Impressions of 'site'

Hello everyone Kim and I have just come to visit Conakry after spending nearly a month at our site (see photos). The people - and our immediate neighbors in particular - are remarkably kind people and we can't imagine a nicer community to be living in for the duration of our Peace Corps service. Our house is on the top of a hill. Through our bedroom window we can see the beautiful Mount Bena and every night we sit on the porch, often with the neighbors dog Milo laying at our feet. For the first 2 weeks we cooked only with charcoal outside on our porch. Our "host mom" would help us out and bring over rice and sauce and, depending on the quantity of fish, it was generally very good. We have been learning how to make various dishes with eggplant or "abergines" au francais ou coba coba in Soussou as that is practically the only vegetable that they sell in the market. Kim and I try to take turns going down to the little market we have and the ladies harangue us in their light-hearted way: either we eat too much bread or we don't eat enough spicey peppers They have apparently been keeping tabs on each purchase we've made since we've arrived. Most mornings we go to the market and or ears are filled with the market ladies giving us their greetings of "Mama Nana Soumah!" (Kim's guinean name) or "Tana mu xri!" Good Morning in Soussou. The market is crowed with people buying and selling. Young girls and boys walk around with huge plates on their heads filled with corn or sweet potatoes or sweet seaseme candies. There is generally many shouts of "Fote' Ca Va?" which is pronounced Sa Ba by cute little Guinean children. This basically means "White person, How are you?" The market is full of so many different colors and smells: piles of dried, smoked fish, colorful "bengbe" or very spicy piedmont pepers, huge bowls of rice, salt, sugar, homemade soaps, beans. Spread all over the ground are displays of manioc, chives, eggplants, potate and manioc leaves, which are used to make sauces, and huge baskets of oranges. Every night we sit out on our porch and watch the lightning or storms that are very common at this time of the year. We tend to go to bed very early every night. Without lights, television, or computers...there's not too much left to do but go to sleep. Kim's finally conseeded that having brought the Ipod was a good decision and that "as much as she may have griped about it, it's nice to be able to have comfort of watching American TV while in a little village in West Africa". Most of the water that we use for washing is from the rain that we collect from the roof. Water for drinking is taken from the well and is treated and filtered. We have to go down to a pump every so often and fill up our bidons. To do this we make a very precarious trip with the heavy containers on our bikes and then push them up our huge hill. Needless to say this is very difficult. However, it is very humbling to see that ANY guinean child is ready and willing to put that heavy thing on their head and carry it up that crazy hill with out a problem. The other day Kim decided to see for herself what is was like. With much laughter, we tried to balance that heavy bidon on her head. She didn't get 50 yards before she was pretty much done with that experiment. This system of getting "petites" to do the heavy lifting is a culturally acceptable form of work for kids and I am fairly certain that we will be paying some children to get our water from now on! School began without too many hitches. Although school was slated to begin on the 15th, it didn't start until the next Monday the 20th. This allowed us to have our closet neighbor PCV come and visit. This in turn allowed for a welcome change of pace and the oportunity to see our community through another persons eyes. In the end, the experience made us particularly grateful for all the little things that have conspired to make our village so 'right for us'. This Thursday we formally gave the school the donations that were collected at our going away party. Everone was very grateful for the supplies. (Thanks everyone for all your help!) Recenetly we recieved a gas tank for the camping stove we bought last month. This has made our life sooo much easier, in that I know longer need to start a charcoal fire using plastic bags and wait an hour or two whenever meal time rolls around. That being said, I think we appreciated the food more when we were forced to wait. We also had some furniture made which turned our really nice. Along with interior decorating, Kim and I have been putting together the beginings of a garden which required us to commision a Guinean man to go out to the woods and cut palm fronds and wood for us to consturct a wall from. Our town is prowling with hungry sheep and goats just waiting to pounce on our unsuspecting seedlings. Since we've been in Conakry we've been able to relax a little, use the internet, watch some movies, watch some news, eat some schwarma, and get some shopping done( and the AC is a bonus). Also, two of our friends are finishing their service and are headed home this weekend so we've been able to spend a little time with them, which has been nice. We're leaving to head back to site in the very near future and don't anticipate another opportunity to post an entry roughly until Thanksgiving. Until then, we hope everyone is doing well, that you enjoy the pictures, and that you know we think of home often and miss you all. Jon and Kim

