Petit a petit

ikena from Guinea! Internet and electricity are very sparse here in Dubreka, and I only have a few moments before the electricity is cut, so I will give you a few highlights of the things that have been going on here for the past few weeks.
-The 22 education volunteers here spent a few days in Conakry for orientation before heading to Dubreka for our adoption ceremony (pictures to follow at some point hopefully).
-I live with a host family in a small concrete house. There is no running water or electricity in general, although a few times a week electricity will randomly turn on. We have a pit latrine in the back along with a "shower" (I take bucket showers with water fetched from the well). There are 3 moms, 2 dads and 9 children that live there. Their native language is Susu, but they do speak some French. My first week living there was hectic trying to communicate, but now I'm getting the hang of things. My family is very sweet and they are curious to know about America. The kids especially enjoy learning English.
-For dinner we eat rice with oil/fish/pepper/peanut butter sauce and manioc. All the women and I share from the same bowl and we eat with our (right) hands. I find the food to be pretty tasty, and they feed me a lot ("Il faut manger" is a phrase often heard here, meaning you must eat!).
-I have PC training from 8-5 M-F. Training for me consists of French classes, practice physics teaching, culture training and health/safety training.
-The whole neighborhood already knows who I am and people I don't even know call out my name, well, my Guinean name. My family gave me the name Damaye Camara. Salutations are very important here, and thus I say hello and good morning to just about every single person I pass on the road on the way to training. I know the basic salutations in Susu, which the people here really like to hear.
-There is so much to learn in terms of language and culture. I love soaking it all up, but it's slow going. Thus, we have a motto here, "Petit a petit" which means little by little.

Ok, electricity is about to be cut here at the PC office. I will try to write more when I can, there's so much I have to say about this beautiful place!

-Damaye

Busy busy busy

Wow, I can't believe how fast times flies. Just a year ago (almost to the date) I submitted my Peace Corps application and tomorrow I will be heading out to start training. I still have some last minute things to pack (it's hard to know exactly what I'll need for 2 years).We get 2 checked suitcases, 80lbs total. I think I'm going to need it all...

The plan

All of the volunteers going to Guinea will meet in Philadelphia for a day & night to have a brief orientation. I think there are about 20-25 of us, all working in education (physics, chemistry, math and English). From Philly we will all travel to JFK and fly to Guinea with a few layovers. We'll spend a few days in Conakry and then relocate to the nearby city of Dubreka where our host families will 'adopt' us. We'll spend 11 weeks there in training (language, teacher training, cultural and health/safety). After that I'll relocate to a village or small town for my actual 2 year service.

Merci Beaucoup!

I owe so many thanks to so many people who have supported me in all sorts of ways. Thanks to my parents, brothers and sister-in-law for their love and support. Thanks to my aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family. Thanks in advance to all my friends for sending me letters ;) Thanks to my former teachers, professors and co-workers for mentoring me. Big thanks to the science dep't at St. Charles East high school for donating science materials. Another big thanks to some folks at Baird & Warner for donating materials and money for teaching supplies.

Finally, thanks to you for reading my blog and taking an interest in PC/Guinea!

À la prochaine

I'll update you guys when I can. Not sure what internet access will be like during training. I'll do my best!

Until then, please enjoy:

A song from one of my favorite West African musicians, Ali Farka Toure (& Toumani Diabate) from Mali. 

Richard Feynman (one of my favorite physicists, along with Carl Sagan) talking about fire. His passion for physics is infectious.