A lot of you probably wonder what do I do for major American holidays such as Thanksgiving. Well, its really not all that different from what you do back in the states, I eat! However the prep work is a little different, i.e. everything is from scratch.
One of my fellow volunteers calls me up Tuesday and asked if I would like to have a real American thanksgiving this year. Um, of course I do so I told her I would help. So we plan a menu and agree to go shopping on Wednesday. When I say “go shopping” I don’t mean we met up at the local Wal*Mart and walked around the store throwing everything into the cart. Oh no, nothing close. Megan calls me and tells me she is going turkey shopping at the moment and asks me to come. So I find her, and she is sitting with someone who owns turkeys. He agrees to go get the biggest one and bring it back to where we are.
About 15 minutes later a white Mercedes pulls up and the men pop the trunk and there is a live turkey just chillin’ in the trunk. I of course have to take photos with it but ultimately decided the bird seemed a little small. So our turkey search wasn’t over, but in the mean time we needed to go and get all of the food stuff for dinner at the market place. Thank God someone we knew offered us their car and driver to help with the shopping so Megan and I didn’t have to bike 7 miles with kilos of potatoes and everything else. The market was a relatively normal event for us but as we were crossing the street, heading back to the car the day took a drastic change.
I look left, no cars, I look right, all clear so I start to cross the street. Next thing I know I am pelted from the left side and I am on the ground. I see out of the corner of my eye a motorcycle just a few feet off to my right smashed up on the ground. Once I realize I had just been hit by a motorcycle, I start to check to make sure no bones are sticking out. There wasn’t! But I have road burn on my left leg from my knee cap to my big toe. My right foot is a little banged up. I got hit in the head my the rearview mirror so I have a bump behind my left ear, don’t worry I don’t have a concussion though, my right hand took a little beating and I have bumps and bruises all over. Once I get to my feet I realize the huge crowd forming around this white girl that is all banged up. Megan grabs her water bottle and pours it all on my leg to wash out the rocks and dust while the Malians were screaming that I needed to go to the hospital.
Given normal circumstances, in America I probably would have gone to the hospital to have my leg looked at but here, in West Africa, absolutely not. They would have just poured pure alcohol over my leg and I would have passed out from pain, not to mention Mali is not world renowned for their cleanliness in the medical field. So I thought I couldn’t do worse than the hospital here and decided I should just be taken to someone’s house where I can clean everything really well. So the driver went and found me a block of ice to ice my head while he drove Megan and I back to someone’s house where I could clean out my leg.
At the house, I found the bathtub, and start running water over my leg. Just the water burned so bad but I knew I needed to wash out all the dust and rocks so bit the bullet and cleaned it out really well with soap and water and iodine. I dressed my wounds and bruised ego while Megan went and looked at another turkey.
She came back with a nice looking bird so we had someone kill it and clean it and throw it in the fridge for us. That’s about when I called it a day and gimpily rode my bike home the 7 miles.
On Thursday morning, bright and early around 9 o’clock I set back out on my bike to trek the 7 miles again to help start prepping all of the food. Megan and I had to peel and cut all 3 kilos of potatoes and sweet potatoes without a peeler, wash all the veggies, cut them, steam most of them and prep everything. Thank god we had a Malian cook the bird for us so that was one less stressor for us. But in order to have pumpkin pie we had to carve the pumpkin, boil it, steam it, puree it, and strain it in order to get the stuff Americans pour from a can. Somehow however around 4 we had everything done. The bird was out of the oven and cut, the potatoes were mashed, the green bean casserole was cooked, the gravy was done amazingly I might add, the apple pie was in the oven and the pumpkin puree was waiting for a pie pan to cook. After seven hours of preparing and a lot of googleing later I could not believe we pulled together a full thanksgiving dinner with very limited resources and the most surprising part was everything looked and smelt amazing.
Final count was 11 people, I was a little concerned that there wouldn’t be enough food for everyone but we were going to have to make due at this point. Around seven everyone was there and the reheating process began. So we fired up the oven and reheated everything, set out a buffet spread of deliciousness and released the dogs to the food. By the time it was all said and done, I had snacked on everything all day and wasn’t all that hungry but, come on you can’t pass up a thanksgiving dinner in Africa. So I pilled my plate high and joined the others.
To Megan and my surprise everyone raved about every single dish! People even went back for seconds and one guy even did thirds and there was plenty of food left over! I managed to find room for seconds. I was shocked that everything turned out good, there were no fires, no one got food poisoning and it turned out to be an over all enjoyable experience. However I don’t want to be in charge of another large scale dinner for a long time, maybe not until next year’s thanksgiving.
I just have to say this one more time, I, the girl that can barely make mac and cheese pulled together a thanksgiving dinner that people actually eat, willingly!!
Let the holiday season begin!
P.S. Expect pictures in the coming week, once I get my new camera cord.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Yay, new site!
Corinna Merrill
Corps De La Paix
B.P. 117
Segou, Mali
West Africa
New mailing address
I feel like the country bumpkin in the big city for the first time. I forgot what it was like without all of the amenities of America. By no means have I cross the Atlantic but coming from my Guinea village to the sprawling metropolis of my new town where I hear I can get ice cream and yes, even Frappuccinos. Well they aren’t the real thing exactly but I hear they exist and I will be trying them out one day soon. There is a tourist market therefore; there is pizza, hamburgers, really awesome souvenirs and one hotel even has a pool. I will have to control myself not to go out every night and get a ham and cheese crepe or a half chicken in a cream sauce but even worse, the souvenirs are so nice, and I want them all.
Yesterday I went down on the Niger River bank and stumbled across a place the dies fabric. I hung out with the men there for a while and then they took me upstairs to the Cabana in the sky overlooking the river. It was like Disney meets Africa. I fully intend to return to that magical place to die my own piece of cloth along with enjoy a cold coke in the Cabana in the sky.
I also went house hunting. I looked at several different houses. Some were too far from work, some were too big, some were too small, but I found one that was just right. It’s a nice apartment overlooking a mango tree and a quiet dirt road. I will be living in the second floor and on the flat roof I will sleep during the hot season. I’ll pull my mattress and mosquito net out and sleep under the stars like all of the other Malians. The best part is, I have running water, a flush toilet and get this, electricity all in my house!!! Therefore, music and movies are welcome (note new mailing address). Really, I listen to my iPod all the time and I need new music, so have your kids, your friends or even yourself pick some of your favorite new songs and send them over.
Well, I have internet access now everyday so expect more blog updates along with more e-mails from your number one favorite person in Africa, other than Madonna (if she is still here).
Corps De La Paix
B.P. 117
Segou, Mali
West Africa
New mailing address
I feel like the country bumpkin in the big city for the first time. I forgot what it was like without all of the amenities of America. By no means have I cross the Atlantic but coming from my Guinea village to the sprawling metropolis of my new town where I hear I can get ice cream and yes, even Frappuccinos. Well they aren’t the real thing exactly but I hear they exist and I will be trying them out one day soon. There is a tourist market therefore; there is pizza, hamburgers, really awesome souvenirs and one hotel even has a pool. I will have to control myself not to go out every night and get a ham and cheese crepe or a half chicken in a cream sauce but even worse, the souvenirs are so nice, and I want them all.
Yesterday I went down on the Niger River bank and stumbled across a place the dies fabric. I hung out with the men there for a while and then they took me upstairs to the Cabana in the sky overlooking the river. It was like Disney meets Africa. I fully intend to return to that magical place to die my own piece of cloth along with enjoy a cold coke in the Cabana in the sky.
I also went house hunting. I looked at several different houses. Some were too far from work, some were too big, some were too small, but I found one that was just right. It’s a nice apartment overlooking a mango tree and a quiet dirt road. I will be living in the second floor and on the flat roof I will sleep during the hot season. I’ll pull my mattress and mosquito net out and sleep under the stars like all of the other Malians. The best part is, I have running water, a flush toilet and get this, electricity all in my house!!! Therefore, music and movies are welcome (note new mailing address). Really, I listen to my iPod all the time and I need new music, so have your kids, your friends or even yourself pick some of your favorite new songs and send them over.
