Hey all - so its been a while since I updated - and since I last updated, I managed to escape Guinea and travel to Spain and France with my mom...oh, it was amazing. I mean....ice cream...fois gras...arepa e'huevo...duck...tapas...oh man...it was great. Yes, I know...i'm obsessing about food again. But my six unexpected days in Europe reminded just how great food can be...haha...plus of course, it was great to see family right before christmas! Nino dios even came the day before I left, and brought me a soccer ball, books, a DS, shirts, and all sorts of other godies! A little escape in mid december made christmas in Guinea that much more enjoyable - and made present buying a little more convenient, as I didn't have to argue for 10 minutes about prices on each item.
But being in Europe was also a little strange after being in Guinea for 5 months...let me count the ways:
1. Everything is organized and clean. Traffic ran smoothly(what?!?), public transportation was convenient (wow!), roads were paved (gasp!), there were garbage cans (damn!!).
2. It was strange to buy, say, a game boy game, and think...wow, this is literally nearly twice as much as a teacher makes in Guinea...and he has to feed about 7 people with it.
3. Not greeting people 6 times was a little odd...I actually kind of like the whole, "Ca va, comment ca va? Et la famille? Et le travail? Et la sante?" haha...i always got the urge to ask the ice cream lady about her family, or the guy at virgin records about how work was going, or our hotel clerk if his health was good. But I figured they'd look at me weird if I did....so i restrained my Guinean impulses to conduct 5 minute greetings.
4. Towns about, say, the size of Boke, in Europe seemed dead! I mean, there was no crazy street marche (market), no motos buzzing about, no broken down taxis flying by, no cries of "Bisop, Gingam!!!", no little kids screaming "Fote! Fote! Fote!", no fruit ladies greeting me or cookie ladies asking, "Ca va mon patron?" Life in smaller towns in Europe is certainly a lot calmer...but I started to miss the chaos on the streets that is Guinea. (At least in Boke - I still hate chaos on the streets in Conakry)
Yeah - so it was a little odd to be in Europe - but pretty great too. So now, I'm back in Conakry, its Christmas day, the Steelers are out of the playoffs, and I got christmas presents from Jen last night!! Woo hooo - these included a can of Heineken, Twix, a "manicure" kit (my horrible fingernail picking habit has caused me three nasty toe infections since arriving), a yo-yo, lots of white chocolate, and a little notebook (where I can sign my name 400 times!).
We did get an awesome meal at Steve's last night, and tonght, Reid is spearheading an exquisite Ribs or Stuffed Pork Chops meal - damn I can't wait.
So, yeah, that's all the news - we're headed to Sierra Leone (hopefully!) in a few days, G13 is arriving in Guinea in a few weeks, and I need to grab some lunch! So I'm off - hopefully I'll be updating more frequently again! I was a slacker for a good amount of time with the whole blog thing. Oh, and new pictures will be coming! Eventually...
Monday, December 25, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Some days I love Guinea, but other days...
Well - this has been one crazy couple of weeks. I'm in Conakry at the moment, (hopefully) leaving for Paris in about 10 hours (or I was, when I started to write this...now that I'm posting it, it's christmas day) - which was not at all what I thought I'd be doing 5 days ago - but hey, that's life in Guinea. A teacher's strike had been going on at my site for about 4 weeks now. This meant I had been doing barely any teaching, with barely any students present in my classes. In my 12 Science Sociale classes, I taught 4 students two weeks ago. Four!! Well, the greve (strike) wasn't more of a nuisance than anything else, seeing as how I wasn't reaching all of my students and would result in a setback of my teaching schedule for the year, but at least I was doing SOME teaching at my site. Then my compound decided to run out of water. Unfortunately, though I do have the luxury of running water, I also have no backup water supply should my water run out. There is no well nearby or another pump by my house. So out of water meant really out of water, unless I gave bidons to my students and had them bring me water on motorcycles from their houses. Thus, I took off for Mamou to visit Jen, thinking I could stay there for a few days before my mom arrived in Conakry on Thursday.
The stay in Mamou was fun enough, with Jen cooking exquisite meals (I even got to eat pesto once!) on a nightly basis. It was fun anyway, until my last night there, when, to satisfy my midday hunger, we went out to eat. I ordered (surprise, surprise) rice and peanut sauce. Now, in the Fouta, cows are everywhere, unlike the Bass Cote, where goats seem to be the domesticated animal of choice. Thus, excited about the availability of beef, I ordered a side plate of meat with my rice and sauce. Oh, what a bad idea that was. Within a few hours, I was laying on the floor in Jen's apartment, writhing with pain, or passed out trying to make it go away. For about 14 hours I layed there, unable to get up for more than 3 minutes, trying to make myself throw up...haha....didnt work. But don't you worry - I eventually felt better. I probably have amoebas or something....but we'll see...let's give it a couple weeks to see if they come back. But let me tell you....rice with peanut sauce and meat I now officially hate.
The stay in Mamou was fun enough, with Jen cooking exquisite meals (I even got to eat pesto once!) on a nightly basis. It was fun anyway, until my last night there, when, to satisfy my midday hunger, we went out to eat. I ordered (surprise, surprise) rice and peanut sauce. Now, in the Fouta, cows are everywhere, unlike the Bass Cote, where goats seem to be the domesticated animal of choice. Thus, excited about the availability of beef, I ordered a side plate of meat with my rice and sauce. Oh, what a bad idea that was. Within a few hours, I was laying on the floor in Jen's apartment, writhing with pain, or passed out trying to make it go away. For about 14 hours I layed there, unable to get up for more than 3 minutes, trying to make myself throw up...haha....didnt work. But don't you worry - I eventually felt better. I probably have amoebas or something....but we'll see...let's give it a couple weeks to see if they come back. But let me tell you....rice with peanut sauce and meat I now officially hate.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Thanksgiving, my birthday, and all sorts of good stuff in Boke - Mas la segunda parte del cuento de arequipe.
Bueno - Espagnol ou bien Anglais? Peut etre francais? Ok - je commence par anglais -
So, back in Kamsar, and yesterday was my Bday and tomorrow is thanksgiving!! Man - can so much fun really happen in one week!! Yeah, so this week has been a great time - Jen came to spend the week in Boke and man oh man have we been eating well this week. I know this is like, not at all exciting on the other side of the ocean, but let me tell you - having Fetuccini Alfredo, Pizza, Chile, and birthday cake all in one week is GREAT! I mean, its AMAZING!!! ANd, the Peace Corps bought us a thanksgiving turkey, so tomorrow, its feasting on turkey (SWEET, its not fish!) and other wholesome goodies all day long. Jan, Ben, Sam, and perhaps a few others shall be coming in to join in the festivities.
Besides the food (but I mean, in the Peace Corps, it is ALL about the food!) I've been having a good and busy week! The teachers are striking in Boke at the moment, but its only half the teachers - so its a bit of a strange strike. Last week, there were no classes at all, so I took off for Conakry for the weekend, but this week classes have started once again. About half (or more) of the students aren't there though, so, though I'm glad to return to teaching, it is really a bit annoying as I'm just teaching things i'll have to teach two more times once the students start returning, or the when the strike ends. Yesterday, for example, I had 17 out of 89 students in my largest class. At least it was a good time seeing them play "Simon says", which they too got a kick out of. We did Guineafy the game though, calling it Ousman Says. Who knew 19 year olds would enjoy that game so much?
Another quick tale of near death in a river. So yesterday, Jen and I went down to the river which my hill overlooks - its a pretty river, and its quite big, and, being so near the ocean, is also very much affected by the tides. In the morning, the water level is about 4 meters higher than in the afternoon. What we didn't know was that the currents also become ridiculously strong as the day progresses. At first, it was a fun water treadmill. Soon, it turned into a struggle against the water and holding on to slippery rocks. I certainly was not faring well in the water, and was convinced I would lose the struggle against mother nature, if not for the fact we were 5 feet from the river bank. But I swear, it was just that strong! I tried to get a grip on the slippery rocks lining the bottom, but just couldn't do it. Jen didn't seem to be doing too well either, but then again, I was just maybe starting to panic and thought she would certainly wash out to sea. Eventually, we did manage to make our way to the rocky banks and climb up and out of the water. Somebody, please, just come and keep me away from Guinean rivers.
Bueno, y ahora unos relatos en espanol! Pues, primero, el mas importante! Les cuento que el arequipe me quedo DELICIOSO!!!! Cocina 2 - Cami 3!! ja...sabia que yo iba a ganar. Bueno, continuando con lo de la cocina...el ponque de anoche que preparo Jen quedo riquisimo, y saben por que?? Ella preparo el ponque con una capa de dulce hecha de Milo. Uy que delicia!! Les recomiendo preparar eso un dia alla en Bogota! Bueno, y lo mejor de todo fue la cantidad de llamadas/cartas/emails/mensajes que recibi de todos! Muchas gracias! Hasta mi hermana en Guinea, Ami, me llamo desde Forecariah y me canto Happy Birthday, pero en espanol! Definitivamente un dia muy especial. Manana, como leyeron arriba, es el dia de Thanksgiving, que lo vamos a celebrar con mis amigos en Boke, con pavo y todo. Bueno, la semana entrante, y pesando unos kilos mas por toda la comida que he comido esta semana, volvere a escribir! Hasta entonces, Oo'o!
So, back in Kamsar, and yesterday was my Bday and tomorrow is thanksgiving!! Man - can so much fun really happen in one week!! Yeah, so this week has been a great time - Jen came to spend the week in Boke and man oh man have we been eating well this week. I know this is like, not at all exciting on the other side of the ocean, but let me tell you - having Fetuccini Alfredo, Pizza, Chile, and birthday cake all in one week is GREAT! I mean, its AMAZING!!! ANd, the Peace Corps bought us a thanksgiving turkey, so tomorrow, its feasting on turkey (SWEET, its not fish!) and other wholesome goodies all day long. Jan, Ben, Sam, and perhaps a few others shall be coming in to join in the festivities.
Besides the food (but I mean, in the Peace Corps, it is ALL about the food!) I've been having a good and busy week! The teachers are striking in Boke at the moment, but its only half the teachers - so its a bit of a strange strike. Last week, there were no classes at all, so I took off for Conakry for the weekend, but this week classes have started once again. About half (or more) of the students aren't there though, so, though I'm glad to return to teaching, it is really a bit annoying as I'm just teaching things i'll have to teach two more times once the students start returning, or the when the strike ends. Yesterday, for example, I had 17 out of 89 students in my largest class. At least it was a good time seeing them play "Simon says", which they too got a kick out of. We did Guineafy the game though, calling it Ousman Says. Who knew 19 year olds would enjoy that game so much?
Another quick tale of near death in a river. So yesterday, Jen and I went down to the river which my hill overlooks - its a pretty river, and its quite big, and, being so near the ocean, is also very much affected by the tides. In the morning, the water level is about 4 meters higher than in the afternoon. What we didn't know was that the currents also become ridiculously strong as the day progresses. At first, it was a fun water treadmill. Soon, it turned into a struggle against the water and holding on to slippery rocks. I certainly was not faring well in the water, and was convinced I would lose the struggle against mother nature, if not for the fact we were 5 feet from the river bank. But I swear, it was just that strong! I tried to get a grip on the slippery rocks lining the bottom, but just couldn't do it. Jen didn't seem to be doing too well either, but then again, I was just maybe starting to panic and thought she would certainly wash out to sea. Eventually, we did manage to make our way to the rocky banks and climb up and out of the water. Somebody, please, just come and keep me away from Guinean rivers.
