so for all of you who heard that i was going to burkina faso and thought to yourself "burki-what?," i found this song for you! It is by one my fellow PC volunteers, and he'll actually be in my same training group in june!
A Burkina Faso Song.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
the start of packing...
Today i picked up a couple of the larger items that I'll need for my time in Burkina! I think REI should pay me for the little shout out I'm giving them here, but these are the 3 things i picked up tonight:
Screen tent. Many of the volunteers choose to sleep outside because the houses sit in the sun all day retain all that heat! Sometimes as much as 90 degrees at night still. Most houses are surrounded by a locked gate, so they are safe from both people and animals :P Because of the risk of malaria from mosquitoes, I will need some sort of protection, and this little tent was definitely the best bargain.
Camping pad. For sleeping outdoors, in my new tent. I originally was looking at a more expensive, but lighter pad (more expensive because of the technology required to make it lighter...) But i realized that i won't often be trekking this around, so the extra cushion would be worth the pound or so more i would carry on the trip there and back. Also, it isn't the name brand, so i got about double the thickness for less money!
My daypack!! I bought the grey/green one pictured, because it was $25 cheaper. It has the exact same features, but was $25-$40 cheaper than comparable packs. I've heard that once i am in burkina (and especially once i move to my permanent site) i won't travel more than a couple days at a time, meaning my large hiking backpack would be too much for a couple outfits and the necessities. I thought about just using my school backpack I've had for a few years, but i was really afraid it just wouldn't hold up. And it doesn't have all the fancy zippers and straps :)
The last item i am really struggling with is the solar charger. There are many options to choose from, and i think my biggest problem is that i don't know exactly what i expect from it. I know i don't expect it to charge my computer (to get one that can charge a laptop makes the cost jump from less than $100 to as much as $600, though you can probably get one close to $300). I think i want one that can charge my phone (which i will purchase in Burkina), my ipod, rechargeable batteries and my camera. I just haven't found one that can do that mix. Or i just don't know enough about all the adapters out there either.
So, if anyone has any sort of insight, please let me know :)
In other exciting news, via facebook i found a couple from minnesota who is going to be in my program!! The woman even works with my dad! We discovered that they even work in the department, just a couple rows away, which is amazing when you consider how many thousands of people work in that building! We might try to meet before we go, but either way it has been fun to talk to people going through the same steps and asking the same questions i have been asking :) And they are from iowa, so we are all familiar with both areas!
well, that's about it for now. i just got back from out little family vacation on tuesday with just a little sunburn... i guess it's just a warm-up for the years to come! I have to admit that my days of staying up late, sleeping in & napping every afternoon to then start the cycle over have not made for an easy re-adjustment to working at 6...
and wish me luck, tomorrow is my first appt with the oral surgeon! time to get these wisdom teeth checked out, eek!
Screen tent. Many of the volunteers choose to sleep outside because the houses sit in the sun all day retain all that heat! Sometimes as much as 90 degrees at night still. Most houses are surrounded by a locked gate, so they are safe from both people and animals :P Because of the risk of malaria from mosquitoes, I will need some sort of protection, and this little tent was definitely the best bargain.
Camping pad. For sleeping outdoors, in my new tent. I originally was looking at a more expensive, but lighter pad (more expensive because of the technology required to make it lighter...) But i realized that i won't often be trekking this around, so the extra cushion would be worth the pound or so more i would carry on the trip there and back. Also, it isn't the name brand, so i got about double the thickness for less money!
