i'm in guinée!

Hello everyone!

I am so overwhelmed with impressions and things to tell so I'll just start somewhere. Getting off the plane we walked into a wall of wet, hot, smoky air at sunset and passed through a gauntlet of cheering PCVs and trainers who were there to greet us. It was so great to have a happy welcome crowd, made the whole chaotic rural airport thing easier to handle. We loaded ourselves onto a few very packed vans and set off into Conakry. Wow, that was a sight. There are no street lights, no stop signs, no sidewalks, no traffic laws. Tons of people were walking along the edges of the road and everywhere there were people selling food off a table as they made it using the little fires and gas stoves right there, stalls of shoes and clothes and oranges, streets lined with tin-roofed shops and houses, women with babies on their backs and baskets on their heads, people everywhere and the night lit only by firelight. I know this is completely inadequate in describing the images I have. It was post-apocalyptic surreal. Truly hey, yup, I'm in Africa!

My fellow PC people are pretty great. Lots of friendly happy world travelers. So far it's been like camp, we're up at this training center in the mountains, have classes and they serve us food (excellent fruit, lots of good rice and potatoes, and more palm oil than my body knows what to do with), the rest of the time we talk and go to bars (dancing to Backstreet Boys remixed, baby!) and generally have a great time. There are monkeys in the trees and goats, chickens and scrawny dogs running around with complete freedom. The Guineans I've met are all friendly and smiling, and the PCVs who are already here really have nothing but good to say about their time in the country. I'm stoked and looking forward to what's ahead. I'm not going to have internet access again until mid-February, we're moving to a new site tomorrow to start living with our host families. I'm excited about experiencing real Guinean life but nervous about finally having to get by only with French. The accent is so different here and I have to accompany anything I say with pantomime. You ever tried communicating "I slept through dinner but is there anything left to eat and by the way I'm a vegetarian" using only hands and facial expressions? It's tough but I found out it can be done. Bye for now!

this is it

I'm in the middle of final preparations--repacking my bags so I'm no longer 20 lbs over weight, dying my hair, getting dye stains out of my jeans, that kind of thing.

The past few weeks have been a blast. Hanging out with family, last nights out with friends, reconnecting and making new connections, bittersweet and wonderful. As eager as I am to experience the challenges and adventures that are coming, I am going to miss my life here. Who wouldn't? It's been grand. And I somehow doubt the brit-pop/indie dance scene in Conakry is quite up there with what I'm used to ;)

I guess I'm signing off from the states. Next time you hear from me I will be full of excitement and news. Check out my profile for contact info if you have any hot news of your own. Or maybe a silly picture you drew. Well, bye for now, but not for long!

packing shmacking

I'm taking a break from packing, the smell of mothballs is making me lightheaded...I've been such a slacker about it but I'm getting there, I'm finally seeing parts of my floor again for the first time in weeks!

I know it seems obvious when you think about it, but it's hard to pack for moving to a place where the climate, culture, and other conditions all are new and unknown. Well not completely unknown, I have been reading up about the country of course and I have packing lists and stuff to go by, but still! I spent five minutes debating over a shirt today--is it modest enough, is it breathable enough, the tag's long gone and I think it might have spandex in it, can it handle washboard washing? Who knows? And really, who cares? (yeah, I know, not you.) If it doesn't work then oh well, it's not like there are no clothes in Guinea, so I need to stop freaking out about stuff like that. But it is keeping me distracted from freaking out about, say, leaving everyone I know and love. Hmmm, where's that shirt again...?

Need some distraction of your own? Pet a llama.