Shit out of luck

A mere twenty-four hours and I find myself back at the regional house, and not by choice. I returned to my house yesterday to a not so pleasant stench coming from my bathroom. Now mind you this is the same bathroom upon moving in that I would find newborn baby mice on the floor and spiders that are bigger than my hand...but now those seem like the lesser of the evils. Upon my return I open the bathroom door only to find that in my absence the toilet, if you would even call it that, had overflowed, clogged or something And the stench, well it was awful. I called home hoping that my dad would have some answers, if only Guinea had liquid Drain-O.

I decided that I would take care of it the following day, I slept with all the windows open to get some air flow and it wasn't terrible sleeping. But I'll tell you what was... waking up with a giant cockroach on my face and I wish I were exaggerating but he managed to find his way into my mosquito net and took up residence on the area surrounding my chin. It was a nice wake up call at 4:30 am. It was about time for me to get up anyway seeing as prayer call is around 5 and the mosque wakes me up every morning... who ever decided that installing a P.A. system in a mosque was a good idea... Now back to the toilet, with hunger pangs and the urge to pee I slowly opened the door only to find that the situation was just as bad, if not worse than before. I quickly closed the door and told my bladder it would have to wait until I left for work at 8:30. I tried to go back to sleep but the fear of waking up with another cockroach on my face kept me awake, and as if that weren't enough I spotted a HUGE spider lurking on my mosquito net and obviously 5 in the morning is a perfect time for damage control/insect killing. Once the bugs were taken care of I hopped back into bed only to catch the second round of prayer call and my alarm going off, so much for sleep. I quickly got dressed, brushed my teeth outside with the neighbors and the hauled my butt off to work. Friday happens to be prayer day. Therefore I only work a half day, so I ventured into the market to see my market ladies and pick up some rations, hell I even bought a cute pink market basket. I walked my sweaty butt for what seemed like a million miles finally got home only to discover that the situation in the bathroom was worse. Now me being the stubborn ass that I am decided that I could remedy this situation myself and dove in head first to mounds of shit. Disgusting, and fighting with all that I had in me to keep from vomiting I scooped on. Though I was totally mortified I eventually gave in, after my entire house smelled like a Port-o-John after a football weekend at Penn State, and called my Regional Coordinator. I quickly pulled the house together, made the bed, and tried to abate to smell obviously, to no avail before he got there. Bless his soul for walking into the mess, literally and figuratively. He also tried to fix the problem only to later hop on the horn and phone the only plumber in town. Who even knew there were plumbers in a town where people poop in holes? But then again who knew that holes could clog up?

The plumber makes his way over and assesses the situation, turns out the entire latrine (for lack of a better word) needs to be replaced. Fantastic. Add this to my list of problems, not only do I have a bathroom full of Poo, but my door won't lock, my roof leaks when it rains and I broke my bed earlier in the week... needless to say I packed up my things and headed for the Regional House with Daffe (pronounced daf-fay) because there was no way I was staying in that smelly mess of a house. Now don't get me wrong, I love my house, I love my neighbors and my Quartier (or town), I really do...but I can't exactly sleep there when its poo-infested. So here I sit. Looking back I should've taken pictures but the plumber won't be back until Sunday so before its fixed maybe I'll take some pictures in case you're wondering... then again maybe I'll spare you.


But for now heres some pics!


Old picture. This is me wearing what they call a Grande Boubou. This happens to be a mens outfit, which they wear for special occasions.

View from the back fo the PC Car...one day I'll learn to carry things on my head.

Mmmm, rice and sauce.

The Grand Market in Kankan, I visit here daily.

Never one to pass up a free lunch...

So last week was a melange of emotions. However amongst all the bad news, there was light at the end of the tunnel and a whole lot of good news. I'll spare you the details as it is not my place to say the reasons, but we had two volunteers decide to return to the states and end their service. I will say that these two people were amongst my closests friends in country and I am sad to see them go, but alas it is not for everyone. I am grateful that I was able to spend every day with them in pre-service training both in SED and Language classes and I wish them nothing but the best at home... and hope that they send me lots of mail.

