Fete Preparation

Just wanted to let you all know that Tabaski is coming up tomorrow!!! Everyone is so excited and so am I!! Apparently its the biggest fete of the year. Ill give more details later! A plus tard!

Story Time

SCORPION

I briefly mentioned in a previous entry that I had seen a snake by my latrine. Well wild creature number two is a scorpion. I’m hoping that this is the last one I’ll have to ass to the list.

Every Friday morning I take my 10k bike ride into the city to do my food shopping for the week and buy whatever random things I might need. About 3 weeks ago in my morning preparation before leaving for Kan Kan I had just finished bathing and dressing and was cleaning up a little. I had wiped down the furniture, swept and then went to put my worn night clothes in the laundry bag located in a corner behind my bed in between my two trunks and the wall of my hut. As I lifted up the bag, out of the corner of my eye I saw something move underneath. I looked down and sure enough there was a black scorpion about the length of the palm of my hand. My heat sank to the back o f chest, because this could turn into an ugly situation. Some scorpions are poisonous.

I was scared out of my mind, but I had to do something. So I grabbed my broomstick (this seems to be my weapon of choice. lol) and gave the scorpion a little push with the bristles, just as a test to see how fast it moves. Much to my surprise he barely moved. Maybe he was sick or something. I dunno. Anyway, because he barely moved I was thinking to myself maybe I can make this easy on myself and just step on him to kill him. But then my common sense kicked in, which obviously had been momentarily turned off while I thought of the brilliant idea of stepping on a live scorpion. He could sting me through my shoe.

I had to come up with plan B. So I thought to myself maybe I can push him into a can or something and drown him or throw him down my latrine hole. At the time is sounded like a magnificent idea, so I took one of my finished oatmeal cans, which was just wide enough that I could just push him in quickly. With my broomstick and can in hand I slowly approached the scorpion. I guess he found some strength from within because this time when I touched him with the bristles he scurried away. Therefore I proceeded to scurry out my front door. J

It was time to think of plan C. It would have to involve more people. So I called my nearest petite, Ningke the 5 year old, and acted out what I had just seen. He looked at me a little sideways and then smiled I guess thinking we were playing a game or something. But he figured it out. His mom was the only adult around, so I was thinking to myself , she can help me kill this thing. I showed them into my hut where the scorpion was hiding. She kind of stood there for a while and then she realized that I needed help. So she handed me a stick from outside and watched from the doorway while I was jumped around screaming trying to kill this thing. I had no luck, it was too fast. I went back outside and waited a couple minutes and thank God my host dad had arrived from the fields within five minutes. Sure enough he would save me. (and he did.) With a joint effort me with the flashlight flashing under the bed and him with the stick he was able to kill the scorpion. By the time the killing was finished I was waiting outside to see the dead scorpion. He brought it outside and explained to me that, there was no need to worry because that was a big scorpion and therefore less poisonous. I didn’t really care. A scorpion is a scorpion in my eyes, regardless of size, and I was just happy it was dead. I don’t know what I would have done without him.


SMOKING PETITES

As you all know I have five wonderful petites that live next door to me. I love them to death but somedays they drive me crazy. Like most kids they have tons of neighborhood friends that come over to play during the day. Sometimes they roll tires down the street with a stick (that’s a children’s favorite here. It’s so cute.) or the game of the day is let’s sit outside Madame’s house and see if we can get her to open her door for us.

This particular day I had just come back from school and had gone in my hut to chill out and eat before heading to my review session. I noticed on my way in the kids were sitting outside my door with a friend. So I said hi and gave hi five’s like a usually do and went inside to start cooking.

After about 30 minutes with my door shut I heard my kids saying “Madame! Madame!” like they usually do if my door is closed longer than 30 min. Usually I ignore them because all I want to do is eat and chill out in peace (I sound like the Grinch. lol) but for whatever reason I decided to check to see what the hype was all about. So I open my door, and in front of me I see my 4 year old petite, Ningké inhaling a cigarette. And Papissce the 8 year old was holding a lit cigarette in his hand. I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK!!! I stepped outside snatched the cigarettes and smashed them under my feet and yelled “ C’est pas bon!!” since that’s the only thing they understand in French. They looked at me kind of bewildered but I thought I had made myself pretty clear. I didn’t think to check to see if there was more, and I thought the situation was resolved, so I went back into my hut to continue what I was doing.

Within 5 minutes I hear an insane amount of coughing coming from outside. I immediately knew that they had tried again. I opened up my door and Ningké was about to cough up his lung. Papisse got the message the first time and was now pointing fingers as to who was to blame. I was floored. The friend had a pack of cigarettes in his hand. How they lit them, I have no idea. Clearly they didn’t understand the severity of smoking, so it was time for another game of sherades or more like a theatrical presentation where I had to demonstrate what would happen if they continued to smoke. Of course it was exaggerated but they got the point.

The other day I was walking down the street with Ningké and there was a cigarette butt on the ground. He picked it up and showed it too me and said, “C’est pas bon,” in his little voice and shook his head.

For those of you that might be wondering how the kids were able to get a hold of a pack of cigarettes and light them, it’s because there is no garbage disposal system here. All garbage is thrown and left in the streets so it is highly likely that the kids just found it on the ground and then lit them by a cooking fire that was going near by.

BARACK OBAMA

I’m sure you all are still on a high about the recent results of the presidential election. It’s definitely a historical moment for all of America to celebrate and be proud of. I can not even begin to describe to you how elated I was to hear the news.

Anyway, I’m not sure what they’ve been showing you all on the news about the international response to Barack Obama, but if you didn’t know, you know now that Africa loves Barack Obama; and Guinea, just as much as any other. Every time someone talks to me here, it is guaranteed that Barack Obama will come up in conversation. Sometimes when I walk the streets of Kan Kan people that know I’m American just yell BARAAACCCKKK OOBAAAAMMMMAAA! And then I just giggle to myself and yell BARAAACKKK OOBAAMMAAA back. It’s hilarious.

A couple weekends before the election day I was invited by one of my colleagues to attend a Barack Obama féte in town. Apart from the fact that the fete was for Barack Obama was I was excited to see how they get down in Guinea at a fete. And it would be a good bonding experience for me and my colleague. So that Sunday morning my friend Lansine (my only friend over the age of 10 at the time) and I biked to Kan Kan and met up with my colleague who showed us to the fete located at the end of town.

The whole time I was thinking to myself that this would be just us standing around watching people dance and listen to some good music. Haha! Not quite. We got the party location at around 9:30a so things were still warming up. There were about 50 or so people standing around, tons of children. The drummers were warming up their instruments on the side and there were a few people holding Barack Obama signs. It still hadn’t dawned on my that this was about to be a parade. Within an hour, somehow I was coerced into being in this parade. Everyone was so excited to have an Americainne Noir amongst them. So I was given a special seat in the truck with the drummers and “cheerleaders.” I have to say that I had an amazing time cheering for Barack Obama, and Guineans definitely know how to celebrate.

The parade lasted about 2 hours as we drove slowly through the streets of Kan Kan, drawing massive crowds of people. Every time we got to a major intersection everyone jumped out the cars and danced to the drums in the streets. It was so much fun. The “cheerleaders” I was with were great. Probably 2 of the happiest woman I’ve ever met in my life. They took care of me during the parade making sure I was able to participate and didn’t get swallowed in the crowd of people.

The day we heard the news I received an unbelievable amount of FALICITATIONS from my village. Every time I heard it, I had to smile. Good times.

