, thank goodness. However, this post is about my time in the capital, so I'll do my best to tell you everything without going overboard in length…wish me luck.

We passed around a random adorable baby. No diaper on...yikes!

Interviews

Language - I had my language interview with the head of our language training for the next 3 months, Siaka. He and his staff are all Burkinabe (pronounced Burkina-bay), so they are able to assist with our French language and cultural training. My interview went fairly well. In French, we talked about who I am, where I'm from, what my goals are for in country, and talked through some scenarios.  I ended up placing into the Intermediate-mid class, which is the minimum proficiency level required of being sworn in as a volunteer at the end of training. However, since I'm a science teacher, they require that I eventually hit Intermediate-high. Considering a lot of my friends here speak zero French and will be proficient in 10 weeks, I am confident that I can increase my level, too. We will also take a language exam after one year of service. If you hit a certain level, then you achieve international fluency, which will be an awesome skill to put on my resume.

Medical - Volunteers weren't joking when they said that this is the best medical care you'll ever get. I met with Jean-Luc, one of our Peace Corps Medical Officers, for my medical interview. When I arrived for the interview, Jean-Luc had my entire medical history with his own notes. I was impressed.

We were all given two weeks worth of Doxycycline, a malarial prophylaxis, when we arrived. However, one of the side effects is nausea and upset stomach, especially in the mornings since we take the pills at dinner. I've had a history of sensitivity to acidic foods and drinks, so naturally this med didn't work so well. By the fifth pill I was so over the nausea. So, now I'm taking Malarone. It's just as effective, so no worries there! The medical unit is extremely flexible, so I can switch meds at anytime.

We were also each given a medical kit with every med I could possibly think I might need in West Africa. They refill the meds when we run out, all at no cost to us.

Cultural Director - Then, I met with another staff member to talk about my site placement for after training. This will be where I'm living and teaching for the next 2 years starting at the end of August. Then, I met with the Country Director to discuss how my experience has been so far. She's the acting Country Director and will only be here for another week. Our official country director will arrive sometime in the next week.

Tasks

Bike fitting - I hopped on the bike that the Burkinabe men pointed to. And when I say hopped, I mean hopped…like 4 times. Riding a bike while wearing a full-length skirt is tricky because the skirt rides up, but we have to keep our knees covered. Anyway, I got on the bike, gave a thumbs up to the men to show them that it was the right size (hoping that I could just get off) and before I even had a second think about getting off I received a push and I was on my way for a 100-meter trip around a statue and back. I am proud to say that I didn't fall off. I haven't been on a bike in years. Ya know, they have that saying, "it's like riding a bike," for a reason.

Money - Most of West Africa uses the cfa as its method of currency. 1,000 cfa is a little under $2. So, I received my walk-around allowance for during stage, the next 10 weeks of training. I also setup my bank account with one of the local banks. Peace Corps reimburses the cost of my bike helmet and checked bag fees, so that will be put into my bank account in addition to my biweekly stipend once I go to site. I also exchanged any US dollars I'd brought with me.

Phone - Part of my walk-around allowance covers the cost of a cellular phone that will be used for Peace Corps work, but also can be used for personal use to contact friends and family in the US.  It is free for me to receive calls and texts. The cheapest method to call me is through Skype, unless there's another known method out there. Please shoot me an email or ask my mom or Donnie if you'd like my number! I'm using a simple phone, throwback to T9word days, so unfortunately using WhatsApp isn't an option…yet.

Immunizations - Since I've arrived, I've received three additional immunizations: typhoid, meningitis, and the first series for rabies. I told you…great medical care!

Classes

For the next 3 months I am back in school for 44 hours per week. So far we've received a wealth of knowledge!! In Medical we covered the basis for malaria, dehydration and diarrhea…yes, diarrhea. Diarrhea and vomiting are a common occurrence for travelers to West Africa. There's bacteria EVERYWHERE, so our facilitators have extensively trained our host families on how to cook for us. We also have special water filters in our rooms. We've also had classes on language and culture, host family etiquette, safety and security, teaching technique, etc. I'll do my best to update as often as possible!