Well, I have internet access now everyday so expect more blog updates along with more e-mails from your number one favorite person in Africa, other than Madonna (if she is still here).
Friday, October 30, 2009
From Guinea to Mali
Well, one chapter of my life is over, and a new is just beginning. Because of the civil unrest and political turmoil of Guinea, the Peace Corps has officially suspended their program for the moment being, pending a civil change of government it fully intends to re-open in the near future. That leaves me along with some of my new closest friends stuck in the middle of it all. Our hearts rest in guinea while we are now scattered all over the world. I along with eleven other volunteers from Guinea have been adopted into the Peace Corps Mali program. Some of my other friends are going to Botswana, Liberia, Senegal, Madagascar, Zambia, Benin, The Gambia and back to America.
The twelve of us staying in Mali have already received our site information. I will be living in a large town on the Niger River working with a microfinance institution helping women’s groups to get and understand loans, I also just heard that a new university opened in my city so I really want to work along side their business program, and there is a huge African music festival in my city once a year so I am very interested in working with the planning of that. I fully intend to hit the ground running and it sounds like I should have no problem staying busy.
So funny story, today in one of our local language (Bombara) sessions, I reached into my purse to grab a pen. I’m fishing around and I find something squishy. I thought for a second, what is squishy in my bag, I couldn’t think of anything so I look down and in my hand, I am squishing a live frog. I scream and throw it across the room. My heart is pounding and everyone stares at me, I point to the stunned frog on the ground and everyone starts laughing. I give my bag to Dorian and make her find my pen because I’m in the middle of having a heart attach and she finds another frog inside my purse. I’m living a little bit closer to nature than I ever really wanted. But it makes for a good laugh. I have found that in moments of extreme stress, you either laugh or cry.
This week I will be continuing more language classes (hopefully with less frogs), Mali culture classes along with administration classes and then the plan is to start moving into sites starting Tuesday next week. It is an exciting yet nerve racking time. I am looking forward to getting to know another culture and make new friends however everything has happened so fast, I haven’t really had a moment to process that I have left guinea and will not be returning and then dropped off in a new town in less than a week not being able to speak the local language. Getting back into a schedule is something I am looking forward to but going threw and putting myself out there and making mistakes is going to be hard again.
I will be continuing my service here, that means I will move into site and stay until February 2011. There are a lot of things I need to re-learn here, for example using an ATM card. Haven’t done that in a few months. I will also pay rent, use a post office, have a job to go to everyday, and learn a bus system. They are so much more developed here in comparison to Guinea. So, all of you that want to come visit, now this is a good change for you. They have paved roads with only 4 people in a car unlike Guinea where the roads were unpaved and you put up to 8 people in a normal Peugeot.
I will also be able to set up my house again which is exciting in its own way. However, I only have one back pack full of all of my clothes to get me started. I will be getting a moving in allowance from the Corps to buy everything again, however there were a lot of things that I left back in Guinea that you can’t get in West Africa, i.e. food! So if you want to send me a new package full of goodies to help ease the pain of being a refugee please stay tuned for a new mailing address and talk to my mom if there is something you have questions about sending or needing ideas.
Soon I will have photos of Mali to post, once I get outside of Bamako (the capital). I now realize how few photos of Guinea I have, and I don’t want to make that mistake again so I want to take tons of photos here. So stay tuned for more updates and photos!
Thanks all for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers. They really do mean a lot.
The twelve of us staying in Mali have already received our site information. I will be living in a large town on the Niger River working with a microfinance institution helping women’s groups to get and understand loans, I also just heard that a new university opened in my city so I really want to work along side their business program, and there is a huge African music festival in my city once a year so I am very interested in working with the planning of that. I fully intend to hit the ground running and it sounds like I should have no problem staying busy.
So funny story, today in one of our local language (Bombara) sessions, I reached into my purse to grab a pen. I’m fishing around and I find something squishy. I thought for a second, what is squishy in my bag, I couldn’t think of anything so I look down and in my hand, I am squishing a live frog. I scream and throw it across the room. My heart is pounding and everyone stares at me, I point to the stunned frog on the ground and everyone starts laughing. I give my bag to Dorian and make her find my pen because I’m in the middle of having a heart attach and she finds another frog inside my purse. I’m living a little bit closer to nature than I ever really wanted. But it makes for a good laugh. I have found that in moments of extreme stress, you either laugh or cry.
This week I will be continuing more language classes (hopefully with less frogs), Mali culture classes along with administration classes and then the plan is to start moving into sites starting Tuesday next week. It is an exciting yet nerve racking time. I am looking forward to getting to know another culture and make new friends however everything has happened so fast, I haven’t really had a moment to process that I have left guinea and will not be returning and then dropped off in a new town in less than a week not being able to speak the local language. Getting back into a schedule is something I am looking forward to but going threw and putting myself out there and making mistakes is going to be hard again.
I will be continuing my service here, that means I will move into site and stay until February 2011. There are a lot of things I need to re-learn here, for example using an ATM card. Haven’t done that in a few months. I will also pay rent, use a post office, have a job to go to everyday, and learn a bus system. They are so much more developed here in comparison to Guinea. So, all of you that want to come visit, now this is a good change for you. They have paved roads with only 4 people in a car unlike Guinea where the roads were unpaved and you put up to 8 people in a normal Peugeot.
I will also be able to set up my house again which is exciting in its own way. However, I only have one back pack full of all of my clothes to get me started. I will be getting a moving in allowance from the Corps to buy everything again, however there were a lot of things that I left back in Guinea that you can’t get in West Africa, i.e. food! So if you want to send me a new package full of goodies to help ease the pain of being a refugee please stay tuned for a new mailing address and talk to my mom if there is something you have questions about sending or needing ideas.
Soon I will have photos of Mali to post, once I get outside of Bamako (the capital). I now realize how few photos of Guinea I have, and I don’t want to make that mistake again so I want to take tons of photos here. So stay tuned for more updates and photos!
Thanks all for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers. They really do mean a lot.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Guinea is Evacuated
Well all you all, it’s official. Peace Corps Washington has suspended the Guinea program. I, along with all other volunteers and staff have been holding out on this small little thread of hope that the program will continue but this morning as of 9 am Greenwich time word dropped that due to political and safety reasons the program is thus far suspended.
What is next now? Well I have several options. First off I could COS (close of service) where I would leave the Peace Corps, with full benefits and move back in with mom and dad and find a “real” job. YIKES, a 8-6 job, I don’t think so! I could COS and then re-in role into the Corps. This would mean I would have to go through the 3 months of training again and make a 27 months service commitment. Or I could direct transfer, where I would just transfer into a new Peace Corps country. There is some flexibility with COS dates for the end of the service in the new country.
What will I do? Still don’t know. By Sunday October 25 all Guinea volunteers will have either COSed or transferred, so I don’t have a lot of time to decide. Six days if you are counting. I am kind of playing it by ear at this moment in time. I want to keep my options open. I am really interested in one country’s Small Enterprise Development program but I don’t want to have false hope or jinx myself by saying anything prematurely. So I will wait for the list of countries that want to receive us Peace Corps Guinea evacuees and then read out my options.
So what am I doing now? There are papers upon papers to write. There are resumes to be updated, aspiration statement to be redone, description of services to be had, quarterly reports to finish, not to mention the epic list of my stuff that needs to be qualified and quantified by memory of prices and locations around my house so Peace Corps can pack it up to ship to my next location or give away to my friends and family in Guinea. Then there is medical clearance, fun fun! But wait; there are over 90 of us here so try doing all that with 90 people. It’s going to get crazy quick I’m sure.