My daypack!! I bought the grey/green one pictured, because it was $25 cheaper. It has the exact same features, but was $25-$40 cheaper than comparable packs. I've heard that once i am in burkina (and especially once i move to my permanent site) i won't travel more than a couple days at a time, meaning my large hiking backpack would be too much for a couple outfits and the necessities. I thought about just using my school backpack I've had for a few years, but i was really afraid it just wouldn't hold up. And it doesn't have all the fancy zippers and straps :)
The last item i am really struggling with is the solar charger. There are many options to choose from, and i think my biggest problem is that i don't know exactly what i expect from it. I know i don't expect it to charge my computer (to get one that can charge a laptop makes the cost jump from less than $100 to as much as $600, though you can probably get one close to $300). I think i want one that can charge my phone (which i will purchase in Burkina), my ipod, rechargeable batteries and my camera. I just haven't found one that can do that mix. Or i just don't know enough about all the adapters out there either.
So, if anyone has any sort of insight, please let me know :)
In other exciting news, via facebook i found a couple from minnesota who is going to be in my program!! The woman even works with my dad! We discovered that they even work in the department, just a couple rows away, which is amazing when you consider how many thousands of people work in that building! We might try to meet before we go, but either way it has been fun to talk to people going through the same steps and asking the same questions i have been asking :) And they are from iowa, so we are all familiar with both areas!
well, that's about it for now. i just got back from out little family vacation on tuesday with just a little sunburn... i guess it's just a warm-up for the years to come! I have to admit that my days of staying up late, sleeping in & napping every afternoon to then start the cycle over have not made for an easy re-adjustment to working at 6...
and wish me luck, tomorrow is my first appt with the oral surgeon! time to get these wisdom teeth checked out, eek!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
So it begins!
I finally started my blog!! I've spent yesterday and today playing around and making sure it has all the features I want :) Maybe if I'd taken more programming classes I could have designed my own sweet backgrounds, but I'm pretty happy with what I found!
Well, I leave for Burkina in 74 days!! I really cannot believe it is coming that soon, because I feel like I haven't even started preparing. The first week I found out I submitting my passport application (I will get a second, government employee passport. Kind of like a secret agent!), my visa application and emailed my country's Peace Corps desk my resume and another aspiration statement. Up until that point the people working specifically for the Burkina Faso placements and such didn't have any information on me, so I hope I made a decent first impression. The only Peace Corps paperwork I am still waiting on is re-submitting my dental paperwork once I get my wisdom teeth out. So that will be fun. Other than that it is a lot of little things that you wouldn't really think about: renewing credit cards, driver's license, and anything else that will expire before August 2012. I have a lot of loan paper work to get started on as well, which I suspect will be about as much fun as getting my wisdom teeth out, minus the painkillers.
Since I sent out my last mass email stating that I was officially in, I haven't been officially been told any new information, but I've been doing a lot of blog stalking of other volunteers and think i have a pretty good idea of what to expect for training at least. The first 3 months of my 27 month commitment will spent training with the group of volunteer starting the same time as me. At the end of training I will be officially sworn in as a volunteer (PCV), up until that point i'm only a trainee (PCT). I'm guessing the training group will be 15-20 people, but I really won't know until I get there!! We will be training around Ouahigouya (the northern of the two cities marked on the map to the right. The other city is the capital, where I'm guessing I will fly in). Part of training is spent at the PC training center, but for most of it the group is split up to live with host families. The purpose for this is to help us adjust to the culture and language sooner than if we all just stayed together. The host families will not all live in Ouahigouya, some may live in smaller villages outside the city. Once again, I'll find out when I get there!
My placement is officially to teach math at secondary school (anywhere from 7th-12th grade). But I know that all African PCVs do some work with Health Care. I'm not sure exactly what i will do for this yet, i think a lot of that will be determined by the specific needs of the community where i live. Burkina doesn't struggle with HIV/AIDS as much as other countries do, most of the health problems there are malnutrition and dehydration (because of diarrhea from unclean water). The average life expectancy is only about 45, while the US life expectancy is about 75. So as much as Africa needs advanced medical care to treat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, they also just need clean water and food. (I will provided a water filter from the Peace Corps for my water. It is very unlikely that i will have running water at my house, i will most likely have to transport it from a well.) I don't know the specific village/town i will be teaching in yet (and i won't until about halfway through training), but it is unlikely that another volunteer will live in the same village as me. In the village i may live with another host family or i may have my own place. Either way, it's my understanding that i will have my own stand-alone building, probably just a single room. Most of the houses there are set up on compounds, with many buildings inside a locked gate.
