So much has happened since the last time I've blogged..

First, Site Visit.
Site visit was my first real experience in Guinea and with Guinean travel and all the hassle involved. We left Counterpart workshop in a PC vehicle and headed out to our regional capital where we were warmly greeted by pizza and cookies. In Guinea, pizza and cookies are gold. We stayed here for a few days, then all departed with our nearest Volunteer to visit our sites. I traveled with another stagiare who lives near me and our volunteer. First, we headed off to the site of the other stagiare first. We were dropped off at the local gare (taxi station) to find a taxi to this region. In America, this seems like it woud be an easy task; in Guinea, not so easy. The taxi we took was a van a little bit bigger than the mini vans in America. This could normally hold about 10 people. In Guinea, this car holds 30 inside and 5 on the roof. We were literally crammed in there like sardines. So, we travelling down the "road" (and by road I mean, a dirt path full of huge ditches and marshes and streams that have flooded the path), when things kept falling out from under the van. I immediately knew this would be a long trip. Eventually, the driver stops, all 30 of us get out of the van so they can fix it. The best idea they had was to find a rock in the shape of a triangle and try to drive the van on top of the rock to jack up the van. Obviously, this didn't work and 30 minutes later, we all get back into the van and continue on our way. A few hours later, we stop again. This time we all have to get out of the van with our bags and traverse a river that has flooded the road and meet the van on the other side of the river. At first, I thought this was a joke, but as it turns out, this is quite common here. So I traverse the river with the help on a nice gentleman who clearly knew this "Fote" didn't know what to do and knew I was a little pathetic. I make it to the other side and meet the van and we continued on our merry way. About 8 hours of being squished into this van with 30 Guineans and listening to loud Guineana music, we finally make it to our destination. We stayed at the stagiare's hut for 2 days and then continued to my site. Now, his site and my site are about 40 kilometers away.. not a far distance, so this trip should not be difficult, but it's Guinea. Taxis only leave the town on one day, and unfortunately it wasn't the day we needed. So we find a taxi that's taking the local women to a market in the middle of our sites and get a ride with them. Then, there were no taxis traveling from the market to my site until 5 pm (we arrived at 8am), so we had to sit around all day until a taxi is leaving. Luckily, we talked one driver into taking us the rest of the way. He was less than happy about this, and I soon found out why. The road to get to my site is the worst road in Guinea. We start driving down this road, I look at the temperature gauge on the dashboard and see that the needle is way above the red zone. Then, I look around to see that the gas is being siphoned into the engine by a huge bucket near my foot. I should have known then, it would be interesting. About 20 minutes into the drive, the van door flies off. The driver doesn't seem alarmed by this. He stops the van, sends the little kids to fetch the door, then we tie it on with a string, and continue the journey. About 10 minutes after this, the van gets stuck in a huge mud pile. A few locals passing by stopped to help try and push it out. This didn't work and about 5 minutes later, the van died. So we get our backpacks and continue on foot the rest of the way to my site .. in the african heat, with no water. We finally make it to my site, which was absolutely gorgeous. It is like a scene out of a movie. My village is in a valley surrounded by mountains and there's a huge river that runs through the town. I met my principal there and he introduced me to the important people in the town, inlcuding the sous-prefet (the mayor) and the important group of wise, old men. After this, I eventually make it to my hut. Once again, it's like a scene out of a movie. I live in a compound with about 5 other huts and a family. My hut has a thatched area out front and a nice fenced in backyard area. I still can't believe I will be living in a hut for the next 2 years of my life. I also have a window in my hut, which is a huge plus! After spending a few days here, we head back to the regional capital. This time the PC car picked us up, so nothing too interesting or crazy happened. That's the end of the crazy things that happened on site visit. It was perfect little taste of what real Guinea is like when we are outside of the safe PC net.

Second, Practice School.
Ok, back in the training village, we made it more than halfway through stage and began Practice School. This was a 3 week long session, basically like summer school. Students from the village would come out and we would practice teaching. This was by far the most helpful thing I've done in stage. I was able to practice by French, practice the new, foreign names, and be able to teach, give tests, and grade, like I would in real school. The first week, I taught 7th grade and 10th grade. The second and third week, I taught 8th and 9th grade. The students were very smart and very excited about advancing and learning. At the end of Practice School, we had an awards ceremony to award the top 3 students and the top female from each grade. I was in charge of the grades for 7th grade, and I'm proud to say that my top 2 students were both girls. This is a huge accomplishment here.

The last day in the training village, we were supposed to do a talent show. Of course, you know me with all my talents I was ecstatic for this ... just kidding. So, as a group, all 17 of us decided to do a human pyramid and that was it. So, about 20 minues before this talent show is supposed to start, the cross-cultural coordinator takes me aside and tells me he wants me to sing a native song in Malinke (the language in the Haute, Guinea) for the talent show. There are so many problems with this, I don't even know where to start. Not to mention, I can't sing, but I've also only studied Malinke for 2 hours. But, I agree to it. I get up and sing this song that you sing to your family when saying goodbye. This was, by far, one of the most embarassing moments here. After the talent show is over, the coordinator tells me I did a great job (lie), everyone loved it (another lie), and now he wants me to sing it at our going away ceremony and at our swearing-in ceremony. Crap. Not to mention, the swearing-in ceremony is not only broadcasted across the national radio here, but also television. Oh man, my life here is hilarious.

Well, 3 months later, I've made it through training. I've become fluent in French, and I've become relatively comfortable living the daily life in Guinea. Today is my last day as a trainee, and tomorrow, I swear-in as an official U.S. Government employee, and the newest Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea. Next week, I'm off to my mud hut to start my life for the next two years here. Wish me luck.

An be koffe (Malinke for "See you Later")

Love, Sara :)

PS... PICTURES ARE UPDATED!!!