How am I feeling? That answer changes every 10 minutes it seems. There are extreme highs (i.e. being with friends in Mali) and extreme lows (realizing your not going back to Guinea). The news of evacuation was not unexpected by any means, I knew it was coming with all of the political unrest that has been surfacing in Conakry but there was always that small thread of hope you hold on to. Well that thread was cut clean. Now, I’m so busy just trying to plan for the next stage of my life, not knowing where that may take me. Once I get a chance to sit and realize what has happened and why my life plans have changed it will all become so real, now I’m just floating in a stage of survival. Find a new home! Once that stage is done, then it will hit I’m sure.
But I am enjoying my remaining few days with some of my closest friends and people who have become my family, enjoying the electricity and running water while I still have it (don’t know if I’ll have that in my new country) and even getting a milkshake now and again poolside at the American club (I know it sure is rough being a “refugee”) and in a weird way, I am looking forward to what the world has to offer for me.
What is next now? Well I have several options. First off I could COS (close of service) where I would leave the Peace Corps, with full benefits and move back in with mom and dad and find a “real” job. YIKES, a 8-6 job, I don’t think so! I could COS and then re-in role into the Corps. This would mean I would have to go through the 3 months of training again and make a 27 months service commitment. Or I could direct transfer, where I would just transfer into a new Peace Corps country. There is some flexibility with COS dates for the end of the service in the new country.
What will I do? Still don’t know. By Sunday October 25 all Guinea volunteers will have either COSed or transferred, so I don’t have a lot of time to decide. Six days if you are counting. I am kind of playing it by ear at this moment in time. I want to keep my options open. I am really interested in one country’s Small Enterprise Development program but I don’t want to have false hope or jinx myself by saying anything prematurely. So I will wait for the list of countries that want to receive us Peace Corps Guinea evacuees and then read out my options.
So what am I doing now? There are papers upon papers to write. There are resumes to be updated, aspiration statement to be redone, description of services to be had, quarterly reports to finish, not to mention the epic list of my stuff that needs to be qualified and quantified by memory of prices and locations around my house so Peace Corps can pack it up to ship to my next location or give away to my friends and family in Guinea. Then there is medical clearance, fun fun! But wait; there are over 90 of us here so try doing all that with 90 people. It’s going to get crazy quick I’m sure.
How am I feeling? That answer changes every 10 minutes it seems. There are extreme highs (i.e. being with friends in Mali) and extreme lows (realizing your not going back to Guinea). The news of evacuation was not unexpected by any means, I knew it was coming with all of the political unrest that has been surfacing in Conakry but there was always that small thread of hope you hold on to. Well that thread was cut clean. Now, I’m so busy just trying to plan for the next stage of my life, not knowing where that may take me. Once I get a chance to sit and realize what has happened and why my life plans have changed it will all become so real, now I’m just floating in a stage of survival. Find a new home! Once that stage is done, then it will hit I’m sure.
But I am enjoying my remaining few days with some of my closest friends and people who have become my family, enjoying the electricity and running water while I still have it (don’t know if I’ll have that in my new country) and even getting a milkshake now and again poolside at the American club (I know it sure is rough being a “refugee”) and in a weird way, I am looking forward to what the world has to offer for me.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Please read entire entry!!!!
Cliffnotes of my last week:
• Riots in Conakry (Capital of Guinea, where I am/was) leading to 150+ deaths
• Rapes and Pillages
• Standfast
• Consolidation
• Goodbyes
• Captain America / Jack Bower
• Refugee camp in Mali
Did that get your attention?? OK, I am fine! No really, I’m fine.
It all started last Monday September 28, 2009. Lead by the opposition leaders against Captain Dadis Camara the “President” of Guinea there was a demonstration at the soccer stadium. One thing lead to another and the Military opened fire on the crowd. By the end of the day the BBC was reporting over 150 deaths while the Guinaen government was only reporting 10. Ok so really quick, I highly encourage you to look up official articles about this event because there are a lot of things I am forgetting and I kind of forget English so reading another source will really help you understand the situation I am in.
This lead the Peace Corps Guinea staff to put us under standfast, which means that we are not allowed to leave our site (home) and we have to call and check in with staff twice a day. Well when your cell phone mountain is about an hour walk a way that gets kind of hard and hot in the sun. But whatever I make the walk and it helps pass the day when four hours is devoted just to getting phone calls. One afternoon while I’m making my phone calls I get a call saying I need to pack a bag and prepare to be consolidated in Mali (the neighboring country).
By the time I get back to my house I’m in shock. The country that I have been devoting my last ten months of existence is falling apart and there is nothing I can do about it. I pack my life back into the same three bags I came to Guinea in and have to start the goodbye process. I devoted two days of taking photos and emotionally dealing with the situation.
There is no official word from Peace Corps Headquarters saying as to whether we will be going back to Guinea or if we will be evacuated as of now, so saying goodbye was difficult because we were not to say that we wouldn’t come back but statistically there is no chance of going back. I told me friends that I was going to a month long conference in Mali and I would be back. Some people believed me, while most knew that I wouldn’t return.
While I was saying goodbye to some of my students from my English class they asked me if I had heard the news. I was like, what news? It turns out one of my students was in Conakry for the end of Ramadan and went to the stadium for the protest and he and his older brother were shot to death in the demonstration by the military. He was one of my best students and only 20.
But my last night in Dounet (my village) I was burning all of my trash around 10 o’clock at night when my best friend from site comes running up to my house. This never happens so I was like, “hey whats up?” And he just looks at me and says “Your not coming back, I’ll never see you again. Will I?” That is when I broke down. Because I couldn’t lie but I couldn’t tell the truth.
The next morning the Peace Corps picks me up in the bus and we start our long and emotional ride to the border. What feels like 27 hours later we reach the Mali – Guinea border. It was a long uneventful trip until the border that is.
We reach the border around 9:30 at night. We are all spent but expect this process to take several hours trying to get a bus of Americans through. Little did we know that Captain America was waiting at the border for us. When we pull up to the first of several “gates” Captain America jumps onto the bus and literally is just oozing red white and blue. By midnight we were all through into Mali and in our Bamako “refugee camp”. Yep that’s right, I am now a Peace Corps refugee.
I have no home, yep I’m homeless. All of my stuff is spread across two continents and I have no idea where my future home will be in two weeks time when we are transferred out of refugee stage. But I am ok, I am safe and all Americans have evacuated Guinea.
Cliffnotes of my last week:
• Riots in Conakry (Capital of Guinea, where I am/was) leading to 150+ deaths
• Rapes and Pillages
• Standfast
• Consolidation
• Goodbyes
• Captain America / Jack Bower
• Refugee camp in Mali
Did that get your attention?? OK, I am fine! No really, I’m fine.
It all started last Monday September 28, 2009. Lead by the opposition leaders against Captain Dadis Camara the “President” of Guinea there was a demonstration at the soccer stadium. One thing lead to another and the Military opened fire on the crowd. By the end of the day the BBC was reporting over 150 deaths while the Guinaen government was only reporting 10. Ok so really quick, I highly encourage you to look up official articles about this event because there are a lot of things I am forgetting and I kind of forget English so reading another source will really help you understand the situation I am in.
This lead the Peace Corps Guinea staff to put us under standfast, which means that we are not allowed to leave our site (home) and we have to call and check in with staff twice a day. Well when your cell phone mountain is about an hour walk a way that gets kind of hard and hot in the sun. But whatever I make the walk and it helps pass the day when four hours is devoted just to getting phone calls. One afternoon while I’m making my phone calls I get a call saying I need to pack a bag and prepare to be consolidated in Mali (the neighboring country).
By the time I get back to my house I’m in shock. The country that I have been devoting my last ten months of existence is falling apart and there is nothing I can do about it. I pack my life back into the same three bags I came to Guinea in and have to start the goodbye process. I devoted two days of taking photos and emotionally dealing with the situation.
There is no official word from Peace Corps Headquarters saying as to whether we will be going back to Guinea or if we will be evacuated as of now, so saying goodbye was difficult because we were not to say that we wouldn’t come back but statistically there is no chance of going back. I told me friends that I was going to a month long conference in Mali and I would be back. Some people believed me, while most knew that I wouldn’t return.
