Ready or not here I come!

After a three-hour delay at JFK (no hard feelings as this led to free wine and the ability to get some rest), and an unnecessary dash across the Brussels airport, I have arrived in Ouagadougou, and Burkina Faso is officially my home for the next two years!  I was the first to step off the plane into the humid heat and I couldn’t be more excited.  Leaving the airport we all piled into vans; mine proceeded to reverse full speed into the truck behind us in the parking lot…no big deal, with a little maneuvering we were quickly on our way again…only in Africa.  As we were driving, it began to rain – here in Burkina Faso, it is a sign of good luck if it rains during an arrival; the perfect start to this adventure!

For the first week (“Week Zero”) we are staying at a compound/hotel with running water, electricity and AC in the rooms…we’re really roughing it.  Most of our days are spent outside or in un-air conditioned rooms, aka sweat 24/7.  I already feel like 90 degrees is a cool day.  It is rainy season, so every so often we get a ten-minute dust storm followed by a torrential downpour for several minutes.

On our first night, my wonderful roommate Leigh was putting down her mosquito net in the dark when its cord got caught in the fan, not a pleasant sound to say the least.  After endless giggles, awkwardly standing on chairs, we finally had to untie the four corners of the net to get it down and then struggle to put it back up (= standing on top of chair on top of bed, real stable). 

Anywho, days are filled with hanging out, exploring (I can't even begin to describe it, hopefully I’ll take some pictures soon), vaccinations, sessions on health, and interviews (including an oral French exam – definitely more silence than speaking).  Walking around, we get stared at a lot and all the kids shout “Nasara! Nasara!” (“White person! White person!”), adorable.  We’re on our own for dinner most nights, a real adventure since “restaurants” are outside stands with little tables and plastic chairs, you eat what they’re making for the night and don’t ask what the meat is.  Most of it is pleasant to the palette and everything is so cheap by our standards!  Now we all wait to see who gets sick first…

Friday we get adopted by our host families, so let the immersion begin!  I don’t know the Internet situation yet, but hopefully I’ll be able to update again soon!  Miss you all!