A (Not As Brief As I Thought) Brief Update

I'm online early today because our language assignment was to come to the post, look up a news article in French, and write a summary (also in French, natch). And we had to find out how much it costs to send stuff to the States. Answer: a LOT. 800 CFA for a letter, nearly 10,000 for a package of 1 kg. So you have an idea of what that means, we stagiares (I spelled that wrong in my last post) make around 11,000 a week, which as I've mentioned is enough to buy us lunch each day and laundry detergent as needed. Our host families provide breakfast and dinner - otherwise it would be really difficult to live off this amount.

Food update: bouilli is good. If you look for that word online you find it refers to many different foods, and there may be a better spelling, but anyway, here it's a rice porridge with sugar and (powdered) milk. Another yummy snack: dégé, which is sweetened yogurt with millet in it. I'm certain that one is misspelled, by the way. There may be an "n" in it, for one thing - "n's" are really hard for me to hear in Mooré.

After lunch...more language. 3 of the 4 classes today. Fortunately, our teacher JZ (who is actually a French teacher by profession) recognizes how hard it is to study language that many hours in one day, so he's setting an easy pace today. Lesson of the morning: Scrabble in French is a humbling experience. Not that I needed any humbling where French is concerned.

Yesterday we had to give a 10 minute lesson in French. Monday, 15 minutes. And I'm changing topics because the one I picked first (phases of the moon and the seasons, CETL people will know why I chose those) isn't actually in the curriculum (it's in the book, though...I just didn't realise that there was anything in the book NOT in the curriculum). So lots of work to do between now and lundi.

I'm weak

I broke down and went ahead and bought a cell phone. How else can we coordinate when we're going to the pool? It is free for me to receive calls or texts, so feel free - make that obligated - to do either as you can afford. It is expensive for me to dial or text out of country (it ain't cheap in-country, for that matter) so I won't be calling you. Plus I've lost my book of phone numbers. In short, if you want to receive a text from me, call me or text me!

Which brings us to how you do that. Short version: from your phone, dial 011.226.76.81.09.68. 011 gets you out of the country, and Burkina's country code is 226. This is the most expensive option, unless you have some kickass international plan. Otherwise, I just heard at lunch from some of the other stagiéres (I think that accent is right) about a website that sells online calling cards that will get you Burkina Faso for about 20 cents a minute. It's http://www.pingo.com - I haven't tried it myself. Or you can just buy international calling cards at Wal-mart (watch the surcharges), or use the VOIP of your choice.

My host mom gave me a real-for-true Burkinabe outfit yesterday. It is AWESOME. The pants are calf-length, so they don't get filthy as I'm biking.

Friday we had a community mapping class, and I learned of an internet café near my house. I tried to use it all this weekend, but it's been shut. Happily, we got out of morning classes early today.

You now have FIVE WAYS to communicate with me: texting, calling, commenting here, emailing, and snail mail. Get on it, people!!

Ouahigouya and living with a host family

Ok, I ponied up for an hour-long connection this time, so hopefully I'll have time to hit the main points, at least. For efficiency' sake, I've also already made a reminder list in my journal. And I ate lunch early, like 10 in the morning, just so I'd have this time online. What I'm getting at is that you'd better not complain about anything in this post :p And leave comments, you jerks! I want to hear from you!

After a couple days in Oauagadougou, we drove for 3 or 4 hours to Ouahigouya. I had the good luck to be the last one on the bus, which means I had an unparalleled view of the countryside we passed. Unfortunately, my camera was packed underneath the bus. Which reminds me, a note on pictures: some people here are extremely sensitive about having their picture taken (a couple of years ago, there was a riot in Bobo, and a Volunteer taking a picture was cited as one of the causal influences. No one was hurt, just so you know), so as a rule I won't be taking pictures out on the street unless I have the person's permission. In other words, there wont't be any candid shots. I do hope to take pictures of my host family later.

Anyway, the drive had scenery of breath-taking beauty and breath-taking poverty, often side by side. I attempted to converse with the driver and luggage handler a bit, but my French was (and still is) crap. I was able to ask a few questions that one of the other trainees had, and understand the answers...eventually, anyway (a bit of irony there - that trainee, Kate [see links on the right], has excellent French). I also got a cheer from everyone when I asked the driver to pull over for those who needed to use the bathroom (read: bushes).