While I was saying goodbye to some of my students from my English class they asked me if I had heard the news. I was like, what news? It turns out one of my students was in Conakry for the end of Ramadan and went to the stadium for the protest and he and his older brother were shot to death in the demonstration by the military. He was one of my best students and only 20.
But my last night in Dounet (my village) I was burning all of my trash around 10 o’clock at night when my best friend from site comes running up to my house. This never happens so I was like, “hey whats up?” And he just looks at me and says “Your not coming back, I’ll never see you again. Will I?” That is when I broke down. Because I couldn’t lie but I couldn’t tell the truth.
The next morning the Peace Corps picks me up in the bus and we start our long and emotional ride to the border. What feels like 27 hours later we reach the Mali – Guinea border. It was a long uneventful trip until the border that is.
We reach the border around 9:30 at night. We are all spent but expect this process to take several hours trying to get a bus of Americans through. Little did we know that Captain America was waiting at the border for us. When we pull up to the first of several “gates” Captain America jumps onto the bus and literally is just oozing red white and blue. By midnight we were all through into Mali and in our Bamako “refugee camp”. Yep that’s right, I am now a Peace Corps refugee.
I have no home, yep I’m homeless. All of my stuff is spread across two continents and I have no idea where my future home will be in two weeks time when we are transferred out of refugee stage. But I am ok, I am safe and all Americans have evacuated Guinea.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
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Welcome to the hight of Rainy Season in Conakry, Guinea West Africa
Walking through the waist deep water is never a good idea especially here but Mary (another PC volunteer)got stuck walking back from the market in a flash flood in the capital city here. Needless to say it was a mess.
Back to my life, lets see. What else have i been up to? I've been stuck in Conakry for a week on hold and today G-18 will come in finishing their training and getting ready to go up to their respective sites. How exciting, i am no longer one of the "newbes" I have elevated up to sophomore status! YES!!!
Otherwise i've been "en ville" (in town) only once to go to the bank and the womens co-op to buy stuff. The womens co-op is great. It is a big group of women here that have a cute shop down town that has set prices (that like doesn't exist here so i love it just for that) but they also use their profits to educating women. So yes their prices are high but at least when i feel i'm getting ripped off my money is going to something good as opposed to so guy buying a new cell phone.
I've been down to the beach bar several times. Its a Conakry classic. I went two nights ago for the end of Ramadon celebration there. There were so many people dancing and having a great time. I also went over to the U.S. Embassy to hang out with the marines for a while and really that is all i have been up to.
Can't wait to come home in November!!!!! Its so soon
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Hey everyone,
Your friend Corinna here, just going to fill you in on what has been going on in my life on the other side of the world.
I know what you are thinking, “Why has it been so long since your last blog?” Well that is a simple question to answer. I don’t have electricity and even if there was electricity there is no internet for 33 km. But, I have been working on my English class having the kids learn progressive pronouns, future simple and what nots. I have a Moringa garden planted of about 170 trees in the nursery. Sadly I will need at least 3,000 trees to start using the dried leaf powder to enrich the food with vitamins, and nurturance. My business class crashed and burned. That was my fault. The timing was all wrong but I will persevere and try again when the school year starts up. Hopefully it will have a little more success the second time around. I’m also working with a health insurance group in my town re-organizing the book ledger and giving new ideas on business structure. I’m still going into the health center twice a week helping with odds and ends. Also, I am working with the Child Fund Guinea translating documents (Eng-Fr) and general business stuff. Not to mention, getting my own water from the well, hand washing all articles of clothing, finding food and then preparing it (and trust me, finding food is not like walking in to Super Wal-Mart and shopping) and all the other odds and ends survival stuff.
But don’t just think its all work and no play. There is plenty of down time. I have read well over twenty books in the last 5 months, learned (or re-learned) French, picked up some Pular, made friends and slept, a lot.
So a funny stories.
Normally before I leave my house for an extended period of time I will have a big burning of all my trash. Granted I don’t really create that much trash but regardless it must be burned and here’s why. I was running behind one morning and I didn’t burn the night before because of the rain so I thought I could just throw my trash over the wall, like everyone else does (remember there is no city trash man who comes and collects garbage once a week). No big thing. Well when I got back from where ever it was that I was going I found some kids play in the trash pile. This is normal, sadly, but worst off they found my bag of trash. Every single item they were pulling out and asking “What is this?” or “Can I have this?” Keep in mind these are old M&M’s wrappers or a box of empty crackers but they were all up on it. I was mortified. Imagine your garbage man looking at EVERYTHING you used this week and asking “What did you do with this?” Humiliating!!! But now I know, burn everything!
Special thanks to:
Aunt Betty
Aunt Anne
Aunt Bonny
Grandma and Grandpa
Molly and Danielle
Mom and Dad for sending me packages on the August Mail Run
And also:
Aunt Betty
Uncle Glen and Becky
Lori
Amy and Mike
Mom and dad for sending me packages on the September Mail Run
Your friend Corinna here, just going to fill you in on what has been going on in my life on the other side of the world.
I know what you are thinking, “Why has it been so long since your last blog?” Well that is a simple question to answer. I don’t have electricity and even if there was electricity there is no internet for 33 km. But, I have been working on my English class having the kids learn progressive pronouns, future simple and what nots. I have a Moringa garden planted of about 170 trees in the nursery. Sadly I will need at least 3,000 trees to start using the dried leaf powder to enrich the food with vitamins, and nurturance. My business class crashed and burned. That was my fault. The timing was all wrong but I will persevere and try again when the school year starts up. Hopefully it will have a little more success the second time around. I’m also working with a health insurance group in my town re-organizing the book ledger and giving new ideas on business structure. I’m still going into the health center twice a week helping with odds and ends. Also, I am working with the Child Fund Guinea translating documents (Eng-Fr) and general business stuff. Not to mention, getting my own water from the well, hand washing all articles of clothing, finding food and then preparing it (and trust me, finding food is not like walking in to Super Wal-Mart and shopping) and all the other odds and ends survival stuff.
But don’t just think its all work and no play. There is plenty of down time. I have read well over twenty books in the last 5 months, learned (or re-learned) French, picked up some Pular, made friends and slept, a lot.
So a funny stories.
Normally before I leave my house for an extended period of time I will have a big burning of all my trash. Granted I don’t really create that much trash but regardless it must be burned and here’s why. I was running behind one morning and I didn’t burn the night before because of the rain so I thought I could just throw my trash over the wall, like everyone else does (remember there is no city trash man who comes and collects garbage once a week). No big thing. Well when I got back from where ever it was that I was going I found some kids play in the trash pile. This is normal, sadly, but worst off they found my bag of trash. Every single item they were pulling out and asking “What is this?” or “Can I have this?” Keep in mind these are old M&M’s wrappers or a box of empty crackers but they were all up on it. I was mortified. Imagine your garbage man looking at EVERYTHING you used this week and asking “What did you do with this?” Humiliating!!! But now I know, burn everything!
Special thanks to:
Aunt Betty
Aunt Anne
Aunt Bonny
Grandma and Grandpa
Molly and Danielle
Mom and Dad for sending me packages on the August Mail Run
And also:
Aunt Betty
Uncle Glen and Becky
Lori
Amy and Mike
Mom and dad for sending me packages on the September Mail Run
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Whoot whoot! It is July and the rainy season is well underway. Yes, there are only two seasons here; hot and rainy! Thank god the hot season is over, let me tell you what. It was un-godly hot. We are talking 110 + in the shade at 10 am. I did spend the majority of my time sitting in the shade chugging water and not moving as much as possible but now we are into the rainy season and the temperature has dropped significantly and all is wet in the world of Guinea.
Big news, I switched houses! I had a problem with the old house and so I was moved last week. Its nice, small but very nice. I have big plans to make it my own. I will try to send pictures as soon as I can. Otherwise, I just started my garden. I’m not really sure if anything will take. It is late in the growing season but I figured “Why not at least try” so I did. I sat outside and dug my little holes in the ground all morning and then had to leave town to go to a conference. We will see what happens… C’est la Guinea.
