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…

The New Chapter Begins...

I have officially left Koudougou, my Burkinabe home for the last two months, and now I am in Ouaga, getting ready for our big swear-in ceremony today!  For the past two months, all of us stagieres have been taking language, technical, and culture classes to prepare for our two years working in Burkina Faso.  We all had to reach certain benchmarks (language) and complete required assignments before we could officially be considered Peace Corps Volunteers.  Happily, all 30 of our stage reached these levels, and this afternoon, we go from PC Trainees to Volunteers!


Before we left for Ouaga for the ceremony, we all needed to pack up all our things, which seem to have tripled in the two months that we have been in Stage.  I spent Sunday and Monday jamming new clothes, pagnes, and care package goodies into my new, gigantic, third bag, as well as somehow finding a way to fit all my original possessions back into their bags.  After struggling for hours, I finally had my room all packed up and ready to go.  But the hardest part of leaving Koudougou was the goodbyes that followed.  Over the past two months, I have grown very close with my host family, and I dreaded the day when I moved out.


Monday afternoon, we had a Farewell ceremony for all our host families at the Centre.  After a few welcome speeches by the Peace Corps staff, each of us stagieres took the stage with our families, presented them with a certificate and invitations to swear-in, and recited a short thank-you.  My speech consisted of: Merci beaucoup d'avoir si bien accuelli chez toi.  Je m'y suis senti comme chez moi."  Basically, I thanked my family for welcoming me into their family; I feel at home with them in Koudougou.  It meant a lot to all the families to hear us  each, in their language, tell them how much they meant to us.  Afterwards, we had a short reception and then all headed home together.


On Monday night, my family had a small party for me.  My mom, sister, and I all had matching pagne dresses made, so we put them on for our little fete.  For dinner, we had a huge plate of rice au soumbala, my favorite dish, and a whole plate of chicken!  I even gave in to my family's demands and ate the rice with my hands!   Then, we had beers, sodas, and papaya; by the end, I was completely stuffed.  After dinner, we took many pictures together, and I gave them all small gifts I had brought from the States.  By midnight, I was dead tired, and as much as I wanted to keep spending time with my family, I had to go to bed.


The next morning, I had a last breakfast with them, and afterwards, I rolled out my bike, ready to leave for the last time for the Centre.  Then, my mom took my left hand in hers (a major faux pas here, as left hands are thought of as dirty and inappropriate to use most of the time).  She explained that because she made a faux pas in bidding me farewell with her left hand, it was necessary for me to return sometime, to right the wrong.  It was a touching, symbolic gesture, especially as she noted that I am welcome to return to my house anytime I want.  Holding back tears, I jumped on my bike and pedaled away, trying to imagine how wonderful my new home in the southwest of Burkina will be.  Unfortunately, all I could think of were all the evenings spent learning French and Moore around the dinner table...I will definitely be making a trip back to Koudougou soon!


But here I am in Ouaga, anxious and ready to be a Peace Corps Volunteer.  The ceremony for this begins this afternoon, at the Ambassador's house.  Several stagieres will give speeches in French and various local languages; the ceremony is also televised on national Burkinabe channels!  Afterwards, we will all take the same oath that President Obama did for our new "office," and then, Volunteers we will be!  One of the highlights of this afternoon is going to be our outfits; all of us stagieres bought the same pagnes for our swear-in outfits.  It should be amazing to see us all in our uniform clothing, created in various traditional Burkinabe styles.  I will try to get up pictures of all of it sometime soon!


I hope all is great at home, especially with  the holiday season upon us.  For me, it doesn't quite feel like Christmas time, especially as the weather is never cooler than about 65 degrees!  I definitely don't miss those snowy winters yet...  I am hoping I will have an exciting Christmas at my new village, but it will definitely be different.  I really won't know anyone around my new town yet, as I only get to site on Dec.19th, but I do plan to find a Catholic church for Christmas Mass.  It will definitely be a different Christmas from what I am used to...


Thanks for all your emails and comments too; once I settle in at site, I promise I will do a better job at responding!

Thanksgiving FETE!

