Life Is Tough, First Fun Weekend

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This was supposed to be posted with the others, but internet in this country is questionable at best!

     Well I’ve been in Burkina Faso for two weeks, and in my village of Zoro for eleven days and what I can definitely say is that this entire thing makes an angsty teenager’s mood swings look like child’s play.

     At least five times per day there are extreme emotional mood swings. Apparently this is normal. They (the medical staff) told us that for some people, the stress of the first month in training causes the same emotional distress as somebody who has just lost an immediate family member. That seems intense, but this is significantly harder than any of us anticipated it being. While it has certainly gotten easier, days like today make you reconsider yourself. I have a cold. Who cares right? Well, usually when I have a cold I can have some soup and watch TV until I pass out. Here, its more like sit through another six hours of classes in a room that is roughly hundred degrees, and then go for a few mile bike ride in the hundred degree 5:00 PM heat. Like I said in the last post, it’s so damn hot all the time. Yesterday was 105 with the humidity making it feel like 115. And unlike in the US, when the long hard day is done, you go home to your host family that doesn’t speak much French and no English to eat something that very well may make you sicker than a cow that’s been eating beef. Air conditioning is an unbelievably rare thing in Burkina. My fellow agriculture buddy Chris has been sick (vomiting, diarrhea, fever) for more than half of the days we’ve been in Burkina. Today he went to the infirmary and they tell him he may have an amoeba. Pretty terrible break if you ask me, and I think I’m getting lucky that I haven’t been truly sick yet.

     Ok, enough of that depressing crap. I’m getting ponya’s made finally! A ponya is the traditional African garb that you always see on TV, with all of the colors and the much more temperature comfortable material. I gave my host mom 10,000f ($20.00) for materials and a tailor, and tomorrow said tailor is coming to ma maison and doing the measurements. I’m getting two shirts and two pairs of pants made… for twenty bucks. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. On Wednesday we go to Ouagadougou for the night, and the next day we take public transportation (BRUTAL) to whatever site they stick us at for demystification. I could end up on a public bus for eight hours to get near the Mali border, and then my site end up being in the South in a month. This whole thing makes a whole lot of sense (kidding) but that’s just how things work with the federal government I suppose. When I get back on Sunday evening, I’ll have clothing that doesn’t completely suck for this climate.

     I will now fill you in on the pretty good weekend that I had before crashing back down to Earth today. On Saturday, we had four straight hours of language training. Chris, myself, and our LCF (Language and Culture Facilitator) Adeline, all sat under a tree, on top of some donkey shit, for four hours and practiced that wonderful language I am learning to love (hate) so very much. After that was finally over, we had a group spaghetti lunch, which was great. The spaghetti had an onion in it. It’s the little things in life that put a smile on your face. Best damn onion ever. After that we rode on to Leo, and went to the Interwebz café. Bandwidth was immediately destroyed and the Internet was not an option. I now have an hour saved up to use when nobody is there because I complained. I refuse to pay for Internet if I get no Internet… makes sense. We then all went to a local bar and drank, and drank some more. The beer costs as much as water here, and the quality is pretty good. No, it does not taste like formaldehyde, which I expected. It actually tastes like Budweiser and Heineken, but called Brakina and Beaufort. After four of those big boy beers (36 oz.) and some Dolo (bathtub beer brewed by the locals), I still felt pretty damn sober. That’s what happens when you sweat out everything that goes in. When we left, one girl jumped on her bike, and immediately fell down in front of a large crowd. It was hilarious. Everybody made it home safely and the Zoro crew met up a bit later and watched Superbad, projected on the Chief’s wall thanks to Chris’ wonderful projector he brought. At random times the locals would come out and watch some. We were thanking our lucky stars that the ALL-Muslim village didn’t speak English because that movie is dirty as all hell. Luckily, nobody was out there for the veiny triumphant bastard scene as well. The movie ended and we all turned in.

