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.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
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!
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