Bueno, y ahora unos relatos en espanol! Pues, primero, el mas importante! Les cuento que el arequipe me quedo DELICIOSO!!!! Cocina 2 - Cami 3!! ja...sabia que yo iba a ganar. Bueno, continuando con lo de la cocina...el ponque de anoche que preparo Jen quedo riquisimo, y saben por que?? Ella preparo el ponque con una capa de dulce hecha de Milo. Uy que delicia!! Les recomiendo preparar eso un dia alla en Bogota! Bueno, y lo mejor de todo fue la cantidad de llamadas/cartas/emails/mensajes que recibi de todos! Muchas gracias! Hasta mi hermana en Guinea, Ami, me llamo desde Forecariah y me canto Happy Birthday, pero en espanol! Definitivamente un dia muy especial. Manana, como leyeron arriba, es el dia de Thanksgiving, que lo vamos a celebrar con mis amigos en Boke, con pavo y todo. Bueno, la semana entrante, y pesando unos kilos mas por toda la comida que he comido esta semana, volvere a escribir! Hasta entonces, Oo'o!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Partidazo en la cocina - por fin un Blog en espanol!
Bueno pues, familia mia, por fin, aunque meses tarde, escribo mi primer blog en espanol. La ocasion es el dia super Colombiano que tuve en Boke el otro dia. Bueno - fue un intento mas o menos, pues al fin y al cabo no termino tan exitoso como pensaba. Me levante el lunes, con unas ganas de comer pescado frito y arepa 'e huevo. Bueno, yo nunca en mi vida habia preparado pescado. Pero me dije ese dia, "Cami, hoy vas a aprender a preparar pescado." Entonces me fui al mercado, donde las mujeres vendes miles de pescados (aunque solo hay dos tipos de pescado - ahumado y fresco...mas o menos fresco - el pescado si es el mismo plateadito que ni idea como se llama. En todo caso, por 500 francos (unos, que, 200 pesos?) me compre un pescado en el mercado para la semejante tarea de hacer pescado frito. Pero no solo queria hacer pescado frito. Nooo....yo soy un hombre con ambicion, y estaba convencido de que tambien iba a preparar arepa de huevo. Entonces, luego de preguntar mil veces, por fin encontre harina de maiz. Por si algun dia vienen a Guinea, pidan "kabe" en el mercado: se van ahorrar 20 minutos de busqueda y un dolor de cabeza de tanto hablar Susu. Saliendo del mercado, me di cuenta que ademas necesitaba un postre para acompanar mi super almuerzo. Pues les cuento que ademas en Boke comenzo la temporada de guayaba, o sea que hay miles de guayabas por la calle, que por supuesto era una señal que tenia que preparar bocadillo.
Y asi comenzo el partido entre Cami y la Cocina.
Ya en la cocina, me puse a alistar todos el ingredientes: la harina por atras, el aceite por delante, guayabas por los costados, y pescado en el medio. Todo se veia tan lindo en la mesa. Desafortunadamente, hasta ahi llego el exito con la cocina. Me puse a prepara las arepas. Primero, no se inflaban, entonces no podia meter el huevo. Pense que tal vez era que el fuego estaba muy bajito, entonces me puse a calentar mas el aceite. Pues claro, al segundo intento, con el aceite bien caliente, se me quemo la arepa en 4 segundos. Le baje la temperatura, y claro, al tercer intento, la masa del centro no se cocino.
Cocina 1 - Cami 0.
Decidi intentar con el pescado. Pero nadie me conto que habia que limpiar el pescado, abrirlo por la mitad, sacar mil vainas (las tripas, quitarle escamas, y otras mil vainas que nunca en mi vida habia visto). Pues, yo ya estaba listo pa’ meterlo en la olla sin hacer todo eso.
Cocina 2 – Cami 0
Afortunadamente, en ese instante llego Thierno, uno de mis alumnos a la casa. Luego de ofrecer de ayudar a lavarme la ropa (no solo le acepte la ayuda, sino le deje lavar toda la ropa solito). Pues mientras lavaba a lavar la ropa, me puse a pelar guayabas para el bocadillo y olvide el pescado por unos instantes. En esta ultima tarea tuve bastante exito (bueno, pelar fruta lo puede hacer cualquiera, entonces no fue semejante triunfo). Apenas terminó Thierno de lavar ropa, tambien ofrecio ayudarme a limpiar y cortar el pescado. Me habia salvado de meterme tremendo autogol, y como el lo hizo todo, yo casi ni tuver que marcar el pescado. O sea que la verdad, fue un punto recuperado para mi.
Cocina 2 – Cami 1
Me puse a concinar el pescado y a hacer hervir agua para las guayabas. El pescado ni fue tan dificil, y la verdad, me quedo mas bien rico (aunque mas rico aun hubiera sido acompanado por arepa de huevo.) Pero la joya de este dia fue el bocadillo: Con siete u ocho guayabas, luego de dejarlas sobre el fuego hirviendo un rato, me puse a espichar las guayabas con una cuchara (como aca no existe licuadora con pilas solares ni nada asi) luego de espichar por 15 minutos (y sacar tan solo como media taza de jugo), le eche una cantidad de azucar y meti la sopa de azucar y guayaba en la olla. Bueno, en fin, les cuento que una hora despues estaba disfrutando de un delicioso bocadillo hecho a mano!
Cocina 2 – Cami 2
Eso de descubrir como hacer bocadillo fue una maravilla de descrubimiento en el tiempo extra, y mil gracias a Yolis por haberme encontrado la receta! Les cuento que el desempate vendra esta semana, cuando yo haga el intento de hacer arequipe. Pero les aseguro, si el arequipe me sale tan rico como el bocadillo (y yo estoy seguro de que asi sera), este partido desde ya esta ganado. Hasta entonces, oo'o!Saturday, November 11, 2006
The Democrats Finally Win as Police Break Up My Night Class
Oh man, I love Kamsar. I think I start every blog entry like that. But, I mean, it's hot in Boke. Really hot. And my house is hot. Really really hot. It's got a tin roof and is surrounded by walls, which block the breeze. I mean, it's an oven. I mean it. So, being able to come to Kamsar, and spend a few hours on the pool is definitely a great treat.
So - my blog today starts out not with news from Guinea, but with my reaction to news from the states. THE DEMOCRATS FINALLY WON SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it's not just like they won a few seats - they won control of both chambers! And by a landslide in the House. Man - and to think, that after all the energy I put into so many campaigns throughout college only to be disappointed on every election night, all I had to do was get as far away from the United States as possible to see a Democratic victory. Yeah - I'm excited about this. As you know, I of course have no television, so I woke up at 5 in the morning on Wednesday to listen to the results coming in on Voice of America and the BBC. Thank god for my short wave radio and the ten feet of wire that runs up to my roof so I can get reception. Yes, I was quite literally jumping with excitement in my bathroom, in my kitchen, in my living room. I, of course, had to take my shortwave radio to class so that I could listen in between classes to updates on the Virginia, Montana, and Missouri senate races. Well - my eight hours of teaching on wednesday certainly did pay off, as I returned home to hear the news that Donald Rumsfeld was fired! Man - what a great day. Anyway - enough about politics.
All else is going well here in Guinea. As I mentioned in my previous post, I started night classes, which I just love. This week, I introduced the game Jeopardy into my classes, which my 12eme students just loved, despite the fact that a war nearly broke out between the four teams for the 1 extra credit point I awarded to the winning team.
This evening of English review games came a day after my 11eme students' night class, during which I decided to take them on a walking tour of the town to point out different buildings and their names in English (boulangerie = bakery, marche = market, etc.) Well, the last stop on my tour was the gendarmerie aka. police station. Now, suffice it to say that the police in Guinea, and I imagine much of Africa, is just quite not the same as the police in the United States. So my english class tour essentially ended with my class being dispersed by some rather loud police officers. For half a second I thought about being bold and arguing with the police officers about why they broke up my english class. Only for half a second did I think about it. Immediately the sane side of me kicked in, and reminded me I needen't start any arguments with the police. So I waved my students goodbye, and made a mental note to cancel the next day's tour of Boke, and simply draw a map on the board. That was much more relaxing.
Anyway, yeah, that's all the news from Guinea for the time being! Tonight, I do imagine I'll head back and attempt to make some magnificent culinary creation in my kitchen. Lentil soup perhaps? Or maybe arepa de huevo? Or some french toast? Ohhh...if only I could order out chinese or get some pizza. Alas.
So - my blog today starts out not with news from Guinea, but with my reaction to news from the states. THE DEMOCRATS FINALLY WON SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it's not just like they won a few seats - they won control of both chambers! And by a landslide in the House. Man - and to think, that after all the energy I put into so many campaigns throughout college only to be disappointed on every election night, all I had to do was get as far away from the United States as possible to see a Democratic victory. Yeah - I'm excited about this. As you know, I of course have no television, so I woke up at 5 in the morning on Wednesday to listen to the results coming in on Voice of America and the BBC. Thank god for my short wave radio and the ten feet of wire that runs up to my roof so I can get reception. Yes, I was quite literally jumping with excitement in my bathroom, in my kitchen, in my living room. I, of course, had to take my shortwave radio to class so that I could listen in between classes to updates on the Virginia, Montana, and Missouri senate races. Well - my eight hours of teaching on wednesday certainly did pay off, as I returned home to hear the news that Donald Rumsfeld was fired! Man - what a great day. Anyway - enough about politics.
All else is going well here in Guinea. As I mentioned in my previous post, I started night classes, which I just love. This week, I introduced the game Jeopardy into my classes, which my 12eme students just loved, despite the fact that a war nearly broke out between the four teams for the 1 extra credit point I awarded to the winning team.
This evening of English review games came a day after my 11eme students' night class, during which I decided to take them on a walking tour of the town to point out different buildings and their names in English (boulangerie = bakery, marche = market, etc.) Well, the last stop on my tour was the gendarmerie aka. police station. Now, suffice it to say that the police in Guinea, and I imagine much of Africa, is just quite not the same as the police in the United States. So my english class tour essentially ended with my class being dispersed by some rather loud police officers. For half a second I thought about being bold and arguing with the police officers about why they broke up my english class. Only for half a second did I think about it. Immediately the sane side of me kicked in, and reminded me I needen't start any arguments with the police. So I waved my students goodbye, and made a mental note to cancel the next day's tour of Boke, and simply draw a map on the board. That was much more relaxing.
Anyway, yeah, that's all the news from Guinea for the time being! Tonight, I do imagine I'll head back and attempt to make some magnificent culinary creation in my kitchen. Lentil soup perhaps? Or maybe arepa de huevo? Or some french toast? Ohhh...if only I could order out chinese or get some pizza. Alas.