a brick of francs

Tomorrow morning Jonathan and I will finally be sworn in as "vrai" volunteers with the Corps de la Paix. It's all pretty sureal right now. I can say with certainty that training has been the most severe test of my endurance then anything I have as yet experienced.
That being said, I am both relieved and slightly sad that training is over. On the one hand, our lives are finally ours once more to be lived in the manner of our own choosing. We will finally have a house, a space of our own and independence. we will have time to adjust, to rest, and maybe even to read. And yet on the other had, we are really stepping out from our nice and sheltered microcosm into a lot of unknowns. Most likely for many of us, the language that we have feverishly been learning may be of little truly practical use when we get to our sites and 3/4 of the population only speaks sussu or malinke.
Today was a very strange day. Today we went to the bank to withdraw money for our adjustment to site (aka all the stuff we will need such as gas camp stoves, pots, pans, spices, cutlery, plates, etc) Needless to say this is quite a bit of money under normal circumstances. In Guinea however, the rate of inflation is incredible. One american dollar is equivilent to about 4,500 Guinean Francs. So as we roll up to the bank teller to take out our 6 million Guinean Francs we are handed a brick and I mean a brick of money banded together with plastic lacing. And then upon leaving the bank we have to pass by people sitting on the ground begging and refuse as we cary our wads of money to buy groceries or treat ourselves to icecream and pizza...a luxury that most guineans will seldem or never have.
And the sureality continues...




Today I was able to have two short converstations with two wonderful friends. It was amazing to hear their voices. Please know everyone that even though we aren't able to call or write all that often that you are thought of all the time. We miss you all very much!

The next few days should be pretty busy for us. Tomorrow we are going to the US embassy to swear in as Volunteers. After there will be much swimming and fete-ing for the next few days.( I have heard rumors of pig roasts and bbqs and broniews and creme brulee!!) We also have a lot of shopping to do. Between now and then, I will try to post some more pictures on facebook and elsewhere so you can see a bit about what our lives here are like here. And hopefully byearly next week we will be at our site celebrating the end of ramadan!!!

Love to all!! Enjoy the pictures!!! I will try to finish posting more later!

Well it is Africa

Well we did make it to the Capital a week after posting the last update. Unfortunately there were rolling blackouts and the internet cafes were non-operational. For that reason and a host of others Kim and I have been, more or less, incomunicato for the better part of a month. I'd like to take a moment and apologize to all those who have patiently waited for Kim and I - with bated breath I'm sure - but we have sincerly been unable to post until now. That being said, I think you can expect us to be updating this blog much more frequently over the next few weeks.
Our Pre-Service Training, as they call it, is ending come wednesday and we will be affectating (swearing in) at the end of the week. This means that anyone hoping to hear back from us should try to email us because we'll have the facilities available to correspond.

It's difficult to tell a single, cohesive story about the last month of 'stage'. Too much has happened. Kim and I visited our site and met some of the villagers. We went to a soccer game and were introduced to most of the town. We saw the school where we'll be teaching (pictures forthcoming), and met the sous prefet (local government minister). It's a pretty little town and we'll post some pictures of it in the near future. When we returned to the town where we're being trained Kim and I started 'practice school' which is exactly what it sounds like. What was originally a nerve wracking concept, teaching 40-something Guineans, became common place and we both feel very optimistic about our ability to manage our classes when we arrive at site. Practice school ended about a week ago and we're presently visiting with our host country counterparts (our highschool principle) at a mountain retreat. Here we're discussing our plans for when we arrive at site and start work. Everything is going well and things in general are becoming more 'normal' - if that can be said.