Novembre was a wonderful month here in Burkina; I cannot believe how fast it flew by!  All of the stagieres have settled into routines here, and most everyone has enjoyed experiencing life as a Burkinabe with our host families.  In addition, as of today, all of us have officially passed the required level for language (though I think some of the testers were a bit sympathetic), which means, unless drastic problems arise, all of us should swear-in as volunteers in LESS than three weeks!  It is hard to believe that in less than a month, I will be living alone in a village in southwestern Burkina, speaking only in French and Jula.  It is intimidating, but I think it will be a great experience also…

One of the best days in stage though, thus far, was our Thanksgiving celebration.  Weeks of planning went into the Thanksgiving fete, and several stagieres really did a great job with the logistics.  We had class on Thanksgiving from 8am-1pm, but afterwards, we were free to prepare for our grand fete.  We had invited all our LCFs (language teachers) and all the Training staff members to an American potluck in the evening, so we had a lot of food to prepare.  It is a bit difficult to exactly replicate an American Thanksgiving dinner in Burkina Faso, but we sure gave our best efforts!  There were different groups around town tasked with creating the different food groups; I was in the pasta/potatoes group.  However, we ran into a slight problem when we found out that potatoes could not be found now in the market; potato season is officially over.  Instead, we made a pasta salad, pasta with a tomato sauce, fried plantains and patates (like a mix of potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes), and apple crepes.  Mind you, all of this food preparation was over a wood-burning stove in the courtyard of a friend’s host family.  Luckily, a Peace Corps vehicle was able to come by and pick up all the prepared food to transport it to the Centre; it was an amazing spread.

The staff was amazing by all the food we had prepared.  There was guacamole, homemade salsa, stuffing, green beans, mashed patates, fried chicken, fruit salad, lettuce salad, chips, and, best of all, TWO BUTTERBALL TURKEYS imported from America (thank you, American government).  We could not have been happier…nor more stuffed with food by the end of the night.  After dinner, we turned the music up, and the Thanksgiving dancing commenced.  This slight twist on a typical Thanksgiving Day celebration was fabulous, and most everyone broke it down a bit on the dance floor.  As we were able to stay at the Centre overnight, the party continued late into the night.  The next morning for class, we were all a bit tired…

Other than our big Thanksgiving fete, things have been pretty normal here.  I did have a great weekend with my family, especially as they took me out dancing on Saturday night.  It was a bit daunting to be the only nassara (foreigner in Moore) on the dance floor, but I soon got over it and enjoyed my time out.  This upcoming weekend, we are taking another weekend with a current PCV, like demyst, but this is a Tech Weekend.  I am going to a town near Ouahigouya, which is going to be a big change of scenery.  I cannot wait to go!

Site Announcements!

 Last Monday was a very exciting day for all of the stagieres; we had site announcements in the afternoon!  All of us had been waiting anxiously for the past month to find out our new homes for our next two years in Burkina Faso, and Monday was the official day.  But before the afternoon announcement festivities, we had to suffer through morning classes, which was really anticlimactic.  I did find out, however, that I officially passed out of my French classes too, as I passed to Intermediate-Mid on my Saturday language test! 

                

After lunch, our Country Director, the Assistant Country Directors, and other staff members came to the training centre for the site announcement afternoon.  To begin, the staff pulled out a huge map of Burkina Faso and taped it to the wall.  Then, two stagieres came to the front of the room, drew two site descriptions, and each read the description to all of us gathered in the conference room.  After hearing the description, all of guessed whose site was announced, and then, when we guessed the correct person, the person came up and put their picture on the map.  Slowly, descriptions of sites and projects were read, and each sounded exciting and exotic.  I was trying to wait patiently, but my name had still not come up towards the end.  Finally, after I listened to an intriguing and wonderful sounding site description, my name was called, and I had my new Burkinabe home!

                

For security reasons, I am not able to disclose on this blog my actual site location (you can email for the actual location), but I am very very very pleased with my assignment.  I will be living in the lush, cool, southwest corner of Burkina Faso, near Banfora.  Banfora is supposedly one of the most beautiful places in Burkina Faso, known for its mangos and waterfalls, and I am thrilled to be in the area.  As a result of my assignment, I will be learning the language Jula, in addition to French, so I am excited to start those classes soon.  Also, I was thrilled to hear that my new home is wired for electricity, so I will be able to purchase a fan and have lights!