I Still Can't Sleep

So last I mentioned about sleep, there were rats playing soccer in my ceiling and roosters waking me up at the crack of dawn with that wretched screeching. Maintenant, there is an unknown creature nestled in the thatch roof of my hut. The creature that never sleeps….

For the past 3 weeks (maybe more) I have been tormented like never before by something living in my roof. I’m not sure where it came from because I was sleeping like a baby the first month at site and I don’t feel like I have changed any of my habits to entice any creature to feel that that have a free place to stay at night.

Anyway. Every evening when I’m finished with my students around 6:00pm I head home, spend a little time with my petites and depending on what we’re eating, eat with my family or in my hut. Usually around 7:30pm I listen to the BBC News and then take my night bath and hop in the bed with my headphones or a book and fall asleep.

Usually between 11:00p and 1:00a is when I am awakened by this thing. It starts off with a little rustle of the straw and then continues with this uncontrollable scratching and knowing of the bamboo, that makes me want to scream. It goes on for about 30 minutes then takes a break for about 5 or 10 minutes and then goes back to work until the wee hours of the morning.

The first time I heard it I was scared out of my mind. Every sound that I hear is magnified through the silence of the night, so I layed in my bed with my heart racing trying to decipher whether this noise was coming on the inside or the outside of my hut. If it was outside it was just a cow, goat or chicken eating a midnight snack of dried grass and weeds. Sometimes they get really close to the hut because it’s nice and warm on those cool nights when the temperature drops. I tried convincing myself that the noise was coming from outside to calm my nerves. I sat up in my bed and my flashlight around the hut for confirmation. If it was a rat or any rodent it would run away if it saw the light, right? But it didn’t so I knew it had to be outside. Unfortunately even if you convince yourself it doesn’t necessarily mean the noise is going to stop, it just means that your mind at ease. So the rest of the night I layed in my bed listening. I was finally able to fall back asleep around 4:30a only to have to wake up for work at 6:30a.

During the day I kind of forgot about the thing and kind of chalked it up as a one night occurrence. So I did my normal routine that evening with BBC, bath and headphones, only to be woken up again in the early morning hours by this knowing. I told myself, ‘oh Larc, go back to sleep, it’s just a cow outside.’ But then I heard pieces of my roof fall to the cement floor. My heartbeats quickened, and the fear sank in again, and now I was wide awake with my mind racing, thinking the unimaginable, like “Oh God, a giant bush rat is about to eat its way through my ceiling, land on my mosquito net and knaw it’s way through and eat me.”...really Larc? That clearly didn’t happen but I was petrified to the point where I wanted to cry, mostly because I was so tired and I didn’t want to have another night like the one before. Basically I just layed in my bed, listened to a little music, read a little bit until he was finished. Another sleepless night went by.

So at this point I realize that this is not a one night occurrence and it’s time to get other people involved because I can’t live my life like this. I ask around and people keep saying “oh it’s just a rat,” but I really don’t think so.

After a couple nights of this nonsense, I was pissed. So the other night he started his usual business, but I was too tired to put up with it, so I had to take matters into my own hands. At about 2 o’clock in the morning I had, had enough, so I put on my headlamp, grabbed my sharpest knife, and a broomstick and stood on my wooden chair with every intention of murdering what was up there. The broomstick was just long enough to reach the point of the roof, so I used all of my force to slap the pieces of bamboo and the tip of the broomstick to punch through the straw.

Despite my efforts I found nothing. Now I was wide awake with tired arms. So I climbed back in my bed and read a little bit hopes of falling asleep, because there’s no way thing would come back out after all that noise I just made. I had to have scared him away right?...Sike! Within 20 minutes he had gone back to work. I hate to admit this, but I think this creature has gotten the best of me. It’s still there. I’ve resorted to going to bed earlier so I can be in a deeper sleep when he comes out and I also stick cotton in my ears to smother the noise he makes. I’ll be sure to inform you all once I discover what it is.

School

Last we left off; I was anxiously waiting for the school year to start.

As I mentioned previously the Guinean education system is un peu different. The debut of the school year is announced over the radio about a month or so before the date. I’m not certain how the date is determined, but this year’s school year was scheduled to start on October 15th. However, in Guinea, even though there is a scheduled date for school it’s more like an approximation.

After being at site for a little over 2 weeks I was growing increasingly restless with the anticipation of the school year, primarily because I had not talked to anyone from my school since being at site and school was starting in less than a week. I still had no clue what grade level I was going to be teaching or what my schedule was going to be, so was therefore unable to do any useful preparation. Finally two days before the scheduled start of school my principal randomly knocked on my door to tell me that we had a meeting tout de suite. So I quickly grabbed my pen and paper and we walked the five minutes to the school, where I was introduced to the Directeur des Etudes (the U.S equivalent of a vice principal) and two of the parents from the “parent organization.” After the five minute introduction they carried on the meeting in Maninka for the next hour. You all are aware of my level of Maninka, so you can determine what my role became in this meeting. The clueless girl, sitting there, twiddling her thumbs.

Anyway, afterward we continued with the L’emploi de Temps. It was decided that I would teach 8th and 9th grade Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I was pleased with the outcome of my schedule and looking forward to teaching, but for whatever reason, there was still this cloud of uncertainty among the school staff whether school was really going to start in the next 2 days, or maybe the 20th, or maybe the 1st of November. I figured it would be in my best interest to show up just in case.

So that Wednesday morning I woke up nice and early, bathed, put on my best Guinean attire, reviewed my lesson plans once more and then left the house around 7:30am. I wanted to be early for my new students. I got to the school within 5 minutes and walked into an empty school yard. There was a random unoccupied desk sitting in the courtyard just outside the “teachers lounge.” After about 15 minutes or about 10 to eight (school starts at eight) I was still there tout seul. Time is not of the essence here so I decided to wait a little longer since Guineans are usually late….So another 45 minutes passed and I was still there twiddling my thumbs. So at this point I made up my mind that there was no school on October 15th. So I left and walked back to my hut, changed my clothes and went on about my business for the day. Friday or so, some random person in my village tells me that school is actually starting Monday October 20th. Much to my surprise he was right.


Teaching

School has been an interesting experience thus far. Some days are better than others but overall good. I have about 70 students that show up for each of my classes. As you can imagine, it can be somewhat tiresome trying to manage 70 eighth graders that kind of understand you. Not only because you don’t speak French that well but because their French is worse than yours. I bring a bottle of water with me everyday to sip when my throat gets raw. My students also enjoy laughing and mocking my French accent. (You know all this laughter that seems to hover over me wherever I go has led me into serious consideration of quitting everything and pursuing a career as a comedian since people get such a kick out of me :-) )

Anyway, apart from the occasional laughter, my kids are awesome and teaching is enjoyable. I find my life is consumed with my students. If I’m not teaching, I’m lesson planning or tutoring, or trying to come up with a way to motivate them or a creative way to present the material so that they can understand the concepts. It can be challenging but so rewarding on both ends, when they finally get it.

Like practice school in Forecariah, many of the students in my village lack sound math fundamentals. In addition to that I have some students that just don’t believe they could possibly comprehend, and therefore put zero effort in, some students have to work after school so don’t have time, and others who would just rather play football than study.

To counteract some of these difficulties I have to take class extremely slowly, explain things/concepts beacoup de fois and give a million examples. For the students that don’t believe try and find different ways to encourage them. It’s a lot sometimes but at the end of the day they understand.

