math in africa

An Unexpected Ending

2009-10-29T15:48:00.005-04:00

After three weeks of being evacuated in Mali, I am back in Boston. I arrived on Wednesday night to dinner with my old roommates and the reality that my Peace Corps service is done.

On October 20th, we were given the news that Peace Corps Guinea was being suspended; this meant that all 93 volunteers needed to make a decision given the options to close our service, or "COS," just as I would have in July, or transfer to a new country. After analyzing the choices and probably stressing myself out too much while focusing on the decision, I came to the conclusion that I was going to COS; as of October 25th, I was officially done with my service. I came to Peace Corps in hopes of understanding education in the developing world a little better; I definitely achieved that goal. I gained so much more than I imagined I would from the past 16 months and am grateful for all I experienced. Transferring to another country just was not for me at this point. Ten of my fellow education volunteers are all going to Liberia together in January and I am excited to hear their stories and adventures.

After making the decision, my travel companions and I planned a trip to Ghana. A few hours after dropping off my passport to the Ghana embassy, I learned about a job as a classroom teacher at a Catholic high school in Boston. I had been applying to non-teaching jobs and substitute teaching in Cleveland and Boston with the reality that finding a full-time classroom job in November was going to be nearly impossible. Throughout the past three weeks of question and stress, I kept asking God for a sign of what to do, and seeing the email with this teaching opportunity made everything fall into place for me. There were no more questions. The Ghana trip would have to wait, and before I knew it I was flying across the Atlantic once again. I begin teaching on November 4th.

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer has been a gift. In many ways, it was what I expected - teaching math to a group of students in a situation that couldn't be more different than life in Boston and living a simple life in the middle of nowhere are two of the elements that met my expectations. Learning a new language, starting to understand a new culture, living with a warm, kind family in a small African village has opened my eyes in ways no other experience possibly could have. I am so grateful for all of it. I do regret our abrupt departure from Guinea; I feel like I was just getting started in my work and used to the village life; my French was finally making some progress. However, I can only look forward to my next group of students and experiences as a teacher, and appreciate those past journeys that brought me here.

So this is my last "math in africa" blog post; I'm not in Africa anymore! Thank you, merci beaucoup, on jaaraama nani - for coming along with me on this adventure. Your support, prayers, letters, care packages, and phone calls have most certainly contributed to my success in Kourou. I am truly blessed to have students, friends, and family like you in my life. Please continue to pray for the people of Guinea as they continue to struggle and hope for leadership in their country.

Mali Update

2009-10-18T12:50:00.002-04:00

Since arriving in Mali last weekend, I have no "official" news about my status as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea. However, the signs are not looking good in terms of our re-instatement. The Guinean military seems to still lack control, French and American citizens were told to leave, and President Camara has yet to declare he or any member of his party, the CNDD, will not run in the upcoming election. The African Union gave a deadline of midnight, September 17th, to sign a notice that he would not run for president, however he announced that he has postponed this decision:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8313290.stm

There are several Peace Corps personnel here from Washington DC who have been extremely helpful in figuring out what our options will be if we get official word that the Guinea program is to be suspended or closed. They seem to believe we'll know whether or not we're going back this week; after that we have about a week to decide on our next step and move out of Mali and on to our next job or position. There may be opportunities to transfer to other Peace Corps positions.

For me, in the midst of this, I often forget what is truly important and tragic in all of this - the fate of Guineans. My host family, students, friends, or Peace Corps employees - they have a long road to recovery. I am hopeful for them in that Guinea is finally on the map of the international community; in reality, the rule of Dadis is not that different than the previous leaders of Guinea; the tragedy of September 28th has shed light on a country that has been suffering for their 51 years of independence. This is the tragedy. As for me, I will move on to a new country or job back in the States without much difficulty; I never appreciated mobility before but being among those without it makes me realize what a gift it truly is.

Back in Dulles

2009-10-09T15:59:00.002-04:00

I'm writing from Washington DC's international airport today, enjoying one last round of sushi before heading back to West Africa. Almost 2 weeks ago, I was packed and ready to return for another school year in Guinea but instead was told by Peace Corps to stay in Cleveland until they had news about whether or not Peace Corps volunteers will be staying in Guinea. On Monday, September 28th, 157 people were killed in Conakry, Guinea, by the military trying to break up a political protest against current president. Peace Corps made a decision last Saturday to move all volunteers out of Guinea to a neighboring West African Country to wait and see how the people and military of Guinea would react to all of this. Above all, we need to be safe and able to move in and out of Conakry; right now, that isn't possible. The other 90 or so volunteers of Guinea have already arrived to the site; everyone arrived safely. I will meet them there tomorrow and am anxious to see everyone again.

For now, we're not sure what is going to happen next. Return to Guinea? We all hope so, but we're not sure if that is going to happen. If we don't, we'll be presented with options of continuing with Peace Corps. I'm not even sure what those options will be; I just have to wait. Lots of waiting.

From what I hear from my friends already at the site, it seems very nice, but spirits are low. Many people were not in their villages when this all happened and did not get a chance to say goodbye to their families. This is true for me; I'm hopeful that one of my neighbors took a bike ride over to my village to explain all of this.

For now, here are a few of the latest articles about the situation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8298754.stm

Concerning when Dadis owns up to nothing and has no fear for the American:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/world/africa/07guinea.html?_r=1

He give an interview from his bed. He is the president of a country, in a situation where all eyes are on him. And he is in bed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyJ5RNCSM3w

Keep us in your prayers!

Another Devastating Day for Guinea

2009-09-29T15:23:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I got a chance to go back to my alma mater, Elyria Catholic High School. I spent the school day speaking with junior and senior theology classes about my experiences in Guinea. I met some incredible young men and women, all curious about many elements of life in West Africa. It was a fun reunion with many of the teachers who were so formative in my own education.

While were were in the classroom in Elyria, back in Conakry, over 50,000 people came together to protest against the president of Guinea, Moussa Dadis Camara. When the Camara took over the presidency at Christmas, he stated that he would not run in the upcoming election. However, it is believed that he will run in the election set to happen early 2010. The military broke up the protest and in doing so, killed 150 people. All Peace Corps members are safe up in their villages; from the sounds of it, only Conakry has any opposition. Up country is the same as always. You can read about it on the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8280603.stm

I was set to return to Guinea today after spending three weeks home in Cleveland, however after talking to Peace Corps in Guinea, I am now waiting until Sunday. The people of Guinea are anxious about what the reaction to all of this will be. Hopefully by Sunday everyone will have a better sense of what is happening. So for now, all I can do is pray for those in Guinea and the families who are mourning.

School Starts October 5th

2009-09-23T14:46:00.007-04:00

First off, thanks for checking back in on mssamek; it has been too long. The past three months have been spent training the newest education volunteers - I have been teaching a group of 17 fantastic men and women how to be an effective teacher (or so I hope.) It has been a really fun experience for me; they swear in as official volunteers on Friday. Some of the perks of the job included working with some of my fellow volunteers as they came in for two-week periods, a trip to the waterfalls with the trainees, and a visit to Guinea's national museum. The best part of it all was getting to watch the trainees as they began practice school; their enthusiasm, work ethic, and ambition is what is going to make all of them excellent teachers.

The training began in July and after the second week of August, the trainees went off to visit their future villages for a week. While they were off seeing their future homes and meeting their new neighbors, I took a vacation from training and spent a week in Mali. Mali is another West African country that borders Guinea to the north. Mali is significantly more developed than Guinea and Larc, Carolina, and I all enjoyed the benefits of paved roads and 24-hour electricity. (Larc and Carolina are two fellow education volunteers in Guinea.) Our trip began in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Bamako is also the capital of West African music; we heard live music one night at a small outside venue.