                

In addition to living in the most beautiful part of Burkina, my site project sounds wonderful.  I will be a first-time volunteer in my community, which is a great opportunity, but also a bit intimidating!  I will be working with a highly motivated, intelligent supervisor, who I have only heard amazing things about.  He started an association that teaches young people to be tailors, and apparently, the organization is extremely impressive.  He has been asking for a Peace Corps Volunteer for a long time, and I have heard that he is extremely excited to meet and work with me.  I will be working primarily to streamline their business practices, especially their accounting system.  In addition to the association of tailors, I will also been working with a mango-drying organization, which is a great income-generating activity (IGA) opportunity. 

                

Though by the end of site announcements, the map of all our new homes was a bit intimidating (everyone is so spread out), all of us were energized by the news.  Our country directors did a great job of matching us with specific programs and sites that complement our work experience and interests, and now all of us are counting down the days until swear-in!  We still have four weeks left in stage though, and there is still a lot of things that we have to do before we finish.  Until then, I am going to continue poring through my travel book, trying to imagine my new home as much as possible!

Demyst Weekend!

Two weekends ago, all of the PCTs participated in demystification, an activity designed for trainees to better understand the life of a PC Volunteer in Burkina Faso.  Before the weekend, we were split into groups of three or four stagieres, and each group was assigned a current PCV living somewhere in the country.  Each demyst group also had a Language and Culture Facilitator (LCF), or in my group's case, we had two LCFs.  The goal of the weekend was to travel with our groups on local transport and then spend the weekend with the PCV, learning about his or her daily life in Burkina Faso. 

                

On Thursday morning, all oft the PCTs departed for Ouaga on a PC bus.  During the morning, we had a security session at a hotel in the capital city, and then in the afternoon, we had a PC Bureau tour.  It was very impressive to see the resources that are available to us once we swear-in as official volunteers.  Later in the afternoon, we also traveled to the local depots/gares with our LCFs to pre-purchase tickets for our demyst trip, as we were not setting off on our adventure until Friday morning.  That evening, in Ouaga, all of the SED (small-enterprise development) trainees, including myself,  were invited to have dinner at the Assistant PC Director –SED (APCD) Dan's house.  We were thrilled to find out that he had made burritos and chips for dinner; we even had chocolate brownies for dessert!  We have only been in country for about a month, but all of us already miss the variety of American cuisine. 

                

The following morning, my group of four stagieres and our two LCFs piled into a taxi with our bikes and bags crammed into the trunk, and we set off for the gare to catch our noon bus.  After my time spent in Ghana riding tro-tros, I was prepared for less-than-ideal transport conditions.  However, our bus was not too bad by West African standards, though I was a little annoyed by the woman eating rice and beans next to me during our trip to Po.  Thankfully, our voyage from Ouaga to Po, the site of our demyst weekend, was only about 2.5 hours, and we were there without many delays (for Africa). 

                

Kathy, a middle-aged, wonderful, Texan who was our assigned volunteer, met us at the Po gare, and immediately I saw how well integrated she was into the community.  Kathy is a new volunteer and has only been at site for three months; she was with the big June stage.  Nevertheless, as we hopped on our bikes and headed to her house, Kathy greeted many people and pointed out landmarks along the way.  When we arrived at Kathy's compound, which she shares with a family, our group was very impressed by her site.  She has a pretty nice kitchen, especially as she brought a lot of utensils with her from the States.  She also had electricity, as well as fans, and in her (outdoor) latrine, Kathy had a porcelain toilet and shower!  Quite luxurious for Burkina Faso PCVs.

                

During our weekend in Po, we generally had a great time.  Kathy took us to the association with whom she works.  The association promotes sustainable agricultural and gardening techniques for many villages, and we learned the benefits of certain types to common trees and plants here in Burkina Faso.  In addition, during the weekend, we learned how to make liquid soap and bissap, a delicious drink here made with hibiscus leaves.  It was great for us to see what life is like in a small Burkinabe town for a PCV; it is very different than Stage here in Koudougou.