Upon arrival in Ouahigouya, we danced to traditional local music. As a rule, I don't dance, but there wasn't really any other option, so it's entirely possible that by now there are pictures somewhere on the internet of me making a complete fool of myself - more of them, I mean. We spent the first two nights staying at the ECLA (where our training is based). The second night I tried out my hammock with built in mosquito net, and it was GREAT. Unfortunately, that's not an option at my host family's house.

Our pay here is pretty low during training. It's enough to get lunch every day and occasionally get online or call home, but not enough to buy clothes, which is what I'd really like to do. Speaking of calling home, my mom has the number of the telecenter right outside my host family's home, but I'd rather not give that out since any time I take a call there, that's time my host family isn't making money from someone else using the phone. Once I have a cell phone (probably in a couple months - some of the volunteers are getting them this weekend, but I'm waiting until I know if my site has coverage), I'll make that number available. Incoming calls are free here, so you'll be able to call that as much as you can afford. Just remember the time difference! During daylight savings, I'm 4 hours ahead of EDT.

The food is awesome! Riz gras (very similar to Jollof rice, Pat), pétits poids, tô...trés bon gôut! Lots of oil in the food. I'm lucky, I haven't been sick yet. That may be due to the particular malaria medication I'm on. It's also an antiobiotic against E. coli. Unfortunately, it also increases sensitivity to the sun, so I have to wear lots of sunscreen. At least it doesn't cause lucid and strange/bad dreams, like the medication most of the others are on.

My host family is really awesome. They're very progressive, so I don't really have to worry about offending them - that's not true for all the trainees. My host-dad gives talks on HIV/AIDS (here, VIH/SIDA), and my host-mom is a cashier. They have a 5yo son who I think only speaks a little French. He just stopped calling Me Nasara, Mooré for Foreigner, and started calling me Emily, the name of the trainee the family hosted last year. They also have a 14yo daughter who helps me study my French, then I help her study her English. They also occasionally try to teach me Mooré, but I really only know the ritual greetings. Which are kind of long, by the way. You NEVER just say "What's up?" It's "Good morning! How's your morning? How's the family? How's work? How's the neighborhood?" People here like it when I go through all that with them, although once we're past it all I can say is "Goodbye". By the way, our Mooré class was all in French. That was a special kind of hell.

My journal is doubling as an IOU book. Change is hard to come by here, so PCVs and PCTs are constantly paying for each other and owing people.

We're still waiting for the rainy season to truly start, so it' still wickedly hot here mostly. But on the evenings when storms come near, if not over, the wind picks up and it fells glorious. Wind, that's another reason my host family is awesome - I get a fan in my room at night. Oh, and they LOVE MTV.

Bucket baths are pretty straightforward, but I mostly take showers. Like I said, my family is pretty progressive.

Running out of time. Thankyou to those who sent emails! Please send more, and comment here!

Oh! And send pictures!!! By post I mean - you have the address. I want pictures and postcards to show people. And American stamps and powdered Gatorade would also be appreciated.

'Til later!

I'm here!!

I only have a few minutes online. First observation: a French keyboard is just different enough to really throw you. Entering my password was paricularly confusing, since the special characters are in different places. As you might guess, this makes punctuation an adventure, too. This paragraph started out full of semicolons, colons, and commas where "m" is on our keyboards.

Ouaga is fascinating, though I haven't seen much yet. We're staying at a mission called SIL. I had a French interview today to determine what class I'll be in. I'll know the result Saturday.

The people here are so far very friendly, and other than the heat, which isn't actually so bad right now during rainy season, the experience has been wonderful and I'm really looking forward to my stay here.

Tomorrow we drive to Ouahigouya (Why-yee-goo-yah) where we'll be for three months.

Time to go - the weird keyboard makes me type super slow!

Staging

The following entries are paraphrased from my new dead tree journal. That will pretty much be true for any entries from here on out, since my internet time will be limited. And otherwise I'll forget everything.