You are probably wondering what I do with all of my free time. Well as a matter of fact my days are jam packed believe it or not. Usually I wake up around 5:30 (morning prayer call) and lay in bed until 7 am when I’m too hungry to wait any longer. So I get up, get ready and leave my house around 7:30 to get a good choice of bread from the bread man, if I leave any later than that I get the crappy burnt piece that I don’t like. Then I have to say “Good morning” to every single person I pass on my walk to the bread man in Pular. We are talking every old person, youngin and child I pass. It takes me about 15 minutes to walk an equivalent of two blocks. I get my bread and then have to make the walk back greeting everyone again.
By the time I get home, make something out of my bread (i.e. sandwich) its time to leave for the hospital (Mondays and Tuesdays) or my English/Business class (Wednesdays or Thursdays) or my meetings (Fridays). I’m usually at one of those activities just until the 1:30 prayer call and then I go home, fix myself something to eat and then sit in my chair and read or play with the kids for a bit then its tea time.
I’ve got two really close set of friends one is older and the other set is younger and I switch up the days but I always go and hang out with them. I know I’m saying hanging out is work. But it is! Let me explain why. First off speaking in French/pular is hard work, but the French is really come a long way since I’ve gotten here. But normally the real work for me is my friends ask me questions about things that they would otherwise never get to talk to someone about. Just the other day someone asked me about HIV/AIDS and I explained to them everything that I knew and how to get some more information about it but on a day to day basis there isn’t someone to talk to about those things here. I think of tea times as conversation facilitating. Lord knows I love to talk so it works out great!
Around 7ish when it starts to get dark I go home, play with the kids (that live in the house next to me), eat dinner with the family next to me and then I have to go and heat my water. Since the weather got so cold I have to heat my bath water so I don’t freeze to death, so I go and boil some water to mix into my bath water. When that’s ready I go to my outdoor shower, and wash off the mud. At first I hated to outdoor shower, its cold, there are bugs but now, I love it. I get to look at the stars (when there are no clouds) and get clean at the same time. Its actually really sweet! And I bet you can’t say you do that every night. Then I crawl in bed around 9, read until I can’t keep my eyes open and wake up the next morning and do it all again.
That my friends is a “typical” day for me. There are of course the variations such as the hour long walk to my cell phone tree where I can make a call, or the days when I have to go into the big city to buy cheese and eggs and what nots, or the time I couldn’t find water in my town because all of the wells went dry. But that’s it..
Otherwise, I’m starting a business club that I will be teaching about marketing, accounting, finance options, management… you get the idea. But the coolest part, I am teaching the class in French to the kids who are home on summer vacation and they as part of the class will hold a similar class in Pular for the women and men of the town to learn as well who don’t speak French. I’m really excited to see how that goes.
I’m also holding English classes during the summer break. I have about 30 students who are really excited to learn English so they can go to America, as they love to tell me. I show them photos of American things (i.e. parks, roads, buildings, kitchens, houses in general) and they love it. It is a cultural exchange as well as an English lesson and they just eat it up.
Like I think I said before I go to the hospital as well to help out on the two busiest days. And then I have been working on doing Action Plans for two groups in my town as well as working on a financial plan for a community run health insurance group, next week I am also going to do another Action Plan for another group. So I’m just doing my thing.
What else, it seems as though that is all the news I have for now but I will be sure to write more later, and when my camera battery is not dead I will upload some photos. Expect a lot of photo updates around end of Aug or beginning of September.
Special thanks to:
Aunt Betty and Uncle Dan, really you guys are too much!!! And the Cheetos and chips were amazing, I hadn’t had a chip since November!
Mamma and Pappa you know you’re the best
Christine and Matt, sorry I missed the wedding, Bonne Mariage as they say here
Grams and Gramps, loved the letter. Thank you so much for writing to me.
And thanks to everyone for keeping me in their thoughts
And don't forget that my b-day is coming up on August 19 so send me a card if you want!
Big news, I switched houses! I had a problem with the old house and so I was moved last week. Its nice, small but very nice. I have big plans to make it my own. I will try to send pictures as soon as I can. Otherwise, I just started my garden. I’m not really sure if anything will take. It is late in the growing season but I figured “Why not at least try” so I did. I sat outside and dug my little holes in the ground all morning and then had to leave town to go to a conference. We will see what happens… C’est la Guinea.
You are probably wondering what I do with all of my free time. Well as a matter of fact my days are jam packed believe it or not. Usually I wake up around 5:30 (morning prayer call) and lay in bed until 7 am when I’m too hungry to wait any longer. So I get up, get ready and leave my house around 7:30 to get a good choice of bread from the bread man, if I leave any later than that I get the crappy burnt piece that I don’t like. Then I have to say “Good morning” to every single person I pass on my walk to the bread man in Pular. We are talking every old person, youngin and child I pass. It takes me about 15 minutes to walk an equivalent of two blocks. I get my bread and then have to make the walk back greeting everyone again.
By the time I get home, make something out of my bread (i.e. sandwich) its time to leave for the hospital (Mondays and Tuesdays) or my English/Business class (Wednesdays or Thursdays) or my meetings (Fridays). I’m usually at one of those activities just until the 1:30 prayer call and then I go home, fix myself something to eat and then sit in my chair and read or play with the kids for a bit then its tea time.
I’ve got two really close set of friends one is older and the other set is younger and I switch up the days but I always go and hang out with them. I know I’m saying hanging out is work. But it is! Let me explain why. First off speaking in French/pular is hard work, but the French is really come a long way since I’ve gotten here. But normally the real work for me is my friends ask me questions about things that they would otherwise never get to talk to someone about. Just the other day someone asked me about HIV/AIDS and I explained to them everything that I knew and how to get some more information about it but on a day to day basis there isn’t someone to talk to about those things here. I think of tea times as conversation facilitating. Lord knows I love to talk so it works out great!
Around 7ish when it starts to get dark I go home, play with the kids (that live in the house next to me), eat dinner with the family next to me and then I have to go and heat my water. Since the weather got so cold I have to heat my bath water so I don’t freeze to death, so I go and boil some water to mix into my bath water. When that’s ready I go to my outdoor shower, and wash off the mud. At first I hated to outdoor shower, its cold, there are bugs but now, I love it. I get to look at the stars (when there are no clouds) and get clean at the same time. Its actually really sweet! And I bet you can’t say you do that every night. Then I crawl in bed around 9, read until I can’t keep my eyes open and wake up the next morning and do it all again.
That my friends is a “typical” day for me. There are of course the variations such as the hour long walk to my cell phone tree where I can make a call, or the days when I have to go into the big city to buy cheese and eggs and what nots, or the time I couldn’t find water in my town because all of the wells went dry. But that’s it..
Otherwise, I’m starting a business club that I will be teaching about marketing, accounting, finance options, management… you get the idea. But the coolest part, I am teaching the class in French to the kids who are home on summer vacation and they as part of the class will hold a similar class in Pular for the women and men of the town to learn as well who don’t speak French. I’m really excited to see how that goes.
I’m also holding English classes during the summer break. I have about 30 students who are really excited to learn English so they can go to America, as they love to tell me. I show them photos of American things (i.e. parks, roads, buildings, kitchens, houses in general) and they love it. It is a cultural exchange as well as an English lesson and they just eat it up.
Like I think I said before I go to the hospital as well to help out on the two busiest days. And then I have been working on doing Action Plans for two groups in my town as well as working on a financial plan for a community run health insurance group, next week I am also going to do another Action Plan for another group. So I’m just doing my thing.
What else, it seems as though that is all the news I have for now but I will be sure to write more later, and when my camera battery is not dead I will upload some photos. Expect a lot of photo updates around end of Aug or beginning of September.
Special thanks to:
Aunt Betty and Uncle Dan, really you guys are too much!!! And the Cheetos and chips were amazing, I hadn’t had a chip since November!
Mamma and Pappa you know you’re the best
Christine and Matt, sorry I missed the wedding, Bonne Mariage as they say here
Grams and Gramps, loved the letter. Thank you so much for writing to me.
