I ate at an Ethiopian restaurant in Little Ethiopia in LA tonight. I left the place with a more inspired and comforting attitude then when I came in. It was a great experience to be able to eat with my hands in a communal bowl, just as the people in Burkina Faso do. I missed a lot of cultural experience in Burkina by my stunted Peace Corps service, but it was reassuring to know that I can still be apart of African culture in America. And then, as I went over to the sink to wash my hands I read something on the wall beside me that I was able to relate to. After reading it my nostalgia of Africa quickly went from regret to inspiration.

I would like to share it with everyone and hope that it can be of some guidance to you.

"FOLLOW YOUR DESTINY WHEREVER IT LEADS YOU

There comes a time in your life when you realize that if you stand still, you will remain at this point forever. You realize that if you fall and stay down, life will pass you by. Life’s circumstances are not always what you might wish them to be. Rather than wondering about or questioning the direction your life has taken, accept the fact that there is a path before you now. Walk your path one step at a time. Keep your head up, and cast your dreams to the stars. Keep your belief in yourself and walk into your new journey. You will find it magnificent, spectacular and beyond your wildest imaginings."

-Vicki Silvers

Although this has nothing to do with Peace Corps, I thought it would be appropriate to let everyone know how proud I am of the Colorado Rockies! Although I would have loved to be in Africa right now, I am glad I am able to watch the Rockies make history.

Surging Rox making baseball history

Last place to first Colorado on a Cinderella run for the ages

By Jim Molony / MLB.com

MLB Headlines

DENVER -- When the 1976 Cincinnati Reds ran off seven consecutive postseason victories en route to a second straight World Series title it represented the pinnacle of the Big Red Machine's '70s dynasty.

While the 2007 Colorado Rockies certainly aren't in the class of those Reds, their 7-0 run to clinch the franchise's first World Series made the Rockies the first team in 31 years to go 7-0 in the postseason and also earned Colorado another rare place in baseball history.

Besides the streak, their sweep of Arizona in the National League Championship Series made the Rockies one of only five teams to finish in last place one year and reach the World Series the next, joining the 1991 Atlanta Braves, the 1991 Minnesota Twins, the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies and the 1998 San Diego Padres.

Baseball fans haven't forgotten the previous four teams to go from last place to the Fall Classic in one year, and it's doubtful they will soon forget a Colorado team which has won 21 of its last 22 games and was 6 1/2 games out of first place in the National League West as recently as Sept. 15. A year ago, the Rockies finished 76-86, 12 games behind San Diego and Los Angeles.

"These guys just don't quit," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "This has been fun to watch let me tell you."

The 21-1 run is incredible on its own, but it is even more amazing when you consider the Rockies are in the playoffs for only the second time in their 15-year existence and first time since 1995.

They became only the second team to sweep an NLCS since the seven-game series was instituted in 1985 and first since Atlanta swept Cincinnati in the 1995 NLCS.

"At some point, maybe the historic [magnitude] of this will sink in, but right now we're just a team that is enjoying playing the game and coming out expecting to win every day," Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins said. "What you're seeing is 25 guys pulling in the same direction."

And rewriting baseball history in the process.

The Wild Card Rockies did not have home-field advantage in either series, yet swept NL East champion Philadelphia in three games and NL West champion Arizona in four to complete their bottom to top jump that earned them a place along the other great turnaround stories in baseball history:

• The 1991 Atlanta Braves, a year after finishing last (65-97) in the NL West, went 94-68 to win the division, then beat Pittsburgh in the NLCS before losing to Minnesota in the World Series.

• Those '91 Twins made a similar last to first leap. The '90 Twins finished 74-88 and in the American League West cellar, 29 games behind Oakland. When the Twins and Braves met in that memorable 1991 World Series it was the first and only time in the 20th century two teams that had finished last the year before met in the World Series.

• The 1993 Philadelphia Phillies made it to the NLCS and then the World Series, one year after finishing dead last in the NL East, 70-92 and 26 games out of first place.

• The only other team to go from cellar to World Series in one year was the 1998 San Diego Padres. The year before, that team finished in the NL West cellar, 76-86 and 14 games behind San Francisco. The '98 Padres finished the regular season 98-64, good for first place in the division, then beat Houston in the NLDS and Atlanta in the NLCS to advance to the World Series.

Now comes the Rockies, the latest team to climb from the cellar to the pinnacle in one season.

Even Cinderella didn't climb that far.

"If you would have told me back in Spring Training that we were going to the World Series I wouldn't have believed it," Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. "This has been an incredible run, we played so long where if we lost our season was over we've been playing every day like that's still the case."

