The other morning I sat down at a table for breakfast with a couple of bananas, an orange, and a baguette. As I turned to pull up a chair I heard a crashing sound as a monkey FLEW over the table and landed on the other side of the room with my banana. Jerk. I’m back in Mamou for Teacher’s Conference. Education PCVs in math and science invited Guinean teachers from their villages to meet and discuss teaching techniques. The conference is a good idea since the traditional method of teaching here involves kids copying pages and pages of information from [View Full Entry]

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I know I told everyone not to send emails and to write letters instead. Well it turns out the Guinean postal service has not been delivering any letters from the US. Apparently they open them to see if there is any money inside, then throw them out. All the volunteers have had good luck receiving packages, but almost no letters have come through. As a result, I haven’t heard from anyone the whole time I’ve been here. So how is everything back home or wherever you’re living?? I just heard that the Tigers are in the World Series…holy crap! What the [View Full Entry]

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Hope you’ve all got lots of time to kill at work! This is the longest update you’re gonna see. It’s broken into topics, so skip around. Let me know if you have any questions or want more details. Enjoy! BACK IN LABE… I’ve survived my first month in the African bush, and despite the lack of certain luxuries it’s been a pleasant change from training in the dirty city. I’m now back in Labe for some shopping, a meeting, and a Halloween party. I left Kourou Wednesday afternoon and biked to Gongoret, where I can catch a taxi. I stayed with [View Full Entry]

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It's hard to believe I've been in Guinea for almost 3 months, the longest I've ever been away from the US. Looking back at pictures from before we left, I see that most of the trainees have changed a bit. The guys are generally shaggier and skinnier, several of the girls cut off their long hair. Our American clothes are faded, stretched, and bleach-spotted from washboards and harsh soap. Most of us have acquired some Guinean clothes as well, but I don't really know what mine look like on because there are no mirrors anywhere. With no mirrors to remind you [View Full Entry]

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We’ve finished training! Woohoo! After returning from the conference in Mamou, we had a few days to pack up and say goodbye to our host families. I gave my family a few gifts, mostly trinkets from the US, toys for the kids, nice-smelling lotion for my host mom, a necklace for my host sister, and a chicken. Yes, I went to the market and purchased a live chicken. The people who sell the chickens were between the gare (where all the beat up taxis are) and the people who sell buckets and frying pans. After asking around about prices to make [View Full Entry]

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Outside Forecariah is a great spot where volunteers and trainees go to swim in a large river. The scenery there is beautiful - high mountains and rocky plateaus rising in the distance, palm trees sticking up from the lush greenery that crowds the riverbank. At our swimming area the bank has been cleared to produce a landing for dugout canoes that carry goods to villages on the other side. The little beach provides a great place to cool off in the afternoon, peaceful and secluded since the locals don’t like to swim. During the aforementioned bike adventure we discovered a [View Full Entry]

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Last night we arrived in Mamou for the final part of our Pre-Service Training: Counterpart Workshop. I met my future principal and spent the day discussing the role of the Peace Corps volunteer in the village. My principal is also the French teacher in the college (le college = French for middle school), and he seems very friendly and willing to help me out. It’s nice to be in Mamou, in the mountains, again. It’s probably 75 degrees here but it feels cool compared to the low, humid costal region where we’ve spent the summer. Since my last update I have [View Full Entry]

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One afternoon I decided to take a break from lesson planning to go for a bike ride with two other trainees, Frank and Patrick, who both might be a little on the crazy side. Patrick was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Gambia for the last two years, and is extending his service for a third year in Guinea. Frank worked as a chemical engineer for a few years, then became a teacher before running an Ironman and then joining the Peace Corps. They led me and two others, Hal and Sara, across a couple of large streams for a [View Full Entry]

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*Though Forecariah is a "city," sheep and goats wander the streets and often get in the way of cars. Any food dropped on the ground is quickly devoured by chickens, who wander into the house to escape the rain. *The electricity comes on randomly, for an average of about 2 hours per day. I've taken to cheering when it turns on and booing when it turns off. If the current is on, the family's TV is also on, in addition to a broken radio that has been playing one of two or three cassettes for the last month and a half. [View Full Entry]

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Hey everyone! I'm visiting Conakry for my last chance to use internet until the end of September. So far the city has lots of large but dilapidated buildings, muddy streets, and cars with crazy drivers and no traffic laws. We had the rare opportuinty to go to a European supermarket where I got real cheese and yogurt!! (though it cost me a week's pay) I had fun in Labe on the rest of my site visit. Labe has a huge market that I wandered in for hours before buying some local jewelry and fabric. It is set up like a labarynth [View Full Entry]

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