An Intro to Stage

Bonjour! Well, believe it or not, today was only our second official day as stagieres. (trainees). Last week was week zero, so we are now in week one!

Monday night was my first night with my host family and it went really well! I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but I have to admit the family was more modern than I was anticipating. They have a TV and computer in their living room. And I am one of the more spoiled stagieres, I even have a fan in my bedroom. My host father is the director at a lycee (school) and he is actually Congolais, not Burkinabe. My host mom is Burkinabe though, and I’m pretty sure she is from Ouhigouya. But because my father isn’t from here, he doesn’t speak the local language, meaning French is the common language for the family, so even their daughter speaks it really well, when most five year olds haven’t really started learning French yet. Their daughter’s name is Love and she is adorable by the way. I’ll have to get some pictures up here (I’ll have to start taking some pictures!!) My host father speaks English as well as French, which is really nice, because he is able to correct my French, which I definitely need. I tested lower in French than I had hoped, but even after my first night with the host family, I felt much more confident. We have French for at least 2 sessions a day, 6 days a week. By the end of Stage, I will have about 128 hours of language and I think an additional 15 hours of technical language (the vocabulary needed to teach each of our subjects). I have to reach a certain level in French, and once I reach that point, I will switch over to my local language.

Other than just language, Stage is when we learn everything we need to know for the next two years. We have sessions on medical, security, culture, our technical area as well as language. So far we have learned how to prepare our own blood slides to test for malaria and how to prepare a stool sample to test for parasites (We had to practice the blood slide, but thankfully, not the stool sample :P). We haven’t really started the technical sessions yet, but had an intro where they explained the process.

I can’t really believe that I’ve been gone for less than two weeks at this point, it seems like we’ve been here for about a month, but I’m still getting used to little things. Like being sweaty all the time, having to use a pit latrine (both my host family and where we have classes have a pit latrine, but the one at school has bigger hole, it’s nicer for beginners, haha!), and having to be careful about what I eat. I haven’t had anything I don’t like yet, but we just have to be careful that all the fresh produce we eat has been cleaned properly. So far it’s been a lot of rice, beans and sauce or egg sandwiches.

So, there is a little look at Stage. It will be the hardest part of being a PC volunteer, but I’m still really excited to be here! I’ll explain some of the other areas in detail as we learn more, but for now, I’m just hoping to improve my French!
I hope you are all doing well! Miss you all!

i'm here!

well, i have about 4 minutes left of my internet time, but i just wanted to say i'm alive; i'm in burkina faso and i think i have about the coolest group possible with me!!

it's been a crazy week (only a week!) and tonight we meet our host families; more to come soon!
miss you all!

address!!

This can now be found over on the right under contact info, but my address for the next 3 mos is:

Danielle Parshall, PCT

s/c Corps de la Paix

01 B. P. 6031

Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

Tomorrow we actually fly to Burkina! This morning i left MN for staging, which has been mostly policies and getting to know some of my fellow trainees. They seem like a pretty cool bunch :)

well, i think i'm going to give my luggage one last go over before the long flight, and maybe try to get a little more sleep than the 2 hours i got last night!

miss you already!

it's go time!!

so, roughly 30 hours from now i will be driving down to msp airport to begin this adventure!

my last day at work was just over a week ago, so i've had most of this week to just hang out and get ready. I would say i did a better job at the hanging out part and not so much with the getting ready. :)

I did have a few productive days though: tuesday i went to the bank and got all monetary issues taken care of. Thursday we had extended family portraits taken and i finished off the evening fill out all (most? i should probably check that again) of the paper work sent to me by the US government over 3 mos ago... And friday was a little bit crazy with a dentist appt (where they told me that my sudden sensitivity in one tooth was nothing. not quite what i wanted hear, especially since it's acting up again today), I signed my power of attorney stuff, and worked at my job at the church, where i managed to pull this off:

I was playing SPUD and part of the games includes running until someone yells Spud!, at which point you need to freeze! Well i attempted to stop, but the gravel under my feet had other plans and this was the consequence. To be honest, this past week or so i have been paranoid that i will break a bone and not being able to go to the peace corps. So, i'm just happy that there are no broken bones!! unfortunately the buckle from my sandals really got my ankle, so sandals aren't much fun right now.

But today i finally got down to packing!! so, i have decided to include my packing list because people have asked about it and it seems to be a peace corps blog tradition (which i have found very helpful!!)