Of the previous four to go from cellar to pennant, only the Twins went on to win the World Series. None of those teams went unbeaten in the postseason, let alone win 21 of their last 22.

The Rockies will face either Boston or Cleveland in the World Series with a chance to join Minnesota as the only team to finish last one year and win a Fall Classic the next.

Keep the history book handy. The last-to-first Rockies don't look like they are finished rewriting it.

From Last to World Series

The Rockies are the fifth Major League team to go from last place to the World Series in consecutive years.

Year Team

2007 Rockies

1998 Padres

1993 Phillies

1991 Twins*

1991 Braves

*Won the World Series

Learning Moore in Ouahigouya

Enjoying the heat in Ouahigouya

My courtyard in Somyaga

More photos of Somyaga...

I did not take any photos of my own family while in Somyaga for cultural integration reasons. I did not want them to see me as a 'tourist' or as someone with money. So for now I have a mental photo of them, smiling. I drew a little diagram/picture of my village on the plane. I will see if I can scan it and post it here.

Got my blood drawn, blood pressure checked, eyes checked, ears checked, lungs checked, the whole shebang for the early termination physical exam. I now have 10 more hours in Burkina then have to say goodbye. I was not imagining that this is how things would end up. There are things in life that we can't plan for and there are also things in life that we cannot change. I felt so lucky to have such a great placement, a great stage (training group), a great group of LCFs (Language and Cultural fascilitators) and a great staff. But the external environment would not allow me to fully enjoy my time here and not allow me to work at my potential for the gracious country of Burkina Faso. I hope that Peace Corps continues to bring great volunteers to Burkina Faso to fulfill the three goals of Peace Corps:

1>Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

2>Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.

3>Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Although I have not completed my two years of service I have definitely contributed to all three goals. And will surely continue the 3rd goal as I tell everyone in America all about Burkina Faso and what I know of its culture.

Now on to the fun stuff:

All about my host family----

I was placed in a village called Somyaga. My family's name is Amade Zurome. I never really figured out how many children were in the family because there was always a massive group of them, but I do know there was a baby, named Bibata and a daughter about 10 years old and 2 other sons maybe 6 and 11. My mother showed me my room then placed a tiny seat out on the courtyard for me. I sat there as 30 children gathered around a stared at me, smiling, laughing and some even hiding. My brother pulled kids one by one to me so they could shake my hand. The only thing I knew how to say was "Mam yoor la ilana" 'my name is ilana'. So instead of calling me "nassara" 'foreigner' they kept repeating my name as if it was a secret password. Some of the children spoke French (better than me) so I was able to communicate some basic things, like there is an animal in my room (which there was) and I am finished with my food. After about 30 minutes of staring and laughing at eachother some children walked up to me and brought me marbles as a gift. It was very kind of them. Then my mother came back with a drink for me. I cant remember the name but it is basically water, milk (condensed powder milk), flour and sugar. As I drank it with my RIGHT hand i felt like I was on stage at the theater doing a performance, because ALL EYES WERE ON ME!!

It is disrespectful to use your left hand in this culture because here in Burkina when people use the toilet they dont use papier hygenique (toilet paper) they use a kettle with water and pour it over the area you want cleaned! and you do it with your LEFT HAND. Your left hand is considered your DIRTY hand for that reason. So here, you give and receive money and gifts, or anything with only the right hand. You wave hello with your right hand, you EAT with your right hand etc...Otherwise, if you do it with your left it is kind of like giving the middle finger. So some of you may know that I am left handed so this is very difficult for me to remember to use my right hand. So I had a blast eating dinner with my right hand!

After my milk and flour drink my mother brought dinner, which was also a theater performance for the children and as it got dark we still sat in the courtyard in darkness with a lantern and i repeated words in Moore from the children. I quickly learned of my pet mouse but did not KNOW it was a mouse until maybe 3am. I heard rustling in my room when we were in the courtyard and asked my brother to get it out. He could not find anything so I forgot all about it. I then went into my room with my father as we looked through the French/English dictionary and my quick Moore survival sheet which was all so fascinating to him. We had a great time looking up words so he can learn English and I can learn French. We said goodnight and got ready for bed.

my pet mouse---

Once I turned off the light and was quiet, I heard noises again. Long story short after many failed attempts at catching this "thing" red handed with my flashlight I finally see it jumping from the table. It was a mouse! My new pet mouse for the evening. He was having a blast all night long running around my things. He then found a piece of corn (not cooked) that was given as a gift from my parents that same day. The mouse had a field day munching away. In the morning it was all chewed up with pieces on the ground. Although I did not have much sleep that night I made a new friend.