The highlight of the trip was a three-day hike/trip to Dogon Country. Dogon Country is a region of Mali about 500km from Bamako. It is an area that stretches 150 miles along a sandstone cliff called the Bandiagara Escarpment. The Dogon people originally came to this area to escape the conversion to Islam. It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen; the homes are made of mud and the villages are beautifully decorated with carvings. In some of my photos, you can see settlements that are no longer inhabited; these were the homes of the Telem people - they were pygmy people and you can see their little homes in the cliffs of the Bandiagara. Most of the other villages are still occupied and people go about their daily lives as tourists from all over the worlds visit. People were incredibly friendly as just about everyone I have met in West Africa has been. There is a new photo album of this trip posted - be sure to check it out.

Ramadan has ended which means school will begin soon! October 5th is the day we're set to go back, inchallah (God willing.) Teacher are still waiting to be paid from last year, but I'm hopeful it will all get worked out in time.

August 10, 2009

2009-09-23T11:51:00.002-04:00

August 10, 2009

President Obama recently spoke to the Ghanaian Parliament; as I read through, certain parts resonated with me as I begin my second year in Guinea. The following are just a few of my thoughts on some points of his speech.

We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans…As for America and the West, our commitment must be measured by more than just the dollars we spend. I’ve pledged substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa’s interests and America’s interests. But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by – it’s whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change.

Being an American in Guinea – and not just any American but an American here with a primary goal of sustainability, this statement spoke very clearly to me. This idea is not always so transparent to many of the Guineans that myself and other Peace Corps volunteers work with; the way they see it, money comes from an endless source sitting high on the throne in the land called America. A strength of Peace Corps is the training they provide to volunteers and to Guinean counterparts that help all parties understand how a project is funded and evaluates the sustainability of the project. If a project is not one that will continue to support the community after the volunteer leaves, it is not a project we’re here to support. Teach a man to fish – that’s Peace Corps’ style although our projects are very small scale. Our greater objective which is often not understood is that we’re here for a cultural exchange; I envision many of the people I’m working with here in Guinea as volunteers to do big, great things someday with the knowledge they’ve gained and can only be gained by what work we’re doing here. Give a man a fish is so easy and undoubtedly so many have benefited from this philosophy in times of crisis; refugee situations would not be able to sustain without it. But Mr. Obama makes a necessary point about building capacity and I hope to continue to see strong programs that support this. Seeing all that I have in this year, I realize that it takes people with expertise to commit to these types of programs and that type of commitment is impressive for those who make it; those I’ve met working with water-related infrastructure projects or those working on AIDS or malaria research – that is commitment.

…each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: Governments that respect the will of their own people, that govern by consent and not coercion are more prosperous, they are more stable, and more successful than governments that do not…No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves – or if police can be bought off by the drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top – or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy’ that is tyranny, even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there. And now is the time for that style of governance to end.

Now, make no mistake: History is on the side of these brave Africans, not with those who use coups or change constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.

Captain Moussa Dadis Camara…are you listening? Mr. Obama’s points here are exactly the types of things that cripple Guinea presently or historically. These remarks came on July 11th ; on July 8th Major Moussa Keita, a permanent secretary of the CNDD (the CNDD is the National Council for Democracy and Development and Dadis’ political party), made these following remarks at a rally to express support for the CNDD:

They want to impose Western-type of democracy on Guinea, a type of democracy that they had developed for two to three centuries now. They want to impose that type of democracy upon us in a year or even in six months. These are Machiavellian plans. They want to prevent Guineans from really moving into the direction of happiness for our nation. These is no other democracy than referring to the people. In whatever Dadis does, he refers to the people. But according to these people, democracy means giving power to those who had distanced themselves from the state or those who have been prepared mentally by the former colonial masters…We want to put in place all the necessary conditions for the economic takeoff of our country. That is our priority but some people keep telling us to hold the elections because it is Dadis who is in power. Is he not a Guinean citizen? Is he not a valiant and competent citizen? Therefore, Dadis or death! (‘Dadis or death’ was changed over and over.)

Clearly, not a statement made by a political party ready to surrender the presidency to a free and fair election. If you ask anyone here on any given day what the status of the election is, you will get responses from Dadis is going to step down for December elections to people beginning to embrace another 26 years of tyranny.

Now, we all have many identities – of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has not place in the 21st century. Africa’s diversity should be a source of strength, not a cause for division. We are all God’s children. We all shared common aspirations – to live in peace and security; to access education and opportunity; to love our families and our communities and our faith. That is our common humanity.

I think about being here where there are eight ethnicities, all with their own languages and traditions, living harmoniously under the nationality “Guinean” and I am filled with joy. This harmony is not common among nations. My hope for Guinea is that among each other they can build the democracy Mr. Obama spoke of and use the harmony they have among each other to their advantage. This is their strength; they do not know to use it. Mr. Obama speaks here about common humanity and I feel Guineans do have a strong sense of this respect. Muslims live side-by-side with Christians; Malankes and Pules can live in the same neighborhood. I know very few Guineans that speak less than French and two local languages. The problem is poor governance; living in peace and security, accessing education and opportunity – the barrier to all of this is the corruption and lack of priority by the government.

Of course I say this with many of the gender equity issues in the back of my mind, but there is a true harmonious feeling that I know is unique and hard to change if a place lacks. No money and foreign aid could have built what they have.

“We are all God’s children” is something Guineans do feel and is evident in the way they treat one another and strangers. I like how Mr. Obama references God in his speech; for Africans, the idea of living your life without a belief in God is absurd, and the longer I am here the more I don’t understand my atheist co-volunteers. Appealing to Africans with a reference to God’s children makes a lot of sense in this context.

…I am particularly speaking to the young people all across Africa…here is what you must know: The world will be what you make of it. You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities, and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, and end conflicts, and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can – because in this moment, history is on the move. But these things can only be done if all of you take responsibility for your future. And it won’t be easy. It will take time and effort. These will be suffering and setbacks. But I promise you this: America will be with you every step of the way – as a partner, as a friend. Opportunity won’t come from any other place, though. It must come from the decisions that all of you make, the things that you do, the hope that you hold in your heart.

I have a side that enjoys what some may call "cheesy" songs, quotes, or other cliché inspirational tidbits from Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mark Twain, or any other often-quoted person. I think it is because I don’t have the words myself, and although the messages are simply stated, I find them necessary when I lose my optimistic spirit about justice, change, and progress. Great men and women have done many remarkable things and their words to me are inspiration. This closing statement by Mr. Obama is my new inspiration. I want to hang it in my classroom for my students back in the village. They love Barack Obama, and here he is speaking directly to them and that is just really cool. I couldn’t agree more with what he is saying, and for the youth of Guinea, it is going to be a long struggle. Their whole lives could be spent fighting for a democracy that will lead to opportunity for their future children. I really love how “America will be with you every step of the way – as a partner, as a friend.” I think about how a Guinean would interpret this word “friend,” and how here love to hold the hands of their friends. I don’t think that’s what Mr. Obama had in mind, but maybe holding the hand of a friend when they need it and knowing when to let go. I feel lucky that for these two years, I have the chance to represent America in this truly unique context. I’ve started the “where will I be a year from now” thought process, and know that no matter what I do or where I go, nothing will offer the chance to live in the village and teach students in this context.

Preparing for the New Volunteers

2009-07-06T12:46:00.004-04:00

Since getting back to Guinea in June, I've been working with fellow PCVs on planning sessions for the new volunteers. They will be arriving on Wednesday and we want their summer to be as productive and smooth as possible. All of us education volunteers know what went well last year and what needed work, so everyone has been pitching in ideas on how to improve things.

Last week, a group of us were at the training site and had a chance to really work side-by-side with our Guinean counterparts. Working with Guineans has been a valuable learning experience. Writing objectives, planning lessons, etc. is not new to me, and I want to just type and write and cross each session off the list of things to do - just keep cranking things out, even if it means working later than the usual hours. That's not exactly how Guineans work. But it was good for me to be forced to take time to really discuss as a group about how we are going to do things and gain new perspective on how Guineans view training teachers and their approach to teaching. Slowing down the pace is something I've been getting better at, yet once I was thrown back into the opportunity to write curriculum on my laptop, I just wanted to move as efficiently as possible.