And thanks to everyone for keeping me in their thoughts
And don't forget that my b-day is coming up on August 19 so send me a card if you want!
Friday, July 3, 2009
July
Hello everyone!
First off i am on a french keyboard that does not have english spell check. Sorry! So a little bit about what i have been up to. The other night i came back to town after a trip to visit another volunteer and my really good friend in town comes running up to me so excited i am back and is screaming something about meat. So i hear this long story about how a taxi hit a goat and killed it and left it in the middle of the road. So all of my guys stole two legs off the goat and waited for me to come back to cook it. Then at 9 oclock they wanted to start cooking it. You know who guys in the states like to start cooking meat at random times and they get half way and they realize they are missing half the stuff, yeah it was kind of like that, only in Guinea. It was a delicious disaster that took forever. Around 10:30 our fried goat meat was done and then i made them walk me home. But i was surprised to find out that cooking large quantities of meat at random times of the night is an international phenomenon. Sadly i am out of time at the internet lab so more later.
Happy 4th of JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the packages:
Mike, Amy and the kids
Aunt Peggy
First off i am on a french keyboard that does not have english spell check. Sorry! So a little bit about what i have been up to. The other night i came back to town after a trip to visit another volunteer and my really good friend in town comes running up to me so excited i am back and is screaming something about meat. So i hear this long story about how a taxi hit a goat and killed it and left it in the middle of the road. So all of my guys stole two legs off the goat and waited for me to come back to cook it. Then at 9 oclock they wanted to start cooking it. You know who guys in the states like to start cooking meat at random times and they get half way and they realize they are missing half the stuff, yeah it was kind of like that, only in Guinea. It was a delicious disaster that took forever. Around 10:30 our fried goat meat was done and then i made them walk me home. But i was surprised to find out that cooking large quantities of meat at random times of the night is an international phenomenon. Sadly i am out of time at the internet lab so more later.
Happy 4th of JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the packages:
Mike, Amy and the kids
Aunt Peggy
Thursday, June 4, 2009
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Workin' in Guinea
OK, so I am all finished with trainings (at least until mid-service)!!!! This means I am starting work! After several months of intense trainings I was ready to start my own thing and use some of the information I learned.
I know everyone back state side is wondering “What are you doing over there?” Well let me give you a run down of what I have done in the past two weeks. I have been going to my towns “hospital” a few days a week. I often just spend my time there talking to the doctor giving him as much information that I know about Malaria (which does not come from MANGOS! Which I am often told here), family planning (it really is cheaper to only have 5 kids compared to 30 no matter what a Guinean tells you), and fun stuff like sanitation (WASH YOUR HANDS!!!). I also have been giving vaccinations to the children for Polio and dispensing vitamins to help counter-act malnutrition. I have gone/helped with one informational class about women excision (which is mortifyingly aweful). Because the class was in Pular, I really didn’t get a lot of it, but the general idea was burned into my brain. I hope by just me sitting there horrified the other Guinean men in the class understood the significance of everything.
There is also a Youth Association for Development in my town which I have been going to. I was invited to sit on the board, giving fresh ideas and a female voice to the group. I am very excited to work further with them. It is a group of over 50 “older teenagers” who are motivated to learn and change some things in my town, which I think is great! I am really hoping to do some cool things with them.
When I get back to my site I will be starting my garden which I plan to plant moringa trees to give to people all around my village. (PLEASE
http://www.treesforlife.org/our-work/our-initiatives/moringa/moringa-tree/
, it really is amazing). I go to weekly meetings with my woman’s group as well as I will be starting savings and loans groups amongst them in the next few weeks. Which I hope will encourage the women to save money over the summer break for their children’s educational fees for the upcoming fall school year. Otherwise, I am working on improving my French (which I will confidently say is getting a lot better) and I am struggling to learn Pular, which I am determined to learn.
So that is how I occupy my time. Sure beats a 9-5 doesn’t it!
One last thing, special thanks out there to Aunt Bonnie and fam, Aunt Betty and Uncle Dan, and of course the ’Rents for all of the amazing packages, Danie thanks for the postcard. Also congrats to all of those who are GRADUATING this JUNE!!! Chrissy-baby that means you! Whoot whoot!!! And can’t forget those how are just excited for the school year to be over and move on to the next year, Creekview Elementary 3rd grade as well as OLH 5th grade classes!!!! YAY summer!
I know everyone back state side is wondering “What are you doing over there?” Well let me give you a run down of what I have done in the past two weeks. I have been going to my towns “hospital” a few days a week. I often just spend my time there talking to the doctor giving him as much information that I know about Malaria (which does not come from MANGOS! Which I am often told here), family planning (it really is cheaper to only have 5 kids compared to 30 no matter what a Guinean tells you), and fun stuff like sanitation (WASH YOUR HANDS!!!). I also have been giving vaccinations to the children for Polio and dispensing vitamins to help counter-act malnutrition. I have gone/helped with one informational class about women excision (which is mortifyingly aweful). Because the class was in Pular, I really didn’t get a lot of it, but the general idea was burned into my brain. I hope by just me sitting there horrified the other Guinean men in the class understood the significance of everything.
There is also a Youth Association for Development in my town which I have been going to. I was invited to sit on the board, giving fresh ideas and a female voice to the group. I am very excited to work further with them. It is a group of over 50 “older teenagers” who are motivated to learn and change some things in my town, which I think is great! I am really hoping to do some cool things with them.
When I get back to my site I will be starting my garden which I plan to plant moringa trees to give to people all around my village. (PLEASE
http://www.treesforlife.org/our-work/our-initiatives/moringa/moringa-tree/
, it really is amazing). I go to weekly meetings with my woman’s group as well as I will be starting savings and loans groups amongst them in the next few weeks. Which I hope will encourage the women to save money over the summer break for their children’s educational fees for the upcoming fall school year. Otherwise, I am working on improving my French (which I will confidently say is getting a lot better) and I am struggling to learn Pular, which I am determined to learn.
So that is how I occupy my time. Sure beats a 9-5 doesn’t it!
One last thing, special thanks out there to Aunt Bonnie and fam, Aunt Betty and Uncle Dan, and of course the ’Rents for all of the amazing packages, Danie thanks for the postcard. Also congrats to all of those who are GRADUATING this JUNE!!! Chrissy-baby that means you! Whoot whoot!!! And can’t forget those how are just excited for the school year to be over and move on to the next year, Creekview Elementary 3rd grade as well as OLH 5th grade classes!!!! YAY summer!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The frist three months, an explination!
Why hello everyone,
I am doing fine and am still very happy here in Guinea. Right now i am rapping up more training and working on great ideas of projects ranging from very small to very large scale operations that i want to start-up here in the next few weeks.
The first three months, an explination:
Feb, March and April are months of observation for us. So what i did every day was observe how people in my village perform the everyday stuff. Like, where do they get water, who prepares food, why only certain kids go to school, what types of medicine do they have at my health center and things like that. For those of you sitting inside your little cubicle from 9-5 or longer this might seem like an ideal day. Waking up when you want, going where you want, doing whatever you want, but let me tell you, it is a lot harder than it sounds.
There were certain days where getting out of the house seemed worse than crunching numbers in a cubicle under fleurissant lighting all day. Imagin, being dropped off in a place you don't know, where you don't know anyone, a language you don't speak, it averaged about 110-120 degrees a day and a culture you can't even begin to understand. Well that was my every day life. Don't get me wrong i loved every pain staking minute of it, and i wouldn't change it for a cubicle at all. Things did get easier and conversations became more fun and less work as the months began to pass but i am still working on understanding the culture here. There are certain times when you just want to throw your hands up and scream, like when you just finished telling people you can only get malaria from mosquitos and then you ask and they tell you that you get it from mangos and milk..... But those things just take time.
