Ouhigouya Call 8-2-09

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Stephanie said her job so far with the Peace Corps is fine. She has been teaching practice classes since Monday. She said the last class she taught went better. Her previous classes found her with her face buried in the paper she used to prepare for the class. Her uncertainty with the French language caused her to be tentative and disconnected from the kids in the class. After consulting with her Peace Corps trainers, she adjusted and started writing the lessons on the board to interact with the class. She said the kids like that more too. That way she was able to focus on getting the kids to understand and stopped worrying about her grasp of the language. She consulted with another Peace Corps Trainee who is fluent in French and realized it is no big deal to flub the words.

She said she had a creepy prophetic dream about her dad but convinced herself that her dreams do not usually predict what is going to happen so she calmed herself down and realized it was only a dream.  

There is still no answer about getting reimbursed for the extra charge she had to pay the airline for the weight of her suitcase but she is optimistic now that she found someone with the Peace Corps who is working to resolve the issue in her favor.

Some of the members of her host family are away on a trip and it made her sad to think that when she gets to site she will be living in a house alone for two years. We told her she will make new friends and when she was living at home she spent a lot of time alone in her room. She will make friends in her village and will be able to spend time with them during the day.  

Stephanie told a story that happened while her host mom was braiding her hair while they were sitting under the hangar. A man walked thru the gate and started talking to them. Stephanie said she was a bit uncomfortable thru the exchange especially because he was touching her arm in a manner that was way too familiar and inappropriate. She said he had the smell of alcohol on his breath and afterward her host mom said he was not well and to be careful. It taught her a lesson about being certain to keep her guard up and to not feel obligated to be overly nice. She said there have been Peace Corps training classes that stressed that and pointed out that any serious crime, though rare, usually occurs within the first 6 months in country when volunteers are perhaps too trusting when they try not to appear cold and may go overboard with friendliness.

Once at site, she has concluded, that there is no reason to ever invite any men into her house. That way she will not have to deal with the “it is getting dark, what to do” issue.  

She said she went to the tailor to get some fabric to have more clothing made. She is looking forward to wearing the clothing.

There is a book she is reading that is making her miss the people back home a bit.  

She is adapting to the climate. She said when the temperature drops to around 80 degrees, it feels cool to her now.  Sleeping is ok. The room where she sleeps has a window on one wall and a door on the opposite wall so the air flows thru to keep the temperature bearable. The rainy season is upon them so the temperatures are much cooler than when she first arrived in Burkina Faso. When it is too warm, she has slept out doors with her mosquito netting. She said it seems weird to get into bed at night and find the sheets warm to the touch compared to the cool feel of the sheets back home in the states.

She also feels she is adjusting more to the culture and feels more “African” every day.

Ouahigouya Letter 5 dated July 21, 2009

Disclaimer: The contents of this page, and all links appearing on this page, do not represent the positions, views or intents of the U.S. Government, or the United States Peace Corps. The Letters From Africa have had their content modified but the message remains intact.

Hello All,

It's time for a major update.

So, site visit was this past week. I had a big adventure. I will deliberately leave out my sites name, so this can be posted online for others to read. A large group of us left Wednesday morning at 6:15 to head to Ouaga with our counterparts. We lucked out and had our own STMB bus. Then I continued on to Bobo with my counterpart who by the way is pretty great. Our bus stopped halfway to Bobo and we got out and stretched our legs. I used the bathroom. At that stop it was fine, but it was nothing like the bathroom at the station in Ouaga. It was the most disgusting experience of my life. The smell alone was enough. I hid my nose in my shirt the entire time. And the maggots crawling on the floor were freaking me out. But I survived. It was a bit more hardcore, so Áa va aller. 

I bought some Dafani juice that was delicious and got back on the bus. My homologue bought some bread and chicken in a bag. If you haven't heard about chicken in a bag, shame on you. It's amazing and when you don't eat a whole lot of meat here, you really appreciate it. He shared that with me and I love him for that. The rest of the trip went by uneventful. I didn't talk much. I know, weird and new for me, but when you don't have a great grasp of the language that's what you're stuck doing. It's probably good for me. Once in Bobo, we met 2 PC staff members. We dropped one man off at the bureau in Bobo, I used the facilities - indoor toilet with running water and an actual toilet seat, so I was living the life for about 5-10 minutes there. Then the PC driver took my homologue and me all the way to our village. It was a very bumpy ride and I'm glad I was strapped in. I saw the 25K I planned on biking and my jaw dropped. The hills are ridiculous and I mean that. Not only are they long and some a bit steep, but they're majorly rocky. (I know majorly isn't an actual word, but I like to use it. :)) 

We finally arrived to my future village and the first place I saw was my future home. It's this little tiny house with a wavy tin roof. I have two little rooms, one with two windows and the other with one. I have my own walled-in courtyard that should have a door or gate to close it by the time I return. My W.C. is new and has doors that lock on the inside and the outside. My courtyard is huge in comparison to my house. I will have a hanger too. 