Going back to the training site also meant getting a chance to see my host family from training which was a really wonderful reunion. Everyone is healthy and happy; the two older girls just took their exams to enter University. It was such a joy to see them again and I look forward to having some time with them this summer.

DC - CLE - BOS and back to Guinea

2009-06-11T20:02:00.006-04:00

On May 14th, I flew to Washington DC on what Peace Corps calls "medevac." I injured my knee playing basketball in January, and it needed to be taken care of with a simple procedure. Unfortunately, it could not be done in West Africa. The standards of modern medicine just aren't even close there to what we have available in the US. Peace Corps gives you 45 days to get to DC, have your medical "issue" resolved, get doctor's clearance to come back, and fly back to country. I was there for exactly four weeks, and as much as it was somewhat annoying to have to deal with a medical issue, I definitely embraced the opportunity to be home.

I started in DC for the surgery and then traveled to Cleveland, my hometown, to do my physical therapy. I also got a chance to sneak into Boston for a weekend, just in time to see my old Trinity Catholic students graduate. The entire trip home was just really incredible. Before I left Guinea, I was hearing all the stories of volunteers that don't make it within their 45 days; I was very anxious about leaving and perhaps not making back to Guinea in time. But it all worked out without a problem and the trip home was very refreshing. As much as it made me miss going to Tribe games in the summer, beautiful Boston Sundays, talking with students in a language that I can have a meaningful conversation, homemade meals, and conveniences of travel and everyday life, I was ready to get back to Guinea. As I approach the end of my first year in country, I feel this is where my life is for now and I'm ready to take on all the projects that are in store for the summer and do some traveling around West Africa.

I've uploaded some photos from before I left (April, May, and June 2009 album) - the first few are from the top of my mountain. Before I left, my host family was knocking at my door at 7am for photo shoots, as if taking photos at noon wasn't possible. My students stopped by say goodbye and request things from the United States. Also in the photo album are a few photos from the trip home.

Come on in!

2009-05-12T17:24:00.002-04:00

I've added two new videos - the first is of my house if you'd like to take a tour. The second is of my 7th graders who wanted to say hello after the 9th graders got a chance to.

Also new is an entry and thoughts on packing for the new volunteers.

Go Cavs!

Winding Down the Second Semester

2009-05-12T17:06:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe that the first school year here in Guinea is wrapping up. The year has gone by fast and as with every school year, the end makes me reflect on the things I’d like to do differently for the next year and what was a success. The difference is that I find myself reflecting on these things in terms of school as well as in day-to-day village life. As much as I try to integrate into the community, I find myself making mistakes all the time, and more so now than before, I realize what it means to integrate as an American in a small West African village. My vision of what I thought it would be and what it is has many discrepancies.

One success has been English class. I have three classes; one is for my “honors” seventh graders (the 20 students that have good attendance and complete their homework), one for the ninth and tenth graders, and one for the teachers in the primary school and middle school. The English class was something the students and teachers started asking for when I arrived in September; their eagerness to learn has not faded and I hope it continues in the next school year as well. In Guinea, English as a Foreign Language begins in the eleventh grade, however many of the better jobs in the cities require some English. I hope, especially for my seventh graders, they have some sort of advantage when they get to high school. Being in the village seems to be an automatic disadvantage for many reasons; hopefully they’ll have a substantial English background by the time they get to high school.

The most enjoyable class for me has been, surprisingly for me, the course with the other teachers. I spent the first few months being so intimidated by initiating conversation with them since my French was so weak. It’s too bad I wasn’t a little braver because I’ve learned what a dynamic group of people my fellow teachers are. In Guinea, if you are a teacher, you get assigned to a school. You can try to request a city or bribe your way into a position, but most end up where they are assigned. For the teachers of my village, this means they have to leave their husbands, wives, and children in the cities of Conakry, Mamou, or Labe in order to come to the village. As you can imagine, this is not a coveted assignment. Among all the teachers, there are four houses most of them live in - one with the women, the others with the men. None of the teachers are originally from my village or any village nearby for that matter, some did not speak Pular (our local language) when they arrived in the village since they are originally from other parts of Guinea.

Most have been in Kourou for three to six years so far. Being non-villagers makes them somewhat of outsiders to the villagers. Within the village, everyone is family for the most part. I don’t think their exclusion is intended; they simply aren’t part of the family. Since they are all in the same situation, they have become sort of a family with each other – they all get along for the most part but fight like siblings. Lots of love, lots of dysfunctionality. They all share a common desire to get out of Kourou and teach in a city; that fate is left to the government. But since they’re all here, they both embrace it and complain about it everyday.

There are twelve that come on a regular basis to class. Imagine you and eleven of your friends in class together where you inevitably will make lots of mistakes since you are speaking a foreign language. They laugh at each other, laugh at themselves, and we all have a really fun time. My experience with French thus far has not been my favorite part of this experience; I do not enjoy always feeling inadequate or incapable of truly functioning within the community. And I don’t like always feeling so vulnerable. Being with them two nights a week were they open themselves up to making mistakes has made me a little more comfortable with being a novice myself. I am very grateful for their patience.

Since Christmas, I feel like I’ve become more comfortable with village life and as I type this today, I can say I really enjoy it and it is making the Peace Corps experience one I am glad to be involved in. In September, I was so excited to cook for myself, disappointed that I did not have phone service, concerned about how I would get to the internet, and constantly questioning what the heck I was doing with myself here. But as I’ve adapted to life here, I’m finding that I’m finally really happy with the decision to be here. The way to really adapt was to give up cooking for myself. Once that happened, everything seemed to fall into place. Sitting around the fires, watching my host family prepare the meal has made my local language much better. Eating with the family for lunch and dinner has diminished loneliness. The cooking and eating all of my meals Guinean style has opened others up to being more comfortable with me too. They see me eating as they do, cooking with them, and that’s all it really takes for people to then be okay with the American. I know I’m also getting to know people better as time goes on as well, but I feel like food has been the catalyst for acceptance. And as for the phone and internet, to tell you the truth, being off the grid is not so bad. A new phone service came to my village and I’m not so disappointed anymore that it doesn’t reach my house although glad I no longer have to climb the mountain to get service.

Towards the end of the school year, I started to visit students at their homes to meet their parents. One village is an hour’s walk away (and these students aren’t the furthest from school!) For me, the intrigue of this village is that all of my students from this village tend to be the hardest workers and brightest ones. This village has a primary school so I wanted to see what was going on here that was different from the primary school in my village. After spending time with the parents and eating lots and lots of food, I got a chance to talk with the teacher that taught these students fifth and sixth grade. His demeanor was very optimistic and happy to be a teacher. He told me about how he runs his classroom, how he gives his students work to do at home, and most importantly, accountability. I left this village that evening with fifty mangos, twenty avocados, peanuts, dried manioc, and a live chicken as gifts from the mothers of the students. It was a very fun day and gave me new insight on primary school attitudes.

As for being a Peace Corps volunteer, there is a pretty good chance that if I wasn’t here, my students would not have math class (the other two middle schools in the area can’t get someone to come to the village to teach. Like I mentioned earlier, no one wants to come to the village.) I can say I’m “doing” that – teaching math and English. But as for the rest of what I “do,” I’m not quite sure what to put on the list. I’m involved in lots of cultural exchange. I am an American that is different than the American faces Guineans associate with Americans – the celebrities. I hope my American values of education, gender equity, and hard work have made some sort of impact on the students and villagers. The rest of what I “do” is learn. Since wanting to be a teacher, I have been so curious about public education outside of the U.S., and living in the village, teaching in the middle school, making friends with Guineans has taught me so much about this. Learning about West African culture has been so interesting and so valuable. Some of my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers are so productive with projects they’re starting – they’re lists of things their “doing” are long and interesting. As someone who has always like to have a long list of “things I do” or accomplishments, for the first time I’m finding myself taking the “less is more” approach to life. And surprisingly, I’m enjoying it. I spend a significant time during my week doing schoolwork, but for the rest of it, I spend my time among people of the village. I learn more than I give on a daily basis. I imagined myself “doing” all sorts of “things” to contribute to the community, but realize that just “being” does a lot on its own. Peace Corps as an organization has its strenghts and weaknesses, but as far as me wanting to teach in another country, it has been a great fit.

