As of Right Now

...I (jon) am writing my last post before I head back to the village. There's still a bunch of stuff the Kim and I need to catch everyone up on. After the cat incident, surprisingly enough, life went on. We still have the cat by the way and he's doing great. Kim and I are yet to decide on a name but we're thinking very seriously about Houdini (like the illusionist)

or maybe falcor (the luck dragon from 'The Neverending Story').

The Monday morning after we got back from our visit with the hunters, before our classes started at the secondary school, Kim and I went to visit the primary school in our village. Some family and friends back in the States had been sending us school supplies and we went to the school to drop it off. The faculty at the school were really pleased and the students were ecstatic. The experience was incredible. How refreshing it was to be surrounded (thronged really) by a crowd of enthusiastic young children. As we went from class to class the students would sing out greetings together. After that Kim and I would walk around passing out some of the school supplies (mostly pens, pencils, colored pencils, and that sort of thing). When it came time to leave the students sang goodbye and thank you songs. It was so beautiful to be surrounded by so much joy. I can't say enough how full of happiness Kim and I were when we finally left. What a way to start our week.

Well that week came to an end with reviews and test leading up to what at present is a one week spring vacation. Kim and I have spent the majority of our time in Conakry but we were lucky enough to take some time to head out to a small group of islands off the coast. We left the city on a tiny boat with a 15hp engine - passing through a veritable ship graveyard - and found ourselves in sun-drenched paradise about an hour later.

We and a group of our fellow volunteers spent the better part of the day swimming, throwing frisbee, and combing the beach. All in all a great way to pass the time. Kim and I cooked and shared a bunch of hot dogs we had bought at one of the grocery stores that can be found in Conakry. That and the watermelon made the experience almost feel like home. Kim found some beautiful jewelry, we had a nice walk around the island, and came home the the Peace Corps bureau salty, sun burnt, and exhausted. It was great.

Shortly thereafter, Kim left to take some of our Peace Corps friends to visit our village for a hunters ceremony that coincided with the full moon on Wednesday. She told me today that it went great and everyone had wonderful time. Apparently there was a bunch of food and music. If it was anything like the ceremonies I've been to out that way I can attest to just how amazing the surreal the whole experience can be. What happens is a group of hunters will play Coras (guitar/drum things) while another group will pantomime as deer and hunters. This all to the periodic back fire of gunfire as people fire their rifles into the air flourishing them for dramatic affect.
I, on the other hand, stayed in Conakry so that I could go on a little fishing trip. I and good friend headed back out to the Island were we had just visited 4 days earlier. After having met a local fisherman while exploring the island's small village community, he and I had tentatively planned to go on a fishing trip just out past the islands. We got to the islands and after swimming for a little while we headed off to get ahold of the fisherman so we could take off on our trip. We fished well into the night and then got back to his house were we stayed until morning when he brought us back to the mainland. I won't lie, it was a bit scary now and again but we had a great time and there were some big fish. We caught a red snapper and a barracuda both well over 3ft. We got some photos of the smaller fish, but the big ones didn't come out until after the sun went down. We used long spools to catch these things and it was a really neat experience. For the little fish we just lifted them into the boat but for the bigger ones we had to hit them with this long stick that had a spike on the end. Truly a remarkable, albeit harrowing, experience.

That gets us pretty well up to date. Tomorrow I leave Conakry and head home to Kim. The school year is coming to a close in just over a month and we're trying to get ourselves prepared for that. Otherwise, everything's pretty much the same back at site. The people are great. The scenery is wonderful. No complaints here.

jonathan

chimps are blurry! thats the problem!!!: Mitch Heberg, RIP

When last we left our heroes they were venturing into the African bush in search of perilous adventure.
One has to admit it has a cetain 'pulp' appeal if not a twing of melodrama. Well as Kim was writing (not so sutle remark aimed at denoting that this is Jon - hello by the way), after the local hospitality brigade served us some wonderful food; we were invited for a walk into the woods with some of the local hunters. Avid fans might recall that we had already gone out on a trip like this with another group a few months back. Last time we saw a bunch of chimp habitats and a totally great waterfall which we hope to check out again during the rainyseason. Well, needless to say, we accepted and left with four locals and our stalwart companion, Mr Bangoura.






