Learning French

I already speak three languages (English, Spanish, & Swahili) but Peace Corps decided it would be cool for me to learn another two. Its hard to believe that in two years I will be able to say I speak a five-fingered hand full of languages! I've studied languages since I started taking Spanish in six grade and my previous experiences have all been in a classroom, at least while trying to learn the basics about grammar, verb conjugation, sentence structure, and adjective/adverb agreements. Later I've advanced my language skills while living with host families and travelling but the important stuff definitely came from a teacher. I did try to learn Japanese on my own but as you may notice, its not under my list of languages I speak. Also I did begin my studies by spending two weeks at a Japanese immersion camp in Minnesota one summer. I'm extremely comfortable studying languages in a structured classroom setting but have no idea how to teach myself.

I feel completely overwhelmed having to learn French on my own. Of course I will have classes for many hours a day once I arrive in Burkina but I have been strongly encouraged to learn as much as humanely possible before I arrive. The more I learn before I go, the higher level I will test into when I arrive which will determine which class I'm placed in and how soon I can start learning Moore or another local language. I think the local language is more important to learn since it is probably what many women and children only speak and what is more commonly used in the homes. In my opinion, the more I can learn during training and before I get to my village, the better off I will be at trying to integrate into my new community.

Back to learning French in Wisconsin: I originally was told by Peace Corps that they would be providing me with 3 months access to Rosetta Stone online. This offer was later revoked due to some budget issues and because they are currently accessing the effectiveness of providing the program to future Vs. Anyways I have checked out numerous CDs at the library about learning French quickly and haven't found any that are worth the gas to drive to library (except I walk but you get my point). I don't know how the foreign language CD business can stay afloat except that people must be very gullible to believe they will actually learn something from these programs. I looked at taking a class locally and there were a few options in Fond du Lac and West Bend. I could spend several hundred dollars to take First Semester French at our local community college fondly referred to as Cow Pie but would only be able to attend the first 1/3 of classes and don't think I would learn enough in that amount of time to justify the expense.

I finally broke down about two weeks ago and decided I needed to invest in Rosetta Stone myself if I was going to accomplish anything. I've been trying to use it quite a bit now and am half way through Unit 1 (of 4). I've learned a few nouns and verbs and can say a few sentences but nothing that I feel is really going to help me once I'm thrown in with a family that doesn't know a word of English. I've heard such rave reviews of Rosetta Stone but it sure hasn't impressed me yet! I'm holding out hope that its going to quickly improve and I'll start feeling like a pro French speaker in the next few weeks.

I also registered for BBC's online French course and am getting some e-mailed exercises from that. I'm trying to look up verb conjugation on my own but haven't figured out any patterns yet. Are there any in French or do you have to just learn every form of every verb on its own? I also can't figure out when tu (informal you) is used instead of vous (formal you). I could tell you in Spanish that it depends on the country so that in Costa Rica you never use the informal you and in Mexico City its rare to use the formal you. I have about six more weeks to go and hopefully will be able to keep pushing myself to learn more and more.

Visiting Relatives

My relatives from Minneapolis-Uncle Jeff, Aunt Deanne, and cousins Jessie and Jason--came to visit for the weekend. I haven't seen them in over a year at least so it was nice to hang out. Jason just turned 21 and it was Germanfest in West Bend so we all enjoyed a beer in the afternoon and the kids went bar-hopping in downtown WB at night! Jason is studying abroad in London this fall so we compared our travel preparations. Jeff and Jason used to be very active in the Boy Scouts and did a lot of camping. They gave some supplies to use while I'm "camping" in Africa including 2 awesome headlamps. I'm super excited to use them when I need to find the latrine in the middle of the night. They also brought me a magnesium fire starter. They promised it worked but we all were really struggling with. Jason disappeared to find some better bark to start on fire and when I tried it went up in flames. Turns out he had doused it in gasoline and I hadn't noticed! I sure hope they have matches since thats the only way I'll be getting a fire started!

Jason & I trying to start a fire.

My Timeline

Just wanted to jot down my application timeline since a lot of people wonder how long it takes to apply for Peace Corps.

Mar. 27, 2007 -- began application online
Apr. 17, 2007 -- application submitted
May 10, 2007 -- interview with UW-Madison PC campus representative
May 21, 2007 -- phone interview with regional recruiter
Jun 12, 2007 -- officially nominated (took a bit longer b/c as an MI had to wait for Tulane acceptance letter)
Aug 20, 2007 -- began working with MI placement liason in DC
Aug 22, 2007 -- submitted medical paperwork
Aug 28, 2007 -- Tulane MI orientation/luncheon
Oct 11, 2007 -- medical clearance
Oct 19, 2007 -- Director of Peace Corps visited Tulane
Dec 20, 2007 -- LASIK surgery & medically deferred
Mar 21, 2008 -- medically cleared again
Jun 27, 2008 -- invite received

Throughout the process I was asked to submit five references instead of the three usually needed, four separate resumes after submitting one with my application, and had to complete two romantic involvemnt forms. In total I worked with:

1 campus representative
1 regional recruiter
1 Master's International Placement Liason
2 medical nurses
1 medical assistant
1 placement office assistant
2 placement officers
Head of Master's International
3 Tulane Master's International Coordinators

That's a lot of people that have looked at my application and talked to me! Now that I've been invited I'm working with Sato travel for passport, visa, and plane tickets and my country desk assistant for other info. Its been a long process but I hope that its all worth it in the end!