As for the summer, the next group of education volunteers is coming to town in July. I’ll be working with my boss to improve the training for this group and then directly working with the new volunteers. We have a couple of conferences this summer – one in June where we volunteers will be trained on how to give lessons on HIV/AIDS, excision, and other health-related issues. The other is in July; it is a girls’ conference when each volunteers brings a motivated girl to a week-long conference on a wide range of topics. School starts again at the end of September. Hopefully I’ll get to do some traveling around Guinea and West Africa.

G-18 in July

2009-04-16T17:49:00.003-04:00

The next education group (G-18) is coming to Guinea in July. The current teachers are excited to meet the new group and work with them this summer. We know that when we were packing, we checked out other blogs for ideas on packing or general questions, so if you are a future Guinea education volunteer, here are some things we're glad we have and the truth about cell phones and care packages.

Pack this:

1. Ipod and battery-operated speakers (batteries are cheap in the markets here although they are cheap in quality too...but they work just fine)

2. Solio to charge your ipod and your cell phone (the solios come with a Nokia charger tip and the most popular cheap phone here is a Nokia...so it works.) Most volunteers in Guinea do not have electricity (or running water for that matter.) Most volunteers do have cell phone service somewhere within a bikable or hikable distance, and more and more volunteers are getting service. A month ago I got service in my village (not in my house, but I no longer have hike a hill for service!) And you just never know when that tower might arrive - that's the fun of Guinea. (I have the Solio H1000 - and I have charged it everyday I've been at site. Its a great product!) Still bring your wall charger for when you're around electricity.

3. Headlamp - especially as a teacher. Grading the papers after the sunset...the headlamp is the only way to go. And bring your headlamp on any trip you take in Guinea; the electricity all around is unreliable.

As for everything else, you can find in Guinea. No kidding. But there are those things I appreciate that I brought, like my clothes. Some people embrace the African fashions and numerous second-hand markets; I'm glad for my tshirts, underwear and bras, and skirts made of cotton. Other things I'm glad I have:

School "stuff":

4. School clothes: I wear a white blouse (I brought them from the States) and a skirt everyday to school along with a pair of Merrell Mary Janes. I'm not a fan of the line of all-terrain shoes that are trying to look fashionable, but I'm glad I have a pair for school. Skirts for school need to be in-between calves and ankles. I've had some skirts made here; if you have one good one, you can take it to a tailor and have it copied. Men generally wear button down shirts with pants and shoes. Some go the very "Peace Corps" route with their attire, but it is appreciated if you dress nice.

5. A calculator. A scientific calculator will do just fine; I use my graphing calculator once in a while but its not necessary. I thought I'd use them more often for demonstrations but for the curriculum we're teaching, its not worth bringing it. All teachers need them for calculating grades.

6. I brought Ward gradebook; not necessary at all but I like having it. Actually, I have the lesson plan grade book combo book. Really, you can just create one with a ruler and a Guinean notebook like the other teachers do. Since I started teaching after college, I always had an electronic gradebook so I was sort of excited to kick it old-school with the old-fashioned gradebook. Like I said, not really necessary.

7. A good pair of scissors and real scotch tape. If some of my fellow PCVs saw "real scotch tape" on the list they'd wonder what the heck one does with scotch tape in Guinea. But I use it all the time to hang things in my house. Its the only thing that works.

8. Sharpies. I use the big ones for flipcharts; I use the smaller ones for other lessons. The permenant markers are crap here.

9. A 6-pocket expanding folder. I need it to stay organized with collecting homework and handing it back. Other volunteers say they brought one and never use it. Everyone has their own system.

10. As far as school supplies, you can easily get notebooks and pens. If you want to bring extra things for your classroom, as a math teacher, rulers, protractors, and compasses are the most useful.

"Non-school" stuff:

11. I brought a hammock that I use often. Lots of people bought them here too.

12. Coloring books and a few boxes of crayons. They're a good icebreaker with the new neighborhood kids.

13. During the first couple of months, you will be in a homestay with a family. You want to bring gifts for them; nothing expensive or excessive is necessary, but something to say thanks and from the states is greatly appreciated. Ideas: playing cards, marbles, soccer ball, earrings, baseball hats with your home team, cleveland cavs tshirts, bracelets, anything with a photo of scenes of the US, extra photos of your family that you can leave with them (I know that sounds odd, but they wanted to keep my photos.) Candy. I had a great host family with a wide range of ages so bring extras. You can always use them in your village. Also a fun activity I did with my host family was movie night with my laptop. Movies that have a French dubbing option are great; even though the young kids don't understand, the teenagers will (and it is good for your language training.) They loved Goonies. I think animated ones would work well - Shrek or Finding Nemo.

14. A world map and a United States map. You can find them in Conakry but I wished I'd had them during homestay.

15. A pair of sturdy flipflops. Many volunteers took advantage of the Chaco discount; if you scan your invitation letter you can get 50% off. I did not do this but I'm happy with my reefs. The sandals here in the market are cheap but fall apart real quick.

16. A couple of books. The books people bring get passed around in training and the regional capitals have so many books. Don't pack more than 3 or 4 books.

17. A basketball, soccerball, or a volleyball if you like to play these sports. And a pump. Or a frisbee.

18. Bike gel seat. I don't have one but other volunteers swear by them.

19. A good kitchen knife. Most here don't really cut things.

20. Ziplock bags. I use for lots of food stuff and when I go to the market. Anytime someone sends a care package, request things in ziplocks and if you're a female, tampons. Or you can go the Diva Cup route.

21. A good pair of shoes that you can hike in. Those, school shoes, and a pair of tennis shoes if you like to run or play basketball. Guineans run and play soccer in jellies...so you can always try that out too. Other than those, its flip flops!

Peace Corps gives you a list of things to bring like tolietries for when you first get here. Bring the things on that list. Things on other lists that they say to bring like a can opener, a garlic press, seeds to grow stuff, spices - that's up to you and whether or not you'll cook. You can find the seeds and spices in Conakry. Can opener and press - I'm sure you can find them in Conakry too. Before you know it, those things will just sit on the shelf anyways 'cause you start to eat rice and sauce three times a day.

As far as care packages go, Peace Corps will give you the address (its the same as the one on this blog, just change the name!) Some say that writing in red is the best way to assure your package makes it here, some say religious symbols help so Guineans won't rummage through the package before it gets to you. Definitely never have anything that can't be replaced in them or anything expensive. There are flat rate boxes at the post office that seem to be the way most people get packages - lots of stuff fits in them. But not all packages make it, so just be prepared. It is disappointing! I've had 3 so far that have not made it that I know of. I'd say the most popular and coveted care package item is bacon/beef jerky/pepperoni. And letters...well I have no idea how many haven't made it but I know its a lot. If you have someone that is going to write you often, have them number the letters then you will know if one (or five) is missing. Bring US stamps to send your letters home - the postal service here isn't too bad but hard to use if you're not near a regional capital. There is always someone going back to the states, whether its a volunteer or a family member or friend of a volunteer.

As for the rest:

1. The laptop - totally up to you. Lots of people have them and are glad they do. Load it up before you go - everyone here will want the newest seasons of shows and movies :)

2. Camping stuff - I'd say that most people do not use the stuff they brought. The cool "camping" type of trips here consist of hikes where there is a lodging option. There are a few of those hard-core volunteers that use their things.

Hope this helps...happy packing. We can't wait to meet you! And if you have any questions, there is a facebook group for Peace Corps Guinea or you can post them to me and I can email you back! Good luck!

More Photos

2009-04-08T16:14:00.001-04:00

I've just uploaded another photo album - February and March 2009 as well as another video. My 9th graders were waiting for the 10th graders to join us for English class; they wanted to say hello to the students back in Boston. And to Barak Obama.

Breaking into My House with the Head of Security

2009-04-04T14:51:00.002-04:00

Hello from Guinea! Sorry its been so long!