The house needs to be warmed up with some paint and it just needs to be moved in, but I know it'll work just fine. I plan on making it my own. I have a mattress, a seau (a pretty colored bucket used for bathing (bucket baths), washing, and other things), a little cup to assist with my bucket baths, a container to hold water, and there was a big thing filled with water, but I don't think that's mine to keep. My homologue paid for all of those things. Crazy and nice. I still wonder if I'm supposed to pay him back . . . 

Then we went to his house and hung out there, saying hellos to people along the way. He made dinner. First he fried plantains. Then he had two small tin cans. I asked what they were. Sardines. Oh... Then he proceeded to open each can and dump it over the fried plantains. What did you just do, I wondered? I worried because I heard that sardines in the states were really salty and I'm not a fan of salt. I tried it anyways and was pleasantly surprised to find it tasted good. The sardines tasted like the canned trout Lib and I love to eat from Trader Joes. 

We hung out a bit, then he had two young men get me some water and the 4 of us walked back to my house in the dark. I had my trusty non-battery twisty flashlight on hand and was focusing on the path ahead of me, when I looked up. Holy cow. The stars were the most amazing I had ever seen them. They covered the sky, infinitely more than I had ever seen and more vivid, too. It was so beautifully breathtaking. The rest of my walk "home" I seemed to be in a drunken stupor, because I kept trying to stare up at the sky and walk at the same time - not so simple.

I took a really quick bucket bath under the stars and locked myself in my future home. I became accustomed to the song of the crickets because my house had a bunch of them. It was hot that first night and I couldn't seem to cool down. I knew I should have gotten my hair wet... 

I left the following morning at 7:30 after taking another bucket bath and packing my bags for the day. So, I met the entire village that day. We walked around all over the place multiple times. I saw the CSPS and met the 2nd in command, I met the Prefet and saw his house and bureau, I met the surveillant (he takes care of discipline at school) who lives next door to my homologue; my homologue lives about a 60 second walk from the school. 

It is very important to say hello to people in this culture. Even if you are passing by and don't have time to stop and chat, you need to say hello briefly. If you don't, the person will think you're mean and/or will be offended and then the next time may not talk to you. It's so important for integrating into the community. So, even if I feel completely awkward and uncomfortable and weird, I should at least say hello, because then everyone will be happy. 

Oh, I also had to sit through a long meeting to welcome the new econome (bursar). Then I had to sit through a somewhat painful lunch listening to three men try to convince me to marry one or two of them. "It's not possible", I said, "I already have a husband." 
"Is he BurkinabÈ?"
"No."
"Well then you need a BurkinabÈ husband."
"Nope, no I don't." 
"Have you ever heard of polygamy?" "Yes, but it's not for me. One is enough. Just the two of us."
"Well after a year, I'll call up your husband and say you're finished and I have your heart in my hand" (this was said in English). 
"Nope, not possible." 
"Well, don't you want to marry him? He's handsome."
"Doesn't he already have a wife?"
"No."

Then I shook my left hand indicating that he had a ring on his finger and they all laughed. Men! Ridiculous! I guess this is something I have to get used to, but I'm already sick of it after one shot. I've heard some stories about how other women deal with it here. One asked if he knew English. And that no one speaks it in the States, so you have to learn it or you can't go. Another says that her father wants something like twelve goats, five cows, three donkeys, etc. etc. from the man who wants to marry his daughter and that gets a laugh and gets people to stop asking . . . Ideas, ideas.

That night I ate dinner again with my homologue and this time he said since he had cooked the previous night (yeah he "cooked"), that I had to cook tonight. O . . . K. So I boiled spaghetti. Then he gave me the ingredients to make the sauce. I started by adding onions and green peppers with some light seasoning to fish oil from sardines. Then I added two more cans of sardines including their oil, a chunk of tomato paste, and a small maggi cube (basically chicken bouillion). I was worried about how this was going to taste. And again was pleasantly surprised to find it tasted good. And I got to finish it the following morning for breakfast - yum.

The following morning I saw where the mayor works and briefly experienced the marche. I sat down for a bit with a group of men including the chief for my baptism. A baptism here, at least in my case, is when you are given a name. My ride came early and while we were sitting there and I was sitting in a sea of sounds and speaking that I didn't understand. So a name was said and I thought, is that it? Then my homologue spoke it loudly in each ear and then the president of the APE rubbed my head. Gnide. (Pronounced Neenday) It's Jula and means third young lady or third daughter, because I'm the third volunteer they've had at this village. Sweet, so I have a name. They called me it a few times and scolded me in a nice way for not responding - sheesh, lol, I just learned it and I'm not used to it yet!

I spend the rest of the day in a nearby city about 25K away. It's a bigger city and I plan on biking there every week to get veggies and such from the marche. I stayed with a current PCV there and met a married couple that had also been serving for a year at this point. The next day I met Leah's mango ladies and sat with them a bit after having a bike tour of the city and key places: post office, marche, boutique, quincaillerie (hardware store), internet cafes. I helped cut up some dried mangos and enjoyed time with these women who were very sweet and welcoming. They didn't want to call me by my new name and liked Stephanie better. That works for me. They let me try some of the dried mango - delicious! Here they don't add unnecessary sugar to things that are already sweet, so it was great. Then they sent me away with a big bag filled with cut up dried mango. So nice!

