BF Journal: 8/16/2014-8/19/2014

8/16-8/17

On the day I left, I got up very early because I couldn’t sleep much.  I went for what would be my last run in days: a short 4-4.5 mile run @ 6:30 a.m.  This better not be a regular thing.  I can’t stand morning people and I would hate to hate myself.  I packed for hours last night so today’s packing was easy.  In total, I brought one bag weighing 37 kilos and another weighing 18.5.  The plane for Paris left only 30 minutes late.

On the Air France flight, I got to practice my French food skills.  As I have barely gotten any sleep, I uttered the following sentence.  “Un café, por favor.”  Pretty advanced stuff, don’t try it at home.   The dinner was actually quite good.  Also I watched How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy, and Captain America: Winter Soldier.  I was definitely roughing it. 

At the airport in Paris I arrived at my departure gate (for Ouagadougou) with 10 minutes to spare.  This is all the sight-seeing I did in Paris.

By the time I arrived in Ouagadougou I had not showered or slept in 31+ hours.  I looked, felt, and probably smelled like a walking grease ball.  I could also barely speak French since that still requires effort for me at this point.  Jeff and Zaki met me at the airport, after a long wait in the visas line.  The process was fairly easy even for a terrible French speaker.

We got to the hotel, I showered and we went to dinner @ chez Simone.  This was a trendy looking joint with some American cuisines.  I had the best papaya juice that anyone has ever had in the history of papaya … or juice.  I also had a burger that was better than most American burgers.  It me or the wine talking but this is a good night!

8/18

Next morning: I changed my mind about the wine and burgers.  I vomited three times and could barely eat.  I am not the first person to get sick my first day in Africa, no doubt.  At breakfast at the hotel I had Jeff and this figurine to keep me company.  It sort of sat there and watched us as we ate.

Kept me company during my not eating breakfast

The ride to Bobo was interesting as I was sick to my stomach.  Naturally I had a seat in the back of bus on a road with a ton of speed bumps.  We are unsure what exactly cause the sickness, but after I vomited the fourth time I was much better.

I was all better by dinner, so I decided to join the group (A guy who works at the house named Oumar (spelling?), one of Jeff’s consultants, and someone else who I have not yet figured out what he does) and dived right eating out of a communal bowl.  When in Burkina…

I ate some caterpillars.  They were salty, crunchy, and delicious.  When in Burkina...?

The house is decent place to live and I have my own small room with plenty of room for all my stuff.  I do not have an address yet because Jeff still needs to solve the mystery of why the books he ordered never arrived.  More o follow on that.  

The entire compound where I live

Close up of our front door

 

On your right as you first walk in

Stairway next to the porch

 

The porch

Jeff in the living room area

I tried to get a picture of the whole room

My bed

My desk area

My closet space

The bathroom

The shower

I will explore Bobo tomorrow with Zacharia (Herein referred to as Zaki) and begin my Jula (the areal lingua franca) lessons in the car as we go.  This might get interesting since my French is still sub-par.

Beginning of 8/19

Zaki and I took a trip downtown into the market to buy odds and ends on a scooter.  These things are everywhere.  E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E.  You could spit in any direction and hit three.  To get a sense of the market area, imagine Boston traffic with nothing but scooters.  I will eventually figure out if I want to learn to drive one.

Why is my elbow so awkward?

The riding around on the scooter was very enjoyable.  I learned a few landmarks, met Zaki's aunt, and relearned a bit of French in the process.  The scenery is surreal to me.  It is a mixture of lush green plants and trees as the backdrop for and mangled with a rather bustling metropolis (in BF everything is built outward not upward, so no sky scrapers).

I started my Jula lessons with Zaki and got some basic phrases and numbers written own.  I can say “do you speak French?”  It is (or is close to) <ibi tubab kang fowa>.  It literally means “do you speak white people language?”  I am not real clear how to ask about English.

The morning was cloudy and it drizzled some, but the clouds are now losing to the sun.  I am going to take the opportunity to explore some and find a place to buy a cheap notebook for Jula.  I also want to use the gym (at the hotel across the street) but it never seems to be open.  I fear for my exquisite (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) physique.  Au revoir pour maintenant!