I have made great friends and some of my favorite times thusfar are just sitting around under a mango tree, drinking (strong, sugary) tea, watching the traffic go by (about a car every 20 minutes, on the NATIONAL HIGHWAY) and just talking about life with my friends. That is where i feel i will be able to make the biggest difference. Opening up the eyes of the youth in my town to a world larger than just Guinea. But i have big plans, we will see what really happens while i'm here.
I'm begining to adjust to things as well. I no longer detest rice and sauce, i can now tolerate it. I no longer get the wicked cravings for food that i got while in training. OK thats a lie, i still miss american food but i try to tell my self i don't. I take a bath from a bucket, i squeeze into a compact car like the best of them and i even have eaten with my hands (but i DON"T like to make a habbit of it). Who would have thought. The heat is still killer, but i have learned to take naps (mainly sitting in bed trying to remember the days of snow) after lunch until about 4 when the sun starts to cool down.
My all time favorite part of the day is right after the last meal of the day (9.30 ish) when i know i made it through another day and i look up into the sky and see a million stars twinkling. There are no city lights, no lights period so you can see every star in the sky. It is an amazing site. I never knew how many stars there were until i moved here.
I have learned lots of valuable information that i hope to share with everyone back in the states especially about how to do business in a country ranked 166 out of 177 on the world development scale (USA is in the top 3 fyi) but if you have specific questions about anything at all, please e-mail me so i can answer any questions you might have and there are no dumb questions. Lord knows i asked a lot before coming here and about 95% of what i thought before i came was wronge.
Well my time is up at the internet "Cafe" so i'll write more next time ;)
I am doing fine and am still very happy here in Guinea. Right now i am rapping up more training and working on great ideas of projects ranging from very small to very large scale operations that i want to start-up here in the next few weeks.
The first three months, an explination:
Feb, March and April are months of observation for us. So what i did every day was observe how people in my village perform the everyday stuff. Like, where do they get water, who prepares food, why only certain kids go to school, what types of medicine do they have at my health center and things like that. For those of you sitting inside your little cubicle from 9-5 or longer this might seem like an ideal day. Waking up when you want, going where you want, doing whatever you want, but let me tell you, it is a lot harder than it sounds.
There were certain days where getting out of the house seemed worse than crunching numbers in a cubicle under fleurissant lighting all day. Imagin, being dropped off in a place you don't know, where you don't know anyone, a language you don't speak, it averaged about 110-120 degrees a day and a culture you can't even begin to understand. Well that was my every day life. Don't get me wrong i loved every pain staking minute of it, and i wouldn't change it for a cubicle at all. Things did get easier and conversations became more fun and less work as the months began to pass but i am still working on understanding the culture here. There are certain times when you just want to throw your hands up and scream, like when you just finished telling people you can only get malaria from mosquitos and then you ask and they tell you that you get it from mangos and milk..... But those things just take time.
I have made great friends and some of my favorite times thusfar are just sitting around under a mango tree, drinking (strong, sugary) tea, watching the traffic go by (about a car every 20 minutes, on the NATIONAL HIGHWAY) and just talking about life with my friends. That is where i feel i will be able to make the biggest difference. Opening up the eyes of the youth in my town to a world larger than just Guinea. But i have big plans, we will see what really happens while i'm here.
I'm begining to adjust to things as well. I no longer detest rice and sauce, i can now tolerate it. I no longer get the wicked cravings for food that i got while in training. OK thats a lie, i still miss american food but i try to tell my self i don't. I take a bath from a bucket, i squeeze into a compact car like the best of them and i even have eaten with my hands (but i DON"T like to make a habbit of it). Who would have thought. The heat is still killer, but i have learned to take naps (mainly sitting in bed trying to remember the days of snow) after lunch until about 4 when the sun starts to cool down.
My all time favorite part of the day is right after the last meal of the day (9.30 ish) when i know i made it through another day and i look up into the sky and see a million stars twinkling. There are no city lights, no lights period so you can see every star in the sky. It is an amazing site. I never knew how many stars there were until i moved here.
I have learned lots of valuable information that i hope to share with everyone back in the states especially about how to do business in a country ranked 166 out of 177 on the world development scale (USA is in the top 3 fyi) but if you have specific questions about anything at all, please e-mail me so i can answer any questions you might have and there are no dumb questions. Lord knows i asked a lot before coming here and about 95% of what i thought before i came was wronge.
Well my time is up at the internet "Cafe" so i'll write more next time ;)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
YAY, I got medically cleared to go back to site. I am amoeba free and there are no crazy African viruses in my system!!!!! How exciting, I know. Anyways i will be saying goodbye to Conakry and all of the wonderful amenities that i get to enjoy here today. Starting Monday i will be going to In Service Training, which is a two week program of more language and business trainings now that i have a better idea of what i will be doing!!! Can't wait!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Only in Guinea...
So I went to get dinner tonight at the Beach Bar (and yes the name is correct, a bar on the beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean) and look what i found.... one of those real, "Only in Guinea" moments
So I went to get dinner tonight at the Beach Bar (and yes the name is correct, a bar on the beach) and look what i found....
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Step TEAM
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1/2 American Step team + 1/2 African Robot = CRAZY COOL
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Thats a man, on a head!!!!
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1/2 American Step team + 1/2 African Robot = CRAZY COOL
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A nice Reggae African band
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Same band different angle
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A great band too, rapping about Guinea
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Good times!
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Me playing the "White girl card" and getting back stage of the concert
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Great African Band, singing about Guinea's independance
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Same band, different angle
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Another great African Band
Walking up the stairs to the computer lab in the Conakry house
.jpg)
Step TEAM
.jpg)
1/2 American Step team + 1/2 African Robot = CRAZY COOL
.jpg)
Thats a man, on a head!!!!
.jpg)
1/2 American Step team + 1/2 African Robot = CRAZY COOL
.jpg)
A nice Reggae African band
.jpg)
Same band different angle
.jpg)
A great band too, rapping about Guinea
.jpg)
Good times!
.jpg)
Me playing the "White girl card" and getting back stage of the concert
.jpg)
Great African Band, singing about Guinea's independance
.jpg)
Same band, different angle
.jpg)
Another great African Band
Walking up the stairs to the computer lab in the Conakry house
update of mailing me stuff
Now that I have spent some time in country and everyone keeps asking me what are good package ideas or what do I need/want/like from them I thought I would take some time to update what are good ideas to send.
- Magazines (especially fashion mags, I can take the photos to the tailors and I can get CUSTOM made cloths TAILOR FITTED from the ads of Dior or JCPennys)
- Food (microwaves do not work when there is no electricity so nothing microwavable but easy mac/ramen/pasta with sauce are good) *Note I can easily get butter and eggs and stuff like that
-Beef Jerky (always a classic)
-Handheld games (something to kill the time)
-Movies (I still have my laptop so I can watch movies!!!)
-Granola Bars (makes a great breakfast, snack, treat to give little children)
-Instant Coffee/Late stuff (there coffee here is AWEFUL and the electricity is non-existent so no coffee maker, I.E. the powder you spoon into hot water to make "coffee") oh actually I should have my mom and dad (*wink wink*) send a French coffee press so I can make REAL AMERICAN COFFEE that way you could send specialty coffees (and yes I consider Folgers specialty right now)*We do have instant Nescafe powder here
- Books (the newer the better, there are a lot of books in country so older books are probably already in country)
- So far I’ve noticed people send can/packaged fruit. DON'T get me wrong I love it but I can get pineapple and oranges here a lot cheaper than you can send them. I got a really good apples and caramel packaged parfait thing. Delish!
- Snacky stuff is always a classic (at site I crave salty snacks so anything like crackers and cheese, pretzels, sunflower seeds, cheetos, cheese in a can... you get the idea)
- I'm going to start a garden here soon so seeds are always good. I've got some herbs but fruit's and veggies would rock too. (If you are wondering its hot here in Africa so if you would check to see if the plant can take the hot arid temps) oh a flower garden would be cute too...
- Make me a mix CD/cassette of your favorite songs. Really please do, I can not tell you how much Akon and Bob Marley I listen to here. Include song titles so I know the new song names and I don't have to just make them up.