Each day after school I do revision sessions for those students that need extra help. It’s kind of like office hours. I have a few regular students that come but for the majority it’s difficult to get the extra help because they have to work the fields after school. In a country like Guinea, working the fields takes precedent over school work. It’s a adverse situation to be in and difficult as a teacher, because I can’t tell a student not to go work the fields and instead study if that’s one of the only ways that his/her family can eat.

Aside from having to work, the education system here in Guinea just doesn’t hold as much value as it would in the United States or Europe. Although a student may go through with high school and university there is little guarantee that he/she will find a job in Guinea that would pay enough money that they could support their family. And it’s extremely hard to leave the country when you don’t have the means.

For example a common job found among people with a degree is teaching. From what I understand, the average teacher’s salary is about 200,000GF. Sounds like a lot right? In actuality it’s roughly $40 a month, which if you calculate is a little over a dollar a day. In Guinea a sac of rice (which is what everyone eats) costs 200,000GF. It’s not enough.

Anyway, because teachers don’t get paid enough, naturally a lot of striking occurs and in some instances they just don’t show up to work. In the case of my village, I work at a college that has 7th-10th grade, of maybe 400 students total (on paper.) There are some days when I go to school and I am the only teacher that comes the whole day. If I’m teaching the 8th graders, the 7th, 9th, 10th graders are just hanging out in hopes that maybe the next teacher for the 10:00am class shows up. If he doesn’t the principal sends the kids home, which means they didn’t have class that day. This happens on more than one occasion a week. I just started teaching 10th grade last week because the math teacher has not shown up yet. It’s been over a month since school started. This year the 10th graders take a test called the BREVET which determines whether they will continue onto 11th grade.

Although there are so many factors that contribute to the situation, I understand how and why things are operating the way that they are. I don’t necessarily agree with them, but unfortunately the students are the one’s affected by all of this. The fortunate thing about all of this, unlike practice school I have my students for 2 whole years, which is just enough time for them to be molded into little mathématiciens. J But more importantly encourage them to understand the value of education despite the situation. You never know what opportunities might come available so you want to be prepared.

For those of you teachers or non teachers that might have any ideas about teaching techniques or anything creative that might assist in the education of the students please feel free to leave a message on the blog or send me an email, larc_pickett@yahoo.com. For those that have already given them, thank you, they are greatly appreciated.

Life

So I know it’s been a while since I’ve given an update. It’s crazy how time is flying by. I’ve already been at site for over 2 months and a little over 5 months total in country.

I really don’t know where to begin to depict these last couple months. I guess if I had to use one word to describe it the only one I can think to use is bizarre or peculiar. It’s been an interesting 2 months full of unusual events, a boatload of miscommunication and an incredible amount of emotional ups and downs.

It was challenging at first managing through the language barrier and trying to figure out the ropes of a new country, a new culture, and a new village almost completely alone. There is no amount of training that could have adequately prepared me or anyone else for the Guinean Peace Corps experience. Most of the experience is observing, learning and discovering as you go along, but so are most things in life, right?

I have to say, that despite the difficulties and frustrations things are tremendously better than they were. The bad days are less frequent, and I’m starting to learn, grow and appreciate more about Guinea, myself and life. I’m adjusting to my life petite à petite. The things that use to freak me out, overwhelm me or annoy me, just don’t anymore. I’m starting to feel at home here and things are good.

Bucket Baths

It seems kind of silly for me to take the time out to write an entire entry on bathing, but I feel like it's necessary because it’s just that spectacular. Lol.

As all of you know I live in a cute little hut at the end of the village next to my new family. Huts don’t have plumbing so I do everything outside in my backyard or latrine. Every morning I wake up to the usual rooster crowing, birds chirping, and now the cows mooing, and then go outside in the morning sun and bathe. It’s so refreshing to wake up and go outside to smell the clean air and hear all those now familiar morning sounds and then bathe in chilled well water.

The morning baths are great but the night baths are magnificent. My first 3 days at site it had been raining so the sky wasn’t clear, but last night was beautiful. I’m usually as little hesitant when I walk back there at night because I can’t see well and I’m always fearful that there’s some animal lurking in the darkness. Two days ago I saw my first snake slither by me right before I squatted to use the bathroom. Anyway, last night I turned on my flashlight and did the usual check before stepping outside, and to my amazement realized I didn’t really need it that night. I could already see. I looked up into the sky and could see the moon glowing just above my head with a slight haze around the curve to brighten up the sky a little more. Every single star that exists in our galaxy was visible. In some places it looked like someone has taken a handful of dust or glitter and thrown it into the sky when in actuality it was hundreds of thousands of stars. It’s like being in a planetarium. Lol. I don’t mean to sound corny but it was one of the most beautiful natural sites I’ve ever experienced. After I finished bathing I stood there in amazement for about another 10 minutes taking it all in. Then I went back inside to read for a little bit and came back to check to see if it was the same. Lol. It was. It’s a sight you don’t see that often in the states because it’s either hindered by lights or pollution, or we just don’t take the time out to look. That’s what makes it so special.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about bucket baths for now.

However, I do want to give a special thank you to everyone that has been keeping up with my blog, sent packages, and kept in contact with me since I’ve been away. It’s a blessing to know that I have a great support system back home. It’s comforting. It can get a little tough out here sometimes.

And for those of you that have tried to call and can’t get through, I apologize. My phone service hasn’t been that great since I’ve reached site. Sometimes it’s necessary to try multiple times before getting through. If you like you can send me an email or facebook message and let me know when you would like to call so I can go somewhere where I have service.

Anyway. I hope to have some more interesting things to share in the near future. I start teaching October 15th, so wish me luck.

Once again, thank you all so much. I love you and miss you all a bunch.

Week 1

First order of business once they left was to clean as much as I could before the sun went down. Luckily I had 3 eager petites waiting to lend a helping hand with the cleaning. It was really cute at first, but like all children they started to fight over who would do what. At that point I had to allocate a specific job for each of them, which was a task in itself since I can’t communicate to them. It’s hit me again that I’m at square one with the communication barrier. Actually, more like square zero if there is such a thing because I don’t understand one word of Maninka which the primary/ local language spoken in this region of Guinea. Very few people speak French. I’ve been using my petites to teach me the basic vocabulary so I have a better idea of how to communicate my basic needs. I have to do a lot of demonstrations and gesturing to get things across which usually ends up in an uproar of laughter, me usually being the brunt of the laughter. Sometimes it’s fun. It’s like playing charades. Lol. But as you can imagine charades gets old after a while and can become frustrating. A couple days this week I found a whole day went by and I had maybe spoken 2 words in French. At this point I can’t communicate anything (using words.)

I spend a lot of time with my energetic petites or reading in my hut. Since I’ve been here I have been the primary entertainment of my petites. If I’m not up with my door open by 7am they come looking for me. I can usually hear them before they get to the door as they approach in full sprint yelling, “Madame, Madame, Madame, Madame, Madame. Cong, Cong. Cong, Cong.” (Cong, cong is what is said when you knock because there is no doorbell.) I hear the word Madame approximately 60-100 times a day. No exaggeration. I don’t answer my door that early in the morning for them, so they’re usually out there for about 10 minutes, banging and yelling before understanding that I’m not getting up.

When I do finally open my door around 9am or so within a minute and a half they are standing at my door saying “bonjour madame,” which is also their way of asking for an invite into my hut. I can’t say no because they’re too cute. Most of their time in my hut is spent in curiosity where they point, touch and ask about everything I own. Afterwards the second oldest always asks me if he can have it. That’s done by looking at me, pointing to the object and them pointing to himself. So I just shake my head and say no. When we’re outside I try and take advantage of a Maninka lesson, which can sometimes be difficult because of their short attention span. The more time I spend with the 3 boys the more I realize that all boys under the age of 12, no matter where they are from, are all the same. Like most, their attention span is limited, and the coolest thing in the world is seeing how loud they can fart or how far they can piss. So in between vocabulary words that’s usually what I’m observing. Lol.