I traveled to Bobo with another volunteer and spend the night there. Went to Ouaga the next day. I opted to try and bike to the PC house instead of taking taxis. There were some really nice men who helped me along my way when I asked them directions. One man at the bus station led me and my bike out of the station and turned onto the next street where he and another man there helped give me directions to a main street I needed to find. Then I got to the street they led me to and talked to two more men who helped me. I managed to maneuver my way to the street I was trying to find and thought it was right. I was unsure, but finally I saw a bizarre landmark we were told about, a certain statue, and was so happy. I knew I could find the house from there and I was right! Score one for me. :)

I was one of the last to arrive at the PC house because most of my fellow PCT's arrived the day before. One of them told me that the energy level went up about 50% when I got there. That was very sweet. I enjoyed the next day relaxing and staying in an American bubble of comfort. The house was filled with books we could borrow, electricity, wireless internet, and fellow American PCT's and PCV's. Then that evening, an APCD and his wife who both served in the PC invited us into their home for Mexican dinner ? delicious; heaven. We had mango salsa, meat, guacamole, chips, beans and corn . . . so good. Then we biked to Marina Market the next morning to experience an actual super market in Burkina set up like a store in the states - the first I've seen of it's kind. I bought cheese and it was totally worth it. And I bought ice cream. I wouldn't buy the ice cream again, because I'm cheap . . . Then I hopped on a bus back home that afternoon, was crammed into the corner sitting with someone else's suitcase under me for the first half of the ride. I got on the bus after much confusion and frustration, I was a bit tired and definitely hot, so I decided to buy a coke that was somewhat cold or at the very least cool. I took a sip of it and felt like I should be in a coke commercial, because I was content!

Until next time. :)

Ouahigouya Letter 3 dated 7-2-09

Disclaimer: The contents of this page, and all links appearing on this page, do not represent the positions, views or intents of the U.S. Government, or the United States Peace Corps.

Hello Everyone,

So, I've been here for close to 3 weeks and I can't believe it. I feel like I've said this before, but time is passing by quickly. It's already Thursday. I feel like if I blink or close my eyes for too long I'll be at my site finished with training and then at the year mark and then thinking about coming home for real. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but if time continues to pass like this, that's not far from the reality.

So, things are still going well. I worry that I'm falling into a comfort zone here and that I'm not pushing myself outside of the little box I found. I am comfortable with the few places I know how to bike to, the few places I eat lunch at or buy things at, and I tend not to go much farther from any of those places. I tried to find an internet cafe the other day because it's supposed to be a bit cheaper than the current one I go to, but maybe not as reliable. I ended up biking to a different area I hadn't seen before and definitely got those anxiety nerves in my belly. That's when I realized that maybe I'm allowing myself to remain in a newly formed comfort zone. It's just something to be aware of.

I feel like I'm fitting in more with my family and I definitely feel more comfortable with them, more at ease which is nice, even if my language still has a long way to go. I do feel like I'm learning more and understanding more and improving, even if it isn't as quickly as I'd like (I think what I'd like is completely unrealistic!). I am in love with my little 9-year old brother. He is so freaking cute. He giggles and smiles and seems to have taken to me, which is great. My 14-year old sister continues to be a great help to me and is patient and always helps slow things down and explain things as many times as needed for me to understand.

I started running every morning with a few friends. My little brother ran with us yesterday morning, in flipping flip flops! Talk about hardcoreness. And he ran in pants that weren't staying up well, so he had to stop and readjust a lot. He was so cute. While he was running with us to the field where we meet everyone else, he said Stephanie, do you know the greeting in Mooré (in French of course)? So, I said Ne y yebeoogo to the next woman we ran past... It's a great way to start the morning. And since I go to bed by 9:30 every night, unless I get a phone call, it's a lot easier to get up before 6! 3 days in-a-row so far. We'll see. I hope to keep it up and I might take a break on Sundays and sleep in.

The food is still pretty good, but I do miss American food. We found a place that serves burgers! They're delicious. And they have sorbet and maybe even cheese. Crazy and amazing, I know. It is expensive though, so that'll be a rare treat for me. I hope to receive some sugar-free and salt-free (basically organic) nut/dried fruit mixes in the future. I love that stuff, especially from Trader Joes. Plus it would serve as a great snack. We'll see what else. If anyone can figure out how to send cheese and make it last, I would love them forever! Otherwise I'll stick to my vache qui rit and continue to enjoy that. For Nadège it's the vache qui pleur and when she says he pleurs (cries) for me, I say, no, il souhrit pour moi. (He smiles for me). Delicious. I have it on my break every morning we actually have it available at my house.

Let's see, what else. I'm going to my first wedding this morning. It's another volunteer who has been here for 3 years, named Brian, and he's marrying a Burkinabé woman. And then maybe they're going back to the US, but I'm not so sure.

We have a huge 4th of July celebration on Saturday which will be fun: burgers, salad, frites, and maybe cheese sauce (made by yours truly) and chili to go with the fries. We'll see...

