Bonjour Guinea!!

As I sleepily got out of my tent this morning, I heard the bell signaling the people to the mosque. It was then that I realized I am not on the Appalachian Trail but rather in this strange land very far from home! As I rubbed my eyes, I realized the red blob that was clouding my vision was in fact the sun jumping into the sky. Yes I have broke the habit of sleeping in my tent but since all the beds were taken I was able to put my tent up on the roof of the building and enjoy some authentic Guinea music. The music was pumping as the Guineas next door were celebrating.

Having been in Conakry (the capital of Guinea) for less than 24 hours, I have very few smart observations but one very obvious things is that it is DAMN HOT! We are headed to the mountains today for 5 days of survival training. Once we have survival skills, I will be gaining a whole new family. Our adoption ceremony is on Thursday at which time I will be gaining "a brother from another mother" (Poet that's for you).


Just a few thoughts from the last week. The anxiety building up over the last 4 months since I accepted my PC assignment finally came to a breaking moment at around 2:32PM on Wednesday, January 11th. As I quickly assessed my outfit, absent-mindedly ran my hand over my hair and stepped out of the elevator to join the long line of excited faces all waiting to become Peace Corps trainees. My fellow volunteers all looked like fairly normal (about as much as I am)friendly people which is really fortunate for me since these people will be my support network for the next 27 months.

Questions are still running through my head as I sit on the plane only 48 hours after meeting my fellow volunteers. Am I competent enough to really make my projects successful and sustainable? More importantly, will I gain enough language skills to even communicate with the host country nationals? Does this anti-malaria medicine really work? Why did I have to get 3 shots only 4 hours before I left for the airport? Do I really have to tell someone from the village when I am just going for a walk? Isn't 28 too young to be considered the grandma of the group? I am sure these questions will all be answered over the next 27 months if they are worth answering.

So about those 37 people I will be spending the next 3 months with. There are about 8 males and the rest are females. Most of them are kids right out of school. All of us are either Agriculture/Forestry, Health or Small Enterprise Development volunteers. Probably more to come later on that front.

I have definitely exceeded my time and must get off. More to come later.