Goodbye Chipotle

I'll miss you so much dear friend.

To begin, a little haiku to sum up the things everybody has been saying to me:

               Try not to get AIDS,
               also please don't get married,
               diarrhea sucks.

These are such wise words to live by.

     Really though, the time has come. It's almost 5:30 in the morning the day before I leave for staging. I have fallen into an absolutely Godawful sleep cycle that consists of going to bed way to late and waking up at embarrassing hours. I guess it isn't so bad, except it will make the jet lag and readjustment far worse. The time difference in Burkina is four hours... the wrong way. Let's say I was moving to California; I would be in great shape. 5:00 in Potomac is only 2:00 in San Diego... Unfortunately, 5:00 in Potomac is also 9:00 in Burkina. Moral of the story is, the first couple of days are going to be brutal trying to figure out why the sun isn't up when it should be.

     I had my going away party last night. I saw some people I have not seen in way too long, and it was great to not only talk to them, but their parents as well. It seems like all of my friends are doing well, and like I said in a previous post, I fully anticipate some of them will be engaged and the what not before I return. I also told people there will be the price of death for people who get married while I'm gone. I just love weddings so much; and by weddings, I mean an open bar. Plus, some of my nearest and dearest friends may be on that path relatively soon and I'd like to see them once more as a couple or  friend before they take the plunge into being a permanent +1 and significant other. Regardless, we laughed, we ate, we drank, and we just enjoyed each other's company. There are not many better things in this world than sitting around with old friends and a fire and telling stories of the mistakes you made back in the day. This entire pre-departure experience has rejuvenated lost friendships and I am extremely thankful for the opportunity that I have been given to not only do what I have wanted for roughly four years, but also to guilt trip people into seeing me! If ever there's a reason to bring a group back together, it has to be, "come see David before he disappears to feed himself to a croc!"

     This brings me to my next point, or better yet, tangent. The aforementioned haiku at the top here is as much a joke as it is completely true. NO, I will NOT be speaking in clicks, and NO, I will NOT be putting discs in my neck and barbs through my nostrils. Just to make this very clear, Africa is a continent and not a country (I can't believe that has to be explained). I know this is America, and our geography and world knowledge isn't exactly stellar (though obviously I do not expect anybody to know here Burkina Faso is), but for goodness sake people, utilize google before you ask something like this to somebody. While I am not easily offended obviously, this is a great way to look ignorant and insult somebody who is. Africa has thousands of ethnic groups, sometimes just in one country alone. This is like calling an Englishman, Welsh. It's like calling a Japanese person Chinese. You are stripping somebody of their personal culture and assigning them a generic view of the "country" of Africa. I have two non-personal goals for my Peace Corps time and they are to do whatever the PC tells me to benefit the Burkinabe, and to educate Americans about the continent that we know, and apparently care, so little about.

     Obviously this isn't a call for you to get up and move to Uganda and open an orphanage (another movie reference), nor is it blaming anybody for their lack of knowledge (except the media, the school systems, and the government... so not blaming you personally). Rather, it is a way to maybe try and inspire people to learn about another culture and understand the absolute very basics of an extremely complex dynamic that is Africa as a whole. The continent is vast, the cultures are incredibly different, and it is hotter than hell, or so I'm told.

     Away from all of that not so fun stuff, I am so ready to do this already! It has been such a long time coming and I've been antsy for months. Obviously I cannot say I'm not nervous. I'm nervous as all hell. I shut off my phone yesterday, and I'm still getting used to even the idea of the lack of communication. I have been frantic in trying to figure out how to charge my phone and laptop when in Burkina, and despite everybody there telling me 15x, it still makes no sense and I don't know how long it will be in between posts on here or Internet access. I assume it will be a while, but when I get service I will post my first, and maybe second or who knows what, blog post from Burkina. Hopefully I will have all positive things to say, but realistically the first at least month is going to be a brutal adjustment.

     A good friend of mine, who happened to be a Blue Tang Fish named Dory, always said "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." These will be the words that I live by until I am truly comfortable. Also, my coach in college used to tell us, "fake it 'til you make it". I used that at one point in college, and I will use it again in the future I'm sure. Like they say, when life gives you lemons, be pumped because there aren't a lot of lemons in Burkina Faso.

     Take care friends and family, I love you all (especially you Mom), and wish me the best!


*To contact me, contact my mother for my mailing address, or email me at dzamkov@yahoo.com, though I may not respond for a long time. I'm not posting it here for the world to see. All mail is greatly appreciated!