6/8/08

• Leave Jackson way too early. Mom and Dad surprisingly chipper; I appreciate the effort, since I know they're sad to see me go. Patrick's enthusiasm not faked.
• My investment in a $5 spring scale paid off - my bags don't weigh too much.
• Delta waived the extra-bag fee since I was on a government ticket. I didn't think they would.
• Carry-on bag check! My first. It took a long time, but the lady was nice. She mentioned that I should have had my liquids bag out separately (I've always before just avoided carrying any) and I asked her if that was why they called a bag check. She said "That's one reason" and then entirely failed to elaborate on what the others were.
• Got coffee on the flight. This was not a brilliant idea since my stomach has already been in knots for days and I really could have used a nap.
• Called mom and dad from the Atlanta airport. Surprise! This calling card charges THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES to call from a pay phone. Thanks, AT&T! From 63 minutes to 27, all for less than a minute of talk time.
• Got a Diet Coke while waiting at ATL. Looked at the cap, and realized that for the first time in months there was no reason to save the MyCoke Rewards cap from my brother. An oddly poignant moment, which Coke will almost certainly never make a commercial out of.
• Got into Philly at 12, and still didn't arrive at the hotel until after 2. Incredibly long wait at the baggage claim followed by a shuttle service that took so long to leave the airport that 4 people got out to take a cab - whereupon the rest of us had to wait even longer while the driver found a few more fares.
• Thank you, TSA, for losing my TSA-friendly lock on my footlocker and inexplicably removing the address tag from my other carry-on. I promise, Ouagadougou is a real place (I'll find out later that I'm not the only person this happened to).
• Staging itself was ok. And the kimchi I had for dinner was excellent.

06/09/08

• Comfy beds and nice rooms here. I slept well...until I started waking up every 20 minutes CERTAIN that this time I overslept. I gave up and stayed awake at 6:30. Two hours until staging continues.
• The hotel has good coffee. And expensive breakfast, but I can afford it, thanks to our daily allowance. And I won't be having lunch for reasons elaborated on below.
• We were a half-hour late getting to lunch. Which meant I had only an hour to a)walk 21 blocks to where I was told Bank of America was, b) wander around looking, c)ask directions, d)walk 2 blocks back the way I came to where it REALLY is (there was a left turn in my route, so I wasn't on the same block as the building when I passed it), e)actually close my account, and f)walk 19 blocks back to the hotel. With all of 30 seconds to spare. Hence, no lunch.
• Quizno's for dinner. It's probably a minor sin to be in Philadelphia and get a cheesesteak from a nationwide chain, but it was close and I was hungry.

And that was pretty much it for staging. Tomorrow we get Yellow Fever shots, then in the evening leave for Ouaga! I may or may not have time to update Thursday evening.

Highlights of the trip

Ohio:

1. My godparents are just as cool hanging out with at 29 as they were when I was 7. They're versatile like that.
2. Cedar Point is great, but the lines are super long, so we only go to ride 5 coasters. The rundown:
1. Top Thrill Dragster - Awesome, OF COURSE. When they're worried about rollbacks, they only partially load the cars. This makes it cooler than Kingda Ka, which stops running altogether. But of course, it's not quite as fast.
2. Raptor - A solid entry in the steel coaster category. Shouldn't be your priority, but I'm not sorry we waited in line for it.
3. Millenium Force - Great ride. One of those build 'em tall, build 'em fast steel coasters. This should be your first stop after the Top Thrill Dragster.
4. Mantis - Unfortunately, Pat and I only thought to do mantis fists after we got off. The better* standing up coaster I've been on.
   *Yes, "better." I've only been on two. But it's MUCH better than the Georgia Scorcher at Six Flags Over Georgia.
5. Blue Streak - A smaller wooden coaster that we mostly rode because there was a wait of exactly zero minutes. Good, old-fashioned fun.
   