The best part of the weekend by far was the activities we did with the local kids for Halloween.  The Burkinabe kids do not celebrate/know Halloween, so we wanted to give them a bit of a taste of American Halloween.  On Saturday night (Oct. 30), we invited over some of the neighborhood kids (who quickly multiplied into a group of about 30-40) and helped them decorate masks made of brown paper.  They LOVED the masks; the Zorro-style was a big hit!  The following night (Halloween), the kids returned with their masks, and we decided to demonstrate how Halloween worked.  So we set up a mattress as a door, Grace and I quickly threw on costumes (I was a "ghost" and she had a mask and cape), and we demonstrated how kids say "Trick or Treat" and receive candy.  The Burkinabe kids caught on immediately, and pretty soon, every little one was saying "Trick or Treat" in English and receiving candy  After we had our Halloween activity, an impromptu dance-off sprung up, and all the kids broke it down.  Check out my PIcasa site (link on this blog)….I have tried to upload pictures!  It was wonderful Halloween, distinctly Burkinabe, and great addition to my demyst weekend.

               

Ultimately, I actually was "demystified" on demyst weekend, but it also made me appreciate my posh living right now.  I am really excited to get to my site (we find out our sites on Monday), but I definitely want to enjoy the last month of stage too!  The best part of demyst for me was that I felt pretty confident getting around with my improving French.  I definitely speak broken, convaluated French/Franglais, but I can get my point across.  Day by day, my French improves…I think in two years, I will sound just like a Burkinabe J

J’adore ma famille hote!

After our Tuesday classes, we had our adoption ceremony for our host
families on Tuesday afternoon. Previously we had discussed what to
expect from our host family, especially in terms of cultural
differences, so despite our excitement, we were also extremely nervous
to meet them. Tuesday afternoon, all of the stagieres went to a
conference room, where the representatives of the Burkinabe families
had gathered. There were two short speeches (in French) and then our
director introduced the family and the volunteer, one by one. I sat
nervously, waiting to hear my name and meet the people I would live
with for the next two months. About halfway through, I heard my
name…and saw my new host dad, Michael. We shook hands, took a quick
picture, and we were off! I had my PC-issued bike, so I figured we
would walk/bike to my house together, but my family had brought their
car. When I got to the car, I met my host mother, Antoinette, who
could not come inside because her ankle is broken. After loading my
bike into the car, we headed for home.


When we arrived at our house, which was a good ten minutes away by
car, I was shocked by how nice it was! For training, I have been
living VERY nicely, especially as compared to some other of the PCTs.
I have my own bedroom (which is a requirement for all host family
placements) in a house with electricity, which means, most
importantly, I have a FAN in my room. I also have running water for
my shower as well as a toilet, whereas most of the other PCTs have
only a latrine and a one-roomed hut.


I get along very well with my family; they are very similar to an
American family. I requested a Catholic family before I was assigned
a placement, and I am glad I did for multiple reasons. First of all,
it is very easy to understand both the names of the members of the
family as well as the family structure. For some of the other PCTs,
distinguishing the different wives and children in Muslim families
with very Muslim names, has been a challenge. For me, I have a
father, Michael, and one mother, Antoinette. Maman Burkinabe ("Mama")
works at a hotel doing something related to communications, if I
understood correctly, but she has not been working now because of her
broken ankle. She also is the president of an association that
promotes the causes of women. She a very impressive women; she even
traveled to Washington in 2000 to participate in a march for women's
rights. I have no idea what my father does; I have not seen him since
the night of the adoption ceremony. I think he may work in
Ouagadougou during the week or something. They have four children,
two of whom still live at home, Michelle and Jean. The other two
sons, Frank and Marcel, live elsewhere in the country. I have talked
(or tried to) to Frank several times over the phone, and I met his
wife and son when they visited. My host sister Michelle and my
brother Jean in Koudougou are GREAT. They are both around my age, and
we hang out all the time together. In fact, the other night I went
out for drinks with them and some friends. They also offered to take
me dancing next weekend!


