First words from Africa

I'm alive and well. It is super hot. I am sitting in an internet cafe and copied the text below from a flashdrive. I pay for the internet by the hour so I wrote this last night knowing I would be coming here today. I have been in Africa for just over a week. Training has begun and I am living with a host family. I had another entry prepared but I must have not have saved it properly on my jump drive. I'll upload it later.

However, sending an entire summer with no worries other than to learn a language(s) and a culture is a dream. No papers, exams, or group meetings. Progress is measured and rewarded in my ability to order food, socialize, and build relationships. The past week has flown by distorting everything other than my excitement for the next few months of training and the two years of service that will follow.

After arriving in Burkina Faso, we were two nights in Ouagadougou, the nation’s capital. During those first days as a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT- as opposed to PCV-olunteer), we set up accounts, were photographed for ID’s, received a health briefing, and had a language progress interview. My French is par for the course. Currently I am rated at intermediate-low. I must be at intermediate-high in order to swear-in as a volunteer three months from now. There are some trainees with much more French and some with much less. I am confident that I will reach the markl with enough time and effort.

After two nights in Ouaga, we headed to Burkina’s third biggest city, Ouiagouia. The two hour trip between the two cities allowed me my first glimpse of the flat and dry Burkina terrain. There are more trees than I expected but the ground is dry, rocky, and flat. There is a good chance I could ride my bike across the entire country without having to worry about impassable terrain. Where there is not a tree, the ground is solid, feels like asphalt, and very easy to ride a bike over. Speaking of my new bike, it’s awesome! My opinion of my bike may be inflated as I have never owned a high quality bike; I have actually never even owned any bike. With that being said, we were given very nice bikes that make travelling here very easy. As I said before, the flat and firm terrain allows you to take your bike anywhere, and the bikes outnumber motor vehicles two-to-one where there are paved streets.

Monday was our first night with our host families. The preceding adoption ceremony was quite awkward. In the evening, the host families came to the center where most of my classes are held. The trainees talked amongst ourselves as the families filed in. When the actual ceremony started, Siaka, the cross-cultural director and member of the Peace Corps staff, called up a member of an African family. Then he called the name of the newly adopted American volunteer, took a picture, and then the family, with their newly adopted trainee, sat together in awkward silence. This process repeated itself until all the trainees were given a home. Once each volunteer had a home, we all hopped on our bikes and followed our host families to our new home.

My host family’s home is actually bigger than I thought it would be. There is electricity, a large living room, two bedrooms, and a bucket both (no running water). I take two bucket baths a day, once in the morning and once before dinner. Upon arriving that first night, I tried to talk to my family for a bit, and then headed to my room to unpack my things. It felt great to have a place to call home for three months after moving from place to place and living out of a suitcase the past three weeks. My room is ten feet by teen feet with a bed, hooks for clothing, a metal chest, and a small desk and chair. I can’t complain. It took 30 minutes to unpack all my stuff, and after doing so, I was in a full sweat. I sat down on my bedand realized I had no way to cool off. There was not fan, I already took a bath, and at this point I wasn’t sure if it was water scarcity made it inappropriate to take another. So I sat their trying to slow my heart and let evaporation dry my body. I tried to wipe myself off with a towel but being dry just made me hotter. I quickly caved, took two Benadryl, and passed out as a sweaty mess. Roosters woke me up in the morning. I was still sweaty. The morning bucket bath was the best shower I have ever taken. That evening, I came home and my father showed me a fan that he bought for me. I gave him a big hug and have been sleeping great ever since. I sometimes even wake up a little cool and have to put a sheet over my legs.

My host family is amazing. I have two younger siblings, a 13-year-old sister named Saly and a 9-year-old brother named CD. For the first few days, my sister rode with me to school in the morning and then picked me up in the afternoon. She feels more like an older sister than a younger sister as she is always looking out for me and I feel like a 5-year-old when I have to express myself in French. My host father is a teacher and my host mother stays at home taking care of the house. Getting to know my family is going to be a long process as my limited French allows for only basic conversation. I will get to know my family better and better as my French progresses. I will be able to understand their opinions, appreciate their sense of humor, and value their interactions as a family. Currently, I can barely tell them what I learned in class that day or understand what they did during the day. I am thankful that they are patient with me and are always willing to help me with my French.

When we are not with our host families, we are in class. The average day begins at 8 AM, is split into four two-hour sessions, and concludes at 5 PM. On most days, two of the sessions are spent in French class. Our class of 22 divides into small classes of two or three based on French ability. The other two sessions are spent learning about medical issues, safety concerns, or how to be an effective teacher in a Burkinabe classroom. For our teacher training, we will be writing lesson plans and will actually be teaching summer school daily for a month before we are sent out to our site. I am thankful for this training even thought the days are long and hot.

For now it is the weekend. We are going out tonight and have plans to visit a pool tomorrow.

Three Places at Once

Since graduation, I have spent the last week in Yellowstone taking an ecology class from my dad. The other students in the class call him gator, but for me that is awkward because my nickname is also gator. I just call him dad. My body has been in Yellowstone, but my mind has been in three different places all at once. I have enjoyed my time here getting to know new people and soaking in God's creation. But at the same time, a piece of me is still back home with family and friends. Yet another piece is looking forward to Burkina Faso.

In one day, my mind travels around the world. The west captivates me as I hike through the mountains, climb to waterfalls, and get to close for comfort to a moose on the side of the rode. I then travel home when I make phone calls to family and friends. In the evening, I am in Africa in front of the classroom as I work through a book on motivating young people donated to my by my mentor, Dr. Snyder. I brainstorm of classroom strategies and activities that can be used to make my class both effective and exciting. It is amazing to think that the today I feel the wintry chill of a mountainous spring but next week I will feel the blistering heat of the African sun. Today I speak in English but next week I will be stumbling over my French. The anticipation of the transition between chapters in life are always so surreal. The human mind I think is incapable of fully preparing itself for drastic change. Clinging to things that are known comes much easier than reaching for the unknown, but the unknown is much more exciting.

The past and future aside, I am now sitting in the "Bear Country Café" drinking my fifth cup of coffee. I used my french press (thanks Margee) this morning with water boiled atop a wood stove in the rustic Beaver Creek Cabin in the middle of the Gallatin National Forest. Last night was perhaps the first of many nights without running water or electricity. I would have slept fine had it been for an eager dean, Dr. Myer, who insisted on keeping the wood stove fully stocked with hot burning lodge pole pine. I think the man is cold-blooded, but he is the dean so none of us had the courage to speak up. To look on the bright side, we had more padding as all us slept on top of our sleeping bags instead of in them.

I drank my second and third cups of coffee with a delicious breakfast (thanks Dad) at a little diner overlooking the Madison river. I forget the name but will never forget the pancake. This morning was the first time I had bacon and eggs served on top of a pancake, never had thin strips of bacon looked so small.

Now I am in the cafe in West Yellowstone finishing my fifth cup of coffee. I have failed in my goal to gradually wean myself from caffeine before I leave for Africa. I guess I have always been an all or nothing type of guy.

I fly from Jackson Hole to Philly Sunday morning. Staging will last two days before the real flight leaves Tuesday night. My packs I will take from Africa have been sitting in the trailer untouched as I have managed on two pairs of clothes for this whole trip. I see it as a warm up for the next two years. The only supply that comes to mind that I need to get before I leave...zip ties! I can't believe I almost left for Africa without the most handy thing ever to be invented.