Day Zero

Today I arrived in Burkina-Faso... AWESOME!

I left Ottawa at 4:15pm Satuday, then left Montreal Trudeau at 8:15pm and arrived in Paris De Gaulle at 8:15am (about 2am Ottawa time). From France we went to Niger then Burkina Faso from 11:00 (paris time) to 6:16(Burkina time). We took Air France and all I have to say is FIVE COURSE DINNERS!! Individual sized baguettes, camenbert cheese, salted butter, spinach canneloni and complimentary wine were just a few of the perks of the plane rides today...

Although seeing the French coast on the way in was cool, nothing compared to the red deserts of Africa. On our way down to Niger, all we could see was endless red desert with towns poking out here and there. Although Burkina is a bit more lush, the ground is still really red and it's really dusty in the capital (Ouagadoudou)... Apparently it had just rained before we got there so it wasn't as dusty as usual. The temperature was 37 degrees in Niger and 29 degrees in Burkina... apparently some of the coolest days they've gotten this year. Wow.

I took a shower and afterwards it was like I had never taken it because of the prespiration... For that reason, cold showers are the only showers here. For the first week we (four girls from Ottawa) will be doing our orientation and are slated to leave on Sunday for our respective towns... I luckily have one other girl, Axelle, who is going to Bobo with me... We have already arranged a place to live. She's from the ivory Coast so it's really nice having someone around who is used to the culture and weather here. Angele, the director here in Burkina for WUSC (the organization who sent me on this internship), took the four of us to dinner tonight... She drives a big white Toyota Land Cruiser, diesel and manual (COOL!) and has been here for 5 years... It was acctually quite funny because it turns out that, when she still lived in Ottawa, she bought several cars from Bel-Air Toyota, the dealership I used to sell at... A good ice breaker.

I had "Capitaine au citron et epinards" for dinner... a white fish in lemon butter sauce with spinach - SOOOO good, and it cost a whole 4900 francs, which is the equivalent of almost $10... dude. Oh and I had a beer too - locally brewed and I forget the name - I'll have to get back to you on that.

All is well and I will definitely sleep in tomorrow morning, seeing as I had a hard time staying awake in the car ride home from the restaurant. In a nutshell, that is how my day went.

Until next time, Ciao!

Sad stage

SO!

1 day before leaving, I find myself a bag of mixed emotions... really sad to leave my very best friends and really excited about getting away from the craziness I call life and going into a completely different atmosphere.

I will really miss my girlfriends, Adora and Vicki, the most... They are the ones who have been there for me in a way only best girlfriends can be. I will also miss my family... Dad, Barb, Ryan (... no you can't stay at my house when I'm gone), Sean(sorry about cancelling karaoke tonight... I was tired) and mom.

Back to girlfriends, though. Vicki has been staying with me for the past week and has kept me sane through all the turmoil of me getting ready to go and her moving to Montreal and on top of that my cat getting sick (I was soooo sad). Adora lent me her car almost everyday so I could get all of my pre-departure errands finished. Such a sweet wonderful ADORAble girl... hee hee. Adora Vicki Alexe and I all went to St-Jean last weekend to drop my car (Kirby) off and move Vicki to Montreal. We finished it all in one day and had enough time to eat dinner with my dad, grand-father and mother and brother. We rock. Tomorrow is really going to suck because Vicki is going to Montreal indefinitely at 6PM and it is the last time her Adora and I will be together for a loooong time. and then it's just me and Adora on Saturday at 4PM at the train station. That is really going to suck. And the kicker is that we are all a bunch of sucky babies and will cry for ages... exaggerated drama style. We have never been away from each other for more than a week. Dude. But again this will be good for me because I will be forced to face my own deamons without AVA (Adora Vicki Afton.. I know - we're so silly). But enough of the sucky-baby crap.

I spoke to my Grand-father today - he sounds really great on the phone! I lent him my car while I'm gone so he can put-put around and get his errands done... like taking Grand-Maman to St-Hubert for dinner... she's so cute. I'll miss them very much. When we were finished dinner at my dad's last week I hugged them all and had a hard time letting go - again with the sucky-baby.

I'm probably not going to get a chance to write again until I get to Burkina-Faso. But my blackberry is loaded with songs as is my computer, and I'm armed with ear plugs and a sleeping mask... Bring it on, 24-hour travel time!!!! Wish me luck and I'll see you all on the other side!

Pre-Departure

For my very first blog post, I figured it would be good to introduce myself and the motivation for my getting into the ever so popular blogging past-time. I have never been a fan of writing let alone writing on the internet so everyone can see... But this is really for my friends and family and/or whoever stumbles upon this blog, to see what's going on in the world of Afton, starting with her first adventure.

I am going to Burkina-Faso, a French-speaking country in North Western Africa, close to the Ivory Coast. I'm going as a student intern for the University of Ottawa, and have partnered with WUSC (World University Services of Canada) in this endeavor. I'm going to be speaking French the entire time (I though that aspect was really cool since I desperately need to practice), and will be helping develop a business plan to gain foreign partners and customers for a micro-enterprise that dries Mangoes and other fruits to earn an income for AIDS orphans and widows in the Houet region. I leave on Saturday, May 10th and am slated to come back on July 31st. This is the first time I'll get to really put what I've learnt in University into practice (International Development and Globalization, anyone?) and after packing and re-packing a solid eight times, I think I'm ready.

So..... This is it. It is now Monday the 6th of May and I'm finally really understanding the fact that I'll be away from home for a while. I'm more excited than anything, but there's still that silly little voice in the back of my head saying, "Afton, what about the dishes in the sink? What about the birthdays you're going to miss (Vicki!!)? What about Fergie?" (for those of you who don't know already, Fergie is the most wonderful dog-like cat in the whole wide world... she is the best companion/buddy/friend/therapist in the world...)

But I just tell that voice that I'm going on my very first adventure - this is the beginning of the rest of my life and I tell ya, I'm pumped. Although I'm going to be half a world away from all the people care about the most, I now this experience will bring us closer to each other... it will make the time we spend together that much better.

SO! Thanks to everyone and anyone who has helped me get here... family and close friends... I promise I will get off my butt even on the most exhausting days and update this blog so you know what's happening a world away!