       Yesterday I went with a couple people to D’hôtel Sissilis… that is way nicer than it should be. It cost 2,500f to swim in their nasty pool, which was worth it for the twenty seconds of being cool before you realized the water was warm from the beaming sun. I got a hamburger and French fries, which you absolutely cannot find here, and paid 3,000f, which is slightly more than the normal 300-400f I pay for lunch daily. I overpaid for two beers, and after a horrendous sunburn and paying way, way too much in the day, we left and went to another bar on the way back to Zoro where beer is reasonably priced. We sat, drank, and talked about what a ridiculous situation we are in.

It is still sinking in for everybody that we are here for another 2+ years. These have been the longest two weeks of my life. One PCVF (PCV Facilitator) told us the days are long, but the two years fly by really quickly. That is to be seen. As for now, frustration takes precedence over everything else. Regardless, too many of you people know I’m here, so I’m going to have to stick it out! In summation, my Redskins are ok, which is an improvement from the usual godawful, RGIII is a beast, and the Cards are 7-0! Thanks to my brother for filling me in on that. Again, I hope all is well stateside. Take care everybody.

EDIT: The Cards are now 8-0! Go Cards baby!

Seiously Though, Where Am I?

     Ok, so the initial shock has passed and things are a lot easier now than they were on Friday. It turns out that everybody went through the exact same thing Friday night and freaked the hell out after seeing the rather brutal conditions we were to be living in. While my host family, the Dagano’s have electricity in their home; I most certainly do not in mine. (NOTE: I just reread the other night’s post and I think I was high from shock. It was affecting everything, including my ability to complete a rational thought, or remember anything that was written, so just ignore that post I suppose.) I find myself going to bed around 8 PM, Burkina time. Those of you who know me know that this is the most ridiculous thing in the history of mankind. The thing is, it’s so damn hot here. I mean it’s hot ALL THE TIME. Its hot when you wake up, when you step outside, when you go to training, at lunch, in the second half of the day, dusk on the ride home, dinner, and when you climb into bed at night. Luckily we are setting into the winter season… which should consist of nights that should actually be comfortable and days that don’t break 100.

     Yesterday we drew a map of Zoro, my host village. We biked from maison to maison (French for house), visited la maison de l’Imam (house of the Imam), the mosque, and la maison du chef (house of the chief), which is also the homestay of Jonathan, a fellow trainee. Tangent time: In our very first example of how to cope with things at pre-departure training in Philadelphia, (which I may have touched on in the last post, but again I don’t remember anything from it) we discussed a scenario where a Chinese guy is called Jackie Chan repeatedly just because he is Chinese. The other night we were biking back from Leo, the provincial capital subset of the regional capital Koudougou (bizarre city hierarchy I know), and this guy rides up alongside myself, a white Jew, my friend Abdul, a brown Muslim, and Jonathan, a short Asian. He points at Jonathan and yells Chinoix, which is Chinese person in French, a few times while laughing the whole time. Abdul turns to me and says laughingly, “Nothing like a little casual racism on the ride home huh?” I almost fell off my bike I laughed so hard. Abdul has provided me with many gems on this trip thus far. When we checked out my room he made a note that my entire room was jacked up. From the lack thereof a drain in my “shower” to the blatant holes in my screen door to the outside which allows a perfect path for animals both flying and crawling, we step outside into the ~101+ degree noon sun and he says, “Its so fucking hot in this country, why’s it so fucking hot all the time?!” Again, I about keeled over with laughter.

     

     That tangent turned into a completely new thought, so we’ll just continue here I suppose. I know my way around the area now, but still they do not trust us enough to go off on our own really, which is understandable. If we miss a training session without a damn good excuse (medical is the only reason), we are booted and sent home. I need very badly to buy a couple ponya’s. These are the traditional African cloths you see on TV, which you can have tailored for cheap. A ponya costs about 1,000-2,000 CFA, or $1-2. This country is just unbelievably inexpensive. It’s actually painful how inexpensive everything is. The other day we went to lunch in Leo in between training sessions. The PC provides us with a lunch stipend of 1,500 CFA per day (received lump sum in Ouagadougou). They give us three freaking dollars for lunch. Friday’s lunch cost 400 CFA, and the Coke I got with it (the amazing glass-bottled Coke) cost 350 CFA! If your math isn’t great, neither is mine. Lunch is $0.80. The Coke is $.55 I believe. What the hell is going on?! Now I understand why it is so hard to come back to the US after service. Everything is so damn expensive you want to jump off a cliff. Also, if you didn’t catch this, the PC overpays us by about double what we need for lunch everyday, so we are straight profiting. I don’t know if they do this on purpose or not, but they leave you with ample beer money for liberty on Saturday evening and all of Sunday. I will definitely be in Leo on Saturday night and Sunday on the interwebz, drinking beer, and playing in the pool at the Hotel Sissilis (dubbed Hotel Syphilis by Abdul).

