Visiting Conakry

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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 of stalls and narrow aisles, mostly covered with scrap tin that keeps most of the rain out. You can find almost anything you need there, if you spend enough time dodging crowds, pickpockets, and mudpuddles.

The bush taxi ride back to Forecariah took all of last Sunday. We broke down for about four hours in a town we call Vulture Village after the giant ugly birds that are all over the place there. We got lunch at a rice bar and then sat on a bench in the heat of the day while our driver worked on the brakes and local kids entertained themselves by staring at the odd group of foreigners. This is normal for bush taxis - you'll get there eventually, but there will be delays. One of the trainees had an overnight delay on his trip to Kankan...he ended up getting a few hours of sleep on a prayer mat in the back of a shop somewhere!

This week we had a language assessment and Peace Corps decided that my French is not awful, so I get to start learning the local language of my village - Pulaar. I also taught my first lesson with real Guinean students yesterday, a 10th grade lesson on Pythagorean Theorem. It was only about 12 students and I think most of them had failed 10th grade once already, but I was still proud that they seemed to understand the lesson despite my mediocre (at best) French. These are students who wanted to come to school during vacation to get extra practice, but I was still impressed at how patient they were and at how much effort they made. Students here seem to participate very actively in the lessons - they are eager to answer questions, and when they are called on they stand up and answer with a complete sentence. That doesn't mean they always know the answer - they are very willing to stand up and give a completely ridiculous answer in a complete sentence, too. But the enthusiasm is nice.

Next week is the beginning of Practice School. Each of the trainees will be teaching two hours a day for the next three weeks. I'll be teaching a 10th grade and an 8th grade class this week. I'm a little nervous about having a full class for the first time, and I know I'll make some potentially embarrasing mistakes. Oh well, now is the time to screw up; if I learn from my mistakes now maybe I'll know what I'm doing when the school year starts!

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