Blogs from Guinea, Africa - page 7

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 of how you look, you stop caring about your appearance pretty quickly. Some signs I may be adapting to the new environment: *Foods that were once repulsive are now tantalizing. I realized this after devouring ... read more

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 path that led (through two streams, a village, two swamps, and a cattle-grazing field) to another small clearing that provided access to the river upstream from our usual spot. We decided to return to that ... read more

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 been in Forecariah for the most intense part of our training, known as Practice School. PC organized three weeks of free summer school for the kids in Forecariah, providing interested students with extra practice as ... read more

*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. Cheesy pop and dance music from Europe and the US are popular, as well as local music. The TV is tuned to either local news, music videos, or terribly cheesy soap operas dubbed over in ... read more

At this point I am a little behind on the blogging, but will do my best to catch up here. I am backdating the entry to because I don't want to skip writing about Guinea although at this point we have been in Ivory Coast for several days. Alright, we left Guinea Bissau I think on August 12 and headed for Guinea Conakry, which I will refer to as Guinea. I had started to get a cold the day before so I was somewhat feverish and out of it for the drive. We left Bissau that morning and arrived in Koundara on the Guinea side a little after midnight that night. The roads were good on the Bissau side except for a small section and unbelievably terrible on the Guinea side. In Guinea Bissau and Senegal ... read more