      

     It is quite strange the mix of emotions that I have gone through since arriving here. I have wanted to leave a hundred different times, but thoroughly believe in fighting through the hard times as these are the things that shape who we are as people. One girl named Lolita already quit after one night. She couldn’t cut the spiders the size of your palm and all of the heat and gave up. I’m not going to pretend I’m not pissed. The PC invests thousands of dollars into each person that comes overseas and to quit after not even two days is an insult to the PC, the United States, your host family, and your fellow trainees. The amount of people that wanted to quit the first night was overwhelming, including myself. Life gets easier when you begin to set into a quotidienne (daily routine). Since arriving in Leo on Friday, I have thoroughly adjusted and the culture shock is wearing off. The language barrier is unbelievable still. Basically nobody in Zoro speaks French, which I do not believe the PC anticipated. They all speak Nuni, which is basically spoken by people in Zoro and parts of surrounding cities like Leo and Sanga. That makes life a lot harder, but they are very sweet people. Tonight I tried to help the mom make To, which is a traditional Burkinabe meal consisting of some vegetable I ma yet to figure out that tastes kind of like a potato before it is mashed. You take the mashed thing, and dip it into whatever sauce you want, usually slimy as all hell. Imagine the consistency of snot, and lots of it. I put in about fifteen smashes at it before she took it over and of course made me look dumb. I was happy though; being allowed to contribute even if just a bit, is a step in the right direction integration-wise. Things are getting better, and its great to not feel horribly uncomfortable the whole time I’m at “home”.

     I miss my family, and I miss sports. What the hell is going on with the Redskins and the Cards? How is my fantasy team doing? I have no idea whatsoever. I really don’t even think about it much honestly. Today somebody said the word “encroaching” because they were joining somebody in the shade (again, its crazy hot) and all I could think of was NFL football and the encroachment rule. I told them not to reference football, as this is one of the few things I really, really miss. I also really miss air conditioning. You have no idea how freaking awesome air conditioning is. “I go all day working outside in construction man. I know exactly what its like.” You have absolutely no idea what the hell you are talking about. Come to Burkina Faso during the mini-hot season at the end of the rainy season when it is over 100 and humid everyday with the African sun ALWAYS beaming down and tell me you know heat. It’s just nuts. I hope the Cards are still undefeated…. I guess I’ll find out on Saturday or Sunday.

     Again, all the best to the homestead, both Potomac and Louisville. I hope everything is great, and everybody, cherish the things you have, because when you move to Africa, they all disappear, and it’s way worse than you anticipate for over a year. Still, half of the time I am smiling, happy to finally be where I am. The other half I am wondering what the hell I’m doing here for the next 27 months. It’s been a week and it has already been one of the hardest weeks of my life. Like I said before though, with time things will get easier. They always do.

      Take care America. Seacrest out.

   

First Night In Training... Wait...What's Going On?

      What have I gotten myself in to.

      This entry will be short, as the whole charging dynamic is a serious concern to me now. This morning we awoke in Ouagadougou at 6:00 AM, as has been the usual since we’ve arrived in Burkina. We had breakfast, and sat through some expectations of what to expect when we arrived in site today. We learned about some societal norms, and what is and is not acceptable in Burkinabe culture. It was a very helpful thing to learn before we set off into who knows where for the first time. We then worked on a little bit of Moore, one of the local languages that is supposed to be useful everywhere in the country. At 1:00, we departed Ouaga and headed south for Leo, a regional capital only 15 kilometers (the rest of the world uses the metric system remember… its 9-10 miles) away from the Ghanaian border.