Other than that, I’m just slowly trying to adjust to my new home, and beginning to grasp the amount of determination, patience and work I’m going to have to put in to make the most out of my 2 years in Guinea. I’m looking forward to it.

Site

I was the first one in my region to be installed at their site on Monday. We started off the day meeting all of the Guinean officials to notify them of our arrival, had a big lunch, and then it was off to site. Jesse and Carolina accompanied me to my site because they weren’t until Tuesday. I had really mixed emotions about coming to site. Part of me was so excited to jump in and start teaching, meeting new people, and starting my secondary project ( I still am excited), but the other half of me was a little hesitant. It had finally hit me that I was no longer going to live in a protected environment where I knew exactly who to talk to if I needed something or was in trouble. I was about to move to a Guinean village by myself where I didn’t know a soul or the local language. Now that I’m here things are going well and understand that the Guinean Peace Corps experience is not suppose to be a walk in the park.

When I first arrived I received a warm greeting from my new petites. They are adorable. There are 5 of them, but 2 are infants. 4 boys and 1 girl. We searched for the superefet or someone of authority to notify them that I had arrived, but we had no luck, so we just moved my stuff into my new place.

Much to my surprise my hut was not in as good a shape as it was the last time I saw it during site visit. It was like walking into an unkept attic after maybe 3-5 years. When I walked in there was piles of dirt in the curves where pieces of the wall had collapsed during a thunder storm. The walls were also covered with “termite houses,” these ugly brown things composed of termite poop. It’s not so bad only because when you touch them they crumble like dirt so they are easy to clean. Apparently the termite problem is common in huts. I also have a few holes/openings in my thatch roof. So when it rains there are a few puddles that form next to my back door. Unfortunately I’ll have to live with this until the rainy season has finished. The pagaye/straw is not available until the dry season has come. Luckily I think there are only a few more weeks left for the rainy season.

Other than that, everything else was fine. I just had a lot of work cut out for me. We continued to move the rest of my things in, set up my mosquito net, cleaned my mattress, and Jesse assembled my water filter. After the necessities were finished it was time to say goodbye. I hugged Jesse and Carolina just before they got into the Peace Corps car. This would be the last time I would see them for a couple months. As they pulled off and waved goodbye it was finally a reality that I was on my own.

We're Official

So the next 4 days after Forecariah are a complete blur. Thursday all of us ran around Conakry frantically doing our shopping for our sites. It was somewhat overwhelming trying to figure out what you need in your house for the next 2 years. But it was fun.

Friday was the big day. Everyone woke up bright and early, put on there best Guinean attire for the swearing-in ceremony which was held at the U.S. Embassy. It felt sort of strange walking into the embassy. It was like being in America again with air conditioning, marble floors and countertops and a security system. I think I’m starting to forget what those things feel like. Anyway. The ceremony was pretty short and too the point and our speakers were great. Walking out of that building was such a great feeling. We were official volunteers now! All 25 of us made it through training. (If you guys don’t know, this doesn’t happen that often. In a lot of cases people quit before training is complete.)

There was nothing but celebration for the next 2 days. That evening our director invited everyone over for a pool party and bar b-que. It was a good time and was actually the perfect day to have it. The weather was great! And we ate hamburgers and brownies!

The next day was more time for shopping and celebrating. Sunday was the day departures for site would begin. Each region was taken separately. The first group to go would be the Hauters (Me, Carolina, Christina, Jesse, and Levi) because we have the furthest to travel. We woke up at the crack of dawn Sunday morning (5am) to begin the voyage. Before leaving all of us gathered around in astonishment as our driver Konde loaded our mountain of luggage on the top of the car. I can’t begin to tell you how much luggage we had. None of us thought it was possible to travel in one car, in that distance with that amount of luggage, along with 8 people. It was definitely a site to see. The goodbye was difficult too (but I didn’t cry this time. Lol.) I had grown close to a couple of people that weren’t coming to my region so it was tough to say goodbye to them. We finally pulled off around 7am and began our 12 our journey to KanKan.

Farewell

Our return from Mamou would mark our last week and a half in of training in Forecariah. It was a bitter sweet occasion for me. I tried to spend as much time with my family as I could, at the same time reminiscing about my first week in country and all the difficulties and struggles I encountered, and realizing how much better things have gotten, the adjustments I’ve made and the relationships I’ve built. I know it’s only been 3 months but the time has flown by so quickly.
The day finally arrived for our departure from Forecariah and our farewell ceremony. Before the ceremony I packed up the last of my belongings and my sister Djnabe helped me put on my complet that she had just had made for me. It fit perfectly. We took a few last minute photos outside of the house and then headed up to the Maison de Jeunes where the ceremony was being held. As we walked, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness as I thought about the first day I had awkwardly walked down that same street but with anticipation and curiosity about what was to come. I was sort of shocked at the way that I felt that last week and day with my family. I never thought that after only two and a half months I would have grown to care about them so much. They are like my real family. The ceremony went really well with the exception of the hour and a half delay. But then it was time to say goodbye. I held myself together for most of the time until the last 2 minutes before getting on the bus. I remember getting that big lump in my throat just before I started. Lol. At that point I couldn’t control myself anymore and I felt those hot tears come rolling down my cheeks. As I looked up, Djnabe had turned away from me in an attempt not to start crying. It didn’t work. Lol. We both hugged and cried until it was time to leave and I thanked her for all that she had done for me. Afterwards we got on the bus and waved goodbye as the bus pulled off. I have this permanent image of seeing my brother Ibou from the window smiling and running along side of the bus waving and yelling, “Au Revoir Mimi.” Lol. I’m going to miss him.

Counterpart Workshop

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve given an update. A lot has happened since practice school. The following Wednesday after the practice school award ceremony we departed for Mamou to participate in our 4 day counterpart workshop. Here, each volunteer met with the person from there village who they will be working with on secondary projects or any other projects related to the village. In most cases it was the principal of the school or another colleague. I was fortunate enough to have the only woman counterpart at the workshop who happens to be the principal of the college (middle school) I’ll be working for. Before we were all introduced I remember seeing her from across the room and thinking to myself, that would be so cool if she was my counterpart. And I was ecstatic to when I found out that she was. We’re going to be the only 2 woman that work at the school. It’s rare in Guinea to find woman in positions of authority. Like many countries this is a society dominated by men. Within my 2 years of service I want to begin something that involves better education of women. I have to do a lot of research to figure out exactly, the who, what, when and how of what I want to do. Anyway, other than being fortunate enough to have a woman as my counterpart there aren’t too many exciting details to share about the workshop. Each day of the workshop was comprised of various information sessions describing the goals, roles, and expectations of those involved in Guinea’s Peace Corps Education program. C’est tout.

L'Ecole Practique

As you all know I am going to be teaching high school math during my stay in Guinea. During training we were given three weeks to practice teaching in French in front of actual Guinean students. I think it was one of the most useful things we’ve done in training to get us prepared for what is to come when we get to our final sites. I have to say that it was also the most eye-opening experience I’ve had since I’ve been in Guinea. I’ll give an extremely brief synopsis about what it was like only because I have entirely to much to say and I don’t want to get started right now.

