Hello everybody, So last night I had my first night on the town. Sort of. It was a Sunday night so it wasn't too busy, and there was only myself and one of the geologists here, so the two of us went out for pint (we found a place that had draught beer!!!!), and then some dinner, and then to this place called "Le Jardin de L'Amitie" which has live outdoor music every night. I guess I should mention that pretty much all eating and drinking establishments here are outdoor. Anyway, it was a really fantastic time. The geo is someone [View Full Entry]

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Hey everybody! I made it! After a super long series of flights, I arrived in Burkina Faso last night. The travel began by almost missing my bus to Montreal because we thought it was leaving from the train station (where they sometimes leave from). Luckily, the bus station isn't too far away and I made it with 10 mins to spare. :) Unfortunately, that meant Ma got jipped out of a proper goodbye hug lasting more than 2 seconds, so if you see my mom soon be sure to hug her properly for me! Other than that, the trip went off [View Full Entry]

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Hey, everyone So tonight is my last night in town. Crazy. I was told the weather in Burkina is super hot right now, and I made the mistake of checking online. HOLY CRAP is it ever hot there! The weather for the next couple of days looks something like this: Today: High 43, Low 28 Fri: High 42, Low 30 Sat: High 42, Low 37 You get the idea... I think it's safe to say I'm going to spend the next year in a constant state of SWEATY. Luckily for me, I went out yesterday and bought a whole bunch of [View Full Entry]

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Hey, Everybody! Expect a lot of exclamation points in this message because I am REALLY EXCITED right now! It looks like my contract will be signed soon (about ruddy time!) and things with my work overseas are really starting to shape up. I got a report today about a bunch of the activities that are going on over there, and I'm looking forward to being part of them. They've just finished some public awareness campaigning (posters, movies, etc) about HIV/AIDS, and they're starting a new Malaria awareness campaign very soon. That would be a really cool community project to work with! [View Full Entry]

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Well, all my readers should be very proud of me. I've taken the critical first steps of moving and packed some stuff! It's actually pretty scary to look at the disaster I've made of the apartment... LK is going to be unimpressed when she gets home... You'd think that packing would make the place CLEANER because you're taking stuff out of it, but really it just messes everything up because the stuff you're not packing has nowhere to go. Very dismaying indeed. [View Full Entry]

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So here we are, two weeks away from my arrival in Ouagadougou. Hard to believe that the time has flown so fast. People keep asking if I'm excited, but to be honest, I'm really not excited yet! I mean, there's just too much about this trip to really comprehend and so much that I know I won't really take in until I get there. Also, I'm really far behind in my preparation (personally, no professionally) such as packing my stuff and getting my passport renewed and other housekeeping. I've had some extra time in town that I hadn't planned on, and [View Full Entry]

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Well, here it is. My first travel blog! I said to myself that I should start my blog once my trip was confirmed, and now that I have a departure date, I think that is all the confirmation I need. So, May 5th 2006 I will start my epic journey to an understanding of African culture, starting with Burkina Faso. I'm very excited and don't seem to be experiencing any trepidation quite yet. I'm sure that will come. :) For now, I thought I'd attach some pics from here, so I remember these faces when I get back! Just kidding... -Brownie [View Full Entry]

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