Forty eight hours in...

Hello!


Today was spent mostly inside waiting around for our language and medical interviews. I placed into intermediate low, so I’ll be taking a bit of French before I go into the new language. Those who placed into the intermediate levels took a crash course in Susu which is the local language in Forecariah and the area surrounding it. It’s pretty difficult because it’s not a romantic language, but more importantly, we’re learning it all in French! So far we’ve been taught simple phrases such as “I Kena” (pronounced ee ken ah) which means good morning.

We’re also getting vaccinations every day. It’s not fun, but it’s necessary.

The transitional house here is a walled compound with several buildings within its walls. One is the PCV’s (Peace Corps Volunteer) house, one is an administrative building, and the other is the country director’s house. There are about twelve guards positioned throughout the compound and there are always two sitting outside the PCV house. I’m guessing crime is a huge problem here…

The compound is right on the ocean and there’s a balcony on the top of the PCV house overlooking it. That’s what I’m looking at right now, actually. It’s really beautiful, but we’ve been warned that all the city sewage drains into the ocean, so we can’t go swimming in it.

If I were to assign a smell to Conakry it would be a mixture of burning rubber, sweat and dirt.

I’m really looking forward to finding out which language I’m going to study because that will give me an idea of where in the country I’m going to be for my two years of service. PCV’s aren’t positioned in the south of Guinea because about five years ago, Liberian and Ivorian rebels invaded it and caused a heck of a lot of problems (ex: murdering a bunch of people). So, that narrows down my placement to the north.

We haven’t been allowed to leave the compound unless we’re going to the beach. Fortunately, the beach has a bar, so most of us went out and had a few drinks last night. It’s 5,000 Guinean Francs for a beer, so that should give you an idea of the exchange rate here. I feel like some kind of rapper throwing around these large numbered bills. All I need now is an entourage of scantily clad women and a blatant disregard for women's rights! But, $1 = 4,200 GF. Alas.

I had rice and sauce (Guinea's staple food) for lunch yesterday today and it’s not bad...yet. I’m going to be eating a ton of it over the next few years.

My mind is fine with this transition so far, but apparently my body is not. In the medical interviews today, a nurse took my blood pressure and it’s gone up from 100/70 to 147/80. I’ve also lost seven pounds in the last four days. Don’t worry, I’m trying to eat a lot, and I’m sure this is just temporary.

Tomorrow is our last day with internet...DUN DUN DUN! So, for the next three months send letters instead of e-mails! I don't have most people's addresses, so if you could initiate the snail mail love, I'd appreciate it. I WILL be coming back up here for Christmas, so I can respond to e-mails and update my blog then.

Even though we've only been here for two days, it made my day to see Antibacterial Softsoap in the country director's bathroom. It's little things like that that remind me of home (anyone want to send me instant miso soup?)

OK, I need to go down to dinner. We’re all going out for the first time and I’m excited to see more of Conakry!

P.S. If you leave comments, could you please leave it under a name I can recognize? I got “M. Unit” just fine, but “Green Lantern” was a bit too vague…

Love to you all!

Also, I haven't gotten around to taking many pictures, let alone edit them and then upload them on this computer, so here is a friend's blog. I haven't read it, but she's posted a few pictures of Guinea worth looking at http://sarahinguinea.blogspot.com/