Anyway. Because now is summer vacation for the students in Guinea, the Peace Corps had to advertise throughout the neighborhood to get students to participate in our Practice School classes. The turnout was decent and I feel like I got a lot out of it. My first day of class started at 8:00 and I was supposed to teach the Pythagorean Theorem to my 10th graders. But because it was raining I started my class at 8:25am once I got my first student. By about 8:35 I had about 5 in the class. I start off all of my classes with simple warm-up exercises to get everyone’s blood flowing early in the morning. Since I was teaching the Pythagorean Theorem that day I decided to give a few basic equations, square roots and squared numbers for revision just to make sure everyone one was on the same page. After they finished the warm-up I called one of them up to the board to solve 32. He couldn’t do it. I really didn’t know how to react so I just tried to ask him questions to help him through it. Finally someone from the back of the class blurted it out. At this point I didn’t think that it was necessary for me to move on when my students don’t know basic math principles. So I spent the class revising how to solve equations, and square roots. To make a long story short we spent the entire week on the Pythagorean Theorem and out of 10 students 4 passed my test at the end of the week. It was the most frustrating, angry, overwhelming week I’ve had in country.

Before anyone mis interprets this, please know that I was not angry with my students for not knowing. I was angry at the school system, teaching methods, teachers and Guinea that allowed them to get this far without knowing basic skills. It’s doing them a huge dis service. There are a million and one factors (that I’m not going to get into right now) that contribute to the reason why the students struggle so much in school. At first I thought it was my French but when I talked to everyone, they all had the same problem (even though they were fluent.) I don’t know if anyone was as impacted as I was, but the moment I saw it, I was thinking to myself how in the world am I going to help them. Here it is I have 10 students, what’s going to happen when I have 100 in one class. Sigh. I’m going to stop right here. I’ll give more details in a later entry. I have some more thinking to do. Lol.

On a lighter note, the next week I was teaching 7th graders ( I love them!) and in my second week of teaching them I had one of them, with the straightest face, come up to me after class and ask me for my phone number. Lmao! Who does that?! Anyway. That’s all I’m going to say about school for now. Things will start to look up once I get to site!

I Can't Sleep

So, I have a really hard time sleeping at night. I know I mentioned to you all that I was on this malaria medication called Mephloquine, but when our doctor listed some of the side effects of the medication (insomnia and paranoia), I really didn't think that it was going to effect me. Much to my surprise I think that I am suffering from the insomnia and a very mild case of paranoia. Besides the insomnia at night, I also have rats in my ceiling. Every night I hear a different sporting event occurring just above my head. Two Monday’s ago I think was the track meet and Friday was the wrestling match. I think they just started a soccer league last week too. lol. The other night when I was sleeping I heard something role across the floor of the ceiling, and then I heard about 4 to 5 rats scurry after it just over my head. The days of the track meets I just lay in the bed petrified, as I listen to them running back an forth from one end of my ceiling to the other, praying that one of them doesn't fall through and land in my bed. The days of the wrestling matches it sounds like there fighting. It is the most terrifying thing to listen to during the night.

When I came back from my site visit about 5 weeks ago, after being gone for about a week I returned to my room to find a strange odor. It smelled like mold. My sister suggested that although she didn’t see it that there might be a mouse in my room. So of course when I went sleep that night in the middle of the night I was awakened by the sound of a “mouse” under my bed. My heart was pounding a million beats a minute while I searched for my headlamp to scare it aware. The moment I turned it on and flashed it around the room I saw 2 RATS, not mice run across the floor of my room. I thought I would die. I didn’t sleep the rest of the night. The next morning I searched frantically around my room trying to figure out how in the world they got in with no holes in the walls. To this day I still don’t know how they got in but the reason why they were there in the first place was because I had accidentally left a piece of bread in one of my bags while I was gone. Big mistake. It had been devoured by the time I got back and I’m sure the old bread was contributing to the odor in my room as well. Since the day I saw those rats they haven’t come back in my room (even though every night I am paranoid that they will) so they’ve just been tormenting me from the ceiling instead. Lol.

The Voleur

The Tuesday during the week that I was fasting, just before I had woken up to eat with my family I heard this bleating mouton across the street and this conversation (in Sousou) between two men. I didn’t think anything of it because I hear moutons all the time, but it was just strange that it was so early in the morning. So as I ate my meal in my room I heard the conversation across the street gradually grow louder as more people joined. At this point my sister had come into my room and explained to me (because I can’t understand Sousou) that the man across the street had just stolen the mouton, and the previous conversation I had heard was the exchange of someone in passing asking the voleur (thief) if that was his mouton. I know that it doesn’t seem that serious in the states but stealing anything here is a major offense to everyone. It’s understandable. But God have mercy on you if you get caught stealing by the community because hell will surely be paid. Basically what was happening was that the voleur had just been caught and the entire neighborhood came outside. I’m not sure who he stole from but there had to have been a mob of about 40 people congregated outside at 4 in the morning yelling and cursing him. (Clearly at this point falling back asleep was not an option. Lol.) The berating escalated over a span of about an hour and then in the final hour around 5:30 they beat the living the daylights out of this man. I heard every single crack of the stick on his bare skin and every scream/cry of agony as the neighborhood watched. I thought it would never end. In the last 5 minutes I heard the mob pass my house as they chased him down the street (I’m assuming to the police.) And then finally there was silence. Now I know stealing is wrong and it’s especially detrimental if you do it here, but for the of life me I couldn’t understand how they could do that to him and all I was thinking is that I hope they don’t kill him. But apparently from what my sister told me, that was not the first time he had stolen and that’s why his punishment was so brutal…. I guess. I don’t really know what to say about this situation. All I can advise is don’t ever steal in Guinea.

La Careme (Ramadan)

As I mentioned before, Guinea is a predominantly Muslim country. If any of you are Muslim or have Muslim friends you know that right now is Ramadan. I haven’t been exposed to too much of the Muslim religion (with the exception of a few friends) until now but I have to say that I have learned quite a bit since I’ve been here. In a nutshell Ramadan is approximately a month of fasting done in order for people to understand the suffering of others and learn to appreciate the things that they have a little more; also to practice giving and sharing with others. Being here in Guinea and observing as they practice Ramadan has truly been a humbling experience. Here it is, we came from across the world to help those in need and the Guineans are the one’s that are still able to fully participate, share and give everything they have. It’s amazing. They wake in the morning at 4:00am to eat before sunrise and then fast until sunset a little after 7:00pm. The day is spent preparing the meal for the big feast at dinner when the fast in broken. Just so all of you know fasting here does not mean just not eating. They also don’t drink a thing or even swallow there own spit.

I actually gave fasting a try for week to support my family and to spend some more time with them. It was really hard. It was especially difficult because I couldn’t drink anything. In the mornings it wasn’t so bad because it was still early and I was still full from eating at 4:00am. It was a good thing we were teaching in the mornings because I don’t know that I would have been able to focus on anything if it was any later. But by mid day it was really tough, because it was so hot and your body is slowly running out of fuel as the day goes on and you can’t drink. I really had to pray for strength through the last 2 hours of the fast because it’s so tempting to just drink something. But I have to say that it’s definitely worth the wait. Breaking fast with my family just makes eating so much better, not just because I’m with them, but the food really does taste 10 times better. I don’t think I’ve told you all this yet but in Guinea everything is communal, even eating. So when it’s time to eat everyone gathers around the huge bowl of rice and sauce and digs in....literally. They eat with their hands here. And when you eat you have to be really cautious not to eat too quickly because sometimes there are rocks in the rice and you don’t want to crack your teeth.

A week was enough for me, but it was a good experience.

