Bonjour from Burkina!

Puusgo (Greetings) from Burkina Faso!

It's been over a month since I last posted (for a variety of reasons). Sorry! Have two posts to make up for it!

Post #1: The Past

The trip here went well. We passed through Manhattan on the way from Philly to JFK International and arrived in Belgium under cloudy skies the next morning. It stands to memory that our first flight over was pretty relaxed, but the second was much more eventful. The flight attendants humored our attempts at speaking French. The clouds lifted once we got to the Mediterranean, and we had stunning views of Mallorca, the coast and mountains of Algeria, and the northern part of the Sahara. We descended into a cloud of dust, and got our first glimpse of Burkina Faso from 2000 feet.

My first thoughts after stepping off the plane?

It's hot here, but I'm loving it!

Then began the first busy month of stage. We met our CD (Country Director), passed through customs, and were warmly welcomed by the staff. We jumped into a couple of vans that looked exactly what you'd expect offical Peace Corps vehicles in Africa to look like, and saw life in the streets of Ouagadougou. Boy, was a lot going on there. Motos rushing past cyclists dodging trucks (and our entourage) swerving to avoid donkey carts. People lining the streets selling everything from mangoes to  cell phone minutes to furniture. Garbage (unfortunately) everywhere. I'm not writing in complete sentences anymore. Anyhow, we got to see a taste of it all before heading into a compound to rest and orientate for the next few days.

Our orientation was just as you might expect, if you have taken into account jet lag, excitement, and the fact that most of us had not gotten any sleep in the past week. Those three days felt like two weeks! But at some point in time, we moved onto Sapone, which is a town that you will not find on Google maps.

If Google refuses to tell you about Sapone, I will. It's a small town of 6,000-ish, depending on what you count as town. It's centered around a Grand Marche (market), and has a solid community center, which is where we go everyday (except the occasional Sunday) for our classes. Us stagieres live all around town with host families, with some folks living in a more rural village. There is electricity at some houses (including mine), and running water and sewage lines were just installed in the main part of town two weeks ago (literally). There are animals everywhere. I could write a whole post about that, and certainly will in good time.

Instead, I'll leave you all with a few half-stories for now, as promised. These all happened to me in the first 48 hours in village... so you can guess that there are more to come. I hope you can forgive me for my untimely post, and understand why it was so darn difficult to write this:

1.                  My family has two cats. I witnessed one of them accomplish an impressive feat.

2.                  I had my first experience as a teacher in a Burkinabe classroom.

3.                  How about discovering that you're allergic to something rather inconvient?

4.                  Or perhaps discovering some African wildlife with your host brother?

5.                  Nope, I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this whole Peace Corps thing. Hey, wait a minute...

I look forward to recounting these stories in more detail!

One thing that I should also mention in this post: I've used the word “we” a lot. I just wanted to clarify who that is included in that: all of my fantastic stage-mates! I love how we all look out for each other and step up when it's our turn. Let's keep doing this, team!

Post #2: Present and Future

I was going to start off with a joke about conjugations in French, but then I realized that I'm terrible at spelling out French verb conjugations. The name of this blog is misconjugated, for Pete's sake! Oh well. I'm most concerned with being able to speak well first. And Les oeuvres saute =  Les oeuvres sautent, if you're actually speaking. Silly French.  I'll work on my writing in good time.

But a good chunk of my time here is spent working on language. I placed into the “Novice-High” level at the start, and just took another test on Saturday to reassess. I might find out tomorrow, but my guess is “Intermediate-High”, which is the minimum level that us education stagieres need to be at to be sworn in as volunteers. I have my fingers crossed-- but if it doesn't happen yet, I have six more weeks. Ça va aller. The language classes here are very effective. I'm in a class of two, and both of us share the same philosphy with respect to language learning: tell lots of jokes, maintain the conversation, and keep the formal workbook excercises to a minimum (still do some). It's going really well, and we've been (for the most part) extremely comfortable using the language with our host families and out on the street.

