I am a PCV now!

I swore in as volunteer today at the American Embassy in Conakry!! The ceremony itself was pretty short and not that exciting, but our spirits are all very high. ALl 25 of the G-16 made it through Preservice training and I coudlnt be more proud of us. I really could not have picked a better group of 25 people to have spent the last three months with. As Conor said in his french speech today..really the perfect blend of quite and outgoing people.

I know I have not written in this thing in forever, but in Forecariah I did not have internet access and although I was in Labe during my site visit, I didnt uise the internet for a long enough time I update the blog and in all honesty it ios just an overwhelming task because there is just so much to be said.

Okay I guess I should talk a little about my site. I cannot specify it location due to PC policy but I can say that I am in the Fuota region of Guinea which means it is mountainous and very cool...when I was there for my site visit I was actually freezing cold at night and i had to wear a hoody...i told my mom to send me a few long sleeve shirts and a jacket. I love my site. The people seem to be very hospitable and the site itself is beautiful. It is a very small village in the mountains with houses that are spread out. I do not have a market but will have to bike a couple kilometers every week to do grocery in my neighboring villages. When I went for my site visit they were renovating the college and ecole primaire. They were also building me a new house which consist of two small rooms and an indoor latrine/shower. It seemed like it would be a cute house with a small porch and it is also fenced in which makes me happy because I think I will be getting a goat at site.

As for Forecariah,,..we had our farewell ceremony on Wednesday and in all hoestly I was happy to leave. I mean I should first say that I really appreciate the hospitality of the people, but I am ready to live on my own. As nice as my host family was I really just look forward to being able to cook my own meals and have my own place to unpack and do what I want with it. I dont usuallyu like having to depend on others all the time for food and such.

My family consisted of mom and dad, a teenage sister, an 8 year old girl, and a 3 year old....in addition there was an uncle, aunt, 5 year old boy, 3 cousins, and a baby who came and went from my house in intervals...we always had guest and it took me a long time to figure out how everyone was related...I personally did not become very close to my familyu. I mean I guess I didnt spend a lot of time with them. They named me Zenape after my 8 year old sister who was a really cute little girl. The three year old used to be scared of me. For the first three weeks you would scream when she saw me, but she grew to love me. I usually had my meals alone because my eating schedule was different than theirs and they usually just served me in a separate bowl while they ate from a common bowl with their hands. I never argued with this. I mean you really do get to choose as a volunteer how much of the culture you want to adapt and while I do not mind eating from a common bowl with my hands if need be, I prefer to eat with a spoon. My family spoke susu most of the time....well all the time to each other which sometimes made it a bit awkward for me...I mean eventually I got used to it and felt more comfortable.

Probably my favorite thing to do with the family was watch them cook. Well that is the women in the family since the men usually sat around talking. I enjoyed sitting in the cooking hut having them try to explain what they were cooking or ask me questions like "Do you have rice in the USA?"

However in all honesty...during preservice training i bounded a lot more with fellow stagiars than with my family and I don't have any regrets for it. Your fellow volunteers provide a support network for you for the next two years you are in country. They really have become like a second family which probably sounds really cliche, but its a fact. Many of these people i feel that I have known for many years now and its hard to believe that we have only known each other for like 3 months. So I think its important to bond with other volunteers during the first three months of training...once you go to your site you will have 2 years to bond with other Guineans (which i am looking forward to a lot) but you will already have those volunteers you bonded with at staging as a support group when things get rough...which they will.

That being said, there are some volunteers who did become somewhat close to their host families...I mean it really all depends.

So right now I am in Conakry and in about in hour I will be heading to the Country Directors house for a pool party and barbecue...tonight we will also party in the volunteer house to celebrate our new status as PCVs...then tomorrow we shall roast a pig to celebrate our last night together....I will leave conakry on Monday and I think I arrive at my site on Wednesday which is the end of Ramadan feast. I am excited and also really nervous because it will be the first time in my life that I am completely alone in a village with no one who really speaks my language...I mean my French is obviosuly better now, but I am no where near fluent and I still do not speak Pular which is the local language of my village.

School will begin the 15th of october so i will have some time to get my house ready before school starts. I will be going shopping for pots and stuff tomorrow. Oh yeah during PST we had practice school where we taught two hours a day 7-10th grade...it was quite an experience. My students were good for the most part...sometimes a little disrespectful, but for the most part good kids. Teaching them made me realize how much they are lacking math skills, but even more importantly...how much they are lacking logical thinking skills and the ability to apply knowledge rather than just memorize. They will memorize tons of notes, but will not understand any of it which makes it really frustrating and a challenge to teachers who ask for more than just memorization.

So yeah...I am really happy with the way things are right now. I feel like even in just three months of being here I have discovered so much about myself as in individual and I will continue to discover new things I am sure.

OKay well i will get going...I will try to update more often but cannot promise anything since i do not have internet near my site.

till next time