Well, i feel like i'm starting to ramble, which is always a good time to stop. If you have any questions, email me! I would, as always, love to hear from all of you too! This next week my family is going on vacation to Florida, so it will be nice to relax a little and see my grandpa before I leave!! We are also going on a short cruise (my first), so that should be pretty fun :) I'm sure I will update several times before i leave, but once i get there, it may only be about once a month or so (i also don't know what my electricity/internet situation will be yet). But like i said before, only 74 days until i leave!! and i know it will fly by!
Well, I leave for Burkina in 74 days!! I really cannot believe it is coming that soon, because I feel like I haven't even started preparing. The first week I found out I submitting my passport application (I will get a second, government employee passport. Kind of like a secret agent!), my visa application and emailed my country's Peace Corps desk my resume and another aspiration statement. Up until that point the people working specifically for the Burkina Faso placements and such didn't have any information on me, so I hope I made a decent first impression. The only Peace Corps paperwork I am still waiting on is re-submitting my dental paperwork once I get my wisdom teeth out. So that will be fun. Other than that it is a lot of little things that you wouldn't really think about: renewing credit cards, driver's license, and anything else that will expire before August 2012. I have a lot of loan paper work to get started on as well, which I suspect will be about as much fun as getting my wisdom teeth out, minus the painkillers.
Since I sent out my last mass email stating that I was officially in, I haven't been officially been told any new information, but I've been doing a lot of blog stalking of other volunteers and think i have a pretty good idea of what to expect for training at least. The first 3 months of my 27 month commitment will spent training with the group of volunteer starting the same time as me. At the end of training I will be officially sworn in as a volunteer (PCV), up until that point i'm only a trainee (PCT). I'm guessing the training group will be 15-20 people, but I really won't know until I get there!! We will be training around Ouahigouya (the northern of the two cities marked on the map to the right. The other city is the capital, where I'm guessing I will fly in). Part of training is spent at the PC training center, but for most of it the group is split up to live with host families. The purpose for this is to help us adjust to the culture and language sooner than if we all just stayed together. The host families will not all live in Ouahigouya, some may live in smaller villages outside the city. Once again, I'll find out when I get there!
My placement is officially to teach math at secondary school (anywhere from 7th-12th grade). But I know that all African PCVs do some work with Health Care. I'm not sure exactly what i will do for this yet, i think a lot of that will be determined by the specific needs of the community where i live. Burkina doesn't struggle with HIV/AIDS as much as other countries do, most of the health problems there are malnutrition and dehydration (because of diarrhea from unclean water). The average life expectancy is only about 45, while the US life expectancy is about 75. So as much as Africa needs advanced medical care to treat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, they also just need clean water and food. (I will provided a water filter from the Peace Corps for my water. It is very unlikely that i will have running water at my house, i will most likely have to transport it from a well.) I don't know the specific village/town i will be teaching in yet (and i won't until about halfway through training), but it is unlikely that another volunteer will live in the same village as me. In the village i may live with another host family or i may have my own place. Either way, it's my understanding that i will have my own stand-alone building, probably just a single room. Most of the houses there are set up on compounds, with many buildings inside a locked gate.
Well, i feel like i'm starting to ramble, which is always a good time to stop. If you have any questions, email me! I would, as always, love to hear from all of you too! This next week my family is going on vacation to Florida, so it will be nice to relax a little and see my grandpa before I leave!! We are also going on a short cruise (my first), so that should be pretty fun :) I'm sure I will update several times before i leave, but once i get there, it may only be about once a month or so (i also don't know what my electricity/internet situation will be yet). But like i said before, only 74 days until i leave!! and i know it will fly by!
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