Sophie the Cephalope, Zen Sprouts, and Lawn Chairs

Spending my last evening in the city catching up on the television and movies that I've been missing. Finally got to see 3:10 to Yuma, Nick and Nora's Infinit Playlist and Slumdog Millionaire and I'm working through the second season of Weeds. We've got some very packed and busy weeks coming up so its been nice to just veg out for awhile and relax. Also had to get some t-shirts printed for the girls conference that is coming up really quickly in mid-june. I will post some pictures of the design when I have some.

Some new news:

Recently one of our students, Yero, came to our house with a strange, brown, bunny-looking animal in his arms. Before we could really react or say a word, he throws this strange animal into my arms and says "Ça c’est pour vous" and smiles proudly over the present he has given us. Of course our next question is "What the heck is it?" He gives us a name in Sussu tokeh which didn't help us very much. Well we did a little research and found out this little friend is called a cephalope or commonly called a bay duiker which is a type of antelope that lives in the bush. She is a funny little cutie with tiny little ballerina hooves and a big shiny black nose. Here is a picture with Yero and one of her by herself.

Jon and I went on a hike a while back but I wasn't able to post any photos. A man from the USGS came by to do a GPS mapping survey of the area and talk to some of the local conservation groups. It was great! We were able to see a satileite image of our village and the surrounding areas. We also got to meet a former Peace Corps volunteer who is still working in Guinea. No chimps this time but it was neat to see the interest and ecological importance of the dense forest near us. We are hoping to continue working with them to help preserve the area.

Jon and I finally got our fence built and dug our garden. And in spite of the fact that everyone says we've dug it all wrong, I am very proud of us. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before we left but we have some sprouts already. We planted carrots in a special box and sifted all the soil and amazingly!! there are actually coming up! We also planted pumpkins, squash, and zuccinni, lettuce, basil and sunflowers and they are all doing really well. We have also planted a very nutritious plant called moringa but as of thursday they haven't come up. We planted some peas and beans but nothing has come up. If anyone could send us some more pea and bean seeds, we would really appreciate it. More photos to come as things start growing!

Our cement stone pathway to the garden....

Jon's Carrot Patch Zen Garden

This past weekend, we were out in Kindia, a city about 4 hours away to go a wedding of the daughter of the Sous-prefet and also my best Guinean friend, Mariam. We left with most of the family right after prayer call (aka VERY early) to take the one car that takes the direct route 3 times a week and even though there was already 8 people in the car plus the chauffeur, we still managed to find another 4 en route. Really, one must love the transportation system in Guinea.

Once there, we were introduced to the extended family and feed a breakfast of rice and palm oil. We paid a vist to some other volunteers in the area and went along with Mariam to see her university. We got to get dressed up in oue West African finery, eat almost constantly vast quantities of rice and sauce, and sat awkwardly for long stretches of time on plastic lawn chairs. BUT its was an amazing time. Mariam looked absolutely gorgeous and the dancing was fantastic! Unfortunately we also both got a little ill so we had to miss out on some of the festivities. but as Guinean weddings are full 2 day events, we still got to enjoy quite a bit. We had a blast, despite being under the weather. If I can manage, I will try to put up a video of some of the crazy dancing.

Who is that handsome fellow?

Other then all that, things have been fairly calm. Next week we will start reveiws and after that compositions will begin...then girls conference follows immediately, then an HIV/AIDS training in the Fouta region and finally we'll be helping out to train the incoming group who arrive in July. Life is moving really fast out here! I can't believe that we are coming up on a year in-country! We are having a blast, being challenged beyond anything else we have ever done, and finally finding the time for our hobbies and side projects in Moussayah.

Hope all is well in you neck of the woods. As for me....I'm going to watch some more television!

Love you all!

Kim (and Jon!)

twitter or why technology is awesome

I had been hearing very excessively about twitter recently on the copious amounts of BBC news that we have been listening to and so I thought that I'd give it a try. And its incredible...by some sort of magic, Jon and I will, with our cell phone, in a little village in West Africa be able to give day to day updates on this blog and on facebook on the happening chez nous for anyone interested, very bored, or in need of some good old fashioned procrastination.