Most of the Education volunteers are in Conakry this week relaxing and catching up with one another. Spring break started Wednesday for me and I traveled to the capital yesterday with three other volunteers. I had a brief flash of the Christmas coup and not getting to come to Conakry for the break: getting out of my village is tough but the Peace Corps head of security, Yamma, was visiting my village on Thursday as part of her tour of my region of Guinea (just a check to make sure things are going well) so I was going to leave the village with her. I had my house ready for visitors and was waiting for her at my neighbors who were cooking for all of us. Yamma arrived and we made our way to my house. It was an extremely windy day, and when we arrived at my door, we found I was locked out of my house. The wind had blown my double doors shut and blew so hard that the pins in the bottom of the door (the pins that provide "extra security" in addition to the lock) had fallen into the floor, locking the door from the inside. It was quite a scene - Yamma, the driver, me, and 10 of my neighbors with an assortment of tools, rocks, sticks, spoons, and knives trying to pry the door and pop the pins. Lots of ideas were thrown around, and Yamma just keep repeating "your house is very secure. Very secure. I'm not worried about you!" as we tried to break in. After an hour, we decided we needed the carpenter because we couldn't break in, which meant I was not going to Conakry anytime soon (the carpenter is a few villages over, so it would take a while to get him, break the door and then fix it again and Yamma had to leave to get to the next village.) It was just like Christmas break...a dead president, a locked door...there's always something keeping me from Conakry! While we were beginning to eat, the driver and one of my students who came to assess the situation went back over and somehow got it open. So I made it here after all.

I'm working on uploading all sorts of things; photos, videos, and stories. For now, check out two new videos. One is the market in my village. Since I'm in such a small village, I have a very small market! The other is lunchtime chez moi. I eat with the family next door. The girls come to my door each day to let me know its time to eat. Lately I've been too slow to come over so now they tell me to hurry up! You'll notice in both that there is more Pulaar than French. Do I understand? Most of it. Do I speak it? Very little. Also is a slideshow - "The Proclamation"...story to follow.

More to come over the next couple of days...so visit again soon!

January 31, 2009 - The Rest of January

2009-02-05T16:54:00.004-05:00

Along with the cold, there has been lots of other happenings here in the village since coming back from Paris. I arrived back on a Monday night and showed up back to school on Tuesday morning and was the only one there. I guess this is the way it happens, no one shows up the week after the official vacation, teachers included.

There was a Fete that Wednesday; from what I understand it was a New Year's Fete. I walked 5km with the ladies of my village to a neighboring village to dance to a band from Conakry (see the photos under my profile.) The band played and announced each village; when he announced your village you had to go to the center and dance, but ladies only. It was another one of those events where people were just waiting to see what I did. There was nothing to do but dance! And I must admit, I've earned some "street cred" or should I say "market cred" with the ladies. Show a few dance moves and you're part of the gang.

Once school finally resumed, we were back to business as usual. We had two weeks to continue lessons and then there were the midterm exams. Back at Trinity, midterm time was one of my favorite times of year - kids studying and reviewing in the days leading up to the exam, teachers trying to put together the ultimate test. I felt that midterm vibe in the days leading up to my exam as I prepared my exam in my house on flipchart paper. The Guinean teachers write their exam on the board while the students sit outside. I find this method takes away from test-taking time (and I was going to be in Mamou for a Peace Corps training session on the day of my exam.) My principal and the other math teacher stopped by to visit and it just felt like midterms were in the air. I am anxious to see how they did once I get back to the village.

For Inauguration Day, I was saving some care-package pasta and a mini bottle of French wine to eat while I was savoring speech and the talk of day on the BBC. I was in the market that day when one of the other teachers asked if I was coming to the house where they were going to SHOW the inauguration. As excited as I was, I knew not to get too excited. And I knew to come prepared in case it didn't work. Sure enough, I showed up and no one else was there, even after I explained multiple times about what time we had to be there. I had my radio and listened to the whole thing. When everyone else arrived about a half-hour later, we watched highlights on France24. It was still really exciting to be able to see some of it on TV. Every time they scanned the crowd on TV the Guineans would say "Hey Allah" which is like saying "oh my God!" They were really excited about it all and hearing the speech dubbed in French.

The last happening of January is one that I've avoided writing about (I think - sometimes I think about a blog I'd write and then I don't.) The first Tuesday I was back to school, the vice principal stood outside my classroom door waiting for late students. When they arrived he would whip them with a stick he had picked up along the way to school. It breaks my heart every single time. It is a Peace Corps interview question - corporal punishment - so I knew that it was bound to be a part of my school life. But there isn't a way to mentally prepare oneself for those first beatings. Hearing the kids squeal, hearing the stick crack against them - it is awful. It is a distraction for everyone; no one is listening to me and I don't even know what I'm saying. It starts with the primary school students; they hit their calves whereas with my older kids they hit them anywhere. It is a cultural norm I just can't wrap my mind around. I try to talk about what we do in the States when students are late or how we punish students. The other teachers listen but beatings and humiliation seem to be the only tactics they are willing to use. The worst beatings are ones I hear in the 6th grade classroom when students give wrong answers. Honest mistakes result in getting hit. The sixth grade teacher is a jerk in general but that is just awful. For me, one of the hardest things is that I just can't have the rational conversation with the other teachers because my French just doesn't get the point across. But I'm working on it. It is just a hard topic in general to try to bring up since it such a part of the culture and how school has been done for so many years.

January 11, 2009 - Those Three Little Words...

2009-02-05T16:48:00.001-05:00

I AM COLD! I never thought I'd say those words while here in Guinea, but this morning, I saw my breath. It is Sunday and I'm bundled up in my sweats, wool socks, and hat. All week, on my way to school, people have been going through the usual salutations: Good morning, how did you sleep, how are you, but this week there was an additional, "and the cold?" My response has been that this isn't cold. Cold is my home in the United States. There is snow; that is cold. This is not cold. But then this morning came, and to tell you the truth, I was cold.

It was that type of day in Boston when it is snowing, you have no where to be so you just curl up with a good book and a bowl of soup. There is no movement by anyone, not even the kids. Everyone is huddled up in the cooking huts, hanging around by the fire. Even the family that I often eat with wouldn't leave to knock on my door and let me know the rice and sauce was ready. They just kept yelling until I peeled myself off my couch. I went in and Hija Bobo, the youngest girl, went on and on about how her mother warmed up the bathing water, how she couldn't believe I took a bath too, did I warm up the water, how its too cold to leave the hut. I suppose everyone likes to be a little dramatic about drastic weather changes.

Five New Photo Albums

2009-02-02T19:16:00.005-05:00

Under my profile are five new photo albums with photos from January - My Little School on the Hill, Midterm Prep, A Fete, Around the House, and The Calling Hill. I hope the captions come through to explain them all! I have some stories to share as well about January; maybe tomorrow. I'm in the capital until Friday; I get to see the newest volunteers swear-in.

The Sunday Night before the First Monday of School after Vacation

2009-01-04T19:00:00.002-05:00

If you're a teacher, you know how awful the Sunday night feeling is when you're going back after vacation. It isn't that we're not happy to be back to teaching, but there's just something about Sunday night that gives nightmares once you actually fall asleep. That feeling still exists here for me, although tomorrow I'll be traveling back to my village and not teaching again until Tuesday. I'm excited to be heading back to the village and get back into the swing of things. I was nervous about what was going to happen to Guinea, how the citizens would react to all of the change. Things are peaceful and Peace Corps feels that it is perfectly safe for us to continue in our work here.

I have two new stories here for you - one about weddings and one that I wrote after a day of travel. I now have a camera so hopefully next time, some photos of life in the village.

Happy New Year!

December 22, 2008 - Two Weddings, One Sunday

2009-01-04T18:22:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a good indication of the difference between the upper class and the "village class" here in Guinea. Our village as been a flurry of excitement over the past few days getting ready for two weddings; the family in my compound had many family members come in from Conakry; the village population seemed to double overnight when the taxis came in Friday night.