Meals

We were served 3 meals every day during our stay. American men usually lose weight during service in Burkina due to the drop in protein in their diets. Women usually gain weight due to carb-heavy nature of the meals. My diet in the US was already carb-heavy, so I'm not too worried, though I am definitely feeling the effects of the drop of protein.

Food - Breakfast is usually a foot-long baguette with jam, butter, or nothing. Yes, I'm in heaven. Though, the mornings with no spread options were rough. Lunch and dinner are usually a carb with sauce. At the convent, we mostly ate rice with sauce, though one evening we had spaghetti and another evening we had macaroni. The convent also spoiled us with seasonal fruits and veggies, so we ate a lot of mangoes, cucumbers and onions, with the occasional option of bananas. The mangoes are huge and the bananas are tiny. They're great though!

"Riz gras" literally translates to "fat rice" and served with chicken, potatoes and carrots 

Drinks -  For breakfast, Burkinabe mostly drink Nescafe, or its equivalent, with the option of adding powdered Nestle milk (fortified with vitamins) and/or organic sugar cubes. There's also the option of just mixing the powdered milk with hot water, which isn't too bad if you add sugar to it. I wouldn't say it tastes like milk, though! A local drink we tried is called something along the lines of bee sap. It's super sweet, so most of us drowned it in water. I was MOST excited about the soda options because they're made from real sugar and bottled in Burkina Faso. Awesome.

Bonding with friends

There are a lot of athletes and musicians in this group, so I fit right in and have connected with a lot of people. A couple of the guys brought out their guitars to the gazebo one night. I grabbed my ukulele and played the 4 chords I know and then all 31 of us were singing songs and having a great time. It's truly amazing what can happen when you're unplugged from the electronic world!

I couldn't believe there was a Shell station here. My little piece of California/USA. :)

Have a great weekend and I'll post about my time in Leo soon! 

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!!

Staging in Philadelphia

Today was Day 1 of Staging.

At noon, we registered with the lady and gentleman that provided our orientation for the day. A second gentleman was also there as a member of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), a non-governmental organization that provides services for current and returned volunteers. He introduced himself and the organization. He then revealed that he was going to "pull an Oprah" and give us all a Google Nexus 7 tablet. Ooo I was so excited! I thought maybe this was just a generous gift from the National Peace Corps Association. Nope. Based on a passionate Peace Corps volunteer's efforts, Google donated 1,000 tablets to the NPCA and the association chose us as one of the groups that they felt would best be able to use the services offered by the tablet during service. NPCA, I won't let you down!! I brought my laptop for skyping/blogging/emailing and my smartphone for music, but I'm excited to have a third device that will have a longer battery life than my laptop.

NPCA also releases a quarterly magazine as seen here

Staging mostly consists of welcome activities and an overview of most questions that future volunteers have. We did ice breakers, we did personal reflection, we performed scenarios (my team did a rap...ya we're so cool), etc. It wasn't super intense at all, which was great!

There are 31 volunteers in my staging group and we are all education volunteers. Most of us will be teaching junior high English, math or science. There are a few who will be teaching preschool. Everyone is SUPER nice and personable, which is fantastic considering we'll be the only Americans around each other for the next two years. We're all nervous, but totally excited! I'll be sure to post pictures of us as we start to get to know each other better during training.

Tomorrow is Day 2 of Staging.

Tomorrow we take a bus from Philadelphia to New York JFK. Then we wait in the airport for a large sum of hours until our flight around 6pm EST. I volunteered to be one of the group leaders, which means I will simply do a headcount and be aware of the people in my small group from the hotel through landing in Burkina Faso. That's a small task compared to chaperoning 25 high schoolers and their parents through London last New Year's.

Day 3 of Staging 

Friday, we land in Belgium for a four hour layover. Then, we land in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (Wah-gah-doo-goo, the capital) that evening and immediately will receive medical interviews to start our malarial prophylaxis.

Peace Corps Packing for West Africa

What do you pack when you'll be living in Burkina Faso for 2+ years? For curious family, friends and future volunteers, here's my list!

