I was thinking that I would take this Thankgiving to post a bit about the things that I have been thankful for in the time that I have been here. Also, as the time approaches for the new group (G-17) to arrive, I thought I would also empart a little advice that I wish I had known before touched down in Conakry. I know that for months before my departure I was searching the internet and reading all the blogs and packing lists that I could get my hands on. And so...with out further adeiu..
A letter to my future self:
1. Clothing: Even though I tried to pare my clothing down to the bare essentials, I still wish I had brought so much less. Clothing can be custom made for really cheap and if you can find a good tailor, you can have some really wonderful things made for less then $10 american dollars. Also every market has a place to buy secand-hand clothing and I often find great quality clothes and funny t-shirts there. Also at all regional houses there are free boxes where volunteers, when frantically packing to go home after their service, leave a good quantity of nice (and sometimes bizzare) items that you can browse for free!
The clothing that I appreciate the most here are those that are comfortable, light and airy. For men, try to find
lightweight pants. The bain of my existence is handwashing pants...it takes a long time and they get very heavy to scrub well. I brought 2 pairs of chacos and though I love how durable they are, I wish I had bought one pair of choco flipflops instead of 2 of the strappy models. Plain, basic cotton t-sirts are great because you can usually find cloth to match one color but because most fabrics have multiple zany colors. Darkish colors are good because things get really dirty here. I live in tanktops and Jon wears cotton hanes colored t-shirts almost everyday. Both of those things were great investments.
2.Books
I obsessed over my book choices for a month before leaving. I didn't bring that many books but I assure you, and new volunteers, you will see when you arrive at Conackry, that there are more then enough books to satify even the biggest bookworms. Each Regional house has a
hugelibrary of books to choose from. Bring 1 or two if you're worried, but really you will have plenty of books to read and time to devote to the pastime.
3. Clothes washing and bathroom experiences
I was so worried before I came here about what I would do without a washing machine. Now, as Jon says, we can wash our clothes anywhere in the world. After the first few times that are pretty labor intensive, you get into the rythym of it all and now its not a big deal in the least. As for the bathroom stuff, I hadn't really thought about it too much before I left but within a few days pouring water over myself to shower and squating to do my business it seemed perfectly normal. And strange to say, I sometimes prefer it this way. And don't worry, people will give you hilarious instructions on how to preform all bathroom operations when you get here.
4. Weight loss and Illness
I gave much thought and worry to how much weight we would lose here. Jon and I have both lost a good amount of weight during training and Jon especially is slimming down. This is mostly (amazingly) because we actually eat healthier here then at home. Without junk food and midnight gas station runs, suddenly we are at much healthier weights. And snack food here generally consists of peanuts, whatever fruit is in season, and manioc in multiple forms....not too many trans fats to be found! As for illnesses, thus far (knock of wood inshalah) we have been lucky. I had a bit of a stomach virus when we first arrived but other then that we've been alright. I think the most important thing is to wash your hands a lot. During training I always carried a bottle of hand sanitizer to use before I ate. I have become less dependent on that but I still wash my hands very often.
5. Nice smelling things!
Sometimes after a hard day, all I want to do is wash my face with my St. Ives Apricot face wash. It has gotten me through many a difficult day in training. nice soaps and shampoos can make a bad day disappear...or at least just make one smell better and that always is a plus! Don't skimp on these. I am so very thankful for those nice smalling things!
6 Friends and packages
Receiving emails, letters and packages from friends is always a heart lifting experience. Seeing pictures and hearing stories of home diminishes the distance for a little while and re-news our resolve. I am so thankful for all news of life at home, pictures,emails, letters, calls. Thank you so much!
7. Life without running water or electricity
There is a saying here that "Yeah, I could have running water, but it seems cruel to make the kids run ". All water that we use for drinking, washing, cooking, or cleaning, and "flushing" the tiolet has to be carried up the hill to our house. Before we figured out that there was a well much closer behind our house, we would send "petites" to fill and carry our bidons of drinking water. We would pay them and give them oranges or chandy for their work but always I feel bad. We have tried and often do this work ourselves, but when we are tired, or sick, or just plain lazy we ask the kids to do it. Recently the school has been dolling out the punishment for misbhavior of carrying water up to our house. Although the american conscience twinges at this idea, in guinee this is a normal practice...and lets be real...thats all water that
I don't have to carry. And to be honest, sometimes its satisfying to see the object of my classroom frustrations sweating and grunting their way up the hill. :)
Life without electricity is very strange. The darkness of night here is all encompassing. I have never experienced darkness as I have here. We tend to go to sleep at 9 each night. Now that I am in Conackry, I feel so overstimulated by light and sound that I tend to stay up until all hours of the night watching movies or using the internet simply because I can. It is during these dark nights that I am even more imporessed with Jon's choice of ipod and and so very thankful for our headlamps and rechargeable batteries.
In other news,
We have expanded our family to include our new chicken friend, Mia. She was a gift to us from the "president de femmes"or the president of the women's groups in Moosayah. She is beautiful and we are hoping soon to expand our family with some new little fluffy guys. We also "borrow" our neighbors kids, or more correctly they borrow us as well as Milo, the lovable forever puppy that naps continuously on our porch.
I am going to post a more informative update later, but for now, please enjoy a few photos and to all the new folks headed to Philly and beyond in the coming days!!! Du Courage and Bonne Chance!!!! We look forward to meeting you!!!
