Around Africa & the Middle East

After alot of thinking while I was in Mali, I decided to end my Peace Corps adventures (for the time being..), and head back to the states. But, before I came back, Ali (another volunteer) and I, planned a nice 2 week trip throughout Asia, inlcuding Thailand, Malaysia, and India. We had plans to ride elephants in Thailand and drink tea in India, but unfortunately, we never made it there. Due to some lack of planning and good research on our part, we failed to realize we needed visas for parts of the trip. But, we were Peace Corps volunteers, and despite our short time actually being volunteers, we did learn a few important things that made the rest of the trip a success. These included not giving up, even when you're in the United Arab Emirates, with no plans or no knowledge of the surrounding area; being patient and having the ability to chat with just about anyone, trust us.. this one got us far.. it got us into the ONLY 7 star hotel for FREE!; and finally appreciating the world around us.

So, back to Mali. We left Mali, stopped in Morocco for a layover, and would later continue to Dubai. We had a 7 hour layover in the Casablanca airport, which as it turns out, is one place I've always wanted to visit. So, we're exhausted and resting at the airport when one of the airline attendants start to chat with us. We quickly find out that not only do we have enough time to get out of the airport and do a little sight seeing, but we also do not need a visa :) so.. of course we book it out of the airport as fast as we can! We head towards the row of taxis to find out how much it would cost to take us somewhere, and where is exactly is the best somewhere to see in Casablance when we only have a few hours. After a few minutes of arguing (we quickly learned that they do not bargain for prices there), we find a nice gentlemen who agrees to take us to the "Grand Mosque". We have no idea what that is or where we're going, but the next thing you know, we see skyscrapers, billboards, cars.. nice cars, and MCDONALDS! After living in West Africa for 4 months, we think we've just walked into heaven haha. After driving for a few minutes, the taxi drive explains that not only is he a taxi driver, but a local tour guide (how convenient), and for only $10 more, he'll take us on a tour of all of Casablanca. We quickly agree and we're off! We saw some amazing things, like the local market, parks and monuments, the Grand Mosque (see video), and of course our last stop.. McDonalds. Casablanca was exactly how I dreamed it.. full of vibrant colors, great food, and unique nic-nacs. After 4 hours of touring, the taxi driver/tour guide takes us back to the airport and we're off to our next stop, Dubai.

After a 7 hour flight on one of the most luxuriest flights I've ever taken (once again, this could be exaggerated since we just came from Africa), we landed at midnight in the Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates. We find our bags and hump them out to the nearest taxi. We were so impressed by the taxis here.. they had seatbelts, licensed drivers, we weren't packed in like sardines, and there were no chicken/goats attached to the roof. The driver takes off, and we're starring out into what looks like America, taking in the scenes, and we don't even notice that we have no plans past the taxi. We had one contact in Dubai, but remember, it was at least 2am at this point, so trying to contact him was pointless. We ask the driver to take us to the nearest, CHEAPEST hotel, and he says he the knows the perfect place. We pull up to a gorgeous hotel, which we realize immediately that this is no cheap hotel, but we're exhausted so we decide to just stay here for one night. (Rememeber.. we had planned to ony be in Dubai for one day to get our visas in order, then continue on our way through Asia.) We walk into our rooms, and there are slippers, robes, RUNNING WATER, and the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in! The next day, feeling completely rejuvenated, we figure out a new game plan, and extend our stay at this wonderful hotel for one more night. We decided to stay and explore Dubai for the next week and a half. That day, we collected information booklets, and talk to local tour guides who gave us advice on what to see while we were there. We find a tour company that's offering a special if you book 3 trips, so we chose to go on the Desert Safari, the River Dinner Cruise, and the Hatta Mountain Tour, then we go off to enjoy the night. We quickly found out that 1.) it is illegal to sell/buy alcohol unless you are at a bar and 2.) women there do not drink. These things ended up working out in our favor because most bars offered discounts and free drinks for women. We head up to the roof of our hotel, which at night, turns into a club/restaurant. We drink our free champagne, ate appetizers, and enjoyed the hooka. The next thing we know, we're dancing the night away with local Emirates. Needless to say, we have a wonderful time.