     We learned earlier in the day which village we were going to. The drive was roughly three hours, but finally we arrived in the around surrounding Leo. One group of Health volunteers went to Kayoro, to one side of Leo, and the other two continued on through the city to Zoro (my village with the DABA volunteers) and Songa (other health group), about 5 kilometers away. When we arrived in Zoro, the entire village was waiting for us with chairs. The chief of the village said a speech, and with a handshake and a drink of ceremonious water, we were welcomed to the village. When I got into my family’s village, the language barrier was immediate and it was unbelievably awkward. They gave me a chair and I sat trying to speak but failing, which is ok because many of them do not speak French. I had a “shower”, which consists of a bucket and something to pour on your head with. I got out and was fed what looked like an enormous potato? Then I was given Spaghetti in my room, which I didn’t want to eat in since it is about 95 degrees in there. That was actually very good. I concluded the night by watching tv, that’s right, television. The TV was 14” but had pretty picture. Unfortunately, one show doesn’t do much when it’s a crazy Chinese movie. Side note: they all called the Asian guy Jackie Chan…. Whom was nowhere to be found in the film. I was falling asleep, so I came into my burning hot room, which is infested with ENORMOUS, venomous looking spiders. All in all, an interesting night, and hopefully the awkwardness and language barrier will begin to fade.

Sleep When You're Dead

Sleep When You’re Dead

They say sleep is for the weak. I say it is for the smart…. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. We arrived in Philadelphia on Sunday at around noon, and began our orientation and what not almost immediately. After five hours of meet-and-greets, icebreakers, and instructions on Peace Corps expectations and the what not, we ere turned loose to get dinner and enjoy our last night in the United States. A group of us went to TGIFriday’s, where the service was just terrible. They screwed up about half the orders…. whatever. After getting back from Friday’s, I went back after ten minutes. There was not much to do in the hotel, and the Saints and Chargers game was on, so we went to talk, drink, and watch football one last time. It was a very fun night filled with Stella Artois (specials baby, specials) and a shot the bartender made up called Sweet-Baby Jesus that consisted of Jack Daniel’s honey whiskey, regular Jack, peach schnapps, and some other minimal ingredient. It was delicious. The Saints won, and a $10 bet was exchanged between a Saints fan, and an antagonist. It didn’t take long for everybody to become good friends, which was extremely relieving.  I also made a $50 bet for the 2014-2015 season with a girl that the Redskins will have a better season than the Saints. We’ll see how that plays out.

           

            I’m sure nobody cares about US stuff if they’re reading this, so I’ll get to the juicy travel stuff. We left the hotel in Philly and arrived at JFK a bit over two hours later. There, we sat for about five hours. Naturally, more beer was consumed while we discussed our urge to fast forward the next twenty hours and just be there. We also discussed the constant questions all of us have been answering from our friends over the last year or so. It was incredible to hear that everybody had been fielding the exact same questions for months, and all of our answers were very similar. We have the same fears, anticipations, expectations, etc. One girl was an RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, PC has a lot of acronyms) from Mali, who was evacuated after only five months due to the emergence of kidnappings and Al-Qaeda. She has been in the US since April and is in our group to go back, only one country below Mali, and in fear of further evacuations. We picked her brains of what to expect to ease fears and again, drank more beer (there’s a theme here).

            Finally, we boarded a plane to Brussels, Belgium. It was a seven-hour flight on a tiny plane; very different from what everybody expected. Beer and wine are free on international flights, so the theme continued through to Belgium. I didn’t sleep a wink, and there was a six-hour ahead time change that screwed everybody up. When we arrived, a bunch of us had a genuine Belgian beer in the airport. They said it tasted American and generic. I got the dark beer, and I thought it was good. Might I note that while it was 2:00 am in Maryland, it was at 8:00 am in Belgium and while other people (it is an airport) had beer, they still looked at us with funny looks. “Stupid Americans,” is what I assumed many were thinking…. totally fine by me.