- Little packets of Oreos or other cookies
- Deodorant (Its hot and I sweat, not joking)
- TV Shows (lord knows I like my TV shows and Guinea just isn’t cutting it so you should sent me your hot new favorite series)
- Photos of you and your loved ones (I’ve got a special wall in my house for photos that have been sent and right now that wall is pretty bear except for Molly, me and Nate and Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Wes, Matt, Kyle, and the soon to be bride Kristine)
- Cans of soup (I love cheesey potato with BACON!!!!!) and Ravioli
- A jump drive with music and podcasts (even TV shows and movies!) on it (if from iTunes, include your username and password so I can authorize use)
- M&M’s (they melt in your mouth, not in your hands) *LOVE Peanutbutter, Peanut, Almond, Dark Chocolate you name it…
- Hot chocolate mixes
-Any kind of pampering stuff (It’s rough living out “en brushe”)
**Be aware that you can do all of this stuff online at www.usps.com, including ordering free flat rate boxes, and printing postage. In fact, you get a 5% discount on the shipping fee if you do it online.**
I've heard horror stories from volunteers saying that they got entire packages of things that you can easly get in country and in order to prevent that i wanted to list somethings i can get here.
- Organic peanut butter (In fact, that’s the only type of PB that’s here)
- Instant Nescafe (we got it, so don’t send it)
- Sardines (I don’t eat them and they are here)
- Soap (actually the soap here smells good and is anti-bacterial)
- Spam (ok its knock off brand but its everywhere)
- Candles (yep, I can easily walk across the street and get candles even matches)
- Coca Cola
- Peanuts (or ground nuts as they call them in England)
Please refer to the November 18, 2008 MEGA-BLOG for more packing and mailing instructions as well as more ideas of gifts.
And one last thing a huge THANK YOU to everyone that has been sending me stuff.
Aunt Anne, Bubba, Nate and Cora- the pancakes/syrup AWESOME idea with the cinnomon and sugar, you rock
Uncle Tim and Mark - The books were great and i just finished the last one you sent last week
Aunt Peggy - still working on those People Cross Word Puzzles. I am determined to finish the book without looking in the back by the end of my two years here
Grams and Gramps - You guys are great with the cards and box. Needless to say the crackers were delish and have been long gone for a while (and the map is hanging on my wall)
Molly and Ginger- You know you rock and the pudding was a great idea, love the post cards too (they are hanging next to the photo of me, you, and that hubby of yours)
Aunt Betty and Uncle Dan - You guys know you are too much and thank you doesn't even cover it and i will have some happy neighborhood kids next week!!
Elizabeth- Loved the X-mas card and when i get back we WILL make good luck Turkeys
Aunt Bonney Uncle Wes, Kyle and Matt-You are one of two photos on my *SPECIAL (PEOPLE SENT ME PHOTOS) WALL* in my house
Aunt Mary and Uncle John- A little birdy told me that you send someone something to send me stuff. Thank you so much!
Mom, Dad and the little Kurt Cobain- You are AMAZING and i look forward to everything you send, mainly because i know you send what i want/need and your letters always cheer me up and make me laugh. SEND PHOTOS and a Coffee press ;)
- Magazines (especially fashion mags, I can take the photos to the tailors and I can get CUSTOM made cloths TAILOR FITTED from the ads of Dior or JCPennys)
- Food (microwaves do not work when there is no electricity so nothing microwavable but easy mac/ramen/pasta with sauce are good) *Note I can easily get butter and eggs and stuff like that
-Beef Jerky (always a classic)
-Handheld games (something to kill the time)
-Movies (I still have my laptop so I can watch movies!!!)
-Granola Bars (makes a great breakfast, snack, treat to give little children)
-Instant Coffee/Late stuff (there coffee here is AWEFUL and the electricity is non-existent so no coffee maker, I.E. the powder you spoon into hot water to make "coffee") oh actually I should have my mom and dad (*wink wink*) send a French coffee press so I can make REAL AMERICAN COFFEE that way you could send specialty coffees (and yes I consider Folgers specialty right now)*We do have instant Nescafe powder here
- Books (the newer the better, there are a lot of books in country so older books are probably already in country)
- So far I’ve noticed people send can/packaged fruit. DON'T get me wrong I love it but I can get pineapple and oranges here a lot cheaper than you can send them. I got a really good apples and caramel packaged parfait thing. Delish!
- Snacky stuff is always a classic (at site I crave salty snacks so anything like crackers and cheese, pretzels, sunflower seeds, cheetos, cheese in a can... you get the idea)
- I'm going to start a garden here soon so seeds are always good. I've got some herbs but fruit's and veggies would rock too. (If you are wondering its hot here in Africa so if you would check to see if the plant can take the hot arid temps) oh a flower garden would be cute too...
- Make me a mix CD/cassette of your favorite songs. Really please do, I can not tell you how much Akon and Bob Marley I listen to here. Include song titles so I know the new song names and I don't have to just make them up.
- Little packets of Oreos or other cookies
- Deodorant (Its hot and I sweat, not joking)
- TV Shows (lord knows I like my TV shows and Guinea just isn’t cutting it so you should sent me your hot new favorite series)
- Photos of you and your loved ones (I’ve got a special wall in my house for photos that have been sent and right now that wall is pretty bear except for Molly, me and Nate and Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Wes, Matt, Kyle, and the soon to be bride Kristine)
- Cans of soup (I love cheesey potato with BACON!!!!!) and Ravioli
- A jump drive with music and podcasts (even TV shows and movies!) on it (if from iTunes, include your username and password so I can authorize use)
- M&M’s (they melt in your mouth, not in your hands) *LOVE Peanutbutter, Peanut, Almond, Dark Chocolate you name it…
- Hot chocolate mixes
-Any kind of pampering stuff (It’s rough living out “en brushe”)
**Be aware that you can do all of this stuff online at www.usps.com, including ordering free flat rate boxes, and printing postage. In fact, you get a 5% discount on the shipping fee if you do it online.**
I've heard horror stories from volunteers saying that they got entire packages of things that you can easly get in country and in order to prevent that i wanted to list somethings i can get here.
- Organic peanut butter (In fact, that’s the only type of PB that’s here)
- Instant Nescafe (we got it, so don’t send it)
- Sardines (I don’t eat them and they are here)
- Soap (actually the soap here smells good and is anti-bacterial)
- Spam (ok its knock off brand but its everywhere)
- Candles (yep, I can easily walk across the street and get candles even matches)
- Coca Cola
- Peanuts (or ground nuts as they call them in England)
Please refer to the November 18, 2008 MEGA-BLOG for more packing and mailing instructions as well as more ideas of gifts.
And one last thing a huge THANK YOU to everyone that has been sending me stuff.
Aunt Anne, Bubba, Nate and Cora- the pancakes/syrup AWESOME idea with the cinnomon and sugar, you rock
Uncle Tim and Mark - The books were great and i just finished the last one you sent last week
Aunt Peggy - still working on those People Cross Word Puzzles. I am determined to finish the book without looking in the back by the end of my two years here
Grams and Gramps - You guys are great with the cards and box. Needless to say the crackers were delish and have been long gone for a while (and the map is hanging on my wall)
Molly and Ginger- You know you rock and the pudding was a great idea, love the post cards too (they are hanging next to the photo of me, you, and that hubby of yours)
Aunt Betty and Uncle Dan - You guys know you are too much and thank you doesn't even cover it and i will have some happy neighborhood kids next week!!
Elizabeth- Loved the X-mas card and when i get back we WILL make good luck Turkeys
Aunt Bonney Uncle Wes, Kyle and Matt-You are one of two photos on my *SPECIAL (PEOPLE SENT ME PHOTOS) WALL* in my house
Aunt Mary and Uncle John- A little birdy told me that you send someone something to send me stuff. Thank you so much!
Mom, Dad and the little Kurt Cobain- You are AMAZING and i look forward to everything you send, mainly because i know you send what i want/need and your letters always cheer me up and make me laugh. SEND PHOTOS and a Coffee press ;)
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