As for the good news... well I got word from my APCD (hes my boss basically, scroll down in the blog and you'll see a picture of him, his name is Josh), that the Ambassador was coming to Kankan and that he would be over to see the Peace Corps office and I'd be dining with him. I was thrilled, honored and also nervous! I've been a volunteer for two whole weeks and already I'm meeting with the big guys. This called for a change in my schedule, not that there was much of one to begin with but I was busying myself with my trapper keeper of appointments, cleaning my house like a good Guinean when my phone rang and it was my Regional Coordinator. Now mind you its Saturday afternoon and I'm not doing much but I wasn't sure what was going on... he told me there was someone that wanted to talk to me. Adam had come to town for the ambassadors visit! I was so excited, and I apologize again Adam for thinking you were Zach, but I was thrilled and hopped on my trusty steed of a bike and rode up to the office. Little did I know that word spread around upper Haute group and they all came in to town for the visit! Though I did make friends with other americans that are currently working in Guinea it was so nice to see all of my fellow PCV's. Now, technically we are not allowed to leave our site for the first month because we are supposed to be focusing on integration... but the ambassador was in town. We spent the next few days hanging around the house, cooking, staying out of the heat and even had an impromptu toga party. You know us crazy PCV's. I was lucky enough to get to have lunch with the ambassador twice, one more official than the other, but both as for both I am extremely lucky and grateful that I was able to attend. And really am I ever one to pass up a free lunch, (even if its Guinean food)? I am sad that everyone is leaving me again, but they will back soon enough and I need to focus on integration, getting back into the swing of work and my APCD is visiting in the upcoming week.

I am also going to push that each and every one of you consider visiting me. I was talking this morning with a dear friend of mine and we've decided that no matter how much we blog, email and describe our lives here we can't possibly do it any real justice. Though you may be thinking that Guinea isn't exactly a hot vacation spot, it will surprise and challenge you (and probably you're insides) while you're here... but think about it, just not in the rainy season. Thats my marketing plug for Guinea....heck if Guinea isn't you're cup of tea I am more than willing to meet you in another country.

Candee and Neil, If you're reading this... I miss you guys, wish you all the best and keep in touch!

Just a quick update

There were a few things I forgot to mention yesterday in my post ... so I wanted to follow up. It is both a blessing and a curse to have the internet at my beck and call. The cafe opened up special for me today... the owner calls me his little sister, it was really nice of him. Anyway I wanted to fill you in on a funny thing that happened to me and the group of volunteers a few days ago...for our installation we had to go around and meet all the officials in Kankan. It is not anything like meeting officials in the US, basically we show up, unannounced and then BS for a while with them to let them know we are here, what we are doing, etc. Our first meeting was with the Govenor of Haute Guinea. We all sat around, introduced ourselves and listened to his ditty...well a few minutes later one of his cronies says to all the girls in the room, "there are 5 women here and in the muslim faith we can only have up to 4 wives. So which 4 of you want to be my wives?" This happens a lot but right of the bat in our very first meeting of the day it caught us off guard! Reactions varied from disgust to laughing but we hear it often and have to learn to just shrug it off as part of their culture. However, this wasn't the only time it happened, we went to meet the chief of police (of sorts) and he said the same thing! Katie and I lied and said we were already married, but I told him (jokingly) he could be my second husband.

Also everyone here thinks I am fluent in Malinke, the local language spoken in most of Haute Guinea. You say one little greeting in the language and they assume you are a master. My neightbors only speak Malinke, and I have NO idea what is going on most of the time. I can get the jist sometimes but most of the time I say Awa (OK)... so who knows what I am agreeing to! One elder man did ask me to take him back to America and I told him I needed a Million (american dollars) and a big boat. He laughed and that was the end of that, now whenever he sees me he calls me Madame. Perhaps I need to make up a fake boyfriend, or find a real one, any takers? Though it makes hardly any difference because if you tell them you have a man friend they ask where he is. Such is life in Guinea. The hot season is on its way and let me tell you, it is freaking hot. I techinally live in the savannah, but it might as well be the desert. There is one good thing that comes out of the hot season and its MANGOS! I am so excited and plan to eat as many as possible. But for now thats all, since I have regular access I'll try to update more often and get some pictures up... I just found out that the lowered the price in the internet cafe... I am in trouble. An be Kofe (see you later!)

Kankan-ese

Since my last entry theres been quite a bit of goings on. I'll try to recap the best that I can. First, I'd like to thank everyone who was thinking of me on my first birthday in africa. It was unlike any other, mostly because I am in Guinea, but more so because I had some incredible adventures. I was lucky enough to go with a few of my fellow volunteers to site, for their installations. Though I felt like I was encroaching on their turf, I experienced some truly memorable moments. We took David to site a few days ago, he lives in a village not far from me and we were welcomed by I think every child in the village. They swarmed around us and greeted us in malinke and fought each other to shake our hands. We then were taken to a small hut where I was lucky enough to sit in with the counsel of elders. It was a huge honor because I was the only woman present and it was great to see them welcome david into their village and let him know that he'll always have a home there.