            After another four hours, we boarded an enormous plane with a mix of PCVs, non-English speaking Chinese men (we later found out these were non-violent criminals who were given the choice to go to Chinese jail or go to Togo and work in the mines…. really nice China), and Africans. At this point I got a headache, but didn’t want to sleep because I wanted to fight through the jet lag by staying up until night in Burkina and then passing out in Ouagadougou. I couldn’t completely fight it, and fell asleep for probably less than an hour on the plane. I watched Prometheus, which was bizarre and mediocre, and ate food while worrying about spilling on my only nice clothes. The Burkinabé care greatly about appearance, and it was required that we show up in respectable clothing, so I had khakis, an under-shirt and a long-sleeve button down. It was about 91 degrees when we landed, but it actually felt really good. Finally, we were in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and everybody let out a deep breath.

            There are twenty-seven people in our group, so it is nice to get to know people and everybody you talk to have an interesting story. We hung out last night before dinner, and had beets as an appetizer (never eaten those, but they were good), and what looked like half a chicken and some vegetables for the main course, and an apple as dessert. How’s that for starving everybody? We also began our Malaria medications, and by the end of dinner everybody was jet lagged and drunk from the medicine and lack of sleep (not literally, drinking is not good when beginning on new medications). I passed out at about 10:00 PM their time, or 6:00 PM in Maryland (or Louisville). This means I got before that, about one hour of sleep in like 36-ish hours. It’s really healthy.

            Today I got up at 6:10 AM, took a cold shower, and went to breakfast. It was already sunny when I awoke, something I’m certainly not used to. Breakfast consisted of pieces of baguette (much better than in the US) with butter and an apricot spread, and coffee. It was actually really good, and everybody was a lot less jet lagged than we all expected to be. After that we had generalized security and introduction meetings, did a bike fitting, exchanged money to CFA (500 cfa = 1 USD), set up bank accounts, took pictures for our IDs, got our cell phone SIM cards and no I cannot call you or vice versa so don’t ask, and had meetings with medical staff on our knowledge and previous immunizations, program workers to ask us what we know and interview us, and a language test by engaging a man in conversation. The medical employee, Jean-Luc, was really cool and explained lots of things to me, the program worker asked questions like it was a job interview, and the language test was just like an oral exam in my conversational French class, but a bit easier. Lunch was a tomato and cucumber salad, with a beef product that was a bit tough, zucchini, eggplant, and rice. It was like barbecue and was pretty good. Make a note that I said before I left that I hate tomatoes, and I’ve already had to eat them once, so we’re making progress.

            Tonight we are having a bike class, and then going to the home of the Country Director, Jill Zarchin, for dinner and a meet-and-greet with country staff. Tomorrow is a bunch of immunizations and survival language classes, and on Friday we depart for Léo, just above the Ghanaian border, which will be our training site for the next nine weeks while we live with a host family and learn everything we need to know (hopefully). We find out our placement on November 7^th, significantly earlier than we all expected. I am ready to get moving! I will probably not be able to get on the internet very often, so I will continue this blog on Microsoft Word (which I am writing on now) and update the things that are interesting on Blogger when I can get internet access… hopefully soon. I know this blog was not that interesting, but not much has happened yet, so I’m sorry… but not really ;)

            I know this is long, but I haven’t discussed anything besides the actual things we’ve done! It still hasn’t really hit yet that we’re in Africa. I’m sure that will come with time. The group is totally eclectic. One girl brought like thirty pounds over the weight limit, another brought a carry on backpack and another bag that could have been a carry on. We have a Saudi guy (who lives in Chicago), a Bolivian (who went to school in Washington state), a Swiss girl (who lives in Geneva), Californians, Oregonians, a Wisconsin, Virginians, New Yorkers, Michiganders, Ohioans, Marylanders, a North and South Carolinian, Illinoisans, a Tennessean, and a Kansan (those are all the right spelling, check it) who are white, black, brown, and Asian. Everybody gets along, but there are obvious differences in personalities and people seem to be pretty good at avoiding conflict. I am still anxious and nervous, but I’m excited and ready to begin integration.

            The hustle and bustle of the city is crazy. There are tons of people on bikes and mopeds, but there are more bike lanes than the US. People don’t use them though, and bikers swerve in and out of lanes and in front of cars. Many buildings are half-built and many are abandoned. There are roadside markets galore and the fruit all looks pretty good, or pretty old… one of the two. Mothers just strap their babies to their backs and do what they do. It is pretty entertaining to watch. I’m excited to get out in the city and experience it first hand before leaving for Léo, and try one of these 40 oz. beers I keep hearing about. Apparently its 40 oz. or bust because it is almost the same price as a 12 oz., and let’s be realistic here.