Luggage/Gear:

55L backpack (if you're buying a backpack for the peace corps, 55L is probably too small to be very useful. but i already had it and buying another seemed silly. it has a 20L daypack that zips off, but i already had a daypack)

30L backpack

large suitcase

bug hut (screen tent)

sleeping mat

mesh bags for packing

Clothes:
4 skirts

2 pairs pants

1 pair jeans

2 pair shorts (pajamas)

1 pair capris

7 nice shirts (i'm sure this is too many, but i just did one shirt per skirt/pants. and by 'nice,' i mean not screen printed.)

2 tee-shirts (pajamas)

1 long sleeve tee

1 light rain jacket

lots of underwear

bras and sports bras

2 pairs socks

swim suit (they tell us there is a pool at a hotel in the capital that some volunteers use)

belt

hiking shoes

chacos

dress sandals

flip flops

General:

2 water bottles

small camelbak pack

2 pair sunglasses

map of USA

map of MN

map of the world

scissors

games (skipbo, phase 10, bananagrams, frisbee)

journal

pens/markers

photo album

sheets (twin size and for my sleeping mat)

pillow/pillow case

bike helmet

Kitchen:

2 knives

small skillet

small sauce pan

can opener

pot holder

dish towel

ziplock bags

Electronics:

computer

camera

extra SD card

solar charger

ipod

speakers

shortwave radio

usb drive

headlamp

rechargeable batteries (AA & AAA)

power converter/adapter

calculator

Toiletries:

deodorant

shampoo

conditioner

body soap

face soap

tooth paste

tooth brush

hair brush

hair binders

headbands (for my bangs, as they grow out)

nail clippers

nail file

sunscreen

neosporin (see photo above :P)

bandaids

lady products

mascara/concealer

razors

tweezers

Food:

spices: chili packets, italian seasoning, pesto mixes, cinnamon

dried fruit

granola bars

tortillas

(i might add more food like tortillas, that are more like part of meal than snacks)

Maybe not terribly exciting for some of you, but hopefully it gives a glimpse into what's to come. From talking to some friends currently in the program, I am sure that I am bringing too much. But from this side of things, that is really hard for me to grasp. so i try my best to not bring everything now, and a year (or less) from now, i will once again admit, that i brought too much.

here are some more pictures!

ok, so there doesn't appear to be too much different between the two pictures above, but the second one is zoomed in more and there was another shopping trip in between! :)

I haven't tried to shut it yet, but i'm confident it will happen. and if you notice above, most of this suitcase is just my sleeping mat, so it shouldn't be too heavy either! i know the mat is big, but i decided that if i do end up sleeping on it most of the time, i might as well get a thicker one.

i did receive a few emails this week telling us a little bit about what to expect our first few days. i knew we fly into ouagadougou (the capital) and have training in ouahigouya (another large city, and actually both these cities are on the map to the right), but i found out that we are actually in the capital for a couple days and will have a little bit of our orientation there. we won't actually get to ouahigouya until friday. i know we have homestays during training, but looking at the schedule, we must start those sometime after friday.

well, i probably won't update this again tomorrow, so i want to thank everyone for their love and support as i head out on this journey!! i will miss you all and look forward to hearing how things are going stateside! and i promise to update when i can! i know these first few days will be crazy, but we are in the bigger cities, so hopefully i can get to an internet connection to let you all know i arrived safe and sound!

miss you already! :)

how i got here:

Tonight i'm having dinner with a couple friends who are curious about the Peace Corps application process and it got me thinking about my application timeline and exactly what has happened in the past year to get me to this point!!

So without further adieu:

• Feb/Mar 2009: Started looking into Peace Corps and even started filling out the application, but decided to wait because I hadn't yet heard back from a Fulbright position I'd applied to.
• Mar 2009 (i think): Heard that I didn't get the Fulbright and decided to go ahead with PC!
• April-June 2009: Asked my three references if they would in fact like to be references for me (i needed a volunteer supervisor, a work supervisor and a friend)
• July 7, 2009: My last reference recently turned in her letter, so i gave my application one last go over and turned it in!
• July 30, 2009: Received an email from my recruiter and set up my interview!
• August 14, 2009: Interviewed with my recruiter. And received my Nomination!! (a nomination basically says that you are a candidate for the job). I left my interview thinking that i could be leaving as soon as Dec 2009, but my recruiter called back that same day and said he found a program for Math Education in Francophone Africa for June 2010 and i was nominated to that program!
• August 2009: Received my medical packet in the mail (the next step towards being cleared as a possible volunteer)
• Oct 23, 2009: Had my physical (including 3 shots and about 6 vials of blood drawn...)
• Dec 2009: My application status became 'inactive' because i'm a procrastinator :P
• Jan 2010: Mailed in medical forms, no longer inactive!
• Feb 2, 2010: Dental exam (definitely less blood than the physical) and dental exam mailed in!
• Feb 18, 2010: Medical clearance
• Feb 19, 2010: Received email that it would be a good idea to review my application and resume to ensure that everything is up to date.
  and just as i was about to do that:
• Feb 24, 2010: Received a phone call from the Placement office that turned into a second interview of sorts. Was told that i just received dental clearance and would be receiving legal clearance the next day. More importantly, i was told that i would be receiving an invitation! (aka, the job offer!) They don't tell your country though, so i was left waiting!
• Feb 27, 2010: Invitation arrived at my house when i was out of town! i had my brother hide it until i got home though, and found out i would be going to Burkina Faso!
  Also found out i needed to get a cavity filled and my wisdom teeth out :P
• Mar 1, 2010: Accepted invitation!
• Mar 10, 2010: Emailed the in-country desk another Aspiration Statement and resume
• April 8, 2010: First appt. with oral surgeon
• April 15, 2010: Cavity filled!
• April 22, 2010: Wisdom teeth out!
• May 10, 2010: Received my staging email, booked my flight to staging in Philadelphia, learned I needed H1N1 vaccine
• May 11, 2010: Got H1N1 vaccine
• May 19, 2010: today.
• June 7, 2010: Fly to staging
• June 9, 2010: Land in Ouagadougou, BF
• August 25, 2010: Officially start as PC Volunteer (end of training)
  