After trudging for hours thru plantations and bamboo groves, we arrived in vally filled with palm trees (apparently a major food source for chimps). Unfortunately we had to walk along a this rediculously muddy, trecherous river bed from that point on. Neither kim nor I had really planned, or dressed for this but we kept our heads down and powered thru. And it all payed off; Kim and I saw three chimps in the wild. Unfortunatly, the dense cover and failing light made it that we only have this one, rather dark and fuzzy photo. But we were there and we'll remember it for ever. It was so surreal as the hunters all started to act like giddy little kids pointing and making a great big deal as we fumbled with the camera half in a panic ourselves to atleast take a few photos.
"Chimps ARE blurry, thats the problem!!!"


Anyone skilled at 'Where's Waldo' can probably find the black splotch in the foreground to the right of the leftmost tree. That black splotch, in all its majesty and splendor, is Pan Troglodytes Verus in the wild. Pretty rad. Unfortunately our trip didn't end there and we had to walk back to town in the failing light which soon became utter blackness. There is a saying here that 'In Africa, when the sun goes down, it's dark'. Obvious isn't it. But in a world without light pollution, or electricity of any kind - such as the African bush, the duh-factor of the saying acts only to incapsulate more fully the shock one recieves upon incountering complete and utter darkness.

Well the morning came and we had a little breakfast with the local head of the community whose house we had stayed at the night before. We were then invited to an impromptou gathering with the hunters and thier families. This was a remarkably great time. I had an oportunity to play the Cora which you can see from the pictures is drum/guitar made from a calabash, animal skin, and other assorted objects. Everyone seemed to get a pretty big kick out of that and the ladies inticed Kim into dancing with them which she always loves. They also brought us more food - meat and bouille (local fair resembling hot rice pudding) - which we ate a great deal of.

Eventually we had to head home which was a lovely bikeride through the rolling hills and small hamlets on the periphery of our sousprefecture. Home coming is always an event as everyone seems to be surpised that we keep returning. Sadly our homecoming was rather sullied buy the events I'm about to relate.
When we got home we unpacked, started our laundry, and the other chores that comprise our daily routine at home. At some point we begain to notice a lot of activity around our neighbors latrine. (I'll take a minute to explian the bathrooms in Guinea real quick in case anybody might not see clearly the image that I'm trying to paint. There are a great variety of latrines. There are water level latrines, pit latrines, indoor and outdoor latrines, flush latrines, the list goes on. All opperate in ostencilbly the same manner, being that there is a hole in the ground and one must indevor to aim as one can. Our neighbors have pit latrine which is outdoors and by all accounts resembles an outhouse.) Eventually, one of the kids came and told me that something was in the latrine. "Il y a un chose di-dans!" This latrine, it should be noted, has been the sight of many a snake sighting and killing. I therefore natually assumed it was a snake or lizard or something and decided to go check it out with my neighbor. Well I got there and I didn't see anything. Meanwhile I'm asking him what it is and he dosn't know the word for it which surprises me (he's a rather smart little guy after all). So I look and look but I don't see anything, all the time looking for some lizard. But then I hear it...and my heart drops. (don't worry this story has a happy ending)
It's a cat. Twenty feet down in this horrifying abyss of shit, someone has thrown a cat. I know how obsurd it is to wax sentimental about the suffering of a cat when the world is full of human suffering. I know that starvation, disease, poverty, and war destroy lives and that this suffering in many cases goes unadressed. With all that in mind, I can't even begin to express my disgust at the type of person who could throw away a life like that. Domestic animals place such unassuming trust in people. And than someone goes and does something like this. What a complete and utter betrayal of that trust. This person completely abandoned any semblance stewardship or paternal responsability.
So there it is, a tiny little cat mewing weekly, and I ask the little boy next to me how long its been there. And again my heart drops. He tells me its been there for two days now. Someone put it there the night before Kim and I left to go on our trip and it had been there ever since. People had kept using the latrine and everything. What had been disgust directed at one person becomes a wave of scinicism with the indifference and ineffectualism of the bystanders.