The wedding on Sunday morning was one a celebration of one of the girls of the village next door. She is 15. Halimatou and I went around noon to this wedding. I wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen; when we were sitting in the home of the bride with thirty or so other village women, I was very confused by the parade of young girls that all entered the house crying hysterically. I immediately think I've misunderstood the type of event we were attending. The crying girls included the bride, her sister, and her friends. The women then start crying too. I inquire about these tears and learn that crying at these weddings is typical - the bride is young, she probably doesn't know the groom, and she now has to leave her family. She's scared, and everyone knows how she feels. From what I understand, the tears from this bride and the ladies also were in mourning because the bride's mother had recently passed away.

After the crying had died down, the bride came out with her face covered in a simple white garment. Under an umbrella of 100 bills (the equivalent of about 2 cents) she was escorted by her aunts and girlfriends to another part of the village where her girlfriends (who are my 7th graders - apparently the girl who was getting married did not continue school this year because she was to be married) sang songs and danced in a circle, reminding me of a high school dance back home. They laughed and tried to out-do each other's moves. While they were dancing, the bride was changing into an indigo skirt (indigo is the fabric made in my region of Guinea) and a lil' Bow Wow tshirt. There was still no sign of the groom. Supposedly he was back at the house and all of this activity was just part of the tradition on the wedding day; there wasn't going to be any sort of ceremony. The bride in her new outfit took photos with the elementary school teachers; not one photo had a smile from the bride. Everyone then processed back to the house where I guess they ate more (we had eaten quite a bit of rice and sauce before the crying started.)

When I left the wedding, people were still there eating and talking like a wedding I know at home, but the couple was never seen together, no ceremony. It was not much of a celebration; I'm still not sure if I missed something. Halimatou told me that this was how weddings in the village were.

The second wedding was the wedding people had come to the village for. The groom was a man about my age that I had met during the Fete de Tabaski. He currently lives in Amsterdam where he is finishing his master's degree. He is the son of the president of the parent's association in my village. The first time I had met him, he was dressed in very European-styled clothes, he talked about travels in Europe. His wedding was originally supposed to be at my house because my house is beautiful for weddings; I guess there have been others there. But at the last minute, they moved it because there were going to be too many people. I arrived at the ceremony which was conducted by one of the officials from my neighboring village. It wasn't a Muslim ceremony (I'm still trying to figure out if there is a Muslim element to any of this) but was a Guinean ceremony. The bride and groom were seated at a table with a book that they, along with a few family members, signed to make the marriage official. He was dressed in beautiful traditional African robes that were white and he wore a white hat; she was dressed in a western-style white wedding gown with white gloves and a veil. She looked like she was in her twenties. They both looked happy and excited.

After the signing ceremony there was a reception with dancing and lots of food. Everyone seemed to be having a great time; the school turned into a dance party that I heard went until 4 am. One of the traditions I found myself in the middle of was the eating rice and milk under a veil with the groom and 8 other ladies. We were all waiting for him (I had no idea what we were waiting for) in the house, sitting around a calabash of rice. His grandma was there sitting in the circle with us, holding a bowl of milk. When the groom ran in, the grandma said something to him in Pular, gave him a sip of the bowl, poured the rest on the rice, and me and the ladies shoved money in his pocket before diving into the milk and rice. The grandma threw the veil over all of us as we ate. The ladies giggled and were so excited about being part of it all. Although this wedding was in my village, it was not a true village wedding. Here was a Guinean man who born in the village but educated outside of it in the cities of Guinea because his family had the means to send him there. Now he is taking his bride to Amsterdam. It is really amazing how different the same event, on the same day, could be.

December 13, 2008 - A Taxi Tale

2009-01-04T17:50:00.002-05:00

I was in Labe for the past couple of days - I went to retrieve my camera I had left at Thanksgiving. When I got to Peace Corps, my camera wasn't there, causing disappointment because I had big plans for taking photos in my village to post in Paris when I will be online. One photo that I would have shot came unexpectedly in my travels from Labe back to my village on Friday night.

To get from Labe to my village, I take a taxi about 3 hours from Labe to Mamou. Mamou is a city that is filled with travelers - it is the gateway to other parts of Guinea. There are three large taxi stands, and you have to know which stand has taxis going to your destination. One of the stands is for taxis going to small villages - the taxi that goes to my village isn't even at that stand - its on a small sidestreet. And he's only there on Fridays, sometimes on Mondays. This is also the spot to find the car that goes to my neighboring village. When I got there on Friday afternoon, hanging around the cars were all sorts of familiar faces - one of the teachers from my school, all the people I had met last time I was waiting for a taxi including the Sierra Leonian who was talked Barak Obama with me last time I was in Mamou. In the span of the five hours I spent waiting for the cab to fill up, anyone who lives in my village or the neighboring one and was in Mamou that day stopped by the sidestreet to see who was there, who was going back to the village, who had bought what that day, where everyone had been and who they saw. I was in a big transit city but the sidestreet felt very small town.

Right before we were leaving, the bread guy who balances the tray of bread on his head and sings stopped by, and all of the passengers of my taxi bought a minimum of four loaves to take back to the village. The ridiculous amount of bread in the taxi became source of jokes throughout the next 4 hours of the ride among the 13 passengers. I was in a taxi with 4 adults in the backseat and one child on a lap (note - this taxi is the size of a civic.) The front consisted of a driver seat and a passenger seat (no middle "seat") but somehow 4 people plus a baby all fit on those two seats. The woman who shard the drivers seat was pregnant. And there were 3 people on the roof with all of the luggage. The kid in charge of tying down all the luggage had just done it for a second time after a woman neglected to point out her luggage, so when there were now 8 bags of 4 baguettes, he refused to untie all the luggage and put them on the roof. He strapped them to the top of the trunk. We packed in the car which I am estimating to be about 40 years old. I swear it is the oldest car in Guinea. I am amazed that it makes it up the mountain on the rocky, dirt road.

About five minutes into our drive, the road out of Mamou has a roadside stop that hopes to lure in those headed back to the villages. I figured there was no way we were stopping - we had just sat around for hours surrounded by this stuff - and starting the car each time was a process I figured the driver likes to keep to a minimum (it involves a serious push start.) But we did stop, and what did everyone start buying? More bread. The principal of the neighbouring village started it in all seriousness, and the ladies in the back began laughing hysterically that he was honestly buying more bread. They joined in after sitting for a few minutes, I mean, why not? The crew was in push start position when he then asked about the price of the sugar. We had been sitting next door to a sugar stand all day.

It was about 5:30 when we really got moving - by 6:00 we were off the main road and headed towards the villages. At 7:00, the car stopped and everyone headed to a tree that had a space cleared out under it for the Guinean rest-stop, evening prayer. Here, by 7:00, the sun has just set, and tonight, the full moon was rising over the mountains. It was large and beautiful African orange. This is the scene I wish I could have captured with my missing camera - I was on the side of the road next to the "vintage" car with the dozens of bread tied to the trunk, headed down a road headed toward the moon with nothing on either side but the tall grasses and the hills. The sky with dusk colors just hanging on while the moon took to the skies, and under a mango tree were seven men and three women facing northeast offering up the last prayer of the day. This is Guinea.

More on Guinea...

2008-12-28T04:16:00.003-05:00

After a little less than a week, it seems as though Guinea now has an established president, Moussa Dadis Camara, a military captain. In talking with Guineans that work for Peace Corps, they are very disappointed that this is the result. When the late president Lansana Conte became president 24 years ago, it was in the same manner; the old president died, he was a military captain, military coup d'etat leads to his presidency. Now, many Guineans see this coup leading to more of the same. The headlines of one of the BBC articles is "Guineans mark 50 years of poverty," and Guineans seem very pessimistic about Camara and doubtful that things will change. If you are interested, www.bbc.com has a lot of coverage and articles surrounding the coup; this event is a sad way to put Guinea on the map.