my bucket bath experience---

I highly suggest trying out the bucket bath experience. I enjoyed every minute of it. Half a bucket of water cleaned every part of my body head to toe! It might have helped that my hair is short because some people were complaining that they could not get all the shampoo out. I think that another aspect that was so great was the fact that I was outdoors with fresh air (At 5:30 in the morning!). the heehawing donkey on the other side of the wall added a bit of humor to the situation as well. All in all, I give bucket-bathing 5 stars!

the bicycle and moped explosion---

So many bicycle riders and mopeds around the streets in the capital. I was scared as a passenger in a car that we were going to hit someone but miraculously everyone manages to stay alive with out blinkers or many street lights.

and a little bit of Moore!---

To end my last post in Burkina I want to share with you some Moore greetings.

Ne taabo Good Feast!

(said on holidays, such as Ramadan which was yesterday!)

Ne yibeoogo Good morning

Ne Windiga Good noon

Ne Zaabre Good evening

Ne Yungo Good night

zak ramba family

laafi health

noogo joy

If you are interested in learning more I have plenty more, so just let me know!

I promise to post some photos once I get to the US.

I have experienced so much in such little time. I first had to learn 36 names of the other stagiares (trainees), then learn the names of all the staff here in Burkina Faso. If you quiz me I can tell you them all. It is so fascinating for me to see so many people from all over and with different backgrounds instantly have a connection; A connection that includes trust, friendship, humor and most importantly support. It is amazing how close people can get when we all have similar values and goals, as well as fears and anxieties. And then it just adds another level of fascination when after 5 days of meeting someone we can instantly feel comfortable with descriptive conversations about our bowel movements. Just a note ** Burkina Faso has the second highest rate of diarrhea in all of the active African Peace Corps countries. So you can imagine what these conversations were all about.**

I can't remember what my last post was about but more on Burkina:

GRACIOUS. This is the one word I can use to describe the Burkinabe. Before 1987 this country was called Haute Volta. Then it was changed to Burkina Faso which means "Land of the Upright People". It is just utterly amazing to see how welcoming and how accomodating everyone is. When we first arrived to Ouahigouya (after 2 days in Ouagadougou) we were greeted by an African drumming and dancing group. After a quick performance the Burkinabe gave us a bowl (made of some sort of shell from a fruit) of water and we each took a sip. It is a tradition to offer water when guests arrive. We then all sat down for more music and dancing. We were invited to dance at any time if we wanted to, but everyone was a little nervous about it. I really wanted to dance because the music was just so dance-able, but i wanted someone to join me. So another stagiare got up and danced then I got up and danced then suddenly I turn around and there are 37 people up and dancing! It was a great sight. Then we all got in a circle dancing and I jumped in the middle doing my little drumming, funny-looking dance, then one of the African performance dancers took my hand and showed me some great moves! It was a lot of fun and quite a work-out.

Food basically consisted of rice or couscous with some tomato meat sauce on top for the first few days. Then when we were placed in village (which I will talk about in a moment) I ate some sort of potato-mush-which was really filling and some fried 'to' balls which is made of millet. kind of like a millet doughnut. It is all very fun to try new food, but sometimes you just cant finish the plate. One of the 'Gracious' things about the Burkinabe is that they feed guests huge portions. It is important to them to see you FULL and HAPPY!

After a few days in Ouahigouya, we met the Chief of the region where we brought him gifts of a live chicken and some cola nuts. We wanted to introduce ourselves before we went to the surrounding villages to stay with our host-families (for the next two months of training). He was very old but still just as gracious as the rest of them! We took some photos and he agreed to the photos as long as we sent some to him! He said "Everyone takes photos with me but I never see them!"

I know this post is getting long so I will write more tomorrow. My next installation will include:

All about my host family, my bucket bath experience, my pet mouse, why I am able to write two-days in a row, the bicycle and moped explosion, and a little bit of Moore! (Moore is the main local language that I just love!)

Thanks to those of you that have written to me. The computer is too slow for me to reply at the moment, but hopefully I will get to you soon!

Sorry no photos just yet.

Wend na kond nidare (May you be blessed with another day)

Bonsoir!