Friday, November 03, 2006
My longest but best day at site so far
Ok, so this past Wednesday was, without a doubt, one of the longest and most tiring days at site so far – that being said, it was also perhaps the most enjoyable day I’ve had since coming to Boke and starting teaching. My day began at 7 am, when I woke up, made a coffee/Milo mix drink and walked out the door to go teach at seven thirty. I stopped by the bakery to get some bread for breakfast, which is a key find, as I can now get fresh bread in the mornings right on the way to school. Anyway, I got to school, and it was my heavy teaching day. I taught straight from 8 am to 2 pm, which believe me, is exhausting. It was one of the hottest days here in Boke too, (no idea how hot, but hotter than usual, which means really hot) and I was wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt, which just did not help with the whole tiredness thing.
Nonetheless, I taught my three two-hour classes, during which the students learned different shapes and commands (square, rectangle, etc. and show me, draw, come here, etc.) and tons of new size and object vocabulary (big tree, small candle, long ruler, etc.). The lessons went much faster than planned, and since I’m pretty lucky, having only about 40 students in my smallest classes, I was able to play some review Jeopardy with the kids – it was great to see these kids get so into it. And its hilarious when they get excited about getting 800 points and they taunt the other kids in the room, until I point out the MINUS sign next to their 800 points, and the rest of the classroom then laughs back at them, while they look and me in shock and shout, “WHY MISTA??? Why? C’est pas ca!” I had to point out about ten times that the reason they lost points was because they always got the WRONG answer.
Finally, at 2 pm, I was free to take a two hour break for lunch – so I headed off to a students house, where I enjoyed some great rice and sauce, and got five guavas and 12 lemons as a gift too! At 4 PM, I was supposed to once again go back down to the schoolto begin the evening review courses which I decided to start for my students. So, out of about 350 students total that I have, about 100 showed up. I was excited to see so many there, but let me tell you, having 100 students in the classroom is no easy task. So I taught them greetings that you use with your friends in the States, i.e. What’s up? Not much. What’s going on? How’s it going? Despite the huge number of students, it was stiull enjoyable as it was mostly the more motivated and brighter students in my classes who showed up. Everyone who was there wanted to be there, which made it much easier to keep the class under control.
The best part of the evening course though, was not the “Greetings with Friends” or “Cardinal vs Ordinal Numbers”. Rather, I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the kids how to make lemonade. I had all the lemons which my one student had given me, plus some sugar and water I had bought. So after teaching on the board for about an hour (and beginning to roast in the sweltering Boke heat in a room full of 100 students), I took the students outside, where I set up a table, and laid out my lemons, sugar, and water. As I made the lemonade, I had them write the ingredients in English as I prepared the lemonade with about 50 students crowded around the front of my table. When the first batch of lemonade was done, I had the students make paper cups out of a page from their notebooks, which they promptly shoved in my face. “Me, Mista!!! Me, Mista, Me!!” they all clamored. I couldn’t help but laugh at the 50 faces staring at me holding out a notebook paper cup and shouting “Mista!” as the afternoon breeze finally began to settle on the high school’s courtyard and provided some much needed respite from the blazing afternoon sun, which was finally starting to set.
At 6 pm, I was finally done with the two batches of lemonade and exhausted, began to walk back into town with some of my students. Fortunately, one student’s uncle happened to drive by, so she called me over and told me to jump in, along with some other students, which saved me the walk up the punishing hill leading into Boke. Another student had wanted me to see where her house was and meet her parents (I’m trying to get to know Boke and my students by meeting with their parents at their houses….7 students down, 343 to go). She also wanted to show me the church, which she told me I needed to go to every Sunday. “Je suis un mauvais Chretien” I told her (I’m a bad Christian.), and explained I would try to go from time to time. She and another student were showing me around the church, when the following interesting episode occurred.
A man came up to us, and said, in English, “I must speak with the Reverend Father.” Seeing as how my students didn’t know English, making me the only English speaker in the group, I asked the man, who had a very concerned look his face, what the problem was. He says to me, “I am a Nigerian. They want to kill me.”
“Who wants to kill you I ask? Here in Guinea they want to kill you?”
“No,” he says. “In Gambia. I went from Nigeria to Gambia. They want to sacrifice me. They want to cut my head off. And they want to cut off my penis.” My jaw dropped, but at the same time, I was holding back a laugh upon hearing his last statement, and recalling a story Patrick had told me of penis snatchers in Gambia.
“The father will come,” I said to him, then turned to my students, and whispered, “Je crois qu’il est fou, allons-y.” (I think he’s crazy, let’s go.)
My students were dying to know what he had said, and I eventually told them, after we were out of sight from the nearly sacrificed Nigerian. I wonder what he ended up telling the priest. Anyway, finally around 6:45 I made it back to my house – worn out and still in my sweat soaked school clothes. Despite my wet (and smelly I’m sure) wardrobe, I sat down, put on some Bob Marley, and just kinda enjoyed the fact that despite coming home 11 hours after leaving my house in the morning and running into a runaway from penis thiefs, I was in the best mood and was the most excited about my work as I had been since arriving here. Ok, enough of my writing. I gotta go to another students house for lunch and to meet his parents! Au revoir!
Nonetheless, I taught my three two-hour classes, during which the students learned different shapes and commands (square, rectangle, etc. and show me, draw, come here, etc.) and tons of new size and object vocabulary (big tree, small candle, long ruler, etc.). The lessons went much faster than planned, and since I’m pretty lucky, having only about 40 students in my smallest classes, I was able to play some review Jeopardy with the kids – it was great to see these kids get so into it. And its hilarious when they get excited about getting 800 points and they taunt the other kids in the room, until I point out the MINUS sign next to their 800 points, and the rest of the classroom then laughs back at them, while they look and me in shock and shout, “WHY MISTA??? Why? C’est pas ca!” I had to point out about ten times that the reason they lost points was because they always got the WRONG answer.
Finally, at 2 pm, I was free to take a two hour break for lunch – so I headed off to a students house, where I enjoyed some great rice and sauce, and got five guavas and 12 lemons as a gift too! At 4 PM, I was supposed to once again go back down to the schoolto begin the evening review courses which I decided to start for my students. So, out of about 350 students total that I have, about 100 showed up. I was excited to see so many there, but let me tell you, having 100 students in the classroom is no easy task. So I taught them greetings that you use with your friends in the States, i.e. What’s up? Not much. What’s going on? How’s it going? Despite the huge number of students, it was stiull enjoyable as it was mostly the more motivated and brighter students in my classes who showed up. Everyone who was there wanted to be there, which made it much easier to keep the class under control.
The best part of the evening course though, was not the “Greetings with Friends” or “Cardinal vs Ordinal Numbers”. Rather, I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the kids how to make lemonade. I had all the lemons which my one student had given me, plus some sugar and water I had bought. So after teaching on the board for about an hour (and beginning to roast in the sweltering Boke heat in a room full of 100 students), I took the students outside, where I set up a table, and laid out my lemons, sugar, and water. As I made the lemonade, I had them write the ingredients in English as I prepared the lemonade with about 50 students crowded around the front of my table. When the first batch of lemonade was done, I had the students make paper cups out of a page from their notebooks, which they promptly shoved in my face. “Me, Mista!!! Me, Mista, Me!!” they all clamored. I couldn’t help but laugh at the 50 faces staring at me holding out a notebook paper cup and shouting “Mista!” as the afternoon breeze finally began to settle on the high school’s courtyard and provided some much needed respite from the blazing afternoon sun, which was finally starting to set.
At 6 pm, I was finally done with the two batches of lemonade and exhausted, began to walk back into town with some of my students. Fortunately, one student’s uncle happened to drive by, so she called me over and told me to jump in, along with some other students, which saved me the walk up the punishing hill leading into Boke. Another student had wanted me to see where her house was and meet her parents (I’m trying to get to know Boke and my students by meeting with their parents at their houses….7 students down, 343 to go). She also wanted to show me the church, which she told me I needed to go to every Sunday. “Je suis un mauvais Chretien” I told her (I’m a bad Christian.), and explained I would try to go from time to time. She and another student were showing me around the church, when the following interesting episode occurred.
A man came up to us, and said, in English, “I must speak with the Reverend Father.” Seeing as how my students didn’t know English, making me the only English speaker in the group, I asked the man, who had a very concerned look his face, what the problem was. He says to me, “I am a Nigerian. They want to kill me.”
“Who wants to kill you I ask? Here in Guinea they want to kill you?”
“No,” he says. “In Gambia. I went from Nigeria to Gambia. They want to sacrifice me. They want to cut my head off. And they want to cut off my penis.” My jaw dropped, but at the same time, I was holding back a laugh upon hearing his last statement, and recalling a story Patrick had told me of penis snatchers in Gambia.
“The father will come,” I said to him, then turned to my students, and whispered, “Je crois qu’il est fou, allons-y.” (I think he’s crazy, let’s go.)
My students were dying to know what he had said, and I eventually told them, after we were out of sight from the nearly sacrificed Nigerian. I wonder what he ended up telling the priest. Anyway, finally around 6:45 I made it back to my house – worn out and still in my sweat soaked school clothes. Despite my wet (and smelly I’m sure) wardrobe, I sat down, put on some Bob Marley, and just kinda enjoyed the fact that despite coming home 11 hours after leaving my house in the morning and running into a runaway from penis thiefs, I was in the best mood and was the most excited about my work as I had been since arriving here. Ok, enough of my writing. I gotta go to another students house for lunch and to meet his parents! Au revoir!
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Dead monkeys, Rock attacks, and other assorted tales of life in Guinea the past couple weeks
Hey all! Back in the wonderful air conditioned internet cafe in Kamsar...let me tell you, it is HOT out there today...and they say March and April are the worst months....great...anyway, all is going well, went to Conakry last weekend, where I was able to eat PIZZA and CHICKEN and a HAMBURGER and ICE CREAM!!!! Oh, and I even got to see the Steelers play (they lost, but it was an exciting game)! Oh man....i was in Heaven for five days (I remember thinking Conakry was Hell the first time I drove through it back in July...it grows on you, that's for sure!) .
So, just a couple stories from the past week - which was an interesting one for sure.
First of all, on Monday, Sam, Jen, and I were catching a cab to the taxi station - we wanted to deplace (deplacer = get a taxi just for the three of us, instead of being smushed 6 to 4 seats). One cab stopped and Sam begain bargaining prices with the driver, who seemed reluctant to lower the price. Just then, another cab stopped and motioned for me to go to him. Seeing as how a good bargaining tactic in the market here is always to begin talking to other vendors, I figured the original driver would go down to the price Sam was asking for as soon as he saw me talking to the other guy. Well, he did, and Sam called me back over to hoop in the first taxi. The second driver was none to happy. He quickly put his car in reverse and got in front of us to block our cab's path. Our driver moved around him, but the two of them quickly began to argue in Susu. I don't know what was said, but it must have been something pretty bad, cause as soon as we started to pull away the other driver jumped out of his taxi, ran back, grabbed a rock, and hurled it at us, hitting the back of our taxi. Jen and I ducked our heads, since we were sitting in the back seat and had only a plastic bag that was serving as the rear window to protect us. "Allons-y, Allons-y" we shouted at the driver. Fortunately, he listened to our cries of "Let's go, let's go and we survived the rock assault and made it to Bambeto Taxi Station.