Supressing this, I go an get Kim. We tell ourselves that we at least have to try unlikely though it is that we might help the cat. We bring our flashlights to try and see if its even possible to save this cat or if all hope is lost. Straining to see down this rediculously small hole in the floor of the latrine into the pit twenty feet down, we still hear mewing this pitiful cat. There it is, these two little eyes reflecting back up at us. So we devised a plan. We found long stick to lower into the tiny hole of the latrine. We tide a little rope to the end with a sliding knot to snare the little cat. We then lowered the stick thinking first of all that the cat would jump on and climb out on its own volition. Unfortunately it was far too weak, or delerious from whatever toxins it had been breathing. We started to realize how rediculous our plan was and that we could never hope to get this cat. Nevertheless, we kept trying for a while and the cat, who still couldn't move as we was surrounded in sludge, started biting at the little rope we had at the end of the stick. Somehow I got the rope on him enough that we begain to lift him out. It was increadably tense for a few minutes as we were worried that something would slip and he would fall anew and that all chances would be lost. But remarkably we lifted him up to the open and pulled out this putrid little guy who just lay there completely destroyed.
Sadly, Kim and I were sure he was going to die. But we were happy to atleast give the cat some modicum of dignity by giving it a chance and pulling it out of that abysmal place. So we washed it up and put it in the sun.
Kim fed it condenced milk. A few days passed. We have a cat.

I had to add this picture: BEFORE...sad and smelly
AFTER: Happy and right at home
We haven't chossen a name and we're looking for suggestions. Any ideas?

wooden phaluses, african hula, and le serpent boa

So we had only been back at site for a few weeks but I must say that they were some very interesting two weeks and we have many a tale to tell. We are back in the Big City Lights for our school's one week vacation. Many of the other education volunteers are using their well-earned vacation time for a trip to see other parts of the continent or a much needed and well-deserved rest-up at home. Jon and I are planning to do very little in general but take care of the necessities in town and a much-inticipated trip out to some of the islands off the coast. I am really looking forward to spending some quality time laying on a beach!!

As for the events of the past few weeks...

I will begin with an AIDS sensibilization that we helped out with in town. I have now learned to never expect anything to go the way I want it to or the way I expect it to here in Guinee. However, I have found that sometimes things can work themselves out in a very Guinean style. We were approached by a fellow professor and the youth group in town for assistance with the sensibilization. This basically meant that they wanted us to provided some sort of materials i.e. condoms and posters. Here is Jon preparing...

I knew that there was a group of youth mentors from a neighboring village who often do these types of things so I tried to contact them, fairly unsuccesfully. When finally we got in contact with them (two days before the event) they agreed to come out with 7 of the kids. The day of the event passed with me having no knowledge of what was actually going to happen except an approximate time and all of these youth group kids sitting on my porch playing crazy eights who knew even less then I did. We had some idea that there were some music groups invited and that there would be a dance and that at some point we would be talking about AIDS.
The day of the event, at the onset, seemed like a flop...it was supposed to begin at 1pm and began the contemplation of really beginning at 4. Like all big events in Guinee, it involved lawn chairs in a big circle, huge speakers with too much reverb, and many loud electronic squeakings...but perhaps that is the halmark of the grand fetes.


Music was played and several music groups rapped or sang in succession and slowly but surely the lawn chairs began to fill and young students began to wander in. The youth group from Forekariah did an amazing job, especially under the time restraints and circumstances. They put on a little play and a condom demonstration. Though it was all in Sussu and I really have no idea if any really pertinent information was transmitted, I must say that the event, lead by Guineans, for Guineans surpassed the uneasy expectations that I had set for it. But most importantly, I think it was important for the young people of Moussayah to see these people, of the same age, doing something so important. Perhaps this will spark some motivation to start a similar group there. The SIDA dance was a bit disappointing, with more lawn chairs and loud noises but lots of condoms were given out...and I suppose that is as good as anything.


Last week was the most intensly bizarre, interesting, and outright bewildering week in my recent history.

