Site Visit

Africa » Guinea
August 10th 2006

Published: August 11th 2006

This week was our Site Visit, a week of from classes to travel to our future homes. I have been assigned to the village of Kourou, in the middle of the country in the mountains. We left Forecariah on Saturday and headed to the capital, Conakry, for the night. We stayed in the PC house in Conakry for the second time since our arrival. The first time was the night of our arrival from the US, and the PC house seemed kinda hot and crowded but bearable. After four weeks in Forecariah, the same house seemed like an immaculate, cool, spacious palace! We got some pizza and imitation Coke at the nearby Beach Bar and watched the sunset over the Atlantic.

The next morning we woke up early and rushed to pack our stuff only to wait for bush taxis. A group of us headed to the Fouta Djallon region piled into an old jalopy for the bumpy and winding ride to Mamou, about a 5 hour drive into the mountains. When we arrived we were met by other volunteers who would guide us to our sites. We got some lunch at a small rice bar and did some grocery shopping at the busy market, since our destination towns would likely not have a market everyday. My friend Kelly and I, who will be neighbors, traveled together with another volunteer. Kat, as our guide. She knew a good taxi driver who was headed to her village and we piled into a station wagon with our luggage, groceries, and 9 other people. The car fumbled down the eroded dirt road with 11 people in the cab and 3 on the roof!

After a couple of hours, we arrived in the rural village of Gongoria and were greeted by some friendly elders in the village. Kat led us through a gate into her host family's concession, which was filled with rows of corn and several mud huts. The women took a break from preparing dinner to great us with big friendly smiles. Kat's hut was at the back of the concession; she had a small private area surrounded by tall corn. She lives in a cute mud hut, round, about 30 feet in diameter, with a tall conical thatched roof. Inside there is another wall that divides the hut into an inner and outer circle. The outer circle is used for storing water containers and other large items, and the inner cirle is cozy and charming, like a rustic cabin. It houses a bed, several wicker shelves, a metal trunk for storing food, and a kitchen area with a small gas stove. Outside the hut she has a very healthy vegetable garden and a kind of Guinean gazeebo - a thatched roof held up by sticks over a cement floor. The gazeebo houses a couch, coffee table, and two comfy hammocks. It is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the daylight while being protected from the hot sun or torrential rain.

The next day we were headed to visit my site, Kourou. The town is so small and remote that a taxi only goes there once a week on Sundays. The next best way to get there is to hike the 12 km from Gongoria. The trail led us over rolling hills surrounded by towering green mountains. The red muddy path cut through vibrant green grasslands dotted with scruffy trees. Occasionally we would have to shoo away goats or walk around lazy cattle in our way. When we were close to Kourou, I asked Kat if the green rocky peek ahead had a name. She said, "I don't know, but that's your mountain." My future house rests in a lovely concession at the base of that mountain, and apparently it provides great hikes, campsites with beautiful views, and the occasional opportunity to see chimpanzees.

I was shocked to see the house I'll be living in - a small palace with tile floors, three rooms, and a wraparound porch. There is a large front room with 9 couches and comfy chairs lining the walls. An archway leads to a dining area with a wooden table and 8 matching chairs. A set of shelves and a camp stove serves as the kitchen, right next to a bedroom with a queen sized bed and an armoir. There is even a bathroom with an american-style toilet! (no running water or electricity, though) The house is owned by one of the wealthiest men in Guinea, who I've heard is very supportive of Peace Corps. The house is a kind of duplex, and he uses the other half when he comes to visit. Just outside my house are three other white houses and several huts, where my host family lives. When we arrived, sweaty and tired from the hike, two of my host moms ran to hug us and welcome us to the village. They brought us dinner - rice and the best leaf sauce I've had yet - and introduced us to the rest of the family.

The town of Kourou is tiny, and was essentially empty for the summer. I am told that the middle school where I will teach has about 100 students. These students must walk to school from all over the area, because the town is far too small to have that many students. Next to the school there are four or five houses and the market area. The market is held on Sundays and fits entirely under one tree. The area is beautiful - clean, mountainous, very quiet. As I stood on my white tile terrace and looked out over the rolling pastures and farmland, I could hear nothing but birds singing and breezes rustling leaves.

The next day we managed to get a ride to Poredaka (though it left 8 hours later than promised), where we had a little time to see Kelly's site and future house. The next day we wandered the local shops and caught a ride with the PC mail run to the regional capital, Labe. The PC house in Labe has a large collection of books, a nice kitchen, a generator, and a DVD player. There were only four of us there that night, all girls, so we enjoyed watching most of season six of Sex in the City. Labe is a large city with lots of fun stuff - boutiques that have luxury items like conditioner and packaged cookies, restaurants, and an Internet place that's pretty reliable.

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