The next day, while lounging at the rooftop pool of our hotel, we decide, we no longer can afford this place, so we found a cheaper hotel a few blocks away where we stayed for the rest of the trip. The next few days, we saw the tallest tower in the world, the largest mall in the world, and the only indoor skiing place in the world, and wait for the day of our first tour.. the Desert Safari. Ok, so the Desert Safari. At approximately 4pm, the tour company comes to our hotel to pick us up, and we really have no idea what's in store for us. We head down the highway, past all the towering, futuristic skyscrapers, and the next you know, the tour guide veers off the highway into the desert. We're talking real desert, past camels, and sand dunes! We meet up with a few other vehicles in the middle of the desert, then we're off on the dune tour. The SUV's would drive fast up and down the sand dunes (see video). It felt like we were on a ride. The cars would fly down huges dunes with sand covering the whole car like a sand wave. A few minutes later, we stop the cars and everyone gets out. We were at the place for the dinner show. We go on camel rides, ride four-wheelers through the desert, and go sandboarding until the show started. There were twirlers and belly dancers (see videos). After the show, there was a huge of American food and traditional Emirate food, which was all delicious, and after that, we headed back to our hotel for a good nights sleep.

A few days later, was our second tour, the River Dinner Cruise. Once again, the tour guide picked us up from our hotel, and we headed off to pick up a few other people in Dubai for the tour. Well, this driver got lost on the way to the hotels and we drove around in circles for at least 30 minutes! The other people in the car, (obviously not the patient Peace Corps type haha), we screaming at the driver and cursing that they wanted their money back! Ali and I chucked in the front, and felt bad for the innocent driver, but eventually, we found the hotel and made it to the boats with no other problems. We sailed down the river and into the Persian Gulf, and ate a great tradition Emirate buffet. There were about 15 other dinner boats that sailed at the same time, and we all went in a line. At the boats were covered with lights, so all you could see was the outlines of all the boats across the water.

Our final tour was the Hatta Mountain Tour. Once again, Peace Corps lessons paid off during this trip. The tour guide came to pick us up pretty early in the morning. We were half asleep, not used to being up early, when the driver drops us off at another hotel and tells us to wait here so he can go "fix" the car and he will return as soon as possible. We really have no clue what's going on, but agree and wait at the hotel. We're waiting.. and waiting.. and about 30 minutes past when the driver finally shows back up. We get back into the car, and then he tells us, he was unable to switch cars, so we have to reschedule the mountain tour to the afternoon, BUT he has the car now and is willing to drop us off and pick us up anywhere in Dubai. I ask if there's anywhere we can swim at for a few hours, and he nods and says he knows the perfect place. We're driving for about 15 minutes (still no clue where we're actually going), when the driver pulls up to a security guard, gets out, shows his ID, and then we enter. We enter the ONLY 7 star hotel in the world! The only way to get in is to be a guest there (which costs $3000 a night!!!), or be a member. The driver explains that he is a member because he is a tour guide and people often tour this place, but he's never been able to enjoy the beach because he works 7 days a week. We look out over the bridge, and ... hello paradise! The driver drops us off and says he'll be back in a few hours to pick us up for the Hatta Mountain Tour. We were greeted by waiters with water, beach towels, ice, and snacks. The water was the warmest and cleanest water I've ever been in (nothing like the good old Jersey shore haha). We enjoy our few hours in heaven, and then we're off to the tour. We drive for about an hour outside of Dubai, and then we stop at a checkpoint and show our ID's.. little did we know, we were leaving the United Arab Emirates, and now were in Oman! The tour guide told us all abou the history of Dubai and the UAE, about the beautiful, red clay mountains, about the Emirate people and their culture. We ended the tour at an oasis, which at the time was quite low because according to our tour guide, it only rains 1-2 days a year there! (Interesting Fact learned from the driver.. all of their drinking water is desalinated from ocean water, so they don't have to import water!)