It all began on Friday when....ah..no....it all began on thurday morning with the slaughter of the baby...goat (that is) by the tree in our front yard.

And no, not Sierra, but the neighbor's newly purchased young goat that I was looking forward to naming and getting to know. The morning was made even stranger by the presence of...what's this? a slight sprinkle of rain after months of scalding harmattan!! After sweeping up the leaves in the yard ( a weird but culturally necessary chore here) I headed to school to do a review for the 7th graders. My friend Kate who lives in Hawaii had sent a kids hula outfit for me to use. To add to the unreality of this whole week, I now added a hula outfit... on African kids. I had planned a game like who wants to be a millionaire only if you got the wrong answer, you had to wear the hula outfit and do a dance for the class. They loved it and I have the photographic proof! Thanks Kate!!!





But wait, there's more...
Later that afternoon, I headed to my Sussu tutor, Madame Balde's house. We are sitting there talking when I feel a slight breeze that causes me to turn my head slightly and what do I see but a huge black storm cloud engulfing the mountains and quickly baring down on the village. "I think I'm going to go home." I said. "I think you better run!" she said. But I did not need much encouragement, nor did many other villagers who quickly ran, worried eyes to the skies. Students yelled out "Nana Soumah!" and told me to take refuge in their house but I was determined to make it back up the hill before the rain. The storm came in like a rebirth, cleansing the streets of the town of all it long-laid dust with one great burst. We all ran, mouths clenched against the grit, eyes narrowed and looking at the sky when ever there was a little relief from the stinging grit. Huffing and grunting, I made it up the hill, sand in my teeth, only to have a spectacular veiw of the clouds speeding from the mountains and the entire town below us engulfed in dust. We stood out in the wind, watching the world tense in readiness for what was to begin. And suddenly it came!! Cold, wet, wonderful rain, soaking into the parched earth and making it red as clay. Inside, Jon and I listened in amazement to the pounding newness of the rain on our tim roof. To heighten the strangeness even more, we were able to celebrate with delicious (baby) goat fajitas with rice and quacamole and a box of red wine. NOW how is that for a rather random day?.....

But it doesn't end there.

The next morning, we had planned to bike out to a nearby village to meet our friend, Mr. Bangoura. Mr. Bangoura is working with the Jane Goodhall Institute to organize and sensibilize hunters and try to determine resources usage and protection measures for the forests in the region. We had gone to a few events with him in the past and really enjoyed them. The route to the village was absolutely stunning, I had to keep stopping the bike to get just the right picture to capture the unreal natural beauty that surrounds us. Here are some en route:






When we got there we immediately were taken to talk with The President of the rural Development commitee ( basically the village 'big wig') who was an older self-important man. He had just completed the Haidj. Hands were shaken, we were given a welcome gift of banannas, and were found lodging for the night....with Monsieur le President, of course! After that, we put away our bikes and bags, and went for a walk with a local hunter and Mr. bangoura to the nearby village. On the route we took pictures of some of the environmental damage being done in the area, burned regions of the mountains, brick yards with erroding sand pits, and areas of devastated forest all for the wasteful production of charbon or charcoal. (See pictures below). One of the highlights of our walk was the sighting of a rather large BOA CONSTRICTOR (!) in the wild. Of Course, the hunter then grabbed a very large stick and proceeded to whack the boa with the intention of having him for supper. The Boa did escape, but I'm very sure was smarting quite a bit. We sat for a bit while Mr. bangoura chatted up some hunters and showed some pictures from our previous outings and then returned for an eagerly-awaited lunch.








Unfortunately, this eagerly awaited lunch was very much delayed and we sat in hunger-induced apathy as Bangoura continued diligently to sensibilize the villagers about resource-usage and the formation of hunting associations...all in a language we didn't know. Finaly, after many contemplations of mange-ing my own left foot, a huge, steaming bowl of rice and peanut sauce arrived and we happily ate our full. Upon finishing, we were asked if we wanted to go on the (photo) hunt for chimpanzees...

and eagerly we agreed...

Stay tuned for more of our very bizarre week!!!!