3. I stink at golf. So does my brother. But it's fun.

New Jersey:

1. Hampton Inn is pretty nice. We almost didn't get a room.
2. Bathrooms get nicer as you head east.
3. Six Flags: Great Adventures was totally worth a second day:
1. Kingda Ka - It's line runs really smoothly, but like I mentioned, they shut down at the first sign of rain or strong wind. Pat and I DID think to do tiger fists on this one the second time we rode.
2. Batman: The Dark Knight - A ride new this season and TOTALLY NOT WORTH THE WAIT. DON'T GO. Not until everyone knows it's not what they think and the lines reflect that.
3. Batman the Ride - Standard hanging coaster, virtually the same as its namesake in Six Flags Over Georgia. Which is my favorite ride at Six Flags Over Georgia.
4. Nitro - Sorry, I know I'm comparing a lot of these rides to SFOG, but this IS a Six Flags, after all. Anyway, it's like the Goliath. Big. Not as fast as the Millenium Force, but still big and fun. Ride it.
5. El Toro - Obviously, I was predisposed to like this one (have you noticed the URL you're at?) Best. Wooden Coaster. Ever. As it turns out, it's the second-tallest and second-fastest wooden coaster, and the first-steepest at 76 degrees, which is NUTS and such great fun. It bucks more than a wooden coaster has any right to, hence its name. I'd go so far as to say that if you only had time for one ride while you were at SF:GA, skip the Kingda Ka and hit this one. You'll thank me.
6. Superman: Ultimate Flight - The gimmick is you're hanging, kind of in a Superman position. Kind of. Worth doing because of the gimmick, but it's still pretty tame. Just like the Superman at SFOG.
7. Medusa - I love floorless coasters. If you're ever at SeaWorld in Orlando, they have one called the Kraken, which is freakin' great and there's no line (because who goes to SeaWorld for the roller coaster?) Well, the Medusa does have a line. And it's still even better.
8. Great American Scream Machine - This one reminded me of SFOG in two separate ways. For one, there IS a Great American Scream Machine there, but it's wood (and decent). For another, it's virtually an exact replica (or is it the other way around?) of the Ninja at SFOG. Again, we rode because there was no line. It was fun. Ride if there's no line. Otherwise, skip it.

Washington, D. C. (a short list until I add photos) :

1. Tons to see. TONS.
2. Alexandria is cool. Skip the jazz festival.
3. Arlington is incredible. Someone gave me an ornament for my service to the country as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
4. My brother's friend has a sibling who works for a senator, so we got a guided tour of the Capitol Building. Given by a statuesque brunette intern by the appropriate name of Grace. Wow, she was gorgeous. And the capitol was nice, too. (Actually, the capitol was fascinating, and it was super-neat getting a tour with just the three of us.)
5. The L'Enfant has a really posh lobby, and shopping underneath, but when it comes to amenities in the room, give me a Hampton Inn any day.

The trip home:

1. The flight crew must have just started duty. They were hilarious. When discussing crash procedures and giving oxygen masks to children (or people acting like children), their advice, if you were traveling with two or more children, was to pick the one with the most potential.
2. Ran into an old college friend - well, anyway, we had several mutual friends - who we called Filly. She's even prettier now than then (no small feat), and seems to be doing well.
3. Pat got home and was immediately out the door to meet with friends. I remember having that kind of energy.

Ok, that's the best I can do for the trip until I add pictures. Pictures will include the safari we drove through at SF:GA, and most of our time in D.C.

More in-depth mailing directions

David T. Duckworth, PCT
S/c Corps de la Paix
O1 B.P. 6031
Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

You may use the U.S. postal service to send letters or small packages - preferably small enough to fit in a padded envelope rather than a box, to minimize taxes and customs fees on my end. Mark all packages with "Airmail / Par Avion". There is the possibility that things you send through the mail will be lost, so don't send anything too valuable. In particular, don't send me postcards without enclosing them in an envelope unless you'd really like your postcard to adorn some post office along the way that I'll never see. If you have something that you feel it is very important that I receive, DHL ships to Burkina Faso. You can use the address above, and if they ask, the PC HQ phone number there is 226 50 36 92 00.

Mail can take 2 - 5 weeks one way, so don't be surprised if it takes me a while to respond. If you plan on sending several letters over the two years I am away, it would be a good idea to number them so I know if I've missed any.