So, just in case that wasn't enough excitement for one day, the ride back to Boke decided to give us another little surprise. Sam and I took the same taxi back up north, since we live about an hour apart. About an hour away from Boke, our taxi was speeding north on a nice stretch of road when the soldier sitting in the front seat cried out and the taxi driver hit the brakes on the taxi. "What are we stopping for?" I asked Sam. He was as clueless about the stop as I was. We soon found out though, when the driver drove in reverse for about 100 yards and stopped next to a dead monkey, a good 4-5 feet from head to tip of the tail, hanging by its tail on a stick on the side of the road. The driver got out, talked to the guy standing next to the monkey, and apparently negotiated the price of the monkey down to 20,000 FG (about 3 USD). Now, I thought the dead monkey, with its tail wrapped around its head (or somehow hooked into it, I couldn't tell) would go on the roof of the car, as animals, live or dead often do in Guinea (It really is quite funny to see a chicken or goat speeding along on the roof of a Peugeot 504). No no, this dead monkey didn't go on the roof - it got a special place, in the trunk, on top of our bags. Everyone in the car was pretty excited. "Eeeehhh, la fete a vraiment commence!" the soldier kept repeating. ("The celebration has really started now!"). It would be his family's meal for Ramadan the next day, probably going into a delicious bowl of Riz Gras (a great rice dish.) Now, I've never tried monkey, but judging by the way the Guineans were raving about it, I just may have to try monkey sometime soon! Who knows though...with all the mystery meats you get here, I very well may have tried it already.
So, just a couple stories from the past week - which was an interesting one for sure.
First of all, on Monday, Sam, Jen, and I were catching a cab to the taxi station - we wanted to deplace (deplacer = get a taxi just for the three of us, instead of being smushed 6 to 4 seats). One cab stopped and Sam begain bargaining prices with the driver, who seemed reluctant to lower the price. Just then, another cab stopped and motioned for me to go to him. Seeing as how a good bargaining tactic in the market here is always to begin talking to other vendors, I figured the original driver would go down to the price Sam was asking for as soon as he saw me talking to the other guy. Well, he did, and Sam called me back over to hoop in the first taxi. The second driver was none to happy. He quickly put his car in reverse and got in front of us to block our cab's path. Our driver moved around him, but the two of them quickly began to argue in Susu. I don't know what was said, but it must have been something pretty bad, cause as soon as we started to pull away the other driver jumped out of his taxi, ran back, grabbed a rock, and hurled it at us, hitting the back of our taxi. Jen and I ducked our heads, since we were sitting in the back seat and had only a plastic bag that was serving as the rear window to protect us. "Allons-y, Allons-y" we shouted at the driver. Fortunately, he listened to our cries of "Let's go, let's go and we survived the rock assault and made it to Bambeto Taxi Station.
So, just in case that wasn't enough excitement for one day, the ride back to Boke decided to give us another little surprise. Sam and I took the same taxi back up north, since we live about an hour apart. About an hour away from Boke, our taxi was speeding north on a nice stretch of road when the soldier sitting in the front seat cried out and the taxi driver hit the brakes on the taxi. "What are we stopping for?" I asked Sam. He was as clueless about the stop as I was. We soon found out though, when the driver drove in reverse for about 100 yards and stopped next to a dead monkey, a good 4-5 feet from head to tip of the tail, hanging by its tail on a stick on the side of the road. The driver got out, talked to the guy standing next to the monkey, and apparently negotiated the price of the monkey down to 20,000 FG (about 3 USD). Now, I thought the dead monkey, with its tail wrapped around its head (or somehow hooked into it, I couldn't tell) would go on the roof of the car, as animals, live or dead often do in Guinea (It really is quite funny to see a chicken or goat speeding along on the roof of a Peugeot 504). No no, this dead monkey didn't go on the roof - it got a special place, in the trunk, on top of our bags. Everyone in the car was pretty excited. "Eeeehhh, la fete a vraiment commence!" the soldier kept repeating. ("The celebration has really started now!"). It would be his family's meal for Ramadan the next day, probably going into a delicious bowl of Riz Gras (a great rice dish.) Now, I've never tried monkey, but judging by the way the Guineans were raving about it, I just may have to try monkey sometime soon! Who knows though...with all the mystery meats you get here, I very well may have tried it already.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006
My House, in the middle of my Street!
So, for my new and updated blog, I present to you, pictures!!! Yes, I'll still upload pics on Flickr, but this way you can see a picture relevant to my postings! So, for my inaugural photo, here's a photo of chez moi in Boke! It has to be the HOTTEST house in country...the walls around it prevent any breeze pretty much...and Boke is just HOT...
Monday, October 16, 2006
It's almost been a month at site!
Man, so its been a few weeks now since I arrived at site, sometime next week I'll complete a month. So an update on my life!
My life is starting to finally come together in Boke. The house is coming along nicely, I finally bought straw mats for the floors (which I use to take a daily nap, as laying on the straw mat on top of the cement floor is the least hot place of my house.) I've also managed to win the war against my mattresses. Originally, my mattress was bunch of rice sacks filled together and stuffed with straw. HORRIBLY uncomfortable. I didn't want to spend the money on another mattress, but I just couldn't take it and shelled out the 190,000 FG (all of about 33 dollars) for a foam mattress. Problem solved I though. NO! of course not, not in Guinea. Instead, it turns out, a foam mattress, while being more comfortable, also is ten times hotter at night, and molds to your body as you sink into the mattress, until you eventually touch the wood underneath. Still it was mroe comfortable than a straw mattress - so, to counter the now ridiculously hot nights on a foam mattress, I bough a 90,000 FG fan. Problem solved, for now anyway...
But yeah, house is coming along, I'm getting furniture made, its all good!
And teaching finally started! My classes are big, anywhere from 40-60 students in a room - and that's small compared to Guinea. Jen, for example, has like 100+ students in each class! My biggest class should be about 63 students - so, despite being a huge class, by say, American standards, I do have a fairly small and manageable number for Guinea, though I will be teaching six classes, for a total of about 350 different students. The first three days of classes went well - taught the kids greetings and numbers in English. I'm teaching Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, for 4 hours each day, so its a pretty manageable schedule. Anyone ever taught thats reading my blog? Leave me some teaching tips! At least, now that students recognize me in town, I'm starting to feel more at home in Boke. Plus, the Keke lady (Keke is a Guinean dish) gives me an extra fish for free when I buy from her, and the ginger juice lady gives me free juice in exchange for my empty water bottles! So - yeah, i'm starting to feel like I fit in a little more.
Ramadan will soon be ending (thank Allah!) and rice bars will once again be open during the day. Can't wait for that - plus, I get a few days off school. Hah...what a slacker I am. Anyway, yeah, that's the update on my life....now, off to read some political news from the US. Looks like a Democratic victory might be on the way - about damn time!! Ok, peace out! Oo'o!
My life is starting to finally come together in Boke. The house is coming along nicely, I finally bought straw mats for the floors (which I use to take a daily nap, as laying on the straw mat on top of the cement floor is the least hot place of my house.) I've also managed to win the war against my mattresses. Originally, my mattress was bunch of rice sacks filled together and stuffed with straw. HORRIBLY uncomfortable. I didn't want to spend the money on another mattress, but I just couldn't take it and shelled out the 190,000 FG (all of about 33 dollars) for a foam mattress. Problem solved I though. NO! of course not, not in Guinea. Instead, it turns out, a foam mattress, while being more comfortable, also is ten times hotter at night, and molds to your body as you sink into the mattress, until you eventually touch the wood underneath. Still it was mroe comfortable than a straw mattress - so, to counter the now ridiculously hot nights on a foam mattress, I bough a 90,000 FG fan. Problem solved, for now anyway...
But yeah, house is coming along, I'm getting furniture made, its all good!
And teaching finally started! My classes are big, anywhere from 40-60 students in a room - and that's small compared to Guinea. Jen, for example, has like 100+ students in each class! My biggest class should be about 63 students - so, despite being a huge class, by say, American standards, I do have a fairly small and manageable number for Guinea, though I will be teaching six classes, for a total of about 350 different students. The first three days of classes went well - taught the kids greetings and numbers in English. I'm teaching Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, for 4 hours each day, so its a pretty manageable schedule. Anyone ever taught thats reading my blog? Leave me some teaching tips! At least, now that students recognize me in town, I'm starting to feel more at home in Boke. Plus, the Keke lady (Keke is a Guinean dish) gives me an extra fish for free when I buy from her, and the ginger juice lady gives me free juice in exchange for my empty water bottles! So - yeah, i'm starting to feel like I fit in a little more.
Ramadan will soon be ending (thank Allah!) and rice bars will once again be open during the day. Can't wait for that - plus, I get a few days off school. Hah...what a slacker I am. Anyway, yeah, that's the update on my life....now, off to read some political news from the US. Looks like a Democratic victory might be on the way - about damn time!! Ok, peace out! Oo'o!
Random Notes Part 2 - Flooded Taxis are so much fun
Our flooded taxi ride back from Kamsar.
So a day after I arrived at site in Boke, we decided to take a little field trip into Kamsar. Unfortunately, we had to cut our trip short and skip swimming in the pool as we saw the black clouds that were growing ever larger, as the rainy season decided to finish up its last month and a half with a bang. We caught a taxi, and sure enough, it started to rain within a few minutes. Tired, I fell asleep in the taxi for a good 30 minutes, until I felt the car slow down to a complete stop. I woke up to find that it wasn't just raining - instead, the skies had parted to let an ocean of water fall upon us...the taxi driver couldn't see a thing and had decided to stop and let the rain let up a bit. Well - the rain didn't really want to let up - but the driver decided he could continue on his way nonetheless. So, the 7 of us in the car (3 in the front, including someone sitting on the stick shift - that's how we ride in Guinea!) continue on toward Boke - or at least tried to, until we got to about the Gare Routiere (like, a Carport if you will - its where the cars leave for other towns from Boke). Just as we passed there, the water seemed to have risen about 2 feet - which wasn't too much of a problem, the taxi was making it through - until someone riding up front said, "Um...I think my feet are getting wet." We laughed, thinking a little bit of water had trickled in the car, but we'd quickly be out of the cab. Then, we noticed, water wasn't trickling in the car, it was pouring in, rising about and inch every 2 seconds, until it was up to the level of the seat. The four of us in the back tried to raise our butts in the air and had our legs nearly over our heads trying to keep dry. "Ahh! I think there's a fish in here!" cried Ian. Those in the front were getting evern more wet. The water eventually got so high we had to swerve off to the side of the road and ran into a random guy's house to take shelter from the downpour, as our driver grabbed half a water bottle and scooped out the water from the flooded interior of our nearly broken down taxi. We did eventually make it back to town in a rather damp car. Ehhhh, Guinea!