Anyway, I have much more to fill you in on. It will be coming soon. I hope everyone is doing well! Love you all!

Food

I know you all are dying to know what I eat on a daily basis. It’s actually been one of the hardest things for me to adapt to since I’ve been here. Sometimes I have dreams about eating a Chipotle chicken taco or just having a plain old peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Rumor has it there building a Chipotle in my village just behind the corn field. Sike. Lol.

The diet here is primarily composed of starches. There is an abundance of rice, manioc (like potato), potato, pasta, fonio, couscous and other various types of rice/grain. In terms of meat, I’ve generally eaten fish (in every form) and some beef. The other day I tried heart. My sister didn’t specify whose heart it was but I’m going to assume it was the heart of a cow. If you’ve ever eaten liver before, it tastes just like that. My sister loves it but unfortunately I’m not a big fan of either.

A couple of weeks ago I watched the preparation of my chicken from the beginning to end. Meat doesn’t exist pre-packaged here because it can’t be preserved, so the only option to get meat is to go to market and buy it from the butcher, and if you want chicken you buy the chicken (alive.) So one Sunday my sister and I went to the market like we usually do, bought all of the ingredients for the meal, and then picked up the chicken. She went back and forth between the three chickens available trying to decide which was best. From what I gathered the best is the plumpest of the chickens. When she couldn’t decide she asked my opinion, so I gave my usual clueless response of a smile, head nod and a “c’est bon.” After the decision was made the vendeur trapped the squawking chicken and tied it by the legs. He handed the chicken to my sister who then preceded to hand it to me. (The moment she did I was thinking to myself, this woman has lost it, there is no way I can carry this thing home. I played it cool though, like I carry chickens back home all the time. I also realized that if I wanted to eat, I’d better stop being a punk and just carry the chicken. lol.) It was slightly awkward at first because his little legs were still warm and he wouldn’t stop moving. Then after hanging upside down for a while he started drooling. (eww!) I didn’t know how the chicken carrying process was supposed to work but for whatever reason I was really worried about him. I found myself checking up on him every few minutes to see if he was okay. (I don’t know why, because in about 2 hours he was going to be my dinner.) My sister, along with everyone else in the market just giggled every time I did it. Anyway, we finally made it home after a few hours and my sister got things prepared for the cooking…this where the fun part begins. The chicken has to be killed first, so I watched in shock as my sister grabbed him by the neck and chopped his head off with one swift motion of her butcher knife. It was amazing. There’s a certain way that it has to be done so that the blood doesn’t drain into the meat too much. After the beheading, she put the chicken into a pot of boiling hot water for a few minutes to make it a little easier to de feather it. The de feathering was actually pretty interesting to watch; the decapitation….not so much. From this point it was just a matter of cutting cleaning and cooking the good pieces of chicken. After about 2 hours the feast was ready and it was delicious. I have to admit that although the process was a little gruesome it was a sort of exciting and interesting at the same time.

Anyway, back to the food groups. I don’t eat a lot of vegetables here. I’ve just eaten cucumber, corn, and eggplant. (Others might exist but I just haven’t eaten them yet.) But he fruit in Guinea is to die for! When we first arrived it was the tail end of pineapple season. Oh my God! It was like eating a piece of heaven every day! Lol. Then when I went on my site visit about a month ago they still had mangos. Lord have mercy! Those have to be the juiciest, sweetest mangos on earth! Mmm mmm.

Back to reality, although the fruit was amazing some days it just wasn’t enough. My first week here I was eating great. My sister was cooking everything for me, rice and sauce, spaghetti, chicken, salad. It was great! Then by my second week this 3 week phase started where I was eating nothing but avocado, onion, cucumber and mayonnaise salad every single day for every single solitary meal. Some days I would make up something so that I wouldn’t have to eat it all, thinking that I would be getting out of it, but then she’d just serve it to me for breakfast in the morning. I started to pray everyday before I went home in hopes that she would give me something different. It got old fast, and I had reached the point where I felt miserable at the thought of eating another salad and it became a chore for me to eat (can you imagine.)

Clearly I could have just ended the misery by just opening my mouth and saying something but for whatever reason I thought I would offend her if I did. Of course the moment I talked to her about it she was more than happy to give me something else. Since then I haven’t had the mayonnaise salad. Phew!

Just a quick story. About the 3rd week here during my salad phase with my family, one of the current volunteers prepared mini care packages for all the trainees. And in each one was a luscious Snickers bar. I don’t know if any of the other trainees felt this way, but I was truly elated! I almost cried. (I’m not joking.) And then that same afternoon I drank a cold orange soda. I swear it felt like one of the greatest days of my life. Lol. Clearly I was having a bad day, but it’s amazing how such a little thing can turn your day around. Lol.

I have to say that within the past 2- 3 weeks the food situation has gotten ten times better along with the adjustment process.

Host Family

Day 1

If I had to use one word to accurately describe this day I would be forced to choose the word awkward. At the adopting ceremony I was greeted with one of the warmest smiles from my new sister Djnabe (who to this day remains one of the most warm hearted people I have ever encountered.) Afterwards all of the volunteers met with their families and had their first meal together in the auditorium of the “Maison de Jeunes.” It is here that we would eat the primary meal of Guinea, rice and sauce. From what I remember, I think we had peanut sauce with goat meat. It was pretty good.

After the ceremony is when the awkwardness was initiated. My new sisters (Djnabe, Aminata, and Mimi) and I walked home in almost complete silence, while I tried desperately to think of something to say that was comprehensible and in the mean time try and understand what was being said to me. (For the first week if at any point I wanted to initiate a conversation I needed at least 5 minutes prep time to think of the correct way to express myself. Lol.) On the way, I was introduced to the neighborhood with my new Guinean name “Mimi Camara.” It’s kind of like a celebrity feeling, with everyone staring and smiling at you, so intrigued by your presence. Lol. Anyway, once we got to the house I was shown to my room and introduced to the rest of my family, my brother Ibou (13 yrs) and my grandmother. I was exhausted and slightly overwhelmed when I reached the house, so I decided to take a nap for about an hour or so. To my pleasant surprise, as I awoke, I was surrounded with 8 smiling faces in my room, staring at me (no exaggeration, I counted. Lol.) It was a little awkward, but all we could do was laugh. My sister had invited over some of her friends and neighbors to come and meet me. We couldn’t do much because of the communication barrier so we just played the name game while I butchered the pronunciation of everyone’s name.

Afterward, I went outside to spend some more time with them and helped cook (the cooking area is located outside in the yard.) My only contribution to the meal was crushing piman (peppers) in this big bowl with a huge stick. It was fun. There is a name for this utensil but I can’t think of it right now. Next, I showed them pictures of family and friends back in the states. They love you guys! Especially my teammates. H UUUU!!!! lol. Anyway, after the show and tell was finished, it hit me….. Lol. The stomach ache of death. My stomach started rumbling, and before I knew it I was sprinting the bathroom. (I don’t think any further details are necessary. Everyone should be able to put two and two together.) The next awkward moment would come with me trying to explain, in my limited amount of French to my family, the reason why I didn’t want to eat dinner. Lol. It wasn’t really that bad, all I did was point to my stomach and say “Je suis malade.” I just felt kind of bad for not being able to eat on my first night there. Anyway, ce n’est pas grave. They were very understanding.

