TouchDown!!

We touched down this morning at 9:45 local time in Conakry, Guinea!!! Just stepping onto the runway onto actual land just made what had, up to that point been a very surreal experience astoundingly real. I was overwhelmed with emotions...so much time preparing and here we were all were finally stepping into the country that will be our home for the next 2 years. Confused and jet-lagged we met all of our Peace Corps directors and administrators and walked out to the baggage claim where we were greeted warmly by shouts of welcome and joy from the Peace Corps Volunteers already in country. And for what would be another of many time this day, my eyes misted over in a fog of tears of overwhelming joy, apprehension, relief, and sadness too.

Today was a whirlwind. We were all really wiped out from our travels and road weary but the Volunteers and PC Staff helped move our heavy bags to vans where as we traveled to the headquarters, we saw our first glimpse of what a "developing nation"really means. Needles to say, our mouths were hanging open for a while and I certainly had some feelings of misgivings as I saw before me what I had seen only in pictures, moving there in real life, with all its scents, sounds, and colors.

To add to the unreality of the day, we reached the PC headquarters to find them safely corralled with walls covered in beautiful murals and rooms with AC, bathrooms with flush toilets, and a wonderful lunch not far away. We met our countrydDirector, education facilitators, and so many of the staff that our tired minds can barely remember their faces at this time, not to mention their names. But all that will come. I practiced my french and as they say, petit a petit, little by little....

We hung out today with the Peace Corps Volunteers and asked millions of questions, and they were endlessly accomodating, and no matter what stories they told, the good and the bad, they all agree that this is an experience that is not to be missed. Sitting here now, with a second wind, trying to wind down for the first night in guinea (and under a mosquito net no less!) I know that this is so. And though I'm nervous, I'm so incredibly inspired by the people that I'm meeting, those in our staging groups and those from previous groups, that I know that we would not give up this experience for anything in the world.

Love to you al! And let the adventure begin!!!!!

Be Well,
Kim and Jon

Packlist

So it's a staple among those who volunteer with the Peace Corps(pcv) to post a pack list (plus I advertised that it was forth coming). Well, we arrived in Africa this morning and I already have regrets that I brought a bunch of unnecessary stuff. In this spirit I post a pack list of what Kim and I brought annotated with thanks, regrets, and what i'll falsly title 'insights'. (By the way, Guinea is great, the people are amazing, PC HQ is unbelievable. Kim is posting applicable content as I'm typing this...its a race; expect typos)
Books:
-Mobey Dick
-A Prayer for Owen Meany
-A Game of Thrones
-Lonely Planet's Guide to West Africa (Guinea PCV library honestly has an entire shelve dominated by these)
-War and Peace
-Book of French verb conjugation
-What is a What
-L'Estanger
-Le Petit Prince
-The Scarlet Letter
Don't worry guys we got a ton of audio books of librivox and the pcv library is pretty huge

Electronics
-Ipod classic (thanks again to kyle and joshe for thier help with the content)
-Itrip
-Portable radio
-discman
-tape recorder
-solio solar charger (i've yet to see this thing work although other volunteers vouch for it)
-Battery charger (along with a bunch of rechargables)


Clothes
-too many pairs of underwear to count
-a negligable amount of sox
-bathing suits
-I brought some shorts, kim brought some dance pants
-quick dry, ultralight towels, one each
-4 days worth of dressy outfits each
-2 ties which I wonder when I'll use
-cotten shirts
-wiking shirts
-dress shoes each(mine I regret bringing, or atleast wearing while traveling. I don't particularly forsee wearing them a great deal)
- 1 ratty hat each
-Chocos, one set for me, 2 for Kim (greatist things ever)

Accessories
-4 pairs of sunglasses between us
-Scissors
-3 multi tools (thanks to the Roys and to Kyle G)
-tweezers
-clippers
-an absurd amount of pens, pencils, markers, and crayons (thanks to the friends of the Gibbs family; these supplies are to be donated when we get to site...or so I assume)
-2 cheap watches
-3 nalgenes
-3 headlamps
-a whole bunch of granola bars
-hand sanitzer
-additional toiletries
-a bunch of deodorant (tom's of maine)
-a great big bundel of paperwork
-1 sleeping bag each
-a 2 person tent
-some toesies (to help channel that yoga magic)
-a bunch of elastic bands, tuperware, and ziplock bags
-duct tape
-map of the US
-Hammock (can't wait till I'm using this)
-something like 12 toothbrushes (as if they don't have them in Africa, what was i thinking)

Gifts
-skittles
-maple syrup
-a picturebook presenting different arial veiws across the US


to all those whom we already miss,
be well

Jon (and kim by proxy)

last minute laundry

Here we are in Philly! We've just undergone 2 days of staging, or "pre-training training". We've finally been able to meet the 23 other volunteers that we will be spending the next 27 months with. I walked into the conference room Monday a bundle of nerves and today, as we left it after 2 days of ice breakers and flip charts, cultural sensitivity and logistics, yellow fever vaccinations and our first mefloquinine (malaria prophylaxsis) pills, we stepped out as colleagues,friends in the making, ready to take the next step on the adventure that has drawn us all together.

Tomorrow, we make the trek to New York that will eventually land us in Guinea, and although I feel nervous about all that is to come, the excitement of learning a new language, floundering and finding my place in a place foreign and unknown, and hopefully, finding some sort of friendship and acceptance in my new Guinean home far overshadows any doubts and concerns.

Here. we. go.



breathe.

Be well,
Kim