So a day after I arrived at site in Boke, we decided to take a little field trip into Kamsar. Unfortunately, we had to cut our trip short and skip swimming in the pool as we saw the black clouds that were growing ever larger, as the rainy season decided to finish up its last month and a half with a bang. We caught a taxi, and sure enough, it started to rain within a few minutes. Tired, I fell asleep in the taxi for a good 30 minutes, until I felt the car slow down to a complete stop. I woke up to find that it wasn't just raining - instead, the skies had parted to let an ocean of water fall upon us...the taxi driver couldn't see a thing and had decided to stop and let the rain let up a bit. Well - the rain didn't really want to let up - but the driver decided he could continue on his way nonetheless. So, the 7 of us in the car (3 in the front, including someone sitting on the stick shift - that's how we ride in Guinea!) continue on toward Boke - or at least tried to, until we got to about the Gare Routiere (like, a Carport if you will - its where the cars leave for other towns from Boke). Just as we passed there, the water seemed to have risen about 2 feet - which wasn't too much of a problem, the taxi was making it through - until someone riding up front said, "Um...I think my feet are getting wet." We laughed, thinking a little bit of water had trickled in the car, but we'd quickly be out of the cab. Then, we noticed, water wasn't trickling in the car, it was pouring in, rising about and inch every 2 seconds, until it was up to the level of the seat. The four of us in the back tried to raise our butts in the air and had our legs nearly over our heads trying to keep dry. "Ahh! I think there's a fish in here!" cried Ian. Those in the front were getting evern more wet. The water eventually got so high we had to swerve off to the side of the road and ran into a random guy's house to take shelter from the downpour, as our driver grabbed half a water bottle and scooped out the water from the flooded interior of our nearly broken down taxi. We did eventually make it back to town in a rather damp car. Ehhhh, Guinea!
Some random notes - Part 1 "Here in Guinea"
Back in Kamsar - oh how great it is here. ANyway, there's a couple random stories/notes I wanted to post up on here from the last month or so.
Ok, random note number one- a few weeks back, just before ending training, we had a talent show in Forecariah - I spent nearly an hour and a half laughing so hard I couldn't stop crying. If only you could have been there and seen everyone's acts - unfortunately, I only remember my own act, which was performed with the rest of my Barbershop Quartet of Ben, Will, and Brian. We sang the following, to the tune of Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid. (Unfortunately, the song loses a lot if you weren't in our stage in Guinea, but enjoy it nonetheless!)
Here in Guinea
The AC is always colder
Somewhere in the USA
You dream about going back there
But that is a big Mistake.
Just look at the world around you
Right here in West Africa
Such great bush taxis surround you
What more is you looking for?
Here in Guinea,
Here in Guinea,
Darling its better, here were it's wetter
From being sweaty.
Back in the States they slave away,
In cubicles they sit all day,
While we be passing all our time laughing,
Here in Guinea.
The Fanta is always fizzy,
The fish bones stick in your teeth,
And if you want to get busy,
Just wrap it up in a sheath.
If you meet a big black mamba,
You best hope you don't look fat!
Once you've been fed by these mamas,
Well girls, good luck with that.
Here in Guinea,
Here in Guinea,
Don't use your left hand when greeting big men,
Here in Guinea.
If you drink water from the tap,
Or you hold children in your lap,
Best pray to Jesus, don't catch amoebas,
Here in Guinea.
Cam wears a purse,
Purple bags are worse,
Jeannie where's your key,
Did you flirt with me.
Check out Brian dance,
Bete comme lui de France,
Look at the sex panther go, Yeah!
Snakes scare patrick,
Beth wants some dick,
Hal thinks he can dance,
Lydia shit her pants,
Frank likes to get hurt,
Caron likes to blurt,
How are things in Dalaba!
Here in Guinea,
Here in Guinea,
Stuck here with you slobs,
Who can't find real jobs,
Here in Guinea.
It's only starting to get hot,
And you get called Fote a lot,
Let's Go Chez Vicky and drink some whiskey,
Here in Guinea!
Ok, random note number one- a few weeks back, just before ending training, we had a talent show in Forecariah - I spent nearly an hour and a half laughing so hard I couldn't stop crying. If only you could have been there and seen everyone's acts - unfortunately, I only remember my own act, which was performed with the rest of my Barbershop Quartet of Ben, Will, and Brian. We sang the following, to the tune of Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid. (Unfortunately, the song loses a lot if you weren't in our stage in Guinea, but enjoy it nonetheless!)
Here in Guinea
The AC is always colder
Somewhere in the USA
You dream about going back there
But that is a big Mistake.
Just look at the world around you
Right here in West Africa
Such great bush taxis surround you
What more is you looking for?
Here in Guinea,
Here in Guinea,
Darling its better, here were it's wetter
From being sweaty.
Back in the States they slave away,
In cubicles they sit all day,
While we be passing all our time laughing,
Here in Guinea.
The Fanta is always fizzy,
The fish bones stick in your teeth,
And if you want to get busy,
Just wrap it up in a sheath.
If you meet a big black mamba,
You best hope you don't look fat!
Once you've been fed by these mamas,
Well girls, good luck with that.
Here in Guinea,
Here in Guinea,
Don't use your left hand when greeting big men,
Here in Guinea.
If you drink water from the tap,
Or you hold children in your lap,
Best pray to Jesus, don't catch amoebas,
Here in Guinea.
Cam wears a purse,
Purple bags are worse,
Jeannie where's your key,
Did you flirt with me.
Check out Brian dance,
Bete comme lui de France,
Look at the sex panther go, Yeah!
Snakes scare patrick,
Beth wants some dick,
Hal thinks he can dance,
Lydia shit her pants,
Frank likes to get hurt,
Caron likes to blurt,
How are things in Dalaba!
Here in Guinea,
Here in Guinea,
Stuck here with you slobs,
Who can't find real jobs,
Here in Guinea.
It's only starting to get hot,
And you get called Fote a lot,
Let's Go Chez Vicky and drink some whiskey,
Here in Guinea!
Monday, October 02, 2006
Back in Boke!
Well, its what, Monday, October 2, and I'm in the great town of Kamsar, about one hour away from Boke - internet, american food, oh man, its all here....kind of...except all the grocery stores are closed today and that was the main reason I came here today. Alas, such is my luck.
But anyways, yeah, I'm finally in Boke! Been there about a week now - the first night we got there, a bunch of PCVs were there for our affectation party - which involved a lot of skol and a lot of dancing (and a lot of forcing people to dance...christ, why won't anyone dance half the time???). Anyway - it was a good time - spent some time hanging out at the Boke house, checking out the market, etc.
A few days later, i finally tackled the massive task of cleaning my house. Damn, what a job that was. You shoulda seen my place, it was covered, literally covered in spiderwebs and hundreds f spiders and bat shit. Or i think it was batshit, i havent seen any bats yet, but i hear a lot of noises coming from the ceiling. So yeah, cleaned the hell outta that place - now its at least liveable, and i'm all moved in.
Moved in is a relative term though - all my crap is in the house, and its semi arranged, except I lack all furniture except a bed a table and a chair. My little gas stove is currently sitting on the chair, and some clothes are hanging on my bike and from random nails in the walls. So, yeah, i gotta get tons of furniture made and what not - eventually i'll be really moved in. But at least I can say its my house now, which is exciting!
Tomorrow, school is supposedly starting. At least its the official date for the start of school. However, no one really know if it will start tomorrow. The government hasn't announced anything, the teachers think it wont start on time, and I certainly have no clue. So i'll show up at school tomorrow, and I'll probably discover that the school year is postponed a couple weeks or something. Ehhhh, Guinea!
So yeah, that's about all the news from me at the moment - it is kinda weird to be all by myself again after being surrounded by 30 others practically 24/7 for two and a half months. In a big way, its relaxing, but at the same time, I can't say it doesn't feel a bit lonely at times! At least the first day alone it sure did, the last couple days i've been rather busy, yesterday doing laundry (3 frikkin hours of scrubbing clothes against a washboard) and today coming into Kamsar. Plus, I had a couple visitors yesterday evening, so, hell, i'm actually not at all alone, at least not compared to someone who is "en brousse".
Ok, I'm off to get caught up on news bacn in the States and Colombia! I did see my steelers lost their second game in a row! Damn it! And to the Bengals!!! Matt Steele, if you are reading this, I currently am very angry at you!
Oh yeah, last thing - i have an address in Pittsburgh where you can send me letters!! And you better send me letters! If you have the slightest inclination to do so, write me an email and i'll give you the address - it will cost you only 39 cents to send me a letter and pictures, so you have no excuses!
Oh, really last thing - I finally posted pictures of my time in Guinea so far! The link is over on the right of the page, My Guinea Pics. But in case that link just doesn't work for ya, here's the address - http://www.flickr.com/photos/51956952@N00/sets/72157594292674638/
Ok, Peace out! Oo'o!
But anyways, yeah, I'm finally in Boke! Been there about a week now - the first night we got there, a bunch of PCVs were there for our affectation party - which involved a lot of skol and a lot of dancing (and a lot of forcing people to dance...christ, why won't anyone dance half the time???). Anyway - it was a good time - spent some time hanging out at the Boke house, checking out the market, etc.
A few days later, i finally tackled the massive task of cleaning my house. Damn, what a job that was. You shoulda seen my place, it was covered, literally covered in spiderwebs and hundreds f spiders and bat shit. Or i think it was batshit, i havent seen any bats yet, but i hear a lot of noises coming from the ceiling. So yeah, cleaned the hell outta that place - now its at least liveable, and i'm all moved in.
Moved in is a relative term though - all my crap is in the house, and its semi arranged, except I lack all furniture except a bed a table and a chair. My little gas stove is currently sitting on the chair, and some clothes are hanging on my bike and from random nails in the walls. So, yeah, i gotta get tons of furniture made and what not - eventually i'll be really moved in. But at least I can say its my house now, which is exciting!
Tomorrow, school is supposedly starting. At least its the official date for the start of school. However, no one really know if it will start tomorrow. The government hasn't announced anything, the teachers think it wont start on time, and I certainly have no clue. So i'll show up at school tomorrow, and I'll probably discover that the school year is postponed a couple weeks or something. Ehhhh, Guinea!
So yeah, that's about all the news from me at the moment - it is kinda weird to be all by myself again after being surrounded by 30 others practically 24/7 for two and a half months. In a big way, its relaxing, but at the same time, I can't say it doesn't feel a bit lonely at times! At least the first day alone it sure did, the last couple days i've been rather busy, yesterday doing laundry (3 frikkin hours of scrubbing clothes against a washboard) and today coming into Kamsar. Plus, I had a couple visitors yesterday evening, so, hell, i'm actually not at all alone, at least not compared to someone who is "en brousse".
Ok, I'm off to get caught up on news bacn in the States and Colombia! I did see my steelers lost their second game in a row! Damn it! And to the Bengals!!! Matt Steele, if you are reading this, I currently am very angry at you!
Oh yeah, last thing - i have an address in Pittsburgh where you can send me letters!! And you better send me letters! If you have the slightest inclination to do so, write me an email and i'll give you the address - it will cost you only 39 cents to send me a letter and pictures, so you have no excuses!