Since that first day things have steadily gotten better, the awkward moments are not as frequent or intense (or maybe I’ve just gotten used to them), and my family has been unbelievably patient with me. However, I’m still trying to figure out the dynamics of my family, or more like who’s who. Guinean families are extremely large, mainly because they practice polygamy here. Having more then one wife is a sign of wealth, and majority of the family stays together forever. The family unity here is like none other. Unlike in the U.S. everything here is community centered, and the things you do and say are a direct reflection of your family. Therefore it's important to remain repsectful and be on your best at all times. But anyway, I don’t live with the average Peace Corps host family because I don’t have parents that take care of me. My sister Djnabe is my primary care giver and she just graduated from high school. None the less, she’s doing a great job. I’m going to miss her when I move.

Just to give everyone a better idea of my living arrangements I’ll give a brief description of how things work around here. Since there is no running water, and electricity is sporadic, things can’t be done with just a push of a button or turn of a switch. The day starts here at around 5:30 am after the call to prayer. We live across the street from the mosque so this is usually my alarm clock. For those of you that may not be familiar, in Muslim countries the call to prayer is done over a loud speaker from the mosque 5 times a day. I can’t understand what’s being said but it sound like someone is singing over the loud speaker.

Anyway, if I am able to go back to sleep after the call to prayer I have another alarm clock that goes off at around 6:20 am. This one is the little bird outside my window that starts chirping at the same time every day. Everyone in Guinea is usually awake by 6:30am because this is when the daily chores begin. There is so much to be done. Usually before I get out of my bed I can hear the neighborhood people salueing each other as they pass. There is also the pet chicken that we have that I usually hear running around the house in the morning, and then the stupid rooster outside the house that I despise. He just won’t shut up! (The other stuff doesn’t bother me but that rooster has got to go. Argh! Lol.) Then I can also hear the mouton (goat) that makes this horrendous bleating sound, which is actually hilarious to listen too. I laugh every single time.
Anyway, after the finale of the morning symphony is complete I go take my bucket bath. Believe it or not this happens to be one of my favorite parts of my day. I haven’t really figured out why because usually the water is ice cold and I’m bathing in the dark. But none the less it is so refreshing. I love it! We get our bathing water from the well that is just in front of the house under the mango tree. It’s really convenient. I usually get my drinking water from the pump which then has to be filtered and bleached before it can be consumed. Well water is a "no no" for drinking.

After my wonderful bucket bath, I get dressed, eat breakfast and head out for the day for classes. A walk to school is not like a walk anywhere in the states because it is absolutely vital that you speak to everyone that you see. This is very important to Guinean culture as a sign of respect, especially since everything is based around the community. Saluing everyone definitely takes more effort and those days when you don’t want to talk to anyone it can be particularly difficult. But at the end of the day I think it is very valuable because you are able to build relationships with people.

After the day at the school is complete, if I don’t chill with any of the other volunteers I head home and eat dinner with my family. My first few weeks there my sister would be bring me my food and she, Ibou and whoever else was there would all sit around me and watch me eat. Every time I walked up someone would automatically give me there chair and take my book bag from me. It was so nice. It took some getting used to because it made me a little uncomfortable having someone wait on my hand and foot. But Guineans are some of the kindest, most hospitable people I’ve ever met. They say that other countries are not quite as hospitable as Guineans so I’m grateful to have been placed here.

I'm still alive!

Bonjour Tout le Monde!! I know it's been a while since you've heard from me. Things are going great here in Guinea! I only have one more week left of training and then I'll be an official volunteer! I have the internet for the nxt 2 days so I am going to try and summarize the last 2 months of my life with this time I have. I hope you all enjoy the next couple blog posts!

Off to Training!

Hey Guys!

I just wanted to send a quick note. We start training tomorrow, and contrary to what I thought, we will not have internet access at our training site. This will be quite the adjustment for me. lol.

Anyway. I am really excited for tomorrow. Tomorrow is when our "real" Peace Corps experience begins. We leave for our training site located about 2 hours from here to meet our host families, who we will be living with for the next 3 months. I can't wait to meet them! I know come Tuesday morning we're going to have a million stories about our first night with our host families. It's going to be super awkward. lol. But we'll learn.

Anyway. That's all I have for now. My next post won't be for a while (like months.)

But I miss and love all of you! Take care!

Another great day in Guinea.

I really didn't think I was giong to be writing on my blog that often but too many exciting things keep happening that I feel I need to share. lol.

Today was a good day. We started the morning off bright and early with our medical training session that included a discussion on the health issues we need to be cognizant of while in Guinea. Malaria is a big thing here and it's vital that we take our medication regularly. Word on the street is the malaria meds are pretty strong, they sometimes cause nightmares and in the worst cases hallucinations. But those happen very rarely. It's also vital that we drink clean water. Not to grose you out, but apparently catching the runs/ diarrhea is very common among volunteers too. So as a prevention measure to some of the medical issues, each volunteer is given a Medical Kit that includes everything known to man kind. I've never seen a med kit like this in my life! It has everything! On top of the kit, each volunteer will be issued water filters for use at our training site and final post. Training for that will come later. I almost forgot. We have shots too. Today was typhoid fever and there are only 12 more shots left to go! lol. It sound like a lot, and it is, but trust me it is all necessary.

Anyway, after medical sessions we had our French language interview, which is basically a little test to see where our french is so the language trainers know which class level to put us in. I think I'll be in the remedial class. Just kidding. The interview was okay. But I'll find out tomorrow where I'll be.

After language interviews all of the volunteers and staff met on the roof for a party! It was fantastic! There was a live Guinean band there and dancers! They taught us all how to dance! It was sort of comical but so much fun. I hope we get more opportunities like that when we reach our sites. I don't know how many of you listen to Guinean music but what we heard today was spectacular! So beautiful! I wish everyone I know could have been there.

So after training and all today a few of us went out to the beach behind the compound and played football and volleyball with the local people. It was so great. The local people are very friendly and very competitive. I'm sure I'll be out there again tomorrow.

Anyway. Below are some pics from the last couple days. Hope you enjoy!

Sunset in Conakry.

First steps in Guinea. My new friends (from the left Carolina, Valentin, Jesse, Kim, Jon, & Rachel)

All of us crammed into the Peace Corps van leaving from the airport on our way to the compound.



Conakry.

An amazing Guinean band that played beautiful music from our roof top.

We Made It!

Hey Everyone!

So we finally made it to Conakry this morning! And it is amazing!

After waiting in JFK for about 6 hours Wednesday, we finally left in the evening to fly into Senegal to catch our connecting flight to Conakry. The flight was pretty good, nice and relaxing, I almost forgot where I was going for a second. lol. It was such a relief to have finally made it to Guinea; not because it was such a long flight but more so that feeling like after a year of waiting I finally made it! There was an instant rush of excitement that ran through my body once I got there. I am really in the Peace Corps! And I am really about to spend the next 2 years of my life in this country! YEEEES!!

I tried to capture that initial moment in country with my camera only to be told that they don't allow people to take pictures. I was kind of surprised, but then it was explained later that we can't take pictures of military/government people (they were in the background) and in some cases people don't like having their pictures taken because of religous reasons. So basically I only have a few pics so far. (They'll be uploaded later.) I have to be super careful and make sure I ask permission.

As we walked to baggage claim, we were given the ulimate celebrity welcome from the Peace Corps staff! I was so happy! We were greeted by just about every member of the in-country Peace Corps staff including the Director, as well as the some of the current Guinea volunteers. It was so cool!

After leaving baggage claim, all 25 of us piled up into the Peace Corps van. Apparently we need to get use to this closeness because that's how we will be traveling often. We drove through the city to get to out PC compound located about 20 minutes from the airport.... It was an interesting ride; everything is so new and so different. Just from that short ride it was evident that Guinea is a struggling country. It was a lot to take in, in one moment, but fascinating.