• August 25, 2012: Done!

So, there's the journey so far. I was told that the application process typically takes over a year, but as you can see, i'm leaving less than a year after I submitted my application! There were periods of waiting, but i feel that most of them were because of me (i.e. oct-jan), not because I was waiting on the PC :)

But it's about time for that dinner, and the countdown is at 19 days to go!

things just got real!

alright, things just got real around here! I just received my staging email (the email that says everything i need to know before leaving!!!) I also just made my flight arrangements, during which, the guy asked if I wanted window or aisle and when I responded that I didn't mind he said "you're leaving for 3 years, i'll give you window so you can wave goodbye." yikes.

But I will meet the rest of my group in Philadelphia where we will turn in a lot of paper work and get some shots (I also just found out that I have to get the H1N1 shot before I go, too, it's like a bonus shot!)

Below is my schedule for the two days:

First of all, I love how in the email 'completed forms' was highlighted, and above it is in bold. I think they really want us to have those forms completed. :)

Iit is so entirely surreal to look at that and see "Flight departs for Burkina Faso" I really don't know what to think about that right now. But I should probably start tracking down paperwork! Eeek!

one month left!

Well, I haven’t updated this in a while, and to be honest, I feel like not a whole lot has been happening!

Since the last update, I had my wisdom teeth removed. It went really well, no dry sockets and I was back to work on Monday (I had them out on a Thursday). Unfortunately, my insurance didn’t cover as much of them as I’d hoped, so they were expensive little buggers, but at least it something I won’t have to worry about later in life (or while I’m in Burkina!).

I feel like it’s lame to talk so much about things I’m buying, but at this point, that’s about all that’s going on. I finally decided on a solar charger! (I just ordered it yesterday even!) I decided on the Solio charger (the one recommended in the first place), but the key reason I finally made a decision was this little guy; a battery recharger that charges through a USB port. With the Solio you are able to buy a different tip for the different devices you need to charge, so I can buy a USB port to charge both my ipod and batteries. Until I found that the USB charger, I was really stuck on what to get, so I was super excited about that find!

I recently found out that some volunteers use car batteries as a source of electricity at their homes. They are able to get the car batteries recharged as needed, and they have a strong enough current to charge laptops, too. I’ll check that out when I get there, but that is something I would have never thought to do!

So, as the departure date gets closer and closer (33 days!) a lot of people are asking if I’m getting more nervous or excited to go. To be honest, I’ve been a crazy mix of emotions since I found out I was leaving, but lately I don’t really feel strongly one way or the other, just sort of neutral. I think a big reason for that was now that my wisdom teeth are out, I don’t really have anything else I absolutely have to do before I leave. Before this I had two vacations, multiple dental appts, wisdom teeth, and researching and buying the bigger items. And now I’m sort of just coasting to the finish line. I’m guessing that as these 33 days left start to dwindle down I’ll start to get back into a state of mixed excitement and terror.

I’ve also decided that I need to practice my French! My little brother had ordered these French CDs online, so I have them on my ipod and I’ve decided to use my time at work before store open to listen and practice. And now that I think of it, I think there are a couple Mooré (the most common local language) lessons on the PC website! So maybe in my coasting time near the end here, I’ll finally focus on language practice.

Final note: I am having an open house before I go! If you’re at all in the area on May 22, swing on by! Send me an email if you need an address or details. If you’re not in the area, give me a call! I would love to hear from you before I go :)