Retrospective 01 - Getting to and from Burkina Faso

So, the first step in your Peace Corps Service (presuming you went through the whole application process and got invited) is leaving the magical land of America (Americaland fbfpcvs). This process involves a "Staging" where you meet your training group (stagemates fbfpcvs), with whom you spend the next 2-3 months during Pre-Service Training (PST or Stage fbfpcvs).

After a few days of formalities, my stagemates and I found ourselves being shipped in the lap of luxury (AirFrance) to Burkina Faso by way of an extended layover in Paris. While other Stages have been more adventurous, we spent the entire layover in the airport, spending our walk-around money, nervous and excited for the training to come.

Peace Corps pays for your trip to your country of service and your return trip home. Many people opt to take the cash equivalent of the plane ticket home. If you extend for at least another 13 months, the Peace Corps provides a free 30-day trip home (plus 2 days considered travel days) with walk-around money. As far as I know, you can't take cash in lieu of the extension trip. All other personal trips out of the country of service are your responsibility. Some go home at the end of their first year. Others prefer to travel in the surrounding area.

To get to/from Burkina Faso on your own, there are many options. However, the cheapest (especially one-way) is Royal Air Maroc. While many have gripes with this airline, myself included at first, let us keep in mind that this is a self-advertised 3-star airline. This means that you shouldn't expect the best food, our customer service. You should definitely have sturdy bags and not put (electronic, etc.) valuables in them if possible. Though they try their best to provide what they think is quality customer service. I think they do more than some airlines as long as your flying from RAM to RAM. If you have an extended layover (more than three hours), you will be brought to the Transit Lounge, which has nice toilets (compared to the regular terminals), comfy couches, outlets and free food and water. Of course, if you don't know this, you will be confused, and will complain until you leave this safe place, like many a disgruntled American to go to the terminal shops where you won't buy anything that you couldn't buy when you are finally bused the 50 m to the other side of the building with the terminal. If you have a really long layover (like the 19-hour ones on the way back from America), they will bring you to a hotel room and you will also be fed. The staff has also improved its customer service and was really great with kids this last time through. Sure, people's bags disappears or get destroyed. Sure, the airport is confusing and they don't explain their reasoning behind their policies. Sure, some flights they don't assign seats and if you board towards the end you don't get to sit in the best seat (it's like a taxi brousse fbfpcvs, but at most there is one person per seat). However, you get what you pay for, and what you pay for is a lot less than what is provided.

Other options, of course, include traveling to Ghana and then flying out from Accra on one of many American carriers. Traveling by AirFrance, though expensive one-way, only costs slightly more than Royal Air Maroc and other alternatives for round-trip tickets. There are also other inexpensive airlines like AirBurkina and Ethiopia Airways, but they may be more unreliable than Royal Air Maroc. Flying to America, Europe and Africa are relatively easy. Asia and Australia are slightly more complicated on a budget; its much cheaper to avoid Europe and fly through Ethiopia or Qatar (Doha).

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In other news... I thought I was done hand-washing my clothes (other than delicates and on occasional vacations). Alas! The washing machine broke... so I did laundry by hand in America. At least we have a bathtub!

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fbfpcvs = for Burkina Faso Peace Corps Volunteers

Amazing in Americaland: 3-ply toilet paper, snow, internet accessibility, domestic appliances

Undesirable in USA: cold, amount of trash produced and water wasted, laundry by hand

Better off without Burkina: dust, laundry by hand, littering

Fancying for Faso: friends, warmth, sunrises, sunsets, stars

my second-to-last sunrise - on a moto ride to koudougou

Retrospective 00 - Back in America

As we descended through the fluffy ether, a fantastic and wonderful winter land presented itself. One could have imagined that she was at Santa's North Pole (neither magnetic nor true north). However, when we finally landed, the coldness became apparent beyond the physical level, which is significant since I was wearing 6 pounds of clothing and still feeling the chill. As much as I detest the dirt and dust, I miss the gritty warmth of Africa, particularly Burkina. New York City itself used to be able to claim some grit to it, but it's seemingly sterile. It might just be the excessive snow, though.

So, akia-blog was supposed to stand for AK In Africa. Luckily, this can be easily adjusted to AK In America. Apparently, I can live anywhere in the world except for Europe. Since I have ample time on my hands, I will be composing a multi-part blog post on my perspective (in retrospect) about the different aspects of being a PCV, particularly in Burkina Faso. I want to cover not only the general life cycle of a PCV (from PST to Swear-In to IST to MSC to COS to really COS'ing), but particularities about PCV life in Burkina Faso and travel in West Africa. I am self-absorbed enough to believe that this may be of particular interest to the recently invited Trainees leaving in May and June of 2011 and maybe my friends who want to know more about my service and other random tidbits about Burkina Faso and Africa.


Royal Air Maroc had a mildly long layover. They treated me well and all of my not-really-that-important worldly possessions apparently made it. More on overall travel to Africa in the first installment of my retrospective blog series, which may or may not include ranting, though not necessarily directed at RAM...

Anyway, you have been forewarned. I am currently exhausted from way too many good-byes, but once I catch on my sleep. Be ready for way too many blogs about things that may not interest you.

Freezing in America,

AK