When we finally reached our compound we unloaded our million pieces of luggage and took our places in our rooms. There are about 5 or 6 of us in each room and the compound is very nice. This is where the Guinea Peace Corps offices are located as well as the Director's house. At this point, we still have all of the basic necessities, so life is still very comfortable. But we all know it won't be like this for too much longer. lol. But it's a good way for us to get slowly acclimated to the country.

So far all we've been doing is more orienting. We have a jammed packed schedule for the weekend and we head to our training site on Monday and meet our new families. They say that the volunteers develop strong bonds with their host families in just that 3 month period. So I'm really excited for this.

Anyway. That's all the updates I have for now. I will be in touch soon.

I miss you guys already! Love you! Take care!

The Big Day!

So.....TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY!! I'm really excited!! We've been in Philly for the past 2 days doing some orienting. It's been great so far! There are 25 of us going, all from different areas of the country and various backgrounds. It was really crazy because our last orientation activity this evening was to stand in a circle and talk about the things that each of us were excited about. After the last person said their few words it finally hit me that we're going to be leaving. I wanted to cry. lol. But then it went away after five minutes and I got excited. lol. But anyway, so far everyone has been really friendly and fun and I'm really looking forward to what is to come! Tomorrow morning we leave for JFK, and then we're off!!

We were informed today that we will have internet access while we are going through our 3 months of training so I should be able to keep in contact with most people.

But anyway, I have to catch some z's before tomorrow. I'll be in touch with you soon! My next post should be posted from Conakry!

I love you all! Take care!

Keeping in Touch

This is a just a quick note to give everyone my contact information while I am away.

Mailing address:

Larc Pickett, PCT
Corps de la Paix
BP 1927, Conakry
Guinee (West Africa)

Email:

larc_pickett@yahoo.com

So, from what I've been told, the mailing system in Guinea is not really that reliable, so anyone who sends me anything make sure it's not valuable, and as much as I would love to receive money, please do not send it in the mail. I probably won't get it. Apparently there are special "codes" or "sayings" that should be written on our boxes to prevent people from opening them. I will have to send them to you a little later.

As for the internet, I won't have any. Please feel free to still send me emails, just know that I won't be able to respond for about a month or so. In order for us to get internet access we have to be in the city. Although I'm not certain of my final post, I'm assuming that it probably won't be anywhere near the city.

But I would love to receive care packages and letters guys!! Please send me your addresses too!

Okay that's it.... 2 days!!! :-)

About the Peace Corps

Hey Everyone!! So I'm back from vacation in Cancun! It was amazing and definitely the perfect way for me to rest my head a little bit before heading out.

So right now I have about 6 days before I go to orientation! EEEEEEKKKK!!!! I can't believe it's so close! I think I am feeling about 8-10 different emotions right now. Kind of overwhelming. lol. But none the less I'm getting excited!!! I can't wait to meet everyone!

Anyway, I'm getting a lot of questions about the who, what, when and how of Guinea, so I'll give everyone a detailed explanation about how things are going to work. On July 7th I am leaving from Washington, DC to go to Philadelphia for 2 days of orientation. At this time I finally meet all of the volunteers that will be serving with me (my new family.lol.) Then Wednesday, July 9th is the big day. That morning all of us will travel together to New York to fly out of JFK in the evening. After an eight hour flight, we arrive in Senegal at the crack of dawn to take another flight to Guinea. Upon arrival in Guinea each volunteer will be given a map, flashlight, compass, a bottle of water and be sent to find their way to their individual villages on foot. The only way to get to the village is with a Guinean guide who will find me once I meet him in the upper Guinean forests at the Hog Mango Tree by dusk. When I get there I'll flash my light 3 times and wait for his response. If he's late I'll just have to set up camp. If they do it on Survivor, so can I. Luckily, there are only 5 of these trees in a 25 mile radius, and I know my instincts will guide me to it once I touch down in the Motherland......Sike! haha. Just kidding. Wouldn't that be ignorant? lol. The truth is, the in-country Peace Corps staff will meet us at the airport and we'll be taken to our place of residence for the next 4 days. We're staying in the Peace Corps house ( it sort of reminds me a of a frat house or dormitory.)

We'll be staying in Conakry (the capital) for our first 4 days in country for further orienting and to receive more shots. From there, all of us will travel to our training site in Forecariah.....Guess what?!! Once we get there we participate in an adoption ceremony and each of us will become official members of a Guinean family. I'm really excited! This will be the family that we remain with throughout training.

Once adoption and settling in has been completed our 3 months of training begins! Training encompasses 4 areas, language (French), technical, cultural, and safety training. All of our training is very intense to help better equip us to be effective volnteers. An average day of training begins at 8am (just like any other job) and ends at 5pm, so call me sometime after this. We normally start with 2 hours of language training, followed by a break, 2 hours of technical training, lunch, 1 1/2 hours of homestay sessions followed by 2 more hours of language training. Believe it or not, three months of this still won't entirely prepare us for what we're about to embark on. If you think about it, I honestly don't believe that anyone can completely prepare themselves for this type of environment or work. It's one of those things where you learn as you go.

But anyway. About 6 weeks into training, after we have been carefully observed, each volunteer will receive the big news, WHERE ARE WE GOING?!!! Wherever we are it's likely that we will be the only volunteers in our area. I'm hoping that the next closest volunteer won't be more than a couple hours away....Oh!! I almost forgot to tell you guys!!....The Peace Corps gives us bicycles!! lol. (I'm not being sarcastic, I really am looking forward to this.) It'll be so much easier to get around. I already packed my gel seat cover to make for more comfortable riding.

So basically once we've moved to our official site all the fun begins! The start of the true Peace Corps experience! It is here that we begin our official work, and become functional members of our Guinean community. For those of you that don't know, my official position will be a junior high math teacher, teaching algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Apart from our daily 9-5, each volunteer is also required to be involved in other projects. They can be whatever we choose but one must include a project geared toward education about HIV/AIDS. I know I've said this a million times already but I'm truly looking forward to this, meeting new people, and experiencing a new culture, and most of all helping where I can. It will be a difficult but I'm up for the challenge.


Anyway. For the most part I will be doing my job, but throughout our service we will continue language training to ensure that are as proficient in the language as possible. After all effective communication is key. But I am not certain of the details of training yet. Pretty much this goes on until the end of service. I return to the states on September 27, 2010.

I hope this clears up some of the questions people have. If you have anymore you can just send me an email or write me a letter.

My First Blog Post !

BONJOUR MES AMIS! lol. HEY GUYS! Welcome!

So... as promised, I'm starting a blog to keep everyone up to date on my travels in Guinea. I'm headed to the Peace Corps in about 2 1/2 weeks! I can't believe it's finally here! For those of you that have known me for a while, you know that my Peace Corps process has been the longest process of life (1.5 years), but the time has finally arrived. Thank God! I can't wait to share all my stories with everyone.

I've finally received my staging kit for Philadelphia! Staging is basically like an "orientation".... but multiplied by 5,000. Before we depart for Guinea on July 9th, all of the volunteers are sent to Philadelphia to meet each other for the first time. (I think there are probably going to be about 30-40 of us.) Then we go through a quick 2- day, intense overview of the Peace Corps experience, safety, paperwork, shots (eeek!), questions and any other concerns we might have before we leave. So this will be an exciting time!

But until then, there is much to be done. Going on a family vacation tomorrow, still have to pack and say my goodbyes :-(.

So...I will be in touch with everyone soon!