In addition to being fun to hang out with, my host siblings are very
smart and have a great comprehension of English. Every night, Jean
helps me with my French for hours, patiently correcting my errors and
explaining concepts to me. His assistance has been the most
beneficial for my language acquisition. The first night when I
arrived, I could not understand a single thing that my family said to
me, but now, only a week later, I understand a lot of what they say.
We watch together a specific TV program every night, and I learn a lot
by listening to that also.


In our house, we also have four domestiques, which roughly translates
as servants. The concept of domestiques is not uncommon in West
African cultures, as many times the children who serve families are
often relatives that serve their extended family in return for room
and board/school. I am not sure if that is the case with my four
young domestique girls, as well as the teenage boy who also lives with
us, but I hope to find out sensitively sometime soon. They are also
wonderful, though I do not interact with the girls as much. The
oldest, Elise, did show me how to do my laundry, and she even gave me
a manicure! I offered to reciprocate, but she would not let me. As a
whole, the whole family must think I am an idiot, as I do not know how
to do the very basic things!


I have loved my experience with my host family thus far; and after
this past weekend, when I returned from a weekend trip, going back to
my house in Koudougou felt a little bit like home. Already, I feel a
bit integrated into my new Burkinabe life!

Arrival in Burkina Faso…

Note: Sorry for the delayed updates about my arrival in Burkina Faso.

For the first several days, our group was not able to access the

internet, and now that we have started our intensive classes, we have

had little free time. In addition, excuse my poor English grammar; my

days are spent entirely thinking/reading/trying to understand French,

and Franglish is my new language of choice!!!

I officially arrived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Thursday, October

14th, in the mid-afternoon. The hot, dry African air we stagieres

(French word for Peace Corps Trainees) felt when we disembarked from

the plane was a sure sign that we were no longer in the midst of a

temperate American autumn! Instead, a desolate looking airport

greeted us, as did several of the Peace Corps Burkina Faso staff.

Eventually, we all got our bags sorted out, and the Peace Corps took

them off to Koudougou, where we are living for the two months of

training. However, for the first two nights, we PCTs stayed in

Ouagadougou, at a hostel that had the distinctive vibe of a summer

camp. 

 While we were there, we had our language test, medical and

technical interviews, and many introductions to staff and directors.

For the language test, I placed at the Novice High level in French.

In order to officially swear in as a PC Volunteer in mid-December,

after training, we must reach the Intermediate Mid level. I am only

two levels away, and I am confident that I should be able to surpass

the benchmark. After only a week in country, I feel like my French

has increased exponentially; in addition, the Burkinabe are extremely

understanding and patient with our language difficulties!

Ouagadougou was a nice two day introduction to Burkina Faso, but we

were all excited to move to Koudougou on Saturday morning. With our

ever-increasing baggage (we received a medical kit, as well as MANY

papers), the stagieres loaded onto the Peace Corps bus and set out for

Koudougou, a large town about two hours away. Along the way, we were

able to truly see Burkina; the countryside is very beautiful! At

Koudougou, our bus was greeted by the Burkinabe Peace Corps staff, who

offered us all a symbolic drink of the welcome water (filtered water

for us, of course)! 

 Our first several nights in Kougoudou we stayed

at the Centre Abipierre. The Centre Abipierre is a sort of "hotel"

(in a VERY loose sense), with lodging as well as separate buildings

with conference rooms (also a very loose term; very different from

conference centers in the U.S.) We stayed in shared rooms, but we did

have to use the latrine and the basic shower for the first time in

country! Thankfully, there is actually a Western style bathroom on

the premises too; however, we did not discover it for a couple of

days! Our first night at the Centre, there was a welcome ceremony of

sorts, and traditional Burkinabe dancers performed to a distinctly

African band comprised mainly of drums and flutes. It was fantastic

to see, and by the end, all of us had joined in too!

On Sunday morning, we received our detailed schedules for the

following nine weeks, and our intense training officially began. The

first several days flew by, and every night, we all retired dead-tired

to our bug tents in the courtyard, as we soon realized that the rooms

were way too stuffy to sleep in. Every morning we awoke to begin our

class sessions again, but soon we all were all ready to move in with

our host family and develop a daily routine.

In order to explain clearly my different experiences (and because I

have not been very good with keeping daily entries of my days here in

Burkina), I am going write separate entries about my family, my

training, etc. Enjoy!