I traveled to Conakry on the 26th after spending Christmas with three other volunteers up-country. Even though we were all a little disappointed about not being in Conakry with the others, we enjoyed each others company around an Italian Christmas dinner. The travel on the 26th was long with several military checkpoints; this was not unusual pre-coup. I was a little nervous at the first one; when the man was looking at my ID, he saw the Peace Corps logo and exclaimed, "Corps de la Paix!" and with excitement asked my what village I was in, what I was teaching, etc. A very unexpected reaction from the military. I was relieved. We also had many reroutes due to the president's funeral procession; thousands came out for the procession that was more like a parade. I have yet to meet one person who thought Conte was a good president, yet everyone seemed to come out to pay their respects.

And now I'm in Paris with my family, after a few delays, including one while in the air; the pilot came on before we landed for a stopover in Dakar telling us we needed to circle in the air because the president of Senegal was landing. When we landed we could see a whole procession of military and finely dressed women waiting for his arrival (he was coming from the president of Guinea's funeral the day before.) I'm ready for all of the art and food Paris has to offer. I'll be watching the news of Guinea; hopefully all stays as calm as it was when I left.

The Death of a President

2008-12-24T08:01:00.002-05:00

On Monday night, the President of Guinea died after 24 years of being president. He has been sick for a long time and it wasn't a surprise. The question is "what will happen now?" No one knows.

For now, I wanted to let you know that Peace Corps has all of us together, safe, and under their supervision. Things are calm; I know images on TV are military tanks in the streets. This may be true in parts of Conakry, but where I am it is almost life as ususal. Lots of places are closed. As far as my New Year's trip to Paris, I'm not sure if I'll get to take it. Everything is on a day-to-day basis. There is a lot of uncertainity about government, but no violence.

My hope for Guinea is a new leader will come to power that will help advance this struggling country. We will see in the days to come.

I have some other blogs for you - fun, Guinean-life blogs; if I get a chance to be online again soon, they'll be here for you!

Until then, Merry Christmas!

La Fete et Le Fello (The Party and The Mountain)

2008-12-11T07:57:00.003-05:00

During the second week of December is the Fete de Tabaski here in Guinea and in other Muslim countries. This is a celebration in honor of Abraham’s sacrifice of his first son. As the story goes, when Abraham thought he had sacrificed his son, he removed his blindfold and God had saved his son and instead, Abraham has sacrificed a ram. Today, Muslims celebrate this miracle by sacrificing a goat and sharing it with their family and friends. The weekend before the celebration was a busy one; people were cleaning their homes, sending kids to the markets, washing their finest clothes, and getting their hair done. The fete was typical of a December holiday celebration; it was all about family and food. Family members came in from all corners of the world for the fete. The man who built my house was there; he is a finance banker in Conakry. I met him Sunday morning; he was wearing his typical African garb with a pair of Chuck Taylors – when I saw those I knew we would get along just fine. He has traveled all over the world and was such a fun man to talk with. He was in the first class of students in my village back in 1960. There were 125 students that year in his class. Seven of them ended up going to University, and most of the seven were back in the village for the fete. They joked and laughed like old friends do.

I met all sorts of other interesting people. The first President of the Assembly of Guinea, Mr. Boubacar Biro Diallo, has a home in my village and he, along with his children, were there for the fete. His son is a surgeon in Paris. Mr. Diallo warmly welcomed me into the celebration. The village’s “patron,” or wealthy man who takes care of the village, was also in town. All of the professors of the school took a photo with him; he told me about a man who teaches Pular in Boston. My favorite person I met was the patron’s grandma. She was a weathered old woman who was so kind and spunky. When I responded to her questions in a way that she liked, she’d do a fun celebratory dance.

All of this started Monday morning with a prayer. Everyone, dressed up for the party, left their homes around 11am for prayer. There isn’t enough room at the Mosque for everyone so the prayer was outside in a field. After a half hour or so, the party began. Certain homes were the hosts and everyone wanders around the courtyards of the homes, eating, saying hello, catching up. This experience was much more enjoyable than the end of Ramadan fete that was the second day I was in the village; now I have the ladies to chat with, the old men who continue their running joke of taking me as their third or fourth wife, my students who say hello, and little kids who know me by name rather than staring like I am from another planet.

After the day of the partying, I wondered were the goats were. I didn’t see any sacrificing but did eat a lot of meat, so thought perhaps the sacrifices were done at the Mosque or somewhere else then men go but the ladies do not. I was wrong. The fete did not end Monday as was explained to me. After I arrived to an empty school Tuesday morning, I went home to find two goats tied to trees in my compound and the men giving them a bath to prepare them for the sacrifice. A large group of the old men of the village wandered from compound to compound sacrificing goats. I sat on my front porch all morning watching all of the “fete, day 2” activities go on. The women cooked all day while taking breaks to go and visit other women here and there. The men either worked on the goats or stood around giving orders to the young men learning how to properly skin the goats and divide the meat. Everyone drank tea, ate lots of Guinean treats, and enjoyed each other’s company. I liked fete day 2 just as much as the real fete. My village does not have a “night club” that consists of loud music and dancing until all hours but for the fete there were dances at the school from 10pm to 4am on Monday and Tuesday nights; I showed up to school Wednesday to five seventh graders. We did the homework they didn’t do over the fete and called it a day. When I would see my other students, later in the day after they had woken up, I’d ask them were they were. The reply, “Madame, the fete,” in a tone that was “come on, this is the most exciting three days of the year here. Really?”

A tradition for the teachers and students is to climb our mountain at the end of the day on the second day of the fete. I had been wanting to climb it and was excited about the tradition. From the top we could see all of the villages tucked into the mountains (and we had really good phone service!) The view was gorgeous. The kids packed picnics and hung out all day. It was a nice way to end the celebrating. The only regret I have was that I had left my camera in the city at Thanksgiving.

All I Want for Christmas...

2008-11-28T04:09:00.009-05:00

Many people have emailed with the questions "What can I do?", "What can I send?" or "How can I help?" I greatly appreciate the generous offers and excitement about making a difference locally and globally. I am still in the middle of determining my goals for my two years here; they are forming and changing as I get to know my village and understand Guinea. One fact I know for sure: education is the key for change. Educating Guinean students is my primary objective but I hope you too are learning a little more about life in a developing nation by reading this blog.

Some possible answers to the questions are these: give you time somewhere in your community, especially this holiday season or, if it is your style, I have a place you can send a check. If you read some of the comments (actually, most of the comments) on this blog, they are from former students of mine. I was lucky enough to take them abroad on a service immersion trip to the Dominican Republic while I was a teacher for five years at Trinity Catholic High School in Boston, MA. By engaging in this learning experience, we were all forever changed. While there they do a variety of projects including construction of homes and distribution of food to villages of Haitian immigrants who receive no support otherwise. This educational experience is priceless. The students that go are making decisions of how to lead their lives beyond high school. It is such an incredible opportunity to educate and serve. A trip like this has the purpose of serving, of learning more about our fellow brothers and sisters in the world, and about what social justice really means. Trinity is a special place that promotes "faith, hope, and love" in all they do.

So this Christmas, save your postage to Guinea for someone else, for something else. I am all set (honestly!) and packages are expensive to send. Right now, at this point in my service, I don't know what I would do with money in terms of projects; I'm still trying to figure that out and after I do figure it out I'll be following Peace Corps procedure for attaining it. If you are looking for a good cause to give your charitable donation this Christmas, consider giving to the fundraising efforts for this year's Dominican Republic service learning trip at Trinity Catholic High School. This trip is one that is making a difference in the lives of the kids that go and the teachers that lead it; their energy and enthusiasm for service and love then get passed on to their communities. There is no donation too small. Send a check made out to "Trinity Catholic HS" and in the memo: DR Trip. Send to: "Trinity Catholic HS Attn: Dominican Republic Trip 575 Washington St. Newton MA 02458"

Send them your prayers and warm wishes. They need those too! If you want to read more, check it out at: http://www.trinitycatholic.com/html/studentlife.html. There is a slideshow of photos from my three trips on this blog under the photos of Guinea.

