Tuesday, July 7, 2009

How can you measue...a year in the life? Bon Anniversaire!

In just one day we will be welcoming the new group of trainees. We have reached the halfway mark in our service and it seems like it just flew by. It's strange to reflect on what we were doing, who we were just one short year ago. A year ago I barely could put together a sentence in French. A year ago I was afraid to eat even an orange and terrified of everything on my first trip to the market. A year ago, I was more concerned with the weight limits of my baggage then with really contemplating what joining the Peace Corps and teaching physics in a foreign language could possible mean. A year ago I was saying goodbye to all of my nearest and dearest, having one last American meal, checking and rechecking the packing list.

Now I'm feeling more and more comfortable in this foreign place. I am no longer afraid. I can travel alone unafraid. I go to the market in Conakry and negotiate its dark and treacherous pathways without missing a step. I eat pretty much whatever catches my eye in the market with out fear. I am more comfortable now riding in cars crammed full of sweaty people then I am when I have a whole seat (!) to myself. I cannot sleep or stay in air conditioning anymore, it makes me cold and sick. French now falls from my tongue with very little thought or effort. Granted, this french must be jumbled and improper but I can now communicate most everything that is necessary in a language that up until a year ago was completely foreign to me. Jon and I have been working hard to even learn Sussu to the same level...something that I never believed possible when we got here. We have wonderful friends and support here that keep us smiling and laughing. We have survived our first year of teaching large classes and have seen success...sometimes small, sometimes large. We have overcome stress and difficulties and thrived. We have a wonderful house, garden, and more animals then we have ever had in our lives. We have shared amazing experiences: hiking the mountains of Moussayah with hunters, amazing meals with our friends, drinking endless cups of tea, lazing around in the hammock, making the neighbors kids collapse in piles of giggles, soccer with the girls.


This time last year, was the hardest 3 months of my whole life. With so many adjustments all coming at us at once, we felt unprepared, scared, slow, useless. So I want to salute all of us in G-16! We made it! Congrats!! One year down and so many amazing adventures yet to be had! Here's to a great second year!


All the girls of the group (12 for 12 and going strong!) made a wonderful dinner together the other night of green beans, eggplant parmesan, and garlic bread. We also baked an amazing cake with chocolate frosting (Thanks Allison!) and enjoyed some Amarula (a yummy South African liquor like Baileys that is made from the Amarula fruit. Thanks to Marg and Jon who brought some back from their incredible african safari!) We had an amazing evening and the rooftop could not be beat. This group of girls are amazing, motivated, wonderful people. Watch out cuz they will change the world!




G-12 Ladies: Nothing but Class!



Marg, Carolina, Ashley, Isy, and Christina.. prep time!

Sweating it out in the Kitchen



We went to a Hiv/Aids Conference which was informative. We brought two teachers from our school to get the training and they seemed very honored by the invitation and truly interested in the topic. A group of young people from a local hiv/aids mentoring group came for the training and it was really inspiring to see young Guineans that were so motivated for change at such an early age. There were many ups and downs at the conference but over all, it was well received. Although Jon and I had a lot of grading to finish up, it was nice to be with our friends again and it almost started to feel like vacation. At the end of the conference we had a candle lighting ceremony and everyone was able to share what they learned their aspirations for the future.



Mr. Bangoura and Mr. Soumah...our couterparts at the conference


Aminata from the youth group and me.


Jon and Bryan...Don't cry


Emily, Tiffany, and Rachel at the candlelight ceremony

Jon and I were invited to lunch to our "brother" James Boucher's house. For any of you who received a batik this past christmas, this is the artist who made them. He fed us one of the best meals I've had yet in Guinea. He took us into his workshop and showed up the painstaking art of batik making. Essentially, he draws a design on a piece of white cloth and then paints melted beeswax where he does not want a color to go, and then dips it in ink. Many of the colors he uses are all natural that he collects himself. Most batiks take a total of 2-3 weeks from start to finish. This visit definitely made me appreciate his work even more. He also showed me this amazing multicoloured batik quilt that he made. Here are some photos of J. Boucher at work:

Another Portrait of an Artist

Specially designed PC Guinea Batik



My friend Rachel came to visit Moussayah last weekend. Jon stayed in Conakry so it was just us girls which was wonderful. It's always nice to be able to have a friend come and visit because not only to you get to share your life with them but you also get to see your surroundings through new eyes which is always uplifting and amusing. We visited the school, I introduced Rachel (or Fatoumata Binta Diallo) to my friends, we played with little Mama and Papa, and sat on the porch with Yero. Basically, she really got a pretty accurate glimpse into our little world. ALSO...and very exciting-ly : Sierra had her baby! It's a cute little bundle of fuzz that Jon named Rocky. He is hilarious to watch especially when he comes out of the barn in the morning because he doesn't seem to know how to walk...only jump. It;s unfortunate that we will have to be away for so long and won't be able to spend much time with him. But as I have been informed, goats have babies every 6 months...so we will definitely have another chance!!!


Rachel and Rocky



The Mosque in Moussayah


The Farmer in The Dell




The New Family: Sierra and Rocky



So that's our life in a nutshell. We are working hard to plan a great training for the new group. We are looking forward to a bit of a vacation out to Mali at the beginning of September. Things are going well. we'll be in and out of the capital fairly often this summer with work so we will try to update when we can!



That being said, we do have some bad news to report.


The first is concerning our "family" and Neighbors, the Camaras. Like all government officials, Sous-prefets are liable to very quick, last-minute "changements". Basically, whenever the government wants, it can remove or change the placement of any or all of its' posts. Mr. Camara had been made the Sous-prefet of Touge', a village to the far north and will be moving in the next few weeks. This is very sad because we have become very close to everyone in the family and truly considered them to be our Guinean family. They will be very missed and have very much brightened up our lives up on our hill. But I suppose, to look on the bright side, we will now be able to see some other parts of Guinean when we go to visit them.



Secondly, Houdini, our lovely friend has disappeared. We have our speculations, but we believe that maybe while we were gone he went too far to hunt and maybe didn't make it back. We are still holding out hope that he will turn up sometime but he has been missing for a while. We miss him a bunch. But one thing that you sense here really quick is that this is really an atmosphere of survival of the fittest....in many ways. Well, wherever he is, he is missed.
Love to you all,

Kim and Jon



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