I had my first experience getting ripped off as a Nasaara in the marché. Oh, well, I did get to purchase 2 pagnes, even though I should have paid up to 1600 less for them :( But then Maman went with me to her tailor, so I know I got a good price for the clothes I'm having made, so that should be fun.

All in all, I'm doing well. Missing some people at home, but surviving just fine. I like it here. And the rain has helped cool things off. It comes at least once if not twice a week, so I love that, even with the mud.

Love you. Hope you're all doing well.

Steph

Ouahigouya Letter 2 dated 6-23-09

Hello Everyone,

Since my parents are forwarding this on, I figured I'd address it to everyone. I hope everyone is well and I welcome emails and letters! :)

Okay, so I've been here a little under 2 weeks and as I've said before it feels like so much time has passed. Maybe that's because so much has happened, so much has changed, and I have learned so much. I'm getting more comfortable here and with my family. This place is becoming more and more familiar and the language is coming slowly but surely. My language classes are taught by a woman named Zara and I take these classes with one other young woman named Carolyn. She and I were talking today and she said she notices improvements every day and I agree. I am able to understand more when Zara and others speak and I'm beginning to talk more and increase my vocabulary. My end seems to be crawling toward improvement, but it's something. It'll be interesting to see where I am in 2 weeks or in 4 weeks. I am currently in week II according to our schedule and I'm supposed to start teaching a 5 week class during week VI, so we'll see.

The food is much better than I was expecting. I have more variety and I'm getting fruits and vegetables on a regular basis which is nice. I'm trying new things and learning what I do and do not like. As of now there are very few foods I don't like. I need to also learn which foods agree with me and which don't. I will not be eating those that don't for obvious reasons!

I started SE (secondary education) classes this week. We read about a form of teaching that's called the 4MAT program which discusses how to teach to a group of different types of learners. It tries to incorporate a cycle of experience, reflection, conceptualization, and action in order to cover why, what, how, and if questions. All of these are necessary to truly learn and retain something and not just memorize information like the kids do very well here. It'll be something I need to focus on and be aware of. I'll have to find ways of getting my kids to think outside the box and think beyond simply memorizing facts. For example, if I'm teaching an equation in math or physics, after giving them the equation and its applications, I can give them the answer and have them solve for another variable in the equation. If I teach them how to solve for density, which equals mass divided by volume, I can give them the density and mass and have them solve for volume. This will force them beyond route memorization and push them more towards actual learning.

Today we covered lesson plans and had to write our own lesson plans following a specific format. The format includes review, new information including objectives, and practice/evaluation to get the kids involved. We'll see how that goes. I have model school in 4 weeks, so I hope my language and comprehension is good enough by then.

Hmmm.. What else? Quoi d'autre? I washed my clothes for the first time here on Sunday. And no, they don't have washing machines here - not even where I live. So this was my washing experience. You get two big plastic bowls and one plastic bucket. You go out to the back of the house where the hose is and fill the plastic bucket full with water. Then you bring it to the bowls and pour some in each bowl so they're half full. The bucket will be a quarter to half full by this point. Then you grab a few items of clothing and throw the into the first bowl of water. You soak them. Then you grab your bar of soap (aka Burkinabé detergent - they use this soap to wash everything I believe) and you scrub your item of clothing with the bar of soap. Then you stretch a small area of it between your hands and scrub one side on the inside of your wrist and then the other on your other wrist. You do this with all parts of your item of clothing. Then you ring it out and drop it in the next bowl. Then you repeat, using less soap and probably not spending as much time on it. You ring it out and drop it into the bucket. The bucket is the rinse cycle. You rinse out your clothing and ring it out again. Then you shake out your item, turn it inside out if necessary and hang it on the line. They even have plastic clips for the windier days. Then you repeat with the rest of your clothes, possibly emptying out your rinse water into a bowl, if you want less soap-filled water for rinsing. I'm not sure if I got all the soap out, but I'm wearing an entire outfit today of my Burkinabé-washed clothes and I'm not having any issues. And they smell clean. The only thing is that some were a little stiff after drying, but no biggie. Oh, another thing, all clothing including bras can be hung on the line, but your underwear cannot - that you leave to dry in your room. I found a nice little someone hidden spot on the bottom shelf of my table because it was a wire checkered shelf. Oh, also, my khaki capris were filthy. They were covered in dirt/sand and had taken on a darker tan color and the bottoms had dirt all over them. ?So, Nadesh (my sister who actually helped wash all my clothes, except my underpants - she might have helped with those, too, but I didn't want her to) pulled out the wash board and a large scrub brush and went to town on my capris. She did a fantastic job and got everything out!. They look just like new. I wonder if I'll be able to do as good a job as she. Well we'll see. I think I may do laundry ever other week, because I'm cheap (don't want to buy soap every week) and I don't think I need to wash my clothing more than that.

So, I'm more comfortable now and I'm coming into my own. I still need to spend a lot of time on my language, but I think I'll try to spend some extra time on it each night or something like that.