So, it was a challenge we were prepared for today, when we had our first formal info session almost entirely en Francais. But even more importantly we got to meet our homologues (work partners for the next two years), following our site announcement, which happened last week. Which brings us into the future: starting in late August, I'll be living in Koudougou!

Wait, what's a Koudougou?

Koudougou is the “Chicago” of Burkina Faso-- AKA Burkina's third largest city. The population is about 110,000, and according to our country director, it's most famous for its juices. It's also about 90 minutes away from Ouagadougou (the capital) by bus. Beyond that, I don't know too much about the city, but I will find out on Wednesday, when I get to visit!

I do know more about my work situation, after meeting my homologue and talking to the volunteer that I'm replacing. It's really exciting! I'm teaching computer class to the equivalent of HS sophomores and juniors, and the computer lab is almost quadrupling in size. Last year, there were only 10 computers, but 28 more are arriving over the summer, which means that over half of the kids will be able to take “Introduction a l'informatique”. Even more interesting: I get to work in a really experimental situation. All of the computers in the lab should be equipped with internet, making my school the only public one in the country that has full internet access. Something that will be incorporated later on: computer classes at a public elementary school. This is also a unique situation in Burkina Faso, and I feel very much honored to have been invited to work here.

Whereas a few weeks ago, I might have found myself doubting my readiness for this challenge, going through Peace Corps training myself has made me a real believer in their process. I've been taking notes-- the training itself is an excellent way of seeing how people  really learn, and then go out to do things they never before thought were possible. It starts with vision-- our committed group of volunteers who have all been given fantastic opportunities-- and gets fed with constant encouragement and a few rules. Is it perfect? Of course not. But everyone makes mistakes, and we all still have a good time in the end. Les oeuvres saute.

A couple of weeks ago, we taught our first class. Actually, we taught it three times. First, we had a practice session just amongst ourselves in English. Two days later, we did the same thing, but in French. The third time was one day after that, but we had actual students. And the process was a huge confidence-booster. Surprisingly (or maybe not), the toughest one for me was the first: in English. I tripped over my words. My composure was rocky. I cringe when I see myself the video (Thanks for filming, Natalya!). The second time, in French, I fared better. My composure was better, and while I didn't get as far into the material, I also didn't over-explain things-- I spoke more slowly, and clearly. I feel pretty good about the video (Thanks, Steve!) Then, in front of the actual students, I felt very good. The French came to me more easily, and I only had to refer to my notes once to get through the entire lesson. Just two things more to improve: board use and comprehension checks. I'm very enthused about continuing to work on these presentation skills I've never before worked on in any serious way.

What was the lesson on, you might ask?

Well, we didn't have computers, so we had to stick to theory. I planned a “History of IT” class. We first broke down what IT/Informatique means (hint: Information and Technology), and then did a few activities demonstrating how various inventions, like simple calculators, the printing press, and writing itself has contributed how we share information more efficiently today. Someday, when I have access to a fast internet connection, I'll upload a video of one of my lessons.

That brings me to another topic: the internet. I have to admit: I bought a pricey USB internet key (works off the low-speed 2G network here), had brief access to it last week before renting it out to offset the cost, and then promptly broke my computer trying to install Linux. Don't worry, it's (hopefully) nothing permanent. I'm just waiting on a Windows 7 install disk that's coming in a month with another IT volunteer's care package (he broke his computer in a similar way). Why Linux? That's a subject for another day, folks... In the meantime, I'm borrowing someone else's computer, which I've promised to take good care of and not attempt another Linux install...

OK, enough with the computer drama. Back to the future! I visit Koudougou this week, and when I return to Sapone next week... model school! I'll be teaching a short course (4 weeks) for 10 students in preparation for my class of 38 that awaits me at site. Speaking of which, I'll be meeting with all of the important school officials on Thursday, potentially even Monsieur le Maire (the Mayor of Koudogou). The potential for stories and half-stories in next post is huge. Looking forward to next time!

- ETH