(In photograph: man hanging onto moving car on rollerskates. This is a fairly common sight in Conakry.)
Soooo…I RECEIVED MY FIRST PACKAGES!!! Seriously, thank you so much for sending me food and soap. The Guinean mail system isn’t exactly dependable, nor does it function outside of Conakry, so everything takes a really long time to get to me in Forecariah. I haven’t lost faith in the other packages that 
were sent a month ago!
I’m in Conakry right now with Jess and Julie, which has been a great break from the eight to five, six day a week training. We had to be put on ‘medical hold’ because we’ve been sick for the past month or so with similar illnesses. It’s been really nice to have the transitional house to ourselves—I even got to have a shower with warm water!
Last I wrote, I was leaving for KanKan for site visit. We crammed ten people i
nto a bush taxi that would have comfortable seated seven, and we arrived safe and sound in KanKan (isn’t that fun to say?) after the eight hour drive. I spent the night at the transitional house in KanKan with a few other volunteers because we couldn’t have made it to our respective sites before sundown. Peace Corps has a policy that makes it illegal for us to be in cars at night because that’s when most accidents occur. Car accidents are the number one killer in Guinea. I took this picture on the road up to KanKan.
That night, one of my friends accidentally erased all 2,800 of my songs on my iPOD. Grrrrrrr. I feel so naked without my music!
The next day, I met up with Felipe, my sitemate, and Allison, another PCT, and we picked out a bush taxi to take us to Mandiana (my site). Mandiana isn’t that far from KanKan, but because the road is so incredibly pot holed, the drive took four hours. It was kind of like being on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, but much more boring.
The taxi was stopped twice by the gendarmes (army jerks) for bribes, which the driver had to pay, but aside from that nothing noteworthy happened. We were, however, absolutely COVERED in orange dust when we emerged from the taxi. It looked like we’d all had really bad spray tans. Despite the fact I wore sunglasses, my eyelashes were still tinted day-glow orange. Allison looked like an Oompa Loompa more than anything else.
We washed off at Felipe’s hut and made our way to greet the important officials in Mandiana. Then Alison left for her site, which is only a 45 minute walk from Mandiana.
I met Bio (or Bayou?), my real counterpart, who is totally awesome and nothing like the dull guy he sent to the Counterpart Workshop in his place. Bio has worked with other volunteers before and was so excited to meet me! I think we’ll make a great team.
Bio showed me my hut, which is in a nice, peaceful neighborhood of other huts. My hut is part of a compound owned by another family, so I’ll still be living with a family, except I’ll have my own space. The compound consists of a normal (trailer-like) house with two huts on the side. All the buildings are shaded by the many mango trees in the yard, which should provide some respite from the blazes of hot season.
(In picture: first hut)
But my hut was TINY. I’m talking midget sized-- my HEAD hit the CEILING. I’m not that tall, so maybe only children lived in the hut before me? Either way, I told Bio that I couldn’t live the next two years with my head tilted to th
e side. He was very understanding and found another, larger hut for me to live in, which just so happened to be ten feet away from the midget hut. It’s going to be painted and re-thatched, so I’m really excited. It also has a private pit latrine and a big, fenced-in backyard.
were sent a month ago!I’m in Conakry right now with Jess and Julie, which has been a great break from the eight to five, six day a week training. We had to be put on ‘medical hold’ because we’ve been sick for the past month or so with similar illnesses. It’s been really nice to have the transitional house to ourselves—I even got to have a shower with warm water!
Last I wrote, I was leaving for KanKan for site visit. We crammed ten people i
nto a bush taxi that would have comfortable seated seven, and we arrived safe and sound in KanKan (isn’t that fun to say?) after the eight hour drive. I spent the night at the transitional house in KanKan with a few other volunteers because we couldn’t have made it to our respective sites before sundown. Peace Corps has a policy that makes it illegal for us to be in cars at night because that’s when most accidents occur. Car accidents are the number one killer in Guinea. I took this picture on the road up to KanKan.That night, one of my friends accidentally erased all 2,800 of my songs on my iPOD. Grrrrrrr. I feel so naked without my music!
The next day, I met up with Felipe, my sitemate, and Allison, another PCT, and we picked out a bush taxi to take us to Mandiana (my site). Mandiana isn’t that far from KanKan, but because the road is so incredibly pot holed, the drive took four hours. It was kind of like being on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, but much more boring.
The taxi was stopped twice by the gendarmes (army jerks) for bribes, which the driver had to pay, but aside from that nothing noteworthy happened. We were, however, absolutely COVERED in orange dust when we emerged from the taxi. It looked like we’d all had really bad spray tans. Despite the fact I wore sunglasses, my eyelashes were still tinted day-glow orange. Allison looked like an Oompa Loompa more than anything else.
We washed off at Felipe’s hut and made our way to greet the important officials in Mandiana. Then Alison left for her site, which is only a 45 minute walk from Mandiana.
I met Bio (or Bayou?), my real counterpart, who is totally awesome and nothing like the dull guy he sent to the Counterpart Workshop in his place. Bio has worked with other volunteers before and was so excited to meet me! I think we’ll make a great team.
Bio showed me my hut, which is in a nice, peaceful neighborhood of other huts. My hut is part of a compound owned by another family, so I’ll still be living with a family, except I’ll have my own space. The compound consists of a normal (trailer-like) house with two huts on the side. All the buildings are shaded by the many mango trees in the yard, which should provide some respite from the blazes of hot season.