I hope you're all doing well. I miss you. I do miss home and a lot of the food because I just love US food. So, you can send chocolate, nut mix, candy, anything yummy to snack on, tuna/salmon in a bag, organic drink mix to add to water (Lib, you know what it is :)), breakfast bars (especially the peanut nature valley or the ones with yogurt, or anything organic) I'll let you know more later. Maybe I'll try mac and cheese out of a box once I'm at site....

Stephanie

Ouahigouya Call

We called Stephanie on Saturday after extensive research into international phone cards. It seems these are many different plans that appear to be designed to be as complicated as possible to make it difficult to compare. This, I suspect, is yet another shining example of creative marketing. There are plans designed for calling Burkina Faso line phones and different ones for calling cell phones. The obvious card issue is the per minute charge. Looking beyond the obvious there are other charges. Some cards carry an annual fee. There are some with monthly charges and some with weekly charges. We looked at one-minute rounding, two-minute rounding . three-minute rounding and even four-minute rounding. This rounding concept is not really explained anywhere. They must assume it to be fairly straight-forward but I think they should tell you anyway. They do not. We found cards with PIN numbers and some without. Then there are other hidden fees and surcharges than need to be evaluated.

We settled on the nobelcom.com plan which seems to be the best deal for our projected usage To put this into perspective, we have the Time Warner all-in-one plan for our home phone for domestic calls just about for free after you factor in the costs of cable and the internet. The rate they quoted to add international calling, when I inquired, would be six times the cost of the nobelcom card for three hundred minutes.

Once the international phone card decision was made, we waited for one of the times Stephanie had said would be available to take our call. After some confusion over which number to dial (the 800 number is more expensive than the local number we were provided with), we punched in the 31-digit sequence required to reach her Peace Corps-issued cell phone and counted the rings until she picked up.

She said her host family is doing better than some others in that they have a house with a shower inside. She lives in a small bedroom in a single-story house. The bed fits in her room with a few feet to spare on either side.

In addition to the family of four, there are several other people who Stephanie suspects may be cousins living with them in the clay house. She ran down the names and it sounded like there may be as many as 10 people living under one roof.

Emma is the trainee living with a host family across the street. Kathy mentioned how that was her grandmother’s name.

The host family is catholic. Stephanie has not been to mass with them yet but is looking forward to going to see how mass in French compares to mass in English. One of Kathy’s co-workers thought it might be faster to learn Mooré if she attends mass in that language.

Some of the training takes place in classrooms at ECLA which is a non-governmental organization or NGO that is an acronym for Etre Comme Les Autres or “to be like others”. ECLA has a "care and support" medical center and several schools that teach skills like cabinetmaking, carpentry, sewing and handicrafts. Its activities range from ARV treatment (Antiretroviral treatment) to emergency assistance. One of the primary activities of this organization is to work with PLHA or Persons Living with HIV/AIDS. ECLA works to satisfy that group’s needs with an integrated and global approach. Having learned this, it seems logical that the Peace Corps would coordinate the training of each generation of volunteers with such an organization.

The Burkinabe in Ouahigouya speak French and Mooré. They smile a lot and laugh a lot. Stephanie and Carolyn, another Peace Corps Trainee are working with a Burkina woman to become more fluent in French. Nadesh, the 14-year-old daughter of the host family is also helping with her French.

There are outdoor shelters called hangars that the Peace Corps uses for some of the training. The trainees can be outside where the temperatures are more comfortable than they would be indoors. The hangars have slim wooden columns supporting a structural frame with a thatch roof overhead to provide shade for the concrete benches below. Language, medical and cultural training begins at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday with 2 language sessions on Saturday. Lunch lasts an hour and half before the afternoon sessions begin.

The food in Burkina Faso is very good. One of the recent meals she ate included fish, cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. She eats green vegetables once a day.

The Peace Corps provided the trainees with filters for water. Stephanie has been careful not to drink any unfiltered water and has not experienced any unpleasant side-effects as a result. She said others have not been as lucky.

The first night in Ouahigouya, the trainees were invited to dinner at a local physician’s house. The host gave a speech in which he mentioned the avocations of some of the visitors from across the ocean. At one point he said, “There is a beekeeper among you and also a basketball player”, referring to Stephanie. When he mentioned that she was from Syracuse, a cheer was heard from another trainee toward the rear of the room. Stephanie found out later that the person cheering was a young lady named Jennifer, also from Syracuse.

Stephanie was disappointed to learn that the information about jewelry she was given while preparing for her trip was not accurate. She said she could have taken some of her favorite jewelry with her after all. Her host mother let her borrow a pair of earrings. She is preparing a list of items that we may wish to ship to her that will include specific items of jewelry.

Stephanie said she gets to bed by 10 or 11 p.m.

We plan on calling again in a week to catch up.

Stephanie's Trip

The day finally arrived. We have known about this for quite some time.

Our daughter is passionate about life. She told us she wants to make a difference. She wants to immerse herself in a different culture. She became a Peace Corps volunteer or will be in three months. The path to this point involved all the paperwork, finding sponsors, interviews and waiting.

Her original expectation would have had her leaving in the fall or 2008. That would have been only four short months after she graduated from William Smith College. Things changed. There were delays. Then the invitation letter came and her excitement grew.