2 large bags to check and a backpack and bookbag to carry on

• Clothing
• Under
• 15 underwear
• 2 bras
• 3 sports bras
• 6 moisture-wicking running socks
• Tops
• 2 t-shirts (Target v-neck short-sleeve)
• 2 synthetic dry-fit running tops
• 1 racerback tank
• 3 business casual tops
• Bottoms (nothing above the knee)
• 2 pairs of business casual pants  (Nike Golf Dri-fit)
• 1 pair capri pants
• 1 pair of leggings
• 1+ pairs long spandex
• 2 short spandex
• 2 maxi or knee-length skirts
• 2 pair of shorts - strictly for home
• Layers
• 1 sweatshirt
• 1 light jacket
• 1 Nike Lightweight rain-resistant jacket
• Miscellaneous
• 2 swimsuits
• 2 belts
• Vacation and going-out clothes
• sunglasses
• Shoes
• 1 pair black flats
• 2 pairs of running shoes (Adidas Glide Boost, Saucony Ride 6)
• 1 pair of flip flops (Olukai)
• 1 pair of hiking sandals (Merrell Agave 2 Lavish)
• Luggage
• 1 rolling suitcase
• 1 mini backpack
• 1 hiking backpack (The North Face Casimir 36)
• 1 large duffle bag
• 1 messenger bag
• 1 crossbody small purse
• Electronics
• 1 Lenovo Ideapad S210 Touch - 11.6-in, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
• 1 Nook (loaded with books)
• 1 LG Optimus F3 (unlocked smartphone + mp3)
• 1 Nikon Coolpix 20.1 megapixels camera (point and shoot)
• 1 Thunderbolt Magnum Solar - solar power pack (recharges mobile devices)
• 1 Kinivo ZX100 mini portable speaker with rechargeable battery
• 1 MAXAH Surge protector all in one international wall charger
• 1 America surge-protecting power strip
• 4 AAA and 2 AA Eneloop (NiMH non-alkaline) rechargeable batteries and usb charger
• 1 windup flashlight
• 2-pack Costco brand headlamps
• Home Items
• 1 Pillow
• 1 twin sheet set
• 1 bug hut  http://www.rei.com/product/777772/rei-bug-hut-pro-2-tent

• 2 water bottles - thermos & bobble
• 1 travel mug
• 1 corkscrew/bottle opener
• 1 vegetable peeler
• 1 chef’s knife
• 1 can opener
• 1 spatula
• 2 mini rubber spatulas
• 1 set measuring cups
• 1 set eating utensils
• 1 French press
• 1 roll duck tape
• 1 pair scissors
• 1 box ear plugs
• 3 blank journals 
• 2 sets of stationery
• 1 set bungee cords
• 50 clothes pins
• Food/Drinks

• 1.5 Tubs (80 servings each) Vitalyte electrolyte replacement
• 1 set of instant coffee (Starbucks Via)
• 1 pack Yogi tea
• 1 Tub cinnamon (Costco size)
• 8 varied condiment/sauce packets
• non-perishable snacks
• Toiletries
• Hair
• 20 Hair ties
• 8 Headbands
• 20 Bobby pins
• 1 Comb
• 1  2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner - Costco size
• 1 Hairspray (non-aerosol)
• 1 Hair serum (anti-frizz)
• Face
• 2 bottles exfoliating face scrub
• 2 Aveeno face mosturizers with 15 spf
• 1 small mirror
• 1 make-up remover wipes
• 1 compact make-up
• 13 Chapsticks - Costco pack
• Teeth
• 8 Oral-B toothbrushes (soft) - Costco pack
• 2-4 Colgate Total toothpaste tubes
• 1 Floss (Peace Corps provides floss)
• Meds
• Zyrtec
• Mucinex D
• Benadryl
• AZO
• Tums - Costco pack
• Ibuprofin
• Vitamin B Complex - Costco bottle
• Cough Syrup
• Miscellaneous
• 6 Schick Hydrosilk razors
• 4 Secret pH-balanced deodorant
• 1 Tweezers
• 1 Nail care kit
• 1 Sewing kit

• 2-3 Nail polish - painting nails will quickly gain you friends
• 1 Tampax Pearl Tampons - Costco pack
• 1 Aloe vera gel bottle
• 1 Hand sanitizer
• 1 Baby wipes