            Anyways, this is lengthy as hell now but I want everybody to experience what I am! I hope all is well on the home front. I’m getting used to not constantly watching sports, though I am having football withdrawals. I hope RG3 is alright and the Skins win the Superbowl (as likely as aliens landing in my village). Everybody take care, and I’ll update this when I can!

PS, send me a hand-written letter! Nothing is better when you haven’t seen a familiar face in a while!

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!

The Waiting Game

     I never thought unemployment could be so.... well, boring. Back in Potomac, Maryland where my high school parking lot looks more like an exotic car dealership than a place of education, I sit and wait for the day to come when I finally leave for Ouagadougou. I have been spending my time doing what many people outside of the work force do, drinking too much beer and catching up on the television that I missed over the summer working on the farm in Louisville. Lengthy side note here: Maryland has to be the WORST state besides Utah when it comes to buying alcohol. That, or Kentucky has to be the best. The absolute latest store here is only open until 1 a.m. and you have to drive fifteen minutes to get there. You can only purchase beer & wine at designated stores or liquor stores. Stores overprice everything because it is so limited, and if you couldn't understand this from the last sentence, I cannot go to a gas station (which almost all also close at about 1 a.m. for some stupid reason) and purchase a 6-pack. I understand the reasoning. We want to keep Montgomery County safe for our children and make it so it is challenging for them to purchase alcohol. Little problem there: I see more eighteen year olds walking out of these beer & wine stores than adults! Not to mention this is an extremely liberal state that is supposed to promote free enterprise and privacy, and we limit sales of alcohol and have speed cameras every fifteen yards that make people drive ten miles under the speed limit. I'm losing my mind I tell you!

     Now that I am finished with that "little" tangent, it really has been nice to actually see my friends from the past for an extended period of time. Usually these visits are fleeting, with all of us at different schools with different friends and different lives. Being back home has enabled me to see the instant success of some friends, and see the recession struggles of a college graduate in 2012 in others. It is an unusual situation I am in. I get to have the freedom and boredom of unemployment, but still have a rather unusual job staring me in the face in less than three weeks.

     Speaking of leaving shortly, I finally found out my travel plans. I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again. Sorry, a little satire for you. I will be connecting in Brussels where I can explore the beautiful airport for a few hours and then en route to Burkina Faso. Basically it is like herding cats. We meet, we are chauffeured around, and we arrive after a day of travel. I'm not complaining; I would be the one that gets abducted in Europe, Hostel, style and end up with a left eye and a right Achilles at a train station in Bratislava. The reason I mention this connecting flight is because after my service is complete I will also be connecting in Europe, most likely Brussels. It may be a bit early for speculation of life after the Peace Corps, but this leaves an incredible opportunity for travel! According to Euro Trip (I get all of my information from fiction movies), every country in Europe is basically a hop, skip, and a jump from its neighbor and I have read many stories of people selling their plane tickets back to the U.S. post service and using their readjustment stipend to travel. This sounds incredible to me right now... We'll see how thrilling that sounds after ≈ 27 months away from home. Honestly though, the first two years of college FLEW by and I'm sure this will too.

     I have been thinking about this entire experience in one of two ways. In one sense this could be the most free experience you could ever imagine. It will be the only time in my life where I will be free of instant communication. No Internet, no Facebook, no stupid Twitter, and no horribly biased "news" articles that read more like blog posts than anything else. What an absolute dream. I won't have to look at people's ridiculous Instagram photos that completely ruin a picture. Have you not noticed that all Instagram does is take what is probably a good picture and stick what seems to be Sepia on top of it and ruins the clarity? What part of that is appealing to you?! Another tangent, I apologize. But honestly, does that not sound like a dream to get away from all of this? One more: no reading post after post of moronic political arguments that will not sway anybody but instead serve as self-serving "genius" posts. Oh how I will not miss those.