As I write this, she sits on a plane in the Philadelphia airport that is readying for takeoff. Its destination: Paris, France. Then, following a brief layover, on to Ouagadougou Airport in Burkina Faso, Africa by way of Niamey, the Capital of Niger.

We drove to Hancock airport in Syracuse yesterday morning a little after 8 a.m. in two cars. After checking in, Stephanie met the rest of us on the second floor and we waited. I walked over to the flight schedule board to check on the status of her flight. Under status it said "DLYD/ATC" with no time specified. I thought that

could mean delayed by air traffic controllers but I was not certain. Going back downstairs to see what that meant, she discovered that they had switched her to an earlier (also delayed) flight without telling her. A flight which had not left yet

but was about to. She had to hurry.

As luck would have it, airport security asked her to move to the side for more in-depth inspection of her things. Her mom

switched into full worry mode as we waited for security to finish with her.

About five minutes after we watched her disappear from sight as she made her way to the gate, we received a text message

from Stephanie that said "I'm on the plane - luggage actually fits this one . . . Love you all. Miss you already" and just like that, worry mode ended.

With that, I headed to the office and Kathy took Matt, Carolyn and Libby to get something to eat.

I tracked the flight on the computer from the office until it landed then texted Kathy to let her know only to find out I was conveying old news. Stephanie had called a few minutes earlier from the plane that was taxiing toward the terminal.

The rest of her day in Philadelphia involved training then dinner with our friends Bob and Tracy at an Italian restaurant that Kathy had been to on a recent business trip.

Today began early for her. After checking out of the hotel around 6:30 a.m., they were off to the clinic for the required innoculations. There are 30 people with her headed for Burkino Faso.

She had lunch at the Reading Terminal Market then tried to shop for a power converter or transformer that she learned would be needed for her surge protector when she is in Africa.

The bus left to take them to the airport around 1 p.m. to allow enough time for the party to check in for the flight and make it through customs.

Stephanie called just as I left work and filled me in on the additional charges Delta hit her with because her carry-on exceeded the weight limit.

And now she has begun the next leg of her 27-month adventure. Once she arrives in Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso, she will meet her host family and begin the three-month training period before being sworn in as an official Peace Corps volunteer. Until then, she is a Peace Corps Invitee.

Fragile Tim

The following is an actual conversation that took place during luch:

Karen: “What is that smell?”

Larry: “Lasagna”

Karen: “Lasagna?”

Larry:  “Lasagna”

Karen: “Eew that’s nasty”

Larry:  “Hey Tim, Karen thinks your food smells nasty”

Tim:  "OK, I'll eat this in the conference room."

Karen: “That’s Tim’s?  I thought it was your food”

Larry:  “Nope;  Tim’s”

Karen: “Now I feel bad”

Larry:  “Why is it ok to say things about MY food but you feel bad if you say the same things about Tim’s food?”

Tom:    “Maybe Tim is fragile.”

Larry:  ”Hey Tim.  Are you fragile?”

Tim:    “Yes.  Fragile.  Definitely fragile.”

First Game Back

We were not sure how it would go. From the email we received from the team manager earlier in the week, we knew the team would be sporting a bit of a different look for the duration of their season. 

A few days earlier, I burned a CD for my son with all the pics and videos from his ordeal the previous weekend. I had included some video of his game the day before he was injured. He said he was ok to watch the hockey footage so I considered that a test to guage whether he would also be okay as a spectator while his team played without him. 

We did not have to get him there as early as when he had to dress to play, but we could have left the house earlier than we did. As a result, we arrived at the State Fair Coliseum after the game had started. It was a few minutes into the first period. We found a spot amid the well-wishing parents who indicated how glad they were to see Matt getting around. We shared the story about what we went through from the injury through the emergency surgery as we watched the game.

For a good part of Matt's life, he has seemed to be making a statement. Now, at 6'-6-1/2", it is difficult to miss him. In addition to his height, he has a flair for fashion. He has cultivated a look. It is more than the mostly black articles of clothing thing. It includes the finger-less gloves and the studded belts and all that but there is something else. Something unique to Matt. Aside from the fact that it happens to be his favorite color, I figure the most likely reason this tall lanky teenage guy wears pink wrist bands and pink laces on his skates is to prove a point. These, along with the pink skate blade guards, pink lanyards and pink whatever he can get his hands on, all scream "WE ARE ALL EQUALS ON THIS PLANET AND WE CAN ALL GET ALONG AND THERE IS NO REASON TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANYONE BASED ON HOW THEY LOOK ON THE OUTSIDE!" Or maybe he just wants to get a rise out of people. Either way, you will always see pink whenever you see Matt.

It is important to explain this because, what we saw while watching the game was how the rest of the team was making their own statement about Matt. The team uniforms are mostly black with some white and red, but that day, there was an additional color that had been added to their helmets.  

Most of them had a  simple stripe while a couple players went so far as adding tape to form Matt's number, "00". It was all done in pink tape. The color that is unique to Matt was ever-present on the rest of the team that

day. The coaches noticed that Matt was a spectator at the game and during the intermission between the first and second period, suggested the team skate across the ice to where Matt stood to acknowledge him and indicate they were glad to see he was okay. All Matt's teammates, with the pink tape applied to their head gear, slapped the ice with there sticks and waved to him. He smiled and waved back. It was a moment.

