Southwest.Here I Come!

It’s official!  I am at my new site, here in the BEAUTIFUL southwest region of Burkina, and so far, I could not be happier.  I have only been here for about twelve days, but already I can see myself staying here for the next 710-ish days.  Africa, especially Burkina, is a bit of a “sink-or-swim” environment, and so far, I am staying afloat I think!

Before I was affectated, we had our grand swear-in ceremony at the U.S. Ambassador’s house on Thursday afternoon.  Unfortunately, I had come down with a terrible cold, so I was feeling a bit down, but I pulled it together for the big day.  All 30 of us had outfits made out of the same pagne (African cloth) pattern, and we looked fabulous!  This, I might add, was quite important, as the ceremony was broadcast on the Burkinabe news channels that evening!  The ceremony itself was a bit long, especially as my French skills are still not sufficient to easily listen and comprehend long speeches.  Afterwards, there was a little reception with snacks and drinks, and all of us new VOLUNTEERS were able to mingle with many of the current volunteers that came to Ouaga for our day.  It was great to finally meet some of these other Americans that call Burkina home.  Another wonderful addition to the day was that my Burkinabe host parents made the trip from Koudougou for swear-in, so I was able to talk to them for a while too.  Overall, it was a great end to a fantastic Stage.

Swear-in night, a lot of us went out dancing with some of the other volunteers; it was definitely a lot of fun.  However, Friday morning was not so great, especially as I had to get on public transport at 7 am for the 5 hour bus ride to Bobo-Dioulasso.  In addition, I tearfully said good-bye to all of my best friends in Burkina Faso, my fellow stagemates.  As of Friday morning, we all separated and headed to our new Burkinabé homes.  I spent Friday night in Bobo, the second largest city in Burkina after Ouaga.  I was very impressed by the atmosphere of Bobo; it is much better than Ouaga!  Then, Saturday morning, my Peace Corps driver, a Burkinabé, helped me negotiate at the marche (aka made the all vendors give me a good price, not the nassara/foreigner price) for all the things I needed to fill my empty house.  All of a sudden, we were done shopping, on the open road, and only a short distance from my new village!  The nerves hit me a bit, especially when we pulled up in front of my new courtyard and house.  My two professor neighbors, the driver, and my counterpart helped me unload my bags from the car into my three empty cement rooms of my house, and then the PC vehicle drove off.  I was home?

My house was quite the sight (I will try to upload pictures asap):  It’s a mud brick/cement house with a tin roof.  I have three windows, one in each room, and a screen door in addition to my big metal door.  That is about all I had when I walked into the place!  I hooked up my gas stovetop on the floor, set my water filter on the floor, threw my couple of pots and pans into a couple of buckets, and that was/is my kitchen.  For my bedroom, I set my mattress on the floor, jerryrigged my mosquito net up, and propped my suitcase up like an armoire.  In my salon, I threw down a mat on the floor, and I was finished.  The second day I was at site, I went straight to the carpenter and commanded six or seven pieces of furniture.  Now, I finally have shelves for my clothes, hooks for my wall, and a little table for my water filter.  Soon, my kitchen counter, bed frame, chairs, and couch should be done.  Little by little, my new house will become a home!

The first couple of days at site flew by, as I spent all day struggling to understand the Jula, French, and the local language that I heard all day long.  I met countless amounts of people, and I also tried to make sense of my belongings and my house.  The little adjustments, like fetching bidons of water from the pump down the dirt path, attaching the bidon to my bike, and then pedaling it back home, have been interesting.  In addition, the bucket bath/latrine situation took a couple of times to get used to; I was quite spoiled in Koudougou.  However, the biggest change has been my constant companions here…the mice in my house!  Check out my next blog entry to hear more about that…