Oh, really last thing - I finally posted pictures of my time in Guinea so far! The link is over on the right of the page, My Guinea Pics. But in case that link just doesn't work for ya, here's the address - http://www.flickr.com/photos/51956952@N00/sets/72157594292674638/
Ok, Peace out! Oo'o!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
The Infamous River Journey
A few days ago, we had quite the adventure in a river that runs right by Forecariah – its a story worth telling, so i’ll just rewrite an excerpt from a letter to my brother that tells the whole story. Listen closely:
“So in Forecariah there is this great river we like to go swimming in. The other day, we went walking for about an hour and a half, crossing a tiny bridge made of tree branches (I nearly killed myself on it) and wading through waist high rice fields (where I nearly lost my sandals as I began to sink into the mud before being rescued by Patrick). By the time we got to the river, we were filthy and tired and ready for what we though would be a relaxing 20-30 minute float down the river. The first 30 minutes definitely were enjoyable, as the fast moving current pretty much just propelled us downstream without too much effort. But then, te river decided that it would just never end, and we could not find the beach where we were planning on jumping out of the river, the beach were we normally jumped in to swim in the river. So, our 20 minute river swim turned into an hour and a half struggle to stay afloat. Every bend in the river we hoped we would find the beach, but at every bend we were disappointed. As the swim dragged on, we began to drift further apart, hearing only our own shouts of “One more bend!” and the occasional bird that cried out in seeming mockery of our desperation. My sandals, which had already sunk in knee deep mud, had already fallen off long before in the river, as I kicked my legs in increasingly futile attempts to keep my head above water that was certain to contain at least 10 dangerous parasites. (Up to this point, I have yet to experience any symptoms of parasites burrowing in my intestinal walls, which is a good sign. Then again, there’s still two years for them to manifest themselves.) Anyways, at the end of the hour and a half, someone finally shouted, “There it is! The beach!” I grabbed my sandals in one hand, and paddled furiously with the other until i finally reached the shallow waters of the muddy strip of land we called the “beach”. Patrick threw himself downonto the sandy mounds as I attempted to regain my breath and my strength. But, at least we had made it out of the water, rather than ending my Peace Corps adventure in the muddy bottom of a Guinean river.”
So, yeah, that was a great day. I went home exhausted, and ate a massive plate of rice and sauce, then proceeded to go to the volunteer house for an abundant feast of mexican food, sangria, and crappy gin – oh it was a good night.
“So in Forecariah there is this great river we like to go swimming in. The other day, we went walking for about an hour and a half, crossing a tiny bridge made of tree branches (I nearly killed myself on it) and wading through waist high rice fields (where I nearly lost my sandals as I began to sink into the mud before being rescued by Patrick). By the time we got to the river, we were filthy and tired and ready for what we though would be a relaxing 20-30 minute float down the river. The first 30 minutes definitely were enjoyable, as the fast moving current pretty much just propelled us downstream without too much effort. But then, te river decided that it would just never end, and we could not find the beach where we were planning on jumping out of the river, the beach were we normally jumped in to swim in the river. So, our 20 minute river swim turned into an hour and a half struggle to stay afloat. Every bend in the river we hoped we would find the beach, but at every bend we were disappointed. As the swim dragged on, we began to drift further apart, hearing only our own shouts of “One more bend!” and the occasional bird that cried out in seeming mockery of our desperation. My sandals, which had already sunk in knee deep mud, had already fallen off long before in the river, as I kicked my legs in increasingly futile attempts to keep my head above water that was certain to contain at least 10 dangerous parasites. (Up to this point, I have yet to experience any symptoms of parasites burrowing in my intestinal walls, which is a good sign. Then again, there’s still two years for them to manifest themselves.) Anyways, at the end of the hour and a half, someone finally shouted, “There it is! The beach!” I grabbed my sandals in one hand, and paddled furiously with the other until i finally reached the shallow waters of the muddy strip of land we called the “beach”. Patrick threw himself downonto the sandy mounds as I attempted to regain my breath and my strength. But, at least we had made it out of the water, rather than ending my Peace Corps adventure in the muddy bottom of a Guinean river.”
So, yeah, that was a great day. I went home exhausted, and ate a massive plate of rice and sauce, then proceeded to go to the volunteer house for an abundant feast of mexican food, sangria, and crappy gin – oh it was a good night.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Stage is almost over! Crazy!
So - second blog entry of the day - this one on everything except practice school.
So training is almost coming to a close! Man - time is crazy in Guinea. The days draaaaag on - mostly cause i'm in class from 8-5 and then the evenings FLY by - overall, time has flow by - I can't believe it's almost 2 months since I arrived in Guinea!
We have about 3 more weeks till Affectation (when we become official Peace Corps Volunteers) and I'm psyched. I'm getting ready for training to be over - its fun (at times) but you NEVER have time for yourself. I feel like I'm getting people overload. Of course, I know i'll be saying, DAMN, i wish i had people near me in about a month, but, such is the life of a Peace Corps volunteer! I'm just excited to finally move to my new house, buy all my new furniture and decorate, start teaching at my actual school, and be able to relax a little bit. During training, there is not one second of down time - its nuts.
Anyway - on other news, Jen and I made my host family "fote" food the other day! Fettucini alfredo! And DAMN was it good!! Oh man, it was soooooo good to NOT eat rice and sauce. It was actually surprisingly easy to make with local ingredients (butter, condensed milk, laughing cow cheese, flour, and garlic) but expensive. Although with 35,000 FG (about 6 dollars) we did manage to feed 14 people! Remember though, we get 20 dollars every two weeks - so six dollars is hella expensive! But anyways, yeah, it was soooooooo worth the 35,000 FG. Tomorrow, we will be making spaghetti with tomato sauce and garlic bread for Jen's family - that should be equally awesome.
In other news, the worst month (supposedly) of rainy season just ended - only 3 more months of rain left!! I still have yet to buy an umbrella - I'm really an idiot - it rains like crazy here, EVERY day. But here's my logic - when its not raining, I don't need an umbrella, so I don't buy it when its not raining. When it's raining, they raise the prices of the umbrellas, so I don't buy it when it IS raining. So i'm just constantly wet. At least I've finally managed to adjust to temperatures and am not constantly sweating.
In other news, I commissioned my first couple Guinean outfits from the tailor - 3 bucks to get two shirts and two pants made! I'm sure I look ridiculous, but its still fun to wear Guinean clothes - and the Guineans LOVE it - they crack up at the site of a "fote" in African clothes.
Finally - I'm learning Susu!! It's great - I can actually buy things at the market now with my susu skills - like, "muluxunyi yeri a ra?" (how much are the lemons?) or "A sare xoroxo!!" (That is too expensive!!!) .
Alright, well, my internet time is running out - I promise I will post pictures in a few weeks, once we come to conakry for a few days for affectation!
O'oo!! (Bye!!)
So training is almost coming to a close! Man - time is crazy in Guinea. The days draaaaag on - mostly cause i'm in class from 8-5 and then the evenings FLY by - overall, time has flow by - I can't believe it's almost 2 months since I arrived in Guinea!
We have about 3 more weeks till Affectation (when we become official Peace Corps Volunteers) and I'm psyched. I'm getting ready for training to be over - its fun (at times) but you NEVER have time for yourself. I feel like I'm getting people overload. Of course, I know i'll be saying, DAMN, i wish i had people near me in about a month, but, such is the life of a Peace Corps volunteer! I'm just excited to finally move to my new house, buy all my new furniture and decorate, start teaching at my actual school, and be able to relax a little bit. During training, there is not one second of down time - its nuts.
Anyway - on other news, Jen and I made my host family "fote" food the other day! Fettucini alfredo! And DAMN was it good!! Oh man, it was soooooo good to NOT eat rice and sauce. It was actually surprisingly easy to make with local ingredients (butter, condensed milk, laughing cow cheese, flour, and garlic) but expensive. Although with 35,000 FG (about 6 dollars) we did manage to feed 14 people! Remember though, we get 20 dollars every two weeks - so six dollars is hella expensive! But anyways, yeah, it was soooooooo worth the 35,000 FG. Tomorrow, we will be making spaghetti with tomato sauce and garlic bread for Jen's family - that should be equally awesome.
In other news, the worst month (supposedly) of rainy season just ended - only 3 more months of rain left!! I still have yet to buy an umbrella - I'm really an idiot - it rains like crazy here, EVERY day. But here's my logic - when its not raining, I don't need an umbrella, so I don't buy it when its not raining. When it's raining, they raise the prices of the umbrellas, so I don't buy it when it IS raining. So i'm just constantly wet. At least I've finally managed to adjust to temperatures and am not constantly sweating.
In other news, I commissioned my first couple Guinean outfits from the tailor - 3 bucks to get two shirts and two pants made! I'm sure I look ridiculous, but its still fun to wear Guinean clothes - and the Guineans LOVE it - they crack up at the site of a "fote" in African clothes.
Finally - I'm learning Susu!! It's great - I can actually buy things at the market now with my susu skills - like, "muluxunyi yeri a ra?" (how much are the lemons?) or "A sare xoroxo!!" (That is too expensive!!!) .
Alright, well, my internet time is running out - I promise I will post pictures in a few weeks, once we come to conakry for a few days for affectation!
O'oo!! (Bye!!)
Oh, You Gotta Love Teaching English in Guinea!
Ok, so it's been a month since I last updated my blog - I came to conakry once since then, but barely had time to get some emails sent off. Im back in Conakry, and hopefully I'll be able to get a couple decent entries up!
So, first entry - teaching English in Guinea. I haven't really started teaching at my high school (the school year here starts in October). Rather, I've been teaching for two weeks now in Forecariah with all the other trainees, giving summer course to the towns students in a sort of "practice school" us. And oh man, let me tell you - it's hilarious teaching these students at times.
My students are anywhere from 16-25 - and their english level varies hugely. But teaching is a lot of fun, I've really been enjoying working with them so far. Because it's summer classes, it's mostly really motivated students who are there, so I imagine it may be harder once I get to Boke, but at least its good to know that I really do enjoy the job i'll be doing for the next two years.
A few of my classes highlights:
Some of these kids barely know english, but they know random obscure verbs, like smitten, and flog. Examples from homework I have received:
"The worst thing I have done is flogged my sister."
"I'm sorry. I did not mean to flog your sister, but I did not know she was your sister. "
As soon as I saw that example on the board of course I had to tell them it is not good to flog anybody's sister, even if you don't know her. Apparently - my students enjoy flogging their sisters. For those who do not know what "to flog" is: To beat severely with a whip or rod.
Another wonderful thing about my guinean students. We were doing superlatives and the present perfect - for example: The most beautiful place I have seen is Guinea. The best food I have eaten is rice.
So what other examples did my students give me?: "The most handsome man I have seen is Mr. Forero." and "The strongest man I have seen is Mr. Forero."
Nothing like an english class to boost your ego! So, I decided to go searching for compliments of my own, and on the test put the following question. "Who is the most intelligent person you have met?"
Well, there were two students who said Albert Einstein, one who said Isaac Newtwon, one who said Victor Hugo, another who said Bill Gates, and FOURTEEN who said, "The most intelligent person I have met is Mr. Forero." Oh, I loved it!! Once I get to Boke, I will constantly make questions to get compliments from my students.
Haha...anyway - so far I have taught two grade levels, 12th and Terminale (the last grade in high school.) Next week, I teach 11th grade, which is the begginer level in English in Guinea. Only one more week of practice school though - then, in three weeks, I officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer instead of Peace Corps trainee!
Oh - other funny things about teaching - Guineans draw hilarious pictures!! With my 12th grade class, we were learning animal names and properties - I had them draw a dog. The smartest kid in the class raised his hand to draw a dog on the flip chart paper- now this kid is great at english - not so talented at drawing. But in his barely recognizable drawing of a dog, he did manage to put in a fully recognizable penis and anus. hahaha...as soon as I can, i will take a picture of the picture and post it. Ahh - anyway - teaching itself is a blast - the lesson planning sucks ass.