Yesterday I was able to go to site with Alex. He is one of my closets volunteers and has a wildlife preserve at his site! Word around town is that the french people who run the preserve have a pet chimpanze. I wasn't able to see it yesterday but for sure will be returning to his village to stalk it. Just a side note, chimpanzes in Guinea are mostly non-existent. They are supposed to live in the forest region but can be found in other parts of the country. However most people think that they are dangerous and kill them. So there are posters all over telling people that its illegal to kill them, but it still happens. Also in the forest region the rumor is that the animist eat the chimpanzes! I was mortified by this, people like to re-assure me that it is illegal and doesn't happen... but we'll leave that at that. Anyway, back to dropping off Alex. The sous-prefet who is an appointed official, and a representative of the state, rode with us from Kankan to the village. We happen to have the same last name, which by the way my new Guinean name is Aminata Kaba, and all day long I was introduced as his fille (daughter). Having a last name in common with someone is really a funny thing. You automatically become a member of their family, sometimes their wife if the mood strikes them, and then depending on your last name you could be someone elses slave. Yeah, thats right slave. Its a joke of course, but its a huge thing here and a good way to break the ice...but you have to know which last name is the slave and which is not, something I have yet to master so I leave that joke to the Guineans. Well back to site, yet again, after we got to town friday happens to be prayer day. At around noon everything, and I mean everything comes to a screeching halt. So we waited for a while at the preserve and then went to set up Alex's house. After that they called for us and we were brought to the mosque... where we found just about everyone in town waiting for us. We greeted everyone and then Alex was presented to the town and I was welcomed as well. It was something I don't think I'll ever forget and that my explanations will never be able to do justice. But it was truly amazing to see how welcoming and happy these people are to have us here. As I said goodbye to Alex the villagers made me promise to come back and visit, and I even joked that I would be back today... of course I can't but I can't wait to go back and visit.

Finally, yesterday night I was dropped off by Daffe and Conde two of the most amazing Peace Corps employees ever, at my house. They officially installed me, and left me with my baggage. It was actually kind of weird and scary to finally be on my own. But rest assured I had a nice coming home present.... I opened my bathroom door only to find 2 brand new baby mice thrashing around on the floor. I did everything I could to fight back a scream, and hopped on the phone to my homologue. He came over with our guard and they got rid of the mice. It was so gross and I did not use the bathroom until today... only because I really had to go. Today we did some minor repair on my house and tried to get set up. I know its only my second day here but its kind of nice to feel settled. But, I didn't realize how heavily I'd come to rely on the other volunteers. It is a really weird feeling to be away from all of them now, and I can only hope that I am able to see most of them often and I am counting down the days to our IST in May. I probably shouldn't be wishing my time away, but for now ca marche (it/that works).

I had a nice surprise today when I came into the internet cafe a whole lot of americans! There are a bunch of them here to teach english at the University and they all happened to be in the internet cafe. I of course automatically assumed that they didn't speak english and was shocked when someone was like 'where are you from?' They are all really nice and its refreshing to hear english and know that while my fellow volunteers are out in the bush serving like troopers, they can come visit me any time they want in the big city, and until I get my monthly does of volunteers hopefully I can hang out with other Americans...here's to hoping... I just passed off my cell phone number.

Change that mailing address to PCV!

I am officially a volunteer! Yesterday there was a ceremony with lots of important guests, and we read the oath and now are officially Peace Corps Volunteers. We had the pleasure of hearing speeches from the U.S. Ambassador in Guinea, and Tom Gallagher who in the very FIRST group of Peace Corps Volunteers. He gave an inspiring and moving speech that brought some of us to tears. He even mentioned that he and his group of volunteers still get together for reunions and have been doing so for 20 years! We can only hope that G 15 is albe to keep up. Our Country Director Steve gave a moving speech, and he even shed some tears. Steve is leaving Guinea after being here for 5 years sometime later in the year, he cares very much about this country and the future of Peace Corps here. It was nice to see how much he cares about all of us as well. After the ceremony we mixed and mingled and ate lots and lots of finger foods because we won't be eating like that for a long long time. Then we enjoyed some swimming, and headed to the beach bar to start the celebration which lasted well into the early hours of the morning.

