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.

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!

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.

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.

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.