But if my students continue drawing dogs with penises and saying Mr. Forero is the most intelligent person they have known, I think I could get used to teaching.
So, first entry - teaching English in Guinea. I haven't really started teaching at my high school (the school year here starts in October). Rather, I've been teaching for two weeks now in Forecariah with all the other trainees, giving summer course to the towns students in a sort of "practice school" us. And oh man, let me tell you - it's hilarious teaching these students at times.
My students are anywhere from 16-25 - and their english level varies hugely. But teaching is a lot of fun, I've really been enjoying working with them so far. Because it's summer classes, it's mostly really motivated students who are there, so I imagine it may be harder once I get to Boke, but at least its good to know that I really do enjoy the job i'll be doing for the next two years.
A few of my classes highlights:
Some of these kids barely know english, but they know random obscure verbs, like smitten, and flog. Examples from homework I have received:
"The worst thing I have done is flogged my sister."
"I'm sorry. I did not mean to flog your sister, but I did not know she was your sister. "
As soon as I saw that example on the board of course I had to tell them it is not good to flog anybody's sister, even if you don't know her. Apparently - my students enjoy flogging their sisters. For those who do not know what "to flog" is: To beat severely with a whip or rod.
Another wonderful thing about my guinean students. We were doing superlatives and the present perfect - for example: The most beautiful place I have seen is Guinea. The best food I have eaten is rice.
So what other examples did my students give me?: "The most handsome man I have seen is Mr. Forero." and "The strongest man I have seen is Mr. Forero."
Nothing like an english class to boost your ego! So, I decided to go searching for compliments of my own, and on the test put the following question. "Who is the most intelligent person you have met?"
Well, there were two students who said Albert Einstein, one who said Isaac Newtwon, one who said Victor Hugo, another who said Bill Gates, and FOURTEEN who said, "The most intelligent person I have met is Mr. Forero." Oh, I loved it!! Once I get to Boke, I will constantly make questions to get compliments from my students.
Haha...anyway - so far I have taught two grade levels, 12th and Terminale (the last grade in high school.) Next week, I teach 11th grade, which is the begginer level in English in Guinea. Only one more week of practice school though - then, in three weeks, I officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer instead of Peace Corps trainee!
Oh - other funny things about teaching - Guineans draw hilarious pictures!! With my 12th grade class, we were learning animal names and properties - I had them draw a dog. The smartest kid in the class raised his hand to draw a dog on the flip chart paper- now this kid is great at english - not so talented at drawing. But in his barely recognizable drawing of a dog, he did manage to put in a fully recognizable penis and anus. hahaha...as soon as I can, i will take a picture of the picture and post it. Ahh - anyway - teaching itself is a blast - the lesson planning sucks ass.
But if my students continue drawing dogs with penises and saying Mr. Forero is the most intelligent person they have known, I think I could get used to teaching.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
One Month in Africa - Part Two
Ok, so the first post was about the food in Guinea, and yes, I did get lazy toward the end. I was feeling rushed by the 6 people sitting behind me waiting to use the computer! But, at least now, I should have a few extra minutes to write up a couple more parts to my blog. So, next part - living in Africa. Just in general what life is like here....unless you've been here, I really can't begin to describe it just right, but its worth trying just the same. So, for part two of my month in Africa blog, I present to you - another top 10 list.
10. The rain here is awesome. Like, ridiculously awesome. For one, it cools everything down. Which is GREAT. But even better, you can see and hear rain coming, and within ten seconds, will have the strongest storm you've ever experienced in your life - so loud that you cannot hear anyone in the classroom unless they scream at you - and then, as quickly as it came, the rain disappears.
9. Doing laundry is the biggest workout ever. So let me explain how laundry is done here in Guinea. You take four buckets. Put soap in first two. Wash clothes by rubbing clothes together and against wrists in first two buckets. Rinse in other two buckets. Hang on line from house to mango tree. Hope to God it doesn't rain (it always will rain, so the hoping is in vain.) Repeat. Oh, and it takes about 3 hours to do, while my host family laughs at my attempts at clothes washing.
8. Going to the bathroom and taking a shower is buckets of fun. Ha...stupid attempt at joke...i say a joke, beacuse my showers are in fact bucket baths. In the mornings, my host mom heats up water over a fire, puts it in a bucket, and I proceed to take a bucket bath in my bathroom. The bucket bath area is right next to the hole in the ground where one squats to do one's business. Don't miss the hole though! Lots of fun.
7. Your food walks freely around your yard. By this, I mean the chickens which my host brothers and sisters were chasing around my dirt yard became my lunch. I know i mentioned this earlier, but it just cracks me up. Especially when I try to guess what animal is it that I'll be eating today. (You can count on it being fish, which does NOT run around my yard...just sits out in market stalls looking and smelling gross.)
6. My host family is awesome, but big!! In my house, i have my host mom and dad, brother, two aunts, grandmother, cousins (five of them), and me. But at any given moment I have at least 5 other kids running around the house.
5. I get currently paid about 100,000 guinean francs a week. That's a whopping 20 dollars every 14 days!!! And somehow, it lasts! A beer is 3,000 FG (60 cents), a coke is 1000 FG (20 cents), a pineapple is 2000 FG (40 cents), and a HUGE plate of rice and sauce is 1500 FG (25 cents).
4. Playing soccer here is awesome - at any given moment you can go out and find a soccer game going on, and holy crap do they play hard core. Plus, they all play in uncomfortable plastic sandals, making it all the more impressive. And they get a kick out of seeing white people play.
3. Paying for anything is tons of fun! They only try to rip you off every chance they get! So of course, before buying pretty much anything, you have to go through the 5 minute ritual of price negotiation. This is always a fun time - and even when you finish, you find another trainee who was able to get a better price than you.
2. Living without electricity is really not so bad! When we're lucky, we might have 2 solid hours of electricity at night. Most days, its hit and miss, and RARELY any electricity during the day. But ya know, you get used to doing everything with a flashlight. Oh yes, and roosters and the Muslim call to prayer wake you up every morning at 6 am.
1. "Fote! Fote! Fote!" This is ALL you hear when you walk around, as a horde of little people (i.e. guinean kids) realizes that a fote (white person) is coming their way. Oh man, and they never get sick of shouting it! I've been in the same village a solid 4 weeks, and they still don't get sick of calling me or any of the other trainees that. Oh, its fun being a Fote in Africa!
10. The rain here is awesome. Like, ridiculously awesome. For one, it cools everything down. Which is GREAT. But even better, you can see and hear rain coming, and within ten seconds, will have the strongest storm you've ever experienced in your life - so loud that you cannot hear anyone in the classroom unless they scream at you - and then, as quickly as it came, the rain disappears.
9. Doing laundry is the biggest workout ever. So let me explain how laundry is done here in Guinea. You take four buckets. Put soap in first two. Wash clothes by rubbing clothes together and against wrists in first two buckets. Rinse in other two buckets. Hang on line from house to mango tree. Hope to God it doesn't rain (it always will rain, so the hoping is in vain.) Repeat. Oh, and it takes about 3 hours to do, while my host family laughs at my attempts at clothes washing.
8. Going to the bathroom and taking a shower is buckets of fun. Ha...stupid attempt at joke...i say a joke, beacuse my showers are in fact bucket baths. In the mornings, my host mom heats up water over a fire, puts it in a bucket, and I proceed to take a bucket bath in my bathroom. The bucket bath area is right next to the hole in the ground where one squats to do one's business. Don't miss the hole though! Lots of fun.
7. Your food walks freely around your yard. By this, I mean the chickens which my host brothers and sisters were chasing around my dirt yard became my lunch. I know i mentioned this earlier, but it just cracks me up. Especially when I try to guess what animal is it that I'll be eating today. (You can count on it being fish, which does NOT run around my yard...just sits out in market stalls looking and smelling gross.)
6. My host family is awesome, but big!! In my house, i have my host mom and dad, brother, two aunts, grandmother, cousins (five of them), and me. But at any given moment I have at least 5 other kids running around the house.
5. I get currently paid about 100,000 guinean francs a week. That's a whopping 20 dollars every 14 days!!! And somehow, it lasts! A beer is 3,000 FG (60 cents), a coke is 1000 FG (20 cents), a pineapple is 2000 FG (40 cents), and a HUGE plate of rice and sauce is 1500 FG (25 cents).
4. Playing soccer here is awesome - at any given moment you can go out and find a soccer game going on, and holy crap do they play hard core. Plus, they all play in uncomfortable plastic sandals, making it all the more impressive. And they get a kick out of seeing white people play.
3. Paying for anything is tons of fun! They only try to rip you off every chance they get! So of course, before buying pretty much anything, you have to go through the 5 minute ritual of price negotiation. This is always a fun time - and even when you finish, you find another trainee who was able to get a better price than you.
2. Living without electricity is really not so bad! When we're lucky, we might have 2 solid hours of electricity at night. Most days, its hit and miss, and RARELY any electricity during the day. But ya know, you get used to doing everything with a flashlight. Oh yes, and roosters and the Muslim call to prayer wake you up every morning at 6 am.
1. "Fote! Fote! Fote!" This is ALL you hear when you walk around, as a horde of little people (i.e. guinean kids) realizes that a fote (white person) is coming their way. Oh man, and they never get sick of shouting it! I've been in the same village a solid 4 weeks, and they still don't get sick of calling me or any of the other trainees that. Oh, its fun being a Fote in Africa!
One Month in Africa - Part One
Wow, so it's been a frikkin month since I hopped on a flight for Philadelphia to go to my staging for the Peace Corps. It's been one crazy ass month - my life is sooo completely different from anything I've ever experienced - so much so in fact, that I gotta update my blog in a few different parts. This first part shall focus on the food in Guinea - it merits its own section. Oh, and, for the sake of...making lists I guess, I'm going to present these first few posts in a top 10 (or whatever number fits) list.
Ok, so Guinean food.
10. Rice and sauce. Rice and sauce. Rice and sauce. Guinean food revolves around rice and sauce. Rice with soup sauce, rice with leaf sauce, rice with peanut sauce. Every meal pretty much includes rice and sauce. And I have found a GREAT rice and sauce place. Stall 122 in the forecariah market. IF you're ever in Forecariah, Guinea (and I don't know why you would be) go there and get a plate for 1,500 FG (or about 25 cents in the US).
9. The market is crazy!!! There are no grocery stores, just open markets with numerous stalls, where you can buy anything from nasty looking smoked fish taht sits out all day, to Eminem t-shirts or cucumbers and pineapples. When I say anything, the choices really are not that varied. And its crowded as hell, and you get the "fote" or white person price and have to negotiate for EVERYTHING.
8. Oil, oil, and oil. Guineans love their oil. Almost as much as they love their rice. They put waayyyyy too much oil in their food, but you learn to love it! So far, its had no ill effects on my stomach. So far.
