12:27 AM and I can't fall asleep.

I've been trying to fall asleep for about an hour but can't seem to escape this "I'm about to jump out of my SKIN" feeling. I think today marks the apex of anticipation, impatience, anxiety, terror, elation...you get the picture. I leave in three days (!) and feel mostly, sort of, not really at all prepared but have resigned myself to the reality that I'm pretty well set as far as material necessities and will make do regardless.

Psychologically, I think I'm good to go. I've said my goodbyes, celebrated with friends and family, read every book EVER WRITTEN about Burkina Faso, the Peace Corps in West Africa, etc. and have turned the task of packing list compilation into an art form. After nearly two weeks sans job and city living, I'm ready to get on with the next phase.

Since I'm forced to endure this pesky bout of insomnia (time to cut back on the caffeine) I'll go ahead and share some Burkina facts, interesting discoveries, illuminating statements and the like for your reading pleasure/inquiring minds:

So, my specific Community Development program is "Girls' Education and Empowerment" which, as far as I gather, means that I'll be acting as a sort of liason between Burkina's Ministry of Education and the communities I serve, with the overarching goal of increasing female enrollment in schools and encouraging retention, thereby promoting civic participation amongst females - a major key to development, especially in extremely poor nations. So, that said, here's a quote from a research guide on education in Africa that I found profound:

"If we could fit all of humanity into one hour, the second half of the twentieth century would take up a tiny fraction of one second. More than 5 billion of us are sharing the earth in this tiny window of eternity; 800 million of us are going hungry, 100 million are homeless, and 14 mllion of our young children die each year. For many of us our minds are as parched as our bodies: nearly a billion of us cannot read and write and 300 million of our school-aged children are not in school.l Two-thirds of those who cannot read and write are women; 60 percent of children not in school are girls (World Bank 1990)."

How are those for some sobering statistics?

Stats specific to Burkina Faso:

Population: appx. 13 million (with almost half the population under 15)

Literacy: definition: of age 15 and over can read and write (2003 est.)

total population: 26.6%

male: 36.9%

female: 16.6%

Now for some general facts and figures...

"Burkina Faso" is translated to"land of honest men" and is an amalgamation of words from the country's two major languages. It is about 274,200 sq km in size (roughly the size of Colorado), about 400 sq km of which is water. Burkina was formerly known as Upper Volta, previous to which it was spliced up between its neighboring nations (the Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Niger primarily, though it is also bordered by Benin and Togo). Geographically, it lies at about 13 00 N, 2 00 W and consists of terrain made up mostly of flat to dissected, undulating plains with hills in the west and southeast. It is sub-equatorial with a fairly tropical climate consisting of warm, dry winters and hot, wet summers (notice the evolution of warm to hot...boy oh boy!). Burkina Faso is a former French colony (and, thus, is francophone), having achieved independence in 1960 (hooray!).

Today, Burkina Faso exists as a parliamentary republic with a president, Blaise Campaore, a prime minister, Ernest Paramanga, a Council of Ministers, and a 111-seat unicameral Assemblee Nationale. Its system of government derives from the French civil and customary law system. The constitution of Burkina Faso was adopted on June 1, 1991 and was amended in April of 2000. Most positions are 5-year terms and suffrage is universal.

I could go on, but I think that sleepiness is finally setting in...so off to bed I must. 'Night!