Although we didn't get to go on our original trip, we had a blast! I saw things I never thought I would ever see in my life and met some amazing people! But, our trip was officially over, and I was headed back to America.

Our flight left Dubai, and we headed to Moscow, Russia where we had a 12 hour layover. Now, I just left Africa and Dubai (which was way hotter than Africa!), and so the warmest clothes I had was jeans, a tee-shirt, and sandals. We get to the Moscow airport and were greeted by SNOW! Yes, snow. The Russians are covered in fur hats, coates, and boots, and looking at Ali and I like we're idiots. We were freezing hah. After this way too long layover, I boarded by flight to Washington DC. I arrived, parted ways with Ali, and took my 15 minute flight to Philadelphia where I was warmly greeted by my Dad, Jessie, and Gab. It was a warm welcoming full of good food and good people! I was glad to be back in America :)


VIDEOS BELOW ARE IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER:
1. THE DESERT SAFARI IN DUBAI
2. THE GRAND MOSQUE IN CASABLANCA
3. THE TWIRLERS AT THE NIGHT SHOW IN DUBAI

Mali

Well, during my service in Guinea, I was hoping to visit Mali for a vacation. Little did I know, 3 months after being here, and only 1 week of being a volunteer, I would be evacuated to Mali.

For more information about the situation here, look at BBC news or this article: http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-08-voa19.cfm.

We are currently waiting out the situation in Mali with no real answers or any clue of what the future holds for us. I have a few options of going to a new country, waiting it out for Guinea, or just going home. I don't know what decision is best for me right now, but I think I will continue my service in another country. More to come on this decision when I have more information.

On the bright side, I did make it to my site.. for 5 days. I cleaned out my hut, then unpacked and set up all my things. I was living in a compound with a great family in a very small rural village. Unfortunately, I didn't get to start teaching yet; basically just sat there for 5 days and read alot.

That's it for now, I'll keep you updated.

Swearing-In

Today, I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer, and i start my 2 year service here .. woohoo! I made it! In there ceremony today, the U.S. Ambassador was there, and a few other Guinean officials. The ambassador gave an amazing speech telling about how as a child, he lived in Africa and grew up around PC volunteers, and how he has learned so much from volunteers over the years. He also quoted Obama's inagural speech about choosing hope over fear. Then, we gave four speeches.. one in each of the local languages and French. Two hours later.. I am a volunteer :)

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!!!

PICTURES!!!

Hey everyone!

I just uploaded my pictures so far to snapfish.

Here is the link ... http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1200049022/a=1579671022_1579671022/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Hope you enjoy :)

Hey everyone!

Right now, I'm at the counterpart workshop in the "Fouta" region of Guinea. The counterpart workshop is the time when we meet the person responsible for us while we are at our sites. In most cases, the counterpart is the principal of the school. My principal, Mr. Sidibe, is really excited for me to come to the school. I am the fifth volunteer at this site, but the first education volunteer there. The school has five teachers, I am the sixth teacher, and also the only female. Tenatively, I will be teaching 7th and 8th grade math. Mr. Sidibe also wants me to teach 10th grade English, which I will probably do after I am at site for a few months and am used to everything. My classes will most likely have anywhere from 50-100 students per class. Mr. Sidibe was insistant that I allow all children into the class, no matter what time they arrive because most will be walking 1-2 hours to get to the school. Can you imagine American children having to walk that long to get to school... no way! I know I never would have, then again, you all know how lazy I am hah. The school we're staying at for the workshop is beautiful. It's some type of environmental school. We're here for three days, then we are leaving to head off to our sites for a week to visit.