Development Philosophies

I found this on a Mali PCV's blog and thought others may enjoy it as well.

A villager falls into a hole he can't climb out of.

Later, a missionary walks by. The villager explains his plight and the missionary throws down a Bible. "If you follow Jesus, he will show you the way."

An NGO worker walks by. The villager explains his plight and the NGO worker throws down a wad of money and walks away.

A Peace Corps Volunteer walks by. The villager explains his plight and the Peace Corps Volunteer runs off. After a while, the Volunteer returns with a bag and jumps in the hole. "Did you bring something to climb out with?" asks the villager. "No," says the PCV, "I'm coming to live with you."

I hope that I can do more than just live in the hole during my time in Burkina Faso. While I do think that faith and financial support are important, I think it takes more than just these things and hope that as a PCV, after jumping in, I will be able to help work together with villagers to get out of the hole.

Clarification from a 5 Year Old

Kay from 4-H forwarded this to me and I had to share it.

From a kindergarten teacher:

My five-year old students, are learning to read. Yesterday one of them pointed at a picture in a zoo book and said, 'Look at this! It's a frickin' elephant!' I took a deep breath, then asked...'What did you call it?' 'It's a frickin' elephant. It says so on the picture!'

And so it does... ' A f r i c a n Elephant '

Loving the Fairs & Everything WI

I can't believe I've been back in WI for a month now. The time has flown by but I've been really busy. I spent several days unpacking and sorting stuff to store for long term, to use over the next couple months, to take to Africa, and to toss or donate. My mom and I took Lucy to Noah's Ark waterpark which was lots of fun like always. I also took a day trip to Madison to visit folks at the 4-H office and spend time with my friend Lou. I had so many errands I also wanted to run but some will have to wait until a future trip.

My parents have talked about getting a new puppy for probably two years now. My dog Snowball is now 13 years old and is getting really old. Once my parents decided to move, they wanted to wait to get a dog until they were settled and than my mom wanted to wait until they had new grass. It seemed like it was never going to happen! There had been a news report about the humane society buying out a puppy mill though and that there were over 1000 puppies looking for homes so we went to just look after church. Of course you can't just look! It was the first day the dogs were available and we had to wait over 2 hours until we could work with an adoption counselor so we had picked out lots that we liked by that time. We eventually settled on a 2 month old female silky terrior/yorky terrior mix. My parents have named her Maggie and she is lots of fun. She is getting along well with Snowball most of the time except for when she likes to chew on his ears!

It was then time for the Washington County Fair. This was the 150th year of the fair, the 35th year for the Fairest of the Fair, and the 10th year at the new Fair Park. I can't believe its already been a decade; I was on the 4-H Leaders Assocation when it was being built so helped make many important decisions and got to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremonies! This year I enjoyed the fair in a different way than usual since I was selling tickets at the booth every night. I still saw a lot of people I knew from 4-H and ended early one night so I could see part of the Collective Soul concert and hang out with my friends Tricia and Elise. I worked until Sunday night at the county fair and had to be in Milwaukee by noon on Monday for my next job.

I've spent the last two weeks at the WI State Fair working as a Sound and Stage Manager for Youth Exhibits. Sounds official huh? I was even called agriculture staff though I of course know nothing about cows or horses. Basically what I did was work with all the 4-H and FFA music and drama groups that performed on the two stages at the fair. I had a lot of fun, got to work with a great group of people, and saw lots of folks I've known over the years participating and working with 4-H. We worked really long days without many breaks and lived in the dorms in a room with 7 other people and 1 bathroom so its nice to be home again! On the final Saturday night we had Midnight at the Oasis (one of our stages is the "Ag Oasis") which I guess is an annual tradition. Our group and several other ag staff came out to the stage after all the youth went to bed and enjoyed karaoke and dancing on the stage. Our boss brought us lots of fried fair food and we had a blast. I didn't get to bed until 3 am which was very late for the fair. The next night we had to start tearing down all the exhibits starting at 9 pm when the fair closed. I was pretty tired by the time I got home! I felt like I really got to enjoy both fairs to the most since I was there every single day. Hopefully that will make up for missing the fairs at least the next two years!

Tailgating at the Brewers-Cubs game the night before fair started.

All the Youth Exhibits Staff on the Ag Oasis Stage.

When I got back to my parents' on Monday afternoon, our guest had already arrived the night before. My family is hosting one of the chaperones from the 4-H/Japanese exchange for 2 weeks. Megumi is the same age as me and is a Labo staff member so we have a lot in common. Tuesday was the midpoint meeting my mom planned at a nearby park so several host families came with their exchange students and Peter, Kay, and Erin came from the state office. These events really make me realize how much I miss working with 4-H International. They also brough Noriko who is the chaperone to Iowa this summer and who my mom stayed with during her two trips to Japan. She is staying at our house until Saturday. We're definetly busy with two visitors but its fun to show off many local sites and traditions. We're headed to Chicago this weekend to see my grandma and do some more sightseeing.

I've been enjoying sharing my Peace Corps plans with everyone I see but feel like I haven't had any time to work on my own preparations. I'm down to less than 2 months until I leave now!