Thursday, June 11, 2009

The adventures continues...in Niger?

You all might be wondering why I'm able to update my blog so often (as of now). Well, let's just say I'm in a hotel when I'm supposed to be in Ouagadougou (capital of Burkina Faso)...let me explain:

Wednesday early evening, our flight, although a little late, departed from Philly for Paris. When we arrived, we ended up waiting an additional hour or so before heading to Burkina Faso. On the way to Burkina Faso, we needed to stop at Niger (country to the east of BF) for fuel, then head to Ouagadougou (pronounced wah-gah-doo-goo).

After waiting for almost 2-3 hours in Niger, they told us that we would need to wait for the next plane the following day due to motor problems with our current plane. Fortunately on our flight was a current Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso, Joanna, and she pretty much called everyone we needed to to let them know that we were safe and would be staying at a hotel overnight, provided by Air France. Getting out of the airport reminded me a lot of the smaller airports in the provinces in the Philippines...and made me miss the Philippines for a second! Except it wasn't humid here in Niger.

So as of now, I'm sitting in the hotel lobby, using up the free WiFi for as long as I can. This has to be one of the nicest hotels (if not the nicest in Niger) and the Peace Corps Country Director for Mali even came by to visit and check that wee were doing okay.

What strikes me as most amazing is the amount of French you need to communicate...of course in Paris but most especially in West Africa. I wish my conversational skills were a little more up to par, but I know that they'll improve once I immerse myself in Burkinabè life. This is my first time going to a Francophone country/area (I know, it's been a long time coming, right?) so my French NEEDS to clean up if I want to communicate more effectively with everyone.

So once tomorrow hits, we're finally heading to Burkina Faso and going to begin our Pre-Service Training! It's about damn time...I'm so excited to get this started. Let's DO it!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, I can't believe you're nearly halfway across the globe!! Thank God for the internet.. hehe, keep the updates coming!

MED, BSN said...

Hiii best! I'm glad to hear everything is going well and you're safe! Already in four days you have updates. Be safe and know you're in my thoughts always!

Maria Montero said...

OMG best!! Are you having fun? I miss you!

<3 Maria

Sable :) said...

So I was literally standing in my bathroom, brushing my teeth and thinking to myself "I wonder what Mikey is up to?" So of course I log onto your handy dandy blog to find out and sure enough there is a new post since last I checked.

I am guessing because there has not been another post since Thursday you are somewhere without free wifi (aka Burkina Faso) WOO HOO!! I hope you made the most of your layover and I think no matter how long you spent there you can now cross Niger off of your list of "Places in the World I must travel to" List

I hope you are settling in well and not missing the U.S. too much. I hope everyone is playing nice and you are making new friends. Please update your blog I want to hear all about training and AF-RI-CA (and you know the voice I said it in)

ALL MY LOVE! Miss you!

Sable :) said...

So I was literally standing in my bathroom, brushing my teeth and thinking to myself "I wonder what Mikey is up to?" So I log onto your handy dandy blog to check and sure enough there has been an update since last I checked :)

Since there hasn't been an update since Thursday I am guessing you made it to somewhere there is not free wifi (aka Burkina Faso). WOO HOO! Hope you made the most of your layover and no matter how much time you spent there, now you can cross Niger off of you "Places I have to Travel to" List

Hope you are settling in well and not missing the U.S. too much. Hope the kids are playing nice and you are making new friends. Please update your blog as soon as you can so I can hear all about your training, adventures, and AF-RI-CA (and you know exactly the voice I just said that in. LOL!)

All my love, Miss you !!