Tomorrow some of us head off to our respective sites to await installation. Installation is just a fancy word for taking us around to meet the important people in town so that they know we are there... like they wouldn't be able to tell. However its very important in Guinea to always introduce yourself to the officials and stop in regularly, relationships = extremely important. Then after that we move into our respective homes and begin our service. I will officially serve from feb 8, 2008 to feb 8, 2010. Let the countdown begin. I am nervous and excited, mostly nervous to start work and leave all the other volunteers. But we should be able to stay in touch regularly and have an In-service training in May where we'll spend 2 weeks going over our first 3 months of service and the like. It will certainly be a challange. Well I will leave you with this for now. Just wanted to post a quick update. But do check out the video I posted of the Ambassador getting ready to swear us in and I posted some pics as well.




a nice little re-enactment.

The February Birthday Girls!

Zach, Me and Adam before swearing in.

Josh (my APCD), Me and Steve, the Country Director

The Guinean Flag on the Beach.

2 days and counting....

So long Forecariah. The last few days have been a whirlwind of packing, good byes, and of course a send off only Guinea could give us. But in a few short days… I will officially be a volunteer. Today was kind of like a déjà vu, because we had a farewell ceremony with all of our host families present but the mood was far less tense. As I sat there with my host family I thought back to the adoption ceremony, remembering that I was almost on the verge of tears because I was so scared of what was to come. Now the weeks have passed and I’m apparently ready to be released into the wild.

I guess I should catch you up on what has happened up until my final days in Forecariah. When I last wrote I was heading off to site visit. The bush taxi ride from Mamou to Kankan was about 9 hours, we had one snafu… minor detail, a flat tire. The chauffer quickly fixed it and we were back on the road. After arriving in Kankan I spent the next few days visiting anyone and everyone… and ended up with the worst blisters ever. Needless to say I suffered through and am still paying for all the walking. But as my host family would say to me all the time… du courage. The other volunteers came back into town and we ate some American food, and celebrated the way only Peace Corps folks know how. There is one other thing I should mention about Kankan, they have the biggest gateaux I have ever seen in my life. Gateaux in French translates to cake, but this more like fried dough balls, and sometimes it’s not even sweet. There can be onions and hot peppers in it. But the gateaux is HUGE, like the size of a softball, and tasty. I ate a lot of it while I was there, and will attribute it to my future weight gain. The ride home was a little bit longer, about 14 hours. Now it wouldn’t have been so bad had we not been sitting on each other. We did stop every once in a while to grab some grub (yes some of the gas stations actually sell Pringles, chocolate, soda, and yogurt!) which was nice, but it was a very long and exhausting day seeing as we left at 6 am.

Back in the homestay we resumed our normal schedule of language class and group sessions and the ever popular ‘bureau lunch’. Now let me just tell you about bureau lunch, it is by far the best meal or two of the week. Food selection in Forecariah is very limited. Between the rice bar with soup sauce and peanut sauce and the egg sandwich guy… bureau lunch is like a gift from the heavens. We line up like vultures and scarf this food faster than we’ve ever eaten in our lives. Its especially good if the lady that cooks the bureau lunch prepares a leafy green salad or spaghetti. I must say I am going to miss those bureau lunches, here’s to hoping I work a future stage so that I can eat bureau lunch (hint hint).

After swearing in and shopping I’ll update more but for now I’ll post some photos since I’ve been particularly terrible about it.


The norm, a cow in the middle of the road.

Typical bush taxi... though this one happened to be racing ours and won. Props to the guy on top for hanging on.



Adam and Neil riding shotgun in the bush taxi. The car couldve comfortably sat 7 we cramed in 9.


My house in Forecariah... thats my window on the far right.

A typical sunday in Forecariah. Thats my host Mom, or Nene and my sisters Mariam and Aissatou.

The washing machine, the rinse cycle is seperate.

They have really cool toys in Guinea... thats a petite playing with an old bike tire and a stick.

A petit up in a tree...


A raging fire, Guineans like to burn stuff...


Caleb channeling his inner fear before his first bush taxi ride.




My first bush taxi ride.


Found this t-shirt in the market!

The gare, or taxi station in 36 (yes thats the actual name of the town)...

the waters fall, thats most of the agfo peeps.

just a normal day with the moutons and the well...

Katalina, Dan, Erich, Me and Candy after our presentation to our NGO in Forecariah. And yes I am wearing african clothes.

My dog friend, he would come and visit us during SED Class and fart. A lot.