When he played hockey, Matt had very physical style. He enjoyed playing the game as he felt it was intended to be. As a defenseman, Matt knew that checking could be as effective as knocking the puck away with your stick or stealing it and skating away. But a consequence of a more physical style of play was a greater chance of getting whistled for a penalty. As a result, Matt garnered more than his share of time in the penalty box during the eleven or so years he embraced the game.

The game this day was ugly and several "game" penalties were earned as Matt's teammates reacted to the numerous late hits after the whistle from the opposing team by getting more physical than the rules allow. It was a fitting though unintended tribute to the tall kid wearing his "00" jersey and standing near the penalty box for most of the game.  

Matt's Hockey Injury

It started as a normal Sunday, with a few modifications. Instead of going straight to Starbucks, I let her sleep and went to pick up a few items from the grocery store. Then I prepared ham and eggs with home fries for breakfast.

Then it was off to solve the Jumble and hang out at the Armory Square Starbuck's until it was time to take the lad to his hockey game.

I prepared the over easy eggs and toast that he asked for before we left.  Who knew that would be the only thing he would eat for the day.   There was just about enough time for him to eat before we had to leave for the game. 

We have been taking the our son to hockey games since he was 6 or 7 years old. In 3 months he will be 19. In three months he will have the outward appearance of a healthy young person once again.

It was the second period. His team was down two goals to none. It happened right in front of us, away from the boards, just inside the blue line. He has been coached to crouch down and get low when he checks. Otherwise he risks drawing 2 minutes for a hit to the head. That is what happens when a youth hockey player is 6'-6-1/2" tall. He has executed these hits for a few years since sprouting in adolescence to his current height.

This time it was different. We watched as he crouched low and made a clean hit on the kid from the opposing team with the puck. But instead of coming out of the hit and skating away toward a loose puck, he went down in pain. He lay there on the ice as the coaches approached to see what was wrong. We have witnessed this scene many times. Most times the player is helped to his feet and skates away as the players from both teams strike the ice with their sticks to acknowledge the player is ok.

The coaches helped him to his feet this time too. But as he skated toward the bench we noticed something was off. He was struggling to maintain his balance.

He sat on the bench for less than a minute then headed for the locker room with the help of one of his coaches. I headed for the locker room too to find out what was wrong. After telling the coach that I would stay with him, I watched as he got out of his gear and got dressed. He was still having trouble maintaining his balance. When I asked if he was ok he said he was, but he said his neck hurt. He said he didn't want to go to the hospital. He said he didn't want to have to wear one of those neck brace things.

We put the equipment in the car then headed back to watch the rest of the game. His team lost 3-2 and we took him home to shower before getting him medical treatment to find out what was going on with his balance and what was causing the neck pain.

The game was over a little past 3:30 pm and we made it to Crouse Hospital Prompt Care around 4:30 pm. I stayed in the waiting room when they called his name and my wife and Carolyn, his girl friend went in with him to the examination room. At some point I looked up to see my wife walking in from the door to the outside. I asked her how she did that.

That's when I first heard that my son's condition was a bit more serious than a little neck pain that some anti-inflammatory meds and rest would take care of.

 X-rays they took showed something so they had taken him across the street to the hospital thru the tunnel for a cat scan. We headed over and met him in the emergency room where we would spend the rest of the night and half the morning.

 

When they were in the examination room, they put a cervical collar on him to immobilize his neck and head and his girlfriend took a picture of him with her phone. She sent it to Evan, one of his closest friends who called me to find out where he was. He told me he was coming over. After we had been in the emergency room for a half hour or so my phone rang and i met his friend at the entrance to the hospital.

And we waited. We waited for word from the doctor about what the cat scan revealed. A few hours later, the doctor stopped in to inform us that he was scheduling an MRI. The cat scan had revealed two fractured vertebrae, a problem that needed further investigation. At that time we were told that there were two probable forms of treatment for this type of injury. One was to wear a cervical collar for an extended period of time and the other was surgery. We were hoping that he would not need surgery.

Within a half hour we followed the technician who had been called in from home to the room where they recorded numerous images of the injury. We all stayed in the adjoining room while Matt was slid inside the MRI as the technician sat at her computer that operated the machine. From time to time she would talk into a microphone to ask how he was holding up. He was fascinated by all the sounds emanating from the confines of the device and made it thru the lengthy procedure.

After that it was back to the emergency room to wait some more.

We waited for the neurosurgeon to finish the emergency surgery at the adjacent hospital so he could review the images of Matt's neck and advise us.

Soon it was past midnight and still we waited. It was near 2 in the morning before the doctor arrived. He ran Matt thru a series of physical tests to evaluate before breaking the news.

His name was Dr. Li and he spoke with a heavy asian accent. He explained to us that there were fractures to 2 vertebrae in his neck. They number the vertebrae and his fractures were on the right side of number 3 & 4. In addition they were also out of alignment. There was some damage to the discs between 3 & 4 and 4 & 5. The only option was to go in to surgically correct the problem and bring the vertebrae back in alignment.