Guinea is a really beautiful country, and has all the typical regions you would imagine when you think of Africa. The regions are Basse Cote, Fouta, Forest, and Haute. The Basse Cote is relatively mild temperatures and a mixture and with vegeation somewhat similar to the states. This is the region where we are staying at for training. The Fouta is absolutely gorgeous, and this is where we are staying right now for Counterpart Workshop. There are waterfalls, mountains, and everything is green and beautiful. I have amazing pics from the drive here.. I hope I can get them downloaded so you can see. The Forest is exactly what you think it would be .. tropical rain forests with animals, like elephants and chimps. This region has been closed for Peace Corps since 2000 but is reopening now with my stage. The people there are really excited to have Peace Corps back in their region. And finally, the Haute, which I'm know I talked about before because this is the region I will be living in. It's desert-like and really hot. I can tell you more after I visit next week.

This week, alot of the smaller children in my host family are leaving for vacation.. until October. This seems to be a common thing here. Children leave for a few months during the summer to stay with other members of the family in other parts of Guinea. Before I left, I gave out alot of the toys I brought with me. This was interesting because all the kids took one toy. Then inevitably, they all started crying and fighting because they wanted each others toys and there weren't enough for each to have their own. They didn't like the idea of sharing, but my host mom put them in their place real quick. Then, I had to try to explain to them in French how to play games, like Uno and jacks. It was interesting to say the least, and I really don't think they understood the point of most of the games.

In the markets here, the clothing they sell is all from Goodwill. Things that Americans don't want and don't buy, they send over to Africa and sell here. Needless to say, you see some interesting tee shirts here. I've seen a few with sayings like "I like boobs", or a 12 year old kid with a tee shirt that says "World's Best Grandpa". They have no clue what the shirts say, and it's pretty hilarious. The people here refer to the places that sell these American clothes as "The Dead White People Store" because they can't understand why white people would give away their clothes, so they assumer the clothing comes from dead people. Imagine me and my horrible french trying to explain to my family that this isn't the case here haha.

Forecariah

Life the past few weeks has flown by. I've been in a city named Forecariah for staging (pre-service training). I live with a family there who is really nice and very educated. All stagiares take the name of their host family. My name is Mahawaa Ava Fofana. Both of my host parents are teachers, and my host father is also a principal. They have about 12 children, most of which are older. The older students are studying at the University. I lucked out because my family speaks very good French and some English as well. Forecariah is a very nice town. It is much smaller than Conakry, the first city we were in. All the people there are very nice and always willing to help out their local "Fote". We still train everyday from 8am-5pm, which makes the time fly by.

There isn't much variety on food here. My family gives me rice and sauce everday for dinner, and for breakfast, i eat bread with butter or peanut butter and tea. For lunch, we (the other stagiares and myself) eat in the village.. either in the cafe nearby or in the market. The options are usually egg sandwiches with cheese and mayonaisse, brochettes (which are an unknown type of meat on a kabob then put into a sandwich), rice and sauce, fruits and vegetables, and bread with peanut butter. They have really great vegetables here. I eat alot of avocadoes and cucumbers.

I recently found out where my site will be after training. It's in the region of Guinea called the "Haute". It borders the country of Mali. Haute Guinea is known for being extremely hot and desert-like. One volunteer in that region told me that the hottest temperature she saw there was 142 degrees! Most volunteers in the Haute sleep outside at night because it's so hot.. thank god for my mosquito- net hammock! I will be the 5th Peace Corps volunteer at this site, but the first education volunteer. The other volunteers were all Agroforestry. On the information paper they gave me about my site, it said my hut has a chicken coop, a garden, and a place available for bee-keeping. I guess I'll have to learn how to do these things. In a few weeks, we'll be going to visit our sites for a week, so more details to come when I arrive.

Last week, I killed my first chicken. I have to say, it went better than expected. One person holds down the chicken, while another person cuts off the head. I was the holder of the chicken, which sounds like a better job, except after the head is cut off, blood sprays everywhere and the headless chicken flaps around and I have to hold it down. I have to admit, it was one of the best chickens I ever ate.

I'm going to try to upload some pictures now before my time at the internet cafe expires. But thanks for everyone following me and my adventures here! I'd love to get mail of any type! Anyone interested in calling can get my phone number from my parents.