Dont have much time to write, but today is my first full day in Burkina Faso. It was a great prize at the end of a greuling 24 hours of traveling. i got to feel and smell some cool foggy weather for the last time in a while in France during my layover. Stopped in Niger but had to stay on the plane, then had a full 45 minute turbulance flight to Burkina. We are staying at a hostel until tomorrow, when we drive to Ouahiguoya, a small city up north. there we will start our training and meet our host families. My french oral test proved to me that i have MUCH more to learn. So far i have eaten pizza, rice, salad and waffles. we will see what else i come across when i eat with my host family. i will write more later, but so far everything is fabulous and the other 36 trainees are great. there are about 22 health volunteers and 15 small enterprise develpment volunteers.

please feel free to send me emails!

au revoir

ilana

Here is a photo from the Baltimore Orioles game. i can't seem to upload pics from my training in Philly...so maybe that will come later.

I begin staging in deux jours (2 days). During my pre-departure vacation in Baltimore and New York I have gone to a baseball game, ate sushi, made a presentation to some awesome 11th graders, watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy and so much more...

So for those of you who did not get my mailing address the first time around, here it is. Also, I made a typo on the city name (Ouagadougou). Not that anyone will notice. It is like deleting one letter in my last name-would anyone know? I forgot to type the 3rd letter "A"-it is correct this time.

Ilana Sochaczewski, PCT

S/c Corps de la Paix

01 B.P. 6031

Ouagadougou 01,

BURKINA FASO

AFRICA

I will provide you with a new address in December or January.

Winter is tiptoe-ing its way in and this photo that was taken the other day in Aspen (not by me) is proof. Look at the beautiful snow! This photo already has me missing winter.

Since I will be gone for a while, I thought I would recommend some good films, according to my taste, of course. I have probably recommended some of these films to you already, so if you haven't seen them yet-go ahead, treat yourself! I think there are 40 films on the list, so there should be at least one you will enjoy!

Born into Brothels

Screamers

Walk on Water

Apres Vous

Pan's Labrynth

Murderball

Any Woody Allen film

God Grew Tired of Us

Last King of Scotland

The Believer

Blood Diamond

Pieces of April

Slam

Motorcycle Diaries

The Departed

Donnie Darko

The Big Lebowski

I Am Sam

The Beach

Run Lola Run

Billy Elliot

Amelie

Habla Con Ella (Talk to Her)

Marvin's Room

American History X

Volver

Benny and Joon

Me and You and Everyone We Know

Whale Rider

Memento

Half Light

Reality Bites

Dot the I

Europa, Europa

The Hudsucker Proxy

Bull Durham

Soylent Green

Domino

Westside Story

The Hours

**BY REQUEST OF AN ANONYMOUS READER, I MUST ADD "My Date With Drew" TO THE LIST**

I can't guarantee these will all be at Blockbuster, so you might have to do some searching..but there is life outside of Blockbuster-go adventure!

21 days until Staging in Philadelphia. There are not too many countdowns in life that excite me. I guess I could always count down the days to my birthday: There are 145 days until my birthday. I will be turning 300 months old.

Things I will miss while I am in Africa (not including friends and family):

10. Showers

9. Rollerblading

8. Snowboard photography/events

7. B4BC and the Liver Foundation

6. Grey's Anatomy, Flight of the Conchords, Take Home Chef

5. The ocean

4. Snowboarding

3. My dog, Sebastian

2. Wireless internet

1. My favorite pillow and bed-enjoy it while you can, Alysen!

Just to show that I actually am learning (some) French. Today I learned:

-J'ai une souer et zero frere. Mon souer s'appelle Raquel. Elle a vente-neuf ans et elle habite dans San Francisco.

-I have one sister and zero brothers. My sister's name is Raquel. She is 29 years old and she lives in San Francisco.

Just sharing my love of snowboarding/photography with everyone. Grand Prix-Breckenridge, Winter '06

Gotta give props to the skiers, too. TJ Schiller, Icer Air-San Francisco, Fall '05

I am supposed to be taking my Rosetta Stone French classes everyday. I have not been doing a good job at that. I have been worried that I will become frustrated with the language barrier and will not be linguistically prepared in a couple weeks. Although I am supposed to know French, since I am going to a country where the national language is French, I read that only 10% of the Burkinabe (people in Burkina Faso) speak French. The other 90% speak a variety of over 60 local languages - which all have no relation to French. Go figure.

I am now more concerned about how many socks to bring, what kind of bras to bring, etc...

For those of you who do not know where Burkina Faso is:

I found out I will be going to Philadelphia for staging. Staging is a 2-day orientation where we meet other volunteers, get immunized and learn the fundamentals about our country of service.

I am just testing out this new blog thing so I hope it works all right! Good night.