http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/rosekanasty/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from rosekanasty en-us Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:41:11 +0000 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:41:11 +0000 Well I finally had to say goodbye to Ouagadougou on the 4th. I had a great time hanging out at the restaurants and clubs on Kwame N'Kruma Avenue with a big group of PCVs until my 3 am flight. Stephanie Leslie and I went to the airport early only to wait around until 630 am when the flight finally boarded.At the Casablanca airport we took a train to the city and were in a different world. For http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/blog-299336.html After the awful bus from Cotonou dropped me off in Fada I met up with PCVs Beth and Aisha. We happened to be in Fada on the night of a Floby concert what luck Floby is a popular Burkinabe singer.The next morning we joined PCV Courtney on a bus to Niamey. There was a big fiasco in which the bus company sold us tickets and then didnrsquot want to let us get on the bus but we managed to ge http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Niger/Niamey/blog-294361.html We arrived in Cotonou and got dropped off at the main market during rush hour. Then followed the most terrifying moto taxi ride of my life. The driver weaved between cars that I thought were going to hit each other at one point I actually put my hand on the hood of a car I thought was going to hit us. I could see though that if he hadnrsquot driven like a maniac we would never have gotten http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Benin/South/Cotonou/blog-293963.html Our first stop in Benin was Grand Popo a small beach town not far from the Togo border. Grand Popo has lots of hotels but seems to lack tourists this time of year. I think we were the only ones staying at the beautiful Auberge de Grand Popo they were so desperate for our business that they invented a 25 Peace Corps discount.The Auberge has a beautiful beach with thatch shade huts and a swimmi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Benin/South/Ouidah/blog-293958.html PCV Meghann and I left Ouaga on the 14th and traveled to Dapaong in northern Togo. We arrived in early afternoon and went to the PC house. We were welcomed by Kyan a volunteer from my stage in Guinea who had transferred to Togo. The three of us borrowed bikes to explore the city. Kyan made a point to get us some wagash a locallymade fried cheese served with rice and spicy sauce. It was del http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/blog-293957.html Now that school is out Radhika and I decided to take a trip to Oursi a village in the Sahel region in northern Burkina Faso. This would be the place we tried to go last summer when we caught a ride on top of a truck and then got stranded in the middle of the desert overnight because the road was flooded out.This time we brought bikes so we wouldnrsquot have to rely on slow rickety trucks fo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Sahel/Gorom-Gorom/blog-286212.html I spent my last few days in the village wandering to my favorite places saying goodbye and handing out gifts. People loved the soaps lotions and flashlights from the US thanks mom as well as all of the little things from my house that wonrsquot be making the trip home. The village fonctionnaires gave me lots of nice souvenir fabric and the villagers presented me with gifts too mounta http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Hauts-Bassins/blog-284049.html As the school year wrapped up in Satiri the oldest students were preparing for national exams while the others were preparing for vacation. I finished my 3ieme curriculum early so I could spend a few weeks doing only exercises for the exam. At this point the majority of my students stopped coming to class. They either felt sufficiently prepared for the BEPC or had given up hope of passing it. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Hauts-Bassins/blog-283768.html The month of April was hot. Very hot every day. There were a few nights when the wind picked up and it seemed to want to rain but we got nothing but dust storms. When I lay down to sleep at 11 pm outside of course the temperature is often around 94 degrees and there is no breeze. Ugh.The artificial lake that was dug in Satiri last year is long dried up. It is now a field of dry cracked cl http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Hauts-Bassins/blog-272724.html This week is spring break and the plan was to travel to Niamey Niger to visit Geoffrey and Christine former Guinea PCVs. I left Ouaga on Sunday with Dr. Jen former Guinea PCV now in Burkina Kyan former Guinea PCV now in Togo and Katie Kyanrsquos friend from the States making her way to Tanzania to do a fellowship. It took about 6 hours by bus to get to the border. Kyan fought the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Est/blog-260587.html March 8 was International Womenrsquos Day a huge fte in West Africa. For several weeks the villagers were planning a departmentwide celebration in Satiri. Everyone from a dozen villages was invited to an allday event.All of the planning and organization was done by village women who met each week at the Prefetrsquos house. Naturally there were a couple of important village men that cou http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Hauts-Bassins/blog-257977.html Irsquove now been living in Satiri for over a year The second trimester of school just ended Irsquom on spring break and the weather keeps getting hotter. I had to stay put in the village for a couple of weeks at the end of February because of nationwide strikes and demonstrations. The people were protesting the high cost of living and in particular a new import tax. There were demon http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Hauts-Bassins/blog-257974.html The weather in January was downright bearable. The dry winds from the north brought lots of dust and a strange coolness. The days were in the high 80rsquoslow 90rsquos but the sun was less intense and the nights were cool below 70 even This was freezing for the villagers. They were bundled up in your old winter coats and huddled around fires at night all complaining about the cold. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Hauts-Bassins/blog-246257.html Elmina and Cape Coast are two coastal cities that served as ports in colonial times and their 15thcentury castles still stand. Their histories are hideous. Elmina castle was built in 1482 by the Portugese and served as a trading post for ivory gold and later slaves. It was captured by the Dutch in 1637 then purchased by the English in 1872. During 300 years of slave trading more captives p http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-239286.html After several months of landlocked dustiness almost every Burkina PCV makes his pilgrimage to that dreamy Anglophone coast where rivers flow yearround and the trees are always green Ghana. Land of development diversity and luxuryhellipat least by Peace Corps Burkina standards. I traveled with a group of 10 other volunteers for my reference Christina Julia Zack An David Liz Marty http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-239284.html For Thanksgiving this year Radhika and Leslie kindly planned us a grand camping trip in Sindou in Southwestern Burkina. PCVs came from all over the country to this scenic but remote town. Since there is no regular public transport to Sindou all of the volunteers had to find their way most biking some hitching rides with bread trucks. I threw my bike on a bus that dropped me at Mahon a sm http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Cascades/blog-229283.html I ni la fila Ca fait deux jours deh I knowhellipitrsquos been a long time since Irsquove updatedhellip The rainy season ended in October and the last month has been harvest time. This yearrsquos rainy season came too late and didnrsquot last long enough so the corn harvest has been weak. Since corn is the staple food many villagers are concerned about shortages later in the y http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Hauts-Bassins/blog-229069.html School officially ldquostartedrdquo October 1st. I went to school at seven on the first day only to find that none of the other teachers were in town. My principal was there however filling out paperwork for newlyenrolled students. The first day of school is the time to begin thinking about organizing classes getting students enrolled and making a schedule. Meanwhile any students who http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/blog-214749.html Early September was spent in the village and as summer projects had wrapped up or petered out there wasnrsquot much to keep me busy. The women of my courtyard were making shea butter from the nuts theyrsquod collected in the fields all summer a long laborintensive process. The cat was and is doing well getting kinda chubby from all the critters she eats. She keeps the mice under c http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Guinea/blog-213056.html One day a few other volunteers and I decided to take a quick trip to the north of Burkina Faso to see the Sahel the dry sandy region thatrsquos not quite the Sahara. We had hoped to visit Oursi a village about 40 km from the last major city in the north GoromGorom. Our travel guide described white sand dunes ancient ruins and camel treks. We figured wersquod head up for a day or two http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/blog-189217.html