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.

My First Days in Guinea

I've been in Guinea for about 5 days, and so far, so good. Although, we have been somewhat sheltered because we've pretty much only been in the Peace Corps compound so far. The city we're in, Conakry, is exactly how it is sterotyped in the movies.. crazy, dirty, no sewage/trash system, little children (often naked) running around. My big adventure since we're been here was go to the local market with the previous volunteers who know their way around. It was chaotic and all the trainees and myself returned a little scared and culture shocked. They sell everything there from food to shoes to microwaves.. anything you need! While we were out walking around, the groups of african children yell "Fote! Fote" at us, meaning "white person, white person" and another kid got scared and starting crying when he saw all of us. All you can really do it laugh at it. Our compound is literally right on the beach, it's a beautiful scene, but unfortunately, the entire beach is covered with trash, so you can't really go on the beach and definately not in the water. You're just asking for diarrhea if you do that.

We've had alot of training so far, we're training 8-5 daily, which is about 4 - 1.5 hour sessions, 3 meals, and a few tea breaks. The sessions cover everything from how to speak french, how to speak the local language (called Susu, and no, it doesn't involve clicks haha), safety, cross cultural training, and other things like that. Today, we learned how to squat to poop into a pit latrine and how to wash your butt with your hand and to use a water can to rinse it off... always a good tool to have hah.

I have to say, I'm already sick of the food and miss american fast food (gabs, you know i miss this haha). For breakfast we have a baguette with peanut butter, jelly and butter, and a hard boiled egg with tea or coffee. For lunch, we have rice with different types of sauce, usually something red and spicy. I really don't know what it is. For dinner, we have rice and sauces again, but with meat. It seems in africa they have 2 kinds of meat.. fish or "viande" (french for meat), so I often have no idea what the "meat" is. The fish is a whole fish (head, scales, and teeth!) usually floating in the sauce. I am still a little scared of the meat, but I eat it anyway and it's usually good.. besides the occasional bone.

Tomorrow, I am headed off to a different city about 2-3 hours away from here to start our homestay portion of the training. I haven't met my family yet, so I have no idea what I'm in store for. We have our adoption ceremony tomorrow afternoon, then tomorrow night, I am off to live with a family for 3 months that I don't know and won't really be able to speak to. And i'll be pooping in a pit latrine and showering in a bucket. I'm excited though, and I can't wait to learn more and see more of the country.

That's pretty much the last few days of my life here. In the homestay village, there is no internet, so I'll be without internet for the next 3 months. I'll keep this updated and email everyone when I get a chance. Until then, write me letters :)

I miss and love everyone!

Staging

Today, I left into my first day. I said my last goodbyes to the people who matter to me most, and headed off to Philly. I'm here for staging where I met the other volunteers in my group, who are all great! We had a 4 hour orientation, where we covered the basics, like peace corps goals, policies, and then travel info for tomorrow. It was alot of group work, skits, and that kind of stuff, which I'm overall, not a big fan of, but it helped to meet the other volunteers. After that, we all met for a "last supper", which ended up being at a cuban restaurant near the hotel and then we headed off to the bar for a last drink in America (thanks Yik!). I surprised because I don't feel any bit nervous, only excited. I know this will be a really challenging 2 years, but it will be worth it in the end. I can't wait to head off tomorrow for the 24 hours of travel ahead of me to get to Guinea.
I love & miss everyone!