Thanks to everyone who has been sending us packages, letters, and emails. They really make the distance barrable.
All our love
Jon and Kim

du vin, du courage, currant, and princess punch

I have been going over in my head how I could possibly describe the last month in one cohesive blog entry. I am fairly certain that I will be unable to aptly capture what a whirlwind of an experience: both good and bad we have had thus far.

...Je vais essayer...

We have been in training for a bit over a month now in a small village. This is a place where all water that you use has been carried in a bucket on top of someone's head. We sleep every night under mosquito netting to avoid contracting malaria. This is a place where if the electricity comes as it does somestimes, it is either in the middle of the night and you wake up with every light on in the house or on very lucky nights when it comes on at 7pm, the entire village cheers in joy (including ourselves). Living rooms are filled to capacity and tvs are dragged outside so that people can enjoy the luxury of watching badly recorded pirated movies usually in a language that no one understands anyway, crazy Bollywood classics, or most usually locally produced choppy and degraded movies in the local language of Susu.Our toilet is a hole in the floor. Everyday, we try to communicate very complicated things in child-like French and usually fail miserably. We shower everyday using a cup and a bucket. We have a neighbor that loves to speak Susu at us even though she knows that we have no idea what she is saying and it makes me glad that smiles transcend language.

Everyday we go to language classes, Tech classes for our subjects ( TEFL- Teaching English as a foreign language and Physique), Cross cultural sesssions ( to try to better understand Guinean culture), Medical, Safety, and Admin sessions round out the mix and in general, to use a phrase from Colleen, its like trying to drink from a fire hose. Classes are generally punctuated by one or two heavy rainstorms a day, and sometimes the rain is so intense on the tin roof that you can't hear anything and we just play cards or plan lessons or sleep to the sound of the rain. On Tuedays and thursdays we have what are lovingly known as "bureau lunches". These are the days that you look forward to because you know that if nothing else goes right, you will at least have a king-sized feast waiting for you at noon.

We are staying with the Soumah family, a wonderful Susu family that live about a 10 minute walk from "L'ecole 3" where we have our classes each day. Our host mom is named Cadiatou and she is a wonderfully warm and genuine person.Her husband, Cabrahal recently passed away and I can tell it has been difficult for the family. Jonathan and I were both given Guinean names and he was named after this man which is quite an honor. I was given the name of Nana. My family loves this names because when they add AHHH to it as they often do when they are teasing me of if I inevitably do or say something silly, it makes the name for Pineapple in french. They get a big kick out of this and I enjoy it as well.

Hopefully I will take a group picture soon and post it and I will explain who's who in the Soumah clan.

We arrived here during the height of the rainy season which means that we also arrived at the height of mosquito season and despite all my best efforts those suckers find me pretty tastey and I'm covered in bites. But the rain has been so nice to listen to at night. Some of the storms have been amazigly intense. A few nights ago, lightening hit the house of a neighboring fellow volunteer and disintigrated his phone charger that was plugged into the outlet. So there have been many weather-related excitements.

It has deffinitely been the most intense month of my life filled with the most imposible highs and lows. From the lows it seems that one may never resurface and from the highs one wonders what all the fuss was about before. Unfortunately, Jonathan tends to take the brunt of my frustrations but luckily for me he does so gracfully and lovingly for the most part. I can only hope that I can be as supportive to him.

We are currently taking a tour of some volunteer sites in the region and towards the middle of next week will spend a day at the site that will be our home for the next 2 years: Moussayah. We are in email contact with some volunteers that stayed there and we are looking forward to corresponding and getting and idea of the place. We are staying at our Regional Capital in the city of Boke with many of the other volunteers in the area. They have been showing us around to all the hot spots (aka places that sell cheese, icecream, and american snackfoods. Tonight they threw a princess-themed party and much hilarity and dancing ensued. I have pictures to post soon.

I will hopefully be able to post again sometime this week and there is another trip to the capital in the works in a week. Hopefully this small snippit will tide you over untill then....

Love to all and to all a good night!
Be Well,
Kim

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