Riding the Tiger

New communiqué from HQ: I have to purchase my own bicycle helmet to bring with me. I'll be reimbursed, but that's that much less space in my footlocker for other stuff. Oh well.

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Last Friday we flew to Ohio to visit my (and my brother's) godparents. They are great fun, and we ate good food, had good times, and learned that golf is not like riding a bicycle (the last time I was played, I was 12, and I was decent. This time, the best I can say is that I had a stretch of three holes that I didn't lose a ball.)
While in Ohio, we also visited the second-tallest and second-fastest roller coaster in the world, the Top Thrill Dragster. I'm told by my brother that the view of Lake Erie from the top is incredible; I wouldn't know. I was too busy looking down. I will admit, I spent most of my time in line considering backing out. I'm glad I didn't. Yesterday (Wednesday) we drove to New Jersey^* to visit THE tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, the Kingda Ka (also a name of one of the golden tabby tigers at the park, hence the name of this post). At this point, being a pro at stratacoasters, I was calm enough that I can say that the view from the top is nice enough. Also, the line moves much faster than any other ride at Six Flags: Great Adventures or at Cedar Point.

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Plans - Tonight: Indian Jones!!! Tomorrow: More coasters!

UPDATE: Movie tickets are wicked expensive up here. We've decided to wait until we get back before seeing the movie. I are sad.

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Check it out! On my profile on the right, there's an address! You should send me things!
^*SCREW Pennsylvania's turnpike. I was irritated enough at the very idea that we should have to pay to use an interstate - there are toll roads in the south, but none that I've been on were interstates - but to pay $20 only to find most of the road down to one lane because of construction?! That was not a fun drive.

The date approaches...

I received my staging information today. There's not much to fill out, happily. I also received a couple of emails from Peace Corps Headquarters (it was very tempting to word that as "I've received a communiqué from HQ.") with some more forms. I need to go get measured for a bicycle. I wonder if it's as personal a measurement as the inseam.

Speaking of inseams, I've been packing, and I'm not sure what to do about the pants situation. I need a couple pairs of breathable, durable slacks. The ideal solution, in my mind, is washable silk. I even found some washable silk slacks on sale at SteinMart. Just not in my size. I'm tempted to try some similar slacks that are labeled "Dry Clean," but lack that crucial "Only." More likely I'll just settle for cotton.  I need to get a good bit of packing done this week, since Friday my family and I are going to visit friends and other points of interest (namely, the two tallest and fastest roller coasters in the world) in faraway locales. Well, far enough that we convinced Dad it was worth flying instead of driving.

Other things I need to do - get my brother on my accounts and get his power of attorney paperwork notarized and filed. Scratch that - first I need to clear up a couple questions I have about that paperwork (some clauses seem mutually contradictory). Fortunately, while professionally my life has fallen short of spectacular, I've at least been clever enough to remain friends with some successful people. Including a couple of lawyers.

While a recent question to one of my favorite websites did not generate any practical answers, it did get me in touch with a couple other people who are going to Burkina Faso next month. That's kind of cool.

And the winner is...

Burkina Faso! I go to my staging area (TBD) on June 8th, and then on June 11th I fly to Ouahigouya, one of the larger cities in northern Burkina Faso. On August 30th, I will begin my assignment, teaching science in a secondary school. In French.

For the 11 weeks of training in Ouahigouya, I will be living with a host family, and working hard to pass proficiency tests in both French and whatever language is most appropriate to the area of the country I will move to in August. Ouahigouya is large enough that I expect to have intermittent internet access while there. Once I move on to my post, I do not know.

While in Africa, I will probably NOT have time to respond to emails, though I will do what I can. If I have internet access at all, it will be via internet cafes in the nearest city. And since my pay will be quite small, my online time will be limited. My first priority will be to update my blog. Fair warning.

Finally, if you wish to correspond via snail-mail with me while I'm there, send an email to my gmail address (soloDELETETHESEFOURWORDStoro at gmail dot com). I don't know whether I will even know the address I'll be at before I leave, but worse case scenario I'll send you a note once I get there. Or have someone in my family do so, if postage turns out to be prohibitively expensive.