7. I have a mango tree in my yard. And I love it. I get fresh mangoes all the time. And, new dish - go out an d buy some mangoes, peel them, boil them, and put sugar. Oh so good. '
6. Mystery meat is the name of the game. Guineans are 90% muslim. So, you know that chances are that you won't be eating pork. But is it beef? Goat? Sheep? Dog? Or even porcupine? Who knows...but you learn to love it...or essentially become vegetarian, as I pretty much have.
5. A keke is fucking awesome. I know this means nothing to you, but "A keke" is ground manioch with cucumber, onion, piment (pepper), and fish (if its not for breakfast.). But it rocks.
4. People feed you like crazy here in Guinea. They expected you to eat TONS and TONS of rice. And when you've had your fill, and half the plate is still left, they say, il faut manger, il faut augmenter! (You must eat, you must eat more!) When will guineans know that you can only handle so much rice and sauce.
3. Gateaus are great.
2. Fruits are great, especially when you get em off the tree. My friend Jen's sister gives me Guava from the tree, pineapple is found all the time, avocados are always fresh, and yeah, taht goes for all fruits. Sorry for #2 kind of sucking, but I was just focusing on #1.
1. I was doing laundry in my yard, by hand, looking at the chickens running around my front yard under the mango tree. After a little while I notice the chickens aren't making so much noise. I turn around, and see my little brothers plucking the chickens that had been running my yard the past couple weeks. Yes, they then went into my rice with sauce. It was tasty.
Ok, so Guinean food.
10. Rice and sauce. Rice and sauce. Rice and sauce. Guinean food revolves around rice and sauce. Rice with soup sauce, rice with leaf sauce, rice with peanut sauce. Every meal pretty much includes rice and sauce. And I have found a GREAT rice and sauce place. Stall 122 in the forecariah market. IF you're ever in Forecariah, Guinea (and I don't know why you would be) go there and get a plate for 1,500 FG (or about 25 cents in the US).
9. The market is crazy!!! There are no grocery stores, just open markets with numerous stalls, where you can buy anything from nasty looking smoked fish taht sits out all day, to Eminem t-shirts or cucumbers and pineapples. When I say anything, the choices really are not that varied. And its crowded as hell, and you get the "fote" or white person price and have to negotiate for EVERYTHING.
8. Oil, oil, and oil. Guineans love their oil. Almost as much as they love their rice. They put waayyyyy too much oil in their food, but you learn to love it! So far, its had no ill effects on my stomach. So far.
7. I have a mango tree in my yard. And I love it. I get fresh mangoes all the time. And, new dish - go out an d buy some mangoes, peel them, boil them, and put sugar. Oh so good. '
6. Mystery meat is the name of the game. Guineans are 90% muslim. So, you know that chances are that you won't be eating pork. But is it beef? Goat? Sheep? Dog? Or even porcupine? Who knows...but you learn to love it...or essentially become vegetarian, as I pretty much have.
5. A keke is fucking awesome. I know this means nothing to you, but "A keke" is ground manioch with cucumber, onion, piment (pepper), and fish (if its not for breakfast.). But it rocks.
4. People feed you like crazy here in Guinea. They expected you to eat TONS and TONS of rice. And when you've had your fill, and half the plate is still left, they say, il faut manger, il faut augmenter! (You must eat, you must eat more!) When will guineans know that you can only handle so much rice and sauce.
3. Gateaus are great.
2. Fruits are great, especially when you get em off the tree. My friend Jen's sister gives me Guava from the tree, pineapple is found all the time, avocados are always fresh, and yeah, taht goes for all fruits. Sorry for #2 kind of sucking, but I was just focusing on #1.
1. I was doing laundry in my yard, by hand, looking at the chickens running around my front yard under the mango tree. After a little while I notice the chickens aren't making so much noise. I turn around, and see my little brothers plucking the chickens that had been running my yard the past couple weeks. Yes, they then went into my rice with sauce. It was tasty.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
I'm in AFRICA!
Hey! SO its my first blog update from Africa! Well, ive been here about 5 days so far, but it feels like 5 weeks. So much has happened in the last few days, just between meeting 35 totally new people I didn't know before, to becoming paranoid of malaria filled mosquitos.
Let me begin though, by saying that Guinea is an absolutely beautiful country. Currently, Im in Mamou, a town in the Fouta region of Guinea. It's a mountanous, and currently rainy, region where passing gorgeous waterfalls is not uncommon. And people in Guinea are absolutely some of the friendliest people I've ever met!
Stepping off the plane 5 days ago in Conakry was a bit of a shock. Stepping outside, it was almost as if i were stepping into a lake, the air was so humid. Conakry is a busy, bustling city, though very underdeveloped and having few paved roads. We stayed just a night there, before moving on to Mamou the following morning.
The people in my "stage" have all been pretty cool. I've met a bunch of ppl, and am starting to form some good friendships. Of course, there will always also be some times when you just feel like you can't spend another hour surrounded by 30 people (its been fairly nonstop, i haven't had time to read a single page in my book) but overall, its has been absolutely great.
I'm definitely psyched about my next two years here. Im glad I got that internship at the Peace Corps this spring, if not, who knows, i might be hitting myself over law school financial aid instead of listening to massive thunderstorms approaching as I look out over the mountains of Africa! This definitely kicks the ass of anything I could be doing in the US right now.
Well, lots of us are wanting to use the computers here, so I don't want to take much more time. OVer the next couple months, don't expect to hear from me much...i'll only have access to internet on Two occasions, between now and september. So get those letters going. I'll be sending letters home soon.
Tomorrow, we leave for Forecariah - where we'll meet our host families, the family we'll be living with for 11 weeks. Should be a good time. Alright all - Don't forget to write! I'm off to play some ultimate frisbee now that we're finally done w/ training for the day! Peace.
Let me begin though, by saying that Guinea is an absolutely beautiful country. Currently, Im in Mamou, a town in the Fouta region of Guinea. It's a mountanous, and currently rainy, region where passing gorgeous waterfalls is not uncommon. And people in Guinea are absolutely some of the friendliest people I've ever met!
Stepping off the plane 5 days ago in Conakry was a bit of a shock. Stepping outside, it was almost as if i were stepping into a lake, the air was so humid. Conakry is a busy, bustling city, though very underdeveloped and having few paved roads. We stayed just a night there, before moving on to Mamou the following morning.
The people in my "stage" have all been pretty cool. I've met a bunch of ppl, and am starting to form some good friendships. Of course, there will always also be some times when you just feel like you can't spend another hour surrounded by 30 people (its been fairly nonstop, i haven't had time to read a single page in my book) but overall, its has been absolutely great.
I'm definitely psyched about my next two years here. Im glad I got that internship at the Peace Corps this spring, if not, who knows, i might be hitting myself over law school financial aid instead of listening to massive thunderstorms approaching as I look out over the mountains of Africa! This definitely kicks the ass of anything I could be doing in the US right now.
Well, lots of us are wanting to use the computers here, so I don't want to take much more time. OVer the next couple months, don't expect to hear from me much...i'll only have access to internet on Two occasions, between now and september. So get those letters going. I'll be sending letters home soon.
Tomorrow, we leave for Forecariah - where we'll meet our host families, the family we'll be living with for 11 weeks. Should be a good time. Alright all - Don't forget to write! I'm off to play some ultimate frisbee now that we're finally done w/ training for the day! Peace.
Friday, July 07, 2006
And I'm off!!!
Hey everyone...so, staging has ended, I've done the icebreakers, I've received my malaria shots and meds, and I'm off to JFK in a bit! We'll be arriving in Guinea on Saturday around 6 PM, and I'm ridiculously psyched. Everybody I've met here has been awesome, its 28 of us headed over (only one dropped). So, expect updates from me eventually at some point! Au revoir!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Where in the world is Guinea?
Ok, so before I left tomorrow, I thought everyone might want a geography lesson as to where I'm going. I'm going to be teaching English in the West African country of Guinea. The first question everyone always asks as soon as I say that is, "Guinea? As in, New Guinea?" No no...that's way over by Australia. I'm going to be going to one of the three Guineas in Africa. There's Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau. Then there's Guinea. How do you find it on a map? Well, as my friend Jim so eloquently put it last night, it's north of South Africa. Yes Jim, that technically IS accurate, but EVERYTHING in Africa is north of South Africa. So, without further ado, I present to you, Guinea on a map.
That's Guinea. And this too is Guinea, a little more upclose, brought to you by the friendly folks at the CIA world factbook.
So there you have it ppl. Now all of you know exactly where Guinea is located. And now, I must return to packing. Haven't accomplished much since yesterday, and I leave in less than 24 hours for staging! Peace out.
That's Guinea. And this too is Guinea, a little more upclose, brought to you by the friendly folks at the CIA world factbook.
So there you have it ppl. Now all of you know exactly where Guinea is located. And now, I must return to packing. Haven't accomplished much since yesterday, and I leave in less than 24 hours for staging! Peace out.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Address and other assorted info...
Well, that whole going back to packing idea really turned out well. It lasted all of 23 seconds. Ok, so here is my address while I'm off in Guinea (at least for the first three months I think). Remember, send care packages! I think I only ever got one care package over 4 years at college - that average better increase in the Peace Corps! Feel free to send everything and anything to:
Camilo Forero
Corps de la Paix Americain
B.P. 1927
Conakry, Guinea
West Africa
Ok, really packing now. Riiiiight.
Camilo Forero
Corps de la Paix Americain
B.P. 1927
Conakry, Guinea
West Africa
Ok, really packing now. Riiiiight.
Man, I really should just go with the clothes on my back...
I'm packing, packing, and packing. That's been my life for the past 120 hours. Packing the apartment, then unpacking the cars, now packing for Peace Corps - and it just never ends.
Anyway, in, oh, about 100 hours I'll be on a plane Africa bound - it hasn't totally sunk in yet that I'm actually going to Guinea for two years. I know I'm going, I'm excited that I'm going, but it's still kinda not totally sinking in. I'm sure I won't fully realize it until I step off the plane in Guinea - but at any rate, I'm psyched.
Not so much about packing though - ahh, I swear, packing up your life for a couple of years in a couple bags sucks. I don't know if I'm taking too little, or maybe taking too much. Why can't there be some RPCV from Guinea here to just do my packing for me and tell me what I'll actually need. I think I spend half my time looking at my pile of clothes and other assorted items getting stressed about packing, rather than actually doing any sorting/packing. The other half the time I spend complaining about my packing on a blog. Ok, enough of this...I just had to put something as my first post, and complaning about my packing only seemed appropriate! Back to packing. Peace.
Anyway, in, oh, about 100 hours I'll be on a plane Africa bound - it hasn't totally sunk in yet that I'm actually going to Guinea for two years. I know I'm going, I'm excited that I'm going, but it's still kinda not totally sinking in. I'm sure I won't fully realize it until I step off the plane in Guinea - but at any rate, I'm psyched.
Not so much about packing though - ahh, I swear, packing up your life for a couple of years in a couple bags sucks. I don't know if I'm taking too little, or maybe taking too much. Why can't there be some RPCV from Guinea here to just do my packing for me and tell me what I'll actually need. I think I spend half my time looking at my pile of clothes and other assorted items getting stressed about packing, rather than actually doing any sorting/packing. The other half the time I spend complaining about my packing on a blog. Ok, enough of this...I just had to put something as my first post, and complaning about my packing only seemed appropriate! Back to packing. Peace.
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