(In picture: first hut)But my hut was TINY. I’m talking midget sized-- my HEAD hit the CEILING. I’m not that tall, so maybe only children lived in the hut before me? Either way, I told Bio that I couldn’t live the next two years with my head tilted to th
e side. He was very understanding and found another, larger hut for me to live in, which just so happened to be ten feet away from the midget hut. It’s going to be painted and re-thatched, so I’m really excited. It also has a private pit latrine and a big, fenced-in backyard.(In picture: second hut)
I’m a bit confused about the fact that my pit latrine doesn’t have a roof. What am I supposed to do during the rainy season? Squat under an umbrella? Wish me luck with that one…
On the whole, Mandiana is very dry and dusty with a rather unimpressive market (foods one can buy there: milk, eggs, flour, onions, tomato paste, garlic, tomatoes, pasta, and of course, rice and fish). There are TONS of cows and donkeys that just wander about all day long. I try to give the cows a wide berth because I’d rather not be impaled by their massive horns.
Felipe is a very interesting fellow. A bit socially awkward, but aside from that, I like him. He is an education PCV and will be in Mandiana until August. We’ve had some good conversations so far, covering beautiful etymologies to which God or demigod we’d want to be. Felipe said Manjusri, the Hindu/Buddhist God of professors, whereas I said I’d consider being a siren of the sea. Don’t hold me to that though. In true Scripps form, I was tempted to say Athena, but being a siren seems like it would have been more fun.
The day after, I visited Mandiana’s hospital, and man is it dismal. Much more dismal than the one in Forecariah. Working there will definitely be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it.
After the hospital visit, the chief of the neighborhood came by Felipe’s hut and gave a prayer, a benediction, to me and what I was about to do for their community. I’m going to need all the help I can get! But seriously, it was a beautiful benediction. I mean, it sounded pretty (I don’t understand Malinke yet).
The ride back to KanKan was uneventful. The car broke down before we even left Mandiana, and the driver “fixed” the problem by pulling OUT the carborator and hitting it repeatedly with a stick. Mechanics in Guinea…HA!
Back in KanKan we had a Pirates vs. Ninja party with all the Haute Trainees and Volunteers. Apparently, Haute has the best parties. We scoured the markets of KanKan for costumes and came up with these. Not bad! Everyone had a great time.
At 5 A.M. the next morning, the trainees left KanKan for the fifteen
hour drive to Forecariah. This is a picture of us crammed in the back, taken by the two trainees crammed in the front passenger seat. The picture on the left is one of the pretty views during the ride down.
On the whole, Mandiana is very dry and dusty with a rather unimpressive market (foods one can buy there: milk, eggs, flour, onions, tomato paste, garlic, tomatoes, pasta, and of course, rice and fish). There are TONS of cows and donkeys that just wander about all day long. I try to give the cows a wide berth because I’d rather not be impaled by their massive horns.
Felipe is a very interesting fellow. A bit socially awkward, but aside from that, I like him. He is an education PCV and will be in Mandiana until August. We’ve had some good conversations so far, covering beautiful etymologies to which God or demigod we’d want to be. Felipe said Manjusri, the Hindu/Buddhist God of professors, whereas I said I’d consider being a siren of the sea. Don’t hold me to that though. In true Scripps form, I was tempted to say Athena, but being a siren seems like it would have been more fun.
The day after, I visited Mandiana’s hospital, and man is it dismal. Much more dismal than the one in Forecariah. Working there will definitely be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it.
After the hospital visit, the chief of the neighborhood came by Felipe’s hut and gave a prayer, a benediction, to me and what I was about to do for their community. I’m going to need all the help I can get! But seriously, it was a beautiful benediction. I mean, it sounded pretty (I don’t understand Malinke yet).
The ride back to KanKan was uneventful. The car broke down before we even left Mandiana, and the driver “fixed” the problem by pulling OUT the carborator and hitting it repeatedly with a stick. Mechanics in Guinea…HA!
Back in KanKan we had a Pirates vs. Ninja party with all the Haute Trainees and Volunteers. Apparently, Haute has the best parties. We scoured the markets of KanKan for costumes and came up with these. Not bad! Everyone had a great time.
At 5 A.M. the next morning, the trainees left KanKan for the fifteen
hour drive to Forecariah. This is a picture of us crammed in the back, taken by the two trainees crammed in the front passenger seat. The picture on the left is one of the pretty views during the ride down.I washed my 60 pairs of underwear this past weekend and put them out to dry in the front yard. Binta just stood and stared at them for about five solid minutes. I don't think she'd seen so many in her life! I tried to explain that most Americans don't even have 60 pairs of underwear and I only brought that many because I'm lazy and didn't want to do laundry very often. But, that explanation was lost, because she doesn't speak French. Alas.
This other picture is of me, Amy and Kim, goofing around while waiting for more la
nguage interviews. Women in Guinea wrap their babies to their backs and we were trying to duplicate it. I am much larger than a baby, so, we failed.
nguage interviews. Women in Guinea wrap their babies to their backs and we were trying to duplicate it. I am much larger than a baby, so, we failed.Stage is coming to a close. Next week, all trainees are moving back to Conakry for the swearing in ceremony, which marks our official passage from peace corps trainees to peace corps volunteers! I'm going to miss all the friends I've made in stage.
Love to you all.
6 comments:
Mandiana
WoW You look like you are doing great!
Kootey girl!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading your blogs! It sounds like you're having an amazing experience so far. I am so coming to visit at some point. Keep posting those pictures! You're always in my thoughts. =)
You're awesome Katie. There's a package on the way...I scribbled French on it and got a funny look from the person shipping it out...hehe. I love you and am so proud of you. Keep the blog posts coming!
katie girl... so sorry about your ipod. i didnt mean it, really.
ohh Duncan. you're amazing. such an inherent talent for telling stories. You include the details that give the story a perspective that is so clearly 'Katherine Duncan Ryan!' Its great. I am sensing the universe is supporting each step you are taking over there! congrats on becoming an official PCV! You made it. never doubted it.
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