     The other side is the exact opposite. I'll be away from the connection that I have grown so accustomed to.  People will get engaged and married while I'm gone, and I will have no idea that it happened! Friends will have kids, or more kids, and they'll be walking by the time I get back! The iPhone will be on like the 14S, and I'm sure 3D TVs will have turned into eye implants or something ridiculous like that. Oh, and we'll have flying cars. I really cannot imagine how far technology will travel in two years. No, seriously, I can't imagine. Things could be basically the same, or things could have totally changed. Maybe Siri will actually work by then. Maybe my iPhone will turn into a robot and start taking over the world. If that happens, somebody send me a letter... I'll just stay in Ouagadougou.

     The point is, regardless of how it actually seems while I'm over there, I'm sure it will seem like no time from now, and when I am finished with my service. It's like when you go on vacation. The first two days seem like they are never-ending, and by day seven it seems like the entire trip has flown by. I'll be back before you know it, so schedule your plane ticket to come visit me in eight months, but plan accordingly, because it'll take you a week just to reach my village!

Less Than A Month Out... Here We Go

     So here I am, a mere twenty-five days away from leaving for Burkina Faso. It is such a surreal feeling to actually be counting down the days before I leave. With my application being submitted in May 2011 and my final acceptance in July 2012, this process has been so long and draining that to actually leave seems almost like a dream. I've begun packing and stowing things together for when I leave. It's a strange thing; trying to figure out what is necessary to bring to a continent where cell phones are more accessible than clean water... I can bring a maximum eighty pounds, and with suggestions from the Peace Corps to bring only four-ish pairs of socks and underwear apiece, I feel I will be packing on my merits rather than using theirs. Packages take between one and four months to arrive, depending on where in the country you are, and it begs a lot of questions. Of the obvious ones, I wonder how many bars of soap to bring right off the bat. How many tubes of toothpaste? How many DVDs so I can stay sane as I go through a brutal culture shock and adjustment period? These are the questions that I ponder on a daily basis. I then immediately drown out these questions with television and consistent Internet, which I am taking FULL advantage of before leaving. Alongside these, I have been stuffing my face with all of the American garbage, MSG, and Chipotle I can fit in my gullet before I start eating rice, maize, vegetables, and unusual meat products (horse, goat, brains, etc).

     Forget all that. Everybody keeps asking me why? Why would you subject yourself to this for 27 months? To these people I respond with a question. Why not? Why deal with the garbage job market? Why go back to school after just finishing eighteen years of it? Why not travel, learn, and experience as much as I can while I still can? Sure it will be hard and arduous at times, and sure I will miss all of the amenities that all of us have come so accustomed to having; but at the same time, when we all have spouses and kids and careers, how many of us will be able to say that we actually did anything with our lives? How many of us will be able to say that we've gone truly out of our comfort zone? I know I will, and I know that living in luxury will be that much better after this experience. 

     Most importantly, and as corny as it may be, I feel like I'm doing something that can actually benefit other people that truly need it. Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries on the planet. It is 134th in GDP, 171st in life expectancy (average age of death is just over 52), and boasts the 3rd worst Internet connectivity in the world. Electricity like we know it in the US is basically non-existent, and cleanliness standards are not exactly up-to-date. Often adults feed themselves and when they are comfortably full, the children and toddlers get the remainder. While I may not be a public health genius, I understand the importance of good hygiene, even when the "normal" resources are not available. I also understand the basics of business, and can certainly help people understand the easiest form of capitalism. While the changes will likely not be huge, over time even small changes become significant. 

     I have extremely high hopes for Burkina Faso and my experience in the Peace Corps. Through times of hardship, confusion, and hopefully joy, I believe that I will grow as a person and return to the United States a better person than when I leave. 

This blog will be my main communication technique with the Western world whilst I am in Africa. If you'd like, go ahead and spread the word to those whom you think may be interested. Whether you are a Churchill grad, Louisville grad/classmate, family member, or friend, I encourage you to stay in contact with me while I am gone. Anybody you know that is considering applying to the Peace Corps can contact me at any time and I can help guide them through the at times obnoxious process. All the best, and I'll check back in soon!