The procedure was deemed to be emergency surgery and he was scheduled to go under the knife the next day at 3 pm. He said he could show us the images. We followed him down the corridor to a room with a couple computers. He talked on the phone while bringing up the views of Matt's neck.

We were processing and trying to find a way out of the surgery but the reality was sinking in. I felt myself beginning to lose my grip. My wife said I looked pale.

After asking as many questions as we could think of, we headed back to tell Matt what had to be done. He had a rough time accepting this reality but we assured him we would be there to help him thru this. He kept saying that he just wanted to go home.

By 3 am he was admitted and lie in a bed on the 6th floor, room 6018. I left to get some sleep and my wife stayed with Carolyn and Evan. In 12 hours, our son was to go under the knife. The ER nurse had pulled us aside to assure us that this surgery was very common and we shouldn't worry. Until this was over, all we could do was our best to follow that advice. This whole episode was very scary.

In the morining, after bringing Kathy home to shower, we returned to the hospital. As we were waiting for the elevator in the parking garage we noticed two people walking toward us. It was Ron, one of Matt's coaches and his wife Pam. We all got on the elevator and headed over to the hospital across the street.

We planned enough time so we could talk with the surgeon before the procedure. He arrived shortly after we did. He explained how the surgery was necessary and we double-checked that there were no other options. He said they had told him to be ready around 2:30, but after he left the room, we again waited.

In the meantime we all visited with Matt and helped keep his spirits up.

Carolyn, Drew, Evan and Brenda were there with the rest of us. (Pay no attention to the one with middle finger tourette syndrome; he means well.)

After being told several times that someone would be there to take Matt to the surgical suite on the first floor, it wasn't until after 4 p.m. that the gurney arrived to transfer him. Luis introduced himself and pushed Matt down the corridor.

They allowed 2 people to accompany him in pre-op. Kathy and I waited with Matt as a whole gang of people gathered around him, preparing him for surgery. A step by step description of how they would proceed was offered by a woman with a Jesus tatoo on her wrist. The man who would monitor Matt's nervous system throughout the surgery mentioned how he had a son a couple years younger than Matt who also played hockey. Two anesthesiologists explained what their role would be.

When it was time, we walked a few steps down the corridor with him until they turned and pushed him into surgery. We told him we would see him in a couple hours. Then we headed through the next set of doors, around the corner and down the hall to the waiting area. We expected to find Matt's friends and his coach but there was no one. So we went down to the cafeteria and had some dinner.

After dinner we made our way back up to the waiting area and sooon after that Ron and Pam walked in and sat down. They stayed with us the whole time Matt was in surgery. Kathy left several times to walk up to the third floor where Matthew's friends had gathered to wait. She would let them know any news as we were informed. Sometime after the surgery began, Stephanie arrived.

The 3 p.m. start time was moved to 4:30 then we found out it did not start until almost 5:30. A friendly nurse stopped by to advise us of the change and suggested we figure on 2 hours from that time.

It was a few minutes longer than that when Dr. Neckrysh walked in to explain how the procedure didn't go exactly as planned but still went well and that Matt was, at that time waking up in the operating room.

Instead of removing the discs between vertebrae 3 & 4 and 4 & 5, there was a complication and they had to remove on of the vertebrae and insert a plastic cage to fill in the space before screwing in the titanium plate to pull his bones back into alignment. At first he described this in medical terms and asked kathy if she understood what he was saying. Without hesitating, she said no, she didn't. Stephanie was there so she provided a pen and paper for the doctor to show us what he was talking about.

A short while later, we were allowed to stop into post-op to say hello to Matt. Seeing him awake was the best feeling. The room was busy so we had to leave right away. While we waited outside the room, they wheeled Matt out and into the elevator to get another cat scan. We were asked to meet him up in his room. They were moving him to 6016, a two-bed room without another patient,  so his friends could stay with him that night.

After waiting perhaps another half hour or so we watched him being brought into his room. When they transferred him into his bed we were all asked to wait outside the room. After another ten minutes or so we all gathered around his bed and visited.

We told Matt that the doctor had done a John Madden to explain the change in the surgery and showed him the doctor's drawing in Stephanie’s pad. Matt took the pad and drew a row of x's inder a row of o's. Then he said, while drawing a line and an arrow, They should line up like this; that way this guy can sack the quarterback." We noticed that his voice was slightly deeper and slightly more nasal than it had been before and he sounded just a bit loopy as the anesthesia had not totally worn off. The doctor had explained to us the night before how sometimes the quality of the voice is affected by this surgery.

 

Evan, Carolyn, Kathy, Stephanie and I were there. (Once again, pay no attention to the middle finger-challenged individual. Perhaps he is merely attempting to point something out to the group. Perhaps not).

It was around 10 pm when Kathy and I left to get some sleep.

The next day, Kathy brought Matt home and we were all relieved. He has to wear the cervical collar for 3 months. When we asked the doctor if there would be any physical therapy, we were told the best therapy would be to resume normal life.  Normal life . . .