If you take look to the right of our blog, there is a running tally of things I have been sending with my phone. This is very cool. I am a very lame, uninformed geek and the internet is magic.

Not too much new on the home front but since I was in town I thought that I would let everyone know that we are stil alive and kicking. I head back to site tomorrow to get working in the garden and get ready for the end of school. June is going to be a very busy month too with girls conference, a lifeskills (HIV/AIDS) training and the welcoming of our new training group!! So, I'm not sure how often we will be able to update. But now, with twitter, we can write little notes in the meantime so everyone knows whats going on in our crazy little lives.

Love you all and miss you tons! Hope all is well!
Kim and Jon

Sharing New Lives

It hasn't been all that long since we last posted but we've made it back to the capital for some work...and some repose. Life is just moving along here, everything is fairly calm, not too much new or exciting-and sometimes, that is a good thing!


The school year is winding to a close and we are preparing for the new volunteers to arrive in July for their training. We are planning for a trip to Mali and some fun side projects for the summer vacation. Our days are spent teaching, recovering from teaching, resting and reading, getting our garden ready for the rainy season, and studying our french and sussu. Each day passes quicker then the last although sometimes in the midst of the heat and stress a day may seem as if it will never end.


We've been spending an inordinate amount of time spoiling our new cat Houdini. And as all cat lovers do, we have photographed him in many a cute pose. Jon also loves him so much that I once woke up in the middle of the night because Jon was sleeping diagonally so that Houdini could have a comfy spot to doze...right on Jon's pillow. So, he is quickly making his way into our hearts...and our bed.



"What, did you want to sit here?"

A purse pillow for a sleepy one.

Houdini loves playing in our mosquito netting. Here is a picture that Jon took a few weeks ago. This is not as fun when it is three am and one is trying to sleep!

Cuddles beware, this cat is one good reposer.

A week or so ago, I was getting ready to go to my tutor's house for a Susu lesson. While I was getting ready, I took a look through our bedroom wedding and saw a sheep in our garden. This sheep was acting rather erratic so I decided to watch it for a while. Moments later, I realized that the sheep was in labor and was about to give birth in our garden!!! Jon and I watch in amazement as this new life entered the world. I was astounded. it was the first time I had seen the birth of anything, animal or human, and it was amazing. The most incredible thing was that just moments after it was born, the baby was already up walking around and looking for some food! Here is a picture just minutes after!!!

And there is always, of course Mia, our chicken who has just hatched 4 more (yet to be named) babies and our wonderful goat, Sierra who is getting fatter by the day. Sierra is in denile about her weight gain as she still tries to fit through the narrow bars of our porch fence. I think that soon we will have a Winnie the pooh episode on our hands! Here are some pictures of that funny goat as well!

I'm getting to be a bit of a Little bo Peep around town as she has taken to following me around. I love it, but the ladies in the market just don't understand!

"Do you have any rice to share?"

Look at that belly!! Pretty soon we'll have a new baby goat...or two!!

Last weekend, Jon and I went out to a neighboring village with our pal Mr. Bangoura because we were told that some "experts" were coming into town along with the Forestry department of the local prefecture. We were told that they wanted to take a hike out into the forest and we had been invited along. It turned out that these experts were two americans working with the USGS to do a geological survey of the area. It was awesome! We got to see a GPS map of the area including the dense forest that we are trying to protect. One of the american "experts" is actually based out of Conakry and is a former volunteer so hopefully we will be working with him in the future. We went up to the edge of the densest bit of forest, but due to time constraints, were unable to do much more. But we were able to find some really gorgeous views and had a really fun hike. We didn't see much wildlife, however. But, we have other trips in the works so we will keep you posted about any chimp sightings

That is all for now. We miss you all and hope that all is well, spring is springing and that the sun is falling warmly on your faces.