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.