Bonjour à tous & Tooli (hello everyone in French & warm welcome in Pulaar)
I can't believe it's not Guinea-Bissau!
There seems to be a lot of confusion in the general public about what and where Guinea is, so I thought I'd take a moment to clear some things up:
Guinea, also called The Republic of Guinea, Guinée, La République de Guinée, French Guinea, and Guinea-Conakry, is a country in west Africa.
Not to be confused with any of the following:
New Guinea (an island in the Pacific Ocean)
Papua New Guinea (a country on the island of New Guinea)
Equatorial Guinea (a country in central Africa)
Guinea-Bissau (close! a small neighboring country of Guinea)
Ghana (similar sounding country in west Africa)
Guyana (country in S. America)
French Guiana (part of France in S. America)
Not where Guinea pigs came from (sorry to disappoint you)
Departure
I'm departing for Conakry in 2 weeks. Ayoba! (as they would say in South Africa, where I studied abroad). I will stay in Conakry for a few days before heading to the city of Dubreka which is where I will live with a host family for 2 1/2 months of training. I'm super excited and anxious. Still have a lot to do before departure (registering to vote absentee, packing, learning more French, taking care of financial matters, keeping up with Guinean news, etc...).
"The road is closed, but the road between people is open.”
I don't have much to say yet, so in the meantime, you should read this great piece about traveling through west Africa (read all 5 parts if you can). This is one of the reasons that I am passionate about African culture and learning new languages.
I don't have much to say yet, so in the meantime, you should read this great piece about traveling through west Africa (read all 5 parts if you can). This is one of the reasons that I am passionate about African culture and learning new languages.
à bientôt
So is this your addy for the entire time? Or just for training, etc?
ReplyDeleteI must say that the blog is very nicely put together. Nice job, Liz! :D
ReplyDelete@Michele - it's my address for now at least. I'm not sure if it will change after service. I'm pretty sure that address will work the whole time, it just might take longer to get to me once I'm in my village.
ReplyDelete@Dan - thanks :)
Liz -- I am still curious as to why PC was so adamant about your being able to swim so let us know! Take in each moment because, believe it or not, your time in PC will go by so fast! I'll look forward to your stories! Stay well.
ReplyDeleteThanks John!
ReplyDeleteWell, the packing list PC sent us asks us to bring 2 swimsuits. My guess is that because our training is in Dubreka - a town on the ocean - we will have the opportunity to swim at the beaches there. Perhaps it's just a liability for them to have people who can't swim. As far as I know it isn't related to our actual service, just for recreation.
Liz,
ReplyDeleteOur students at Da Vinci Academy and I look forward to following your experiences. Best wishes!
Reading this is almost making me cry. I'm so proud of you, Liz! I'm going to miss you a lot while you're gone, but it'll make me feel better that I know you're having an awesome time. Keep me updated!
ReplyDelete