And you can continue to send me your prayers too :)

Enjoy the holiday season; the lights, the decor, the smell of trees, the music, the holiday cheer. And spread joy and love. We can all do that, and that always makes a difference.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T05:35:00.003-05:00

Hello from Guinea! Happy Thanksgiving! Today 20 other volunteers and I will be cooking a turkey dinner and enjoying each other's company here in the city. I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and feel very blessed.

For Thanksgiving, I have a short lesson for you. It is posted on YouTube and I believe it is now here as well - look to the left under "Thanksgiving Wish." We had enough battery for one take (sometimes you only get one opportunity to capture the moment...) and afterwords I realized I didn't even say "Happy Thanksgiving" in the video! So Happy Thanksgiving!

(PS - If the video on the left isn't working, go to www.YouTube.com and search "emilysamek" and it should come up!)

November 25, 2008

2008-11-27T05:05:00.001-05:00

November 25, 2008 – The First Report on School

School has now been in session for well over a month. I am really enjoying it so far. I am teaching seventh and ninth grade math and it looks like I’m going to be teaching English after Christmas. The school schedule is such that the students are in school from 8 until noon each day; one class is from 8 to 10 and the second is from 10 to noon. I teach Monday through Wednesday from 8 to noon. I have 30 ninth graders and most are between the ages of 15 and 18; my seventh graders are anywhere between 12 and 18 and right now I have 75 of them! 75 students in one room. We’re currently studying similar things as we do in the States – my ninth graders are solving equations after some revision of positive and negative numbers (“Keep Change Change” is now an international phenomenon – although I call it “Same Change Change” in French.) My seventh graders just finished comparing decimal numbers. I like how I get to do similar lessons and activities as I do at home, although I’m finding that it takes a long time to get them going in an activity since it is unheard of in other classes. They seem to really get a lot out of it and are having a good time…because after all, math is fun, right?

I spend the other days in classes of other teachers to understand Guinean school system and to help my French. Disciplining in French is tough so I’m trying to learn some new vocabulary for such occasions. The other teachers work hard and I look forward to exchanging ideas about teaching. The students take French, History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, and Civics. All courses are during 1, two-hour period each week, except French and Math are for 3, two-hour periods each week. I sat in on a Physics class where the teacher spent 20 minutes drawing a diagram which took the kids then another 20 minutes to copy. That’s almost half of their Physics time for the week for one diagram. I see a lot of this.

What is really encouraging to me is that the students are eager to learn. Many of them come by my house for tutoring or stay after class for help. I gave them a bonus problem on their last exam and they wouldn’t leave school until they got it. (Draw a three-by-three grid, place the numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 such that each row, column, and diagonal adds up to 18. I know at least one of you were wondering.) That is the sort of stuff that makes my day and what I love about teaching. I am constantly reassessing my goals here since the more I learn, the more I realize what I can and cannot do. I have to have faith in the “make a difference to one student” because some of the other changes needed here are two big for two years. Small changes; get students thinking creatively and thinking deeply about math. Getting them to learn, really learn, not just memorize. This is what I’m working on now. I have a couple of projects for the summer that are starting to get in the works – mostly working with teachers – and I am excited about their prospects.

I will continue to share more about school in the days to come!

November 5, 2008 - Post-Election Day in West Africa

2008-11-27T04:44:00.001-05:00

November 5, 2008 – Post-Election Day in West Africa

My election coverage has been from the BBC, and they had painted a story that the world was watching – people from around the world were calling in with their opinions on the election, and why it mattered to them. With the media’s tendency to blow many things out of perspective, you may be wondering if the world was really watching. I believe they were.

Yesterday, Election Day, I biked to the market and had tea in the tea house with many Guinean men. All they talked about was McCain and Obama. If this small village in a country most people can place on a map were talking about this election, I’m confident the whole world was too. On Sunday, I was stuck in a city for the day trying to get home from Halloween and men a man from Sierra Leone who was anxious to talk politics with me as many have been with our presidential election approaching. The problem I have is that I can’t carry on a proper conversation with the language issue. I always ask “why” when they tell me they support Obama but I get lost in the response. English is the language in Sierra Leone so it was nice to be able to really hear what he was saying. He told me he supports the American election in general because it is proof that a democracy is working. The fact that Obama is running for president shows progress that Guinea can learn from. (In 50 years of independence, Guinea has had only 2 presidents. Some might call them dictators. The next election keeps getting pushed back – the date currently is unknown.)

Hearing the world news each night makes me hope that this is true; we have set an example of a true democratic election where the winner was chosen by the people, and just as important, the loser conceded gracefully. The election happened as it always does, on the first Tuesday of November, no civil wars broke out, and I thought McCain’s speech was excellent. All of this I take for granted and today I realize even more so what freedom really is.

After listening for the past 24 hours (okay – I might have dozed off here and there) and walking into my ninth grade class this morning and being greeted with excited cheers of “Obama!” I am proud to be an American. Listening to Obama’s speech talking of HOPE and CHANGE as the elements that weave his ideas together, I’m willing to believe in what the future of America and the world will hold. I just listened to a really beautiful interview with Maya Angelou. She talked about that somewhere in all of us is a desire to belong to a great country and today I really feel I do.

sorry...

2008-11-01T09:07:00.002-04:00

it looks like the video is going to have to wait :(

we just got cut off for a while and it has taken well over an hour to download just a small part. next time i'm online i'll get it on here!

Back in the City!

2008-11-01T07:36:00.002-04:00

Hello from Labe! It has been quite the adventure to get here for a weekend of relaxation with other Peace Corps Volunteers, a hot shower, and technology. I woke up around 5:30 on Thursday morning so I could head out on my bike to a nearby village to catch a cab. My village sometimes has a cab in the morning, but none this day. Halimatou make this nearby village sound like New York City – “Oh Gongore! There’s a cab in the morning, then another one comes….10 cabs in one day! Get a cab there!” So I set out and was in Gongore by 8:15 or so and was informed that there was a cab, it had just left, and there wouldn’t be another until tomorrow. Oh Guinea! So now I’m in Gongore where I don’t know anyone for an entire day. But in the typical Guinean fashion, people were welcoming and they fed me and gave me a place to sleep. I read an entire book and graded papers. Luckily, Gongore is a town that has had PCVs before, so they were familiar with the program.

So FRIDAY morning, I again work up early with high hopes to get to Labe, and I got the cab from Gongore – this cab goes to Mamou where I got a cab that went to Labe. I got in around 3 or so. As I were were rolling into Labe, I knew my real phone (with my old phone number) would get service, so I was excitedly anticipating the text messages I can’t receive in my village; my family and friends have told me they tried texting so I was imagining turning on my phone and the texts to just start pouring in…and there was one. One stinkin’ text. And you want to know what that text was talking about? How the Boston Celtics were raising a banner that night. I don’t know where the other ones went. Lost in space. My new form of communication for my texting friends is via my old voicemail. Leave me a message there and I can call you back on my Africa phone. Or just leave me a message about whatever. But not about Boston sports. Unless it is Trinity sports. Speaking of which – GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!! I’m sending good African vibes your way tonight!

Cleveland/Boston was the first thing I checked when I got online; obviously I was disappointed but I am still hopeful for a good season! I have a new blog entry in mind for the future called “Why Being a Cleveland Sports Fan Makes Me a Perfect Fit for Peace Corps Guinea.” It will be combined with “Why Being a Rower (especially from John Carroll) Helps Me Survive Peace Corps Guinea.” I was dreaming both of these up in my travels over the past two days. Maybe at Christmas I’ll have them for you.

For today, I have a short video tour of my house. I don’t know if the sound is working because I don’t have my headphones here at the café…so hopefully it is working! Excuse the French/Pular/English combo.

Next time I’ll be online will be Thanksgiving – maybe one time before that. We'll have a new president next time I'm online! The election is a very hot topic here. Everyone knows about both candidates and are excited for results! Keep me posted on what’s happening in your world!

october 28, 2008

2008-11-01T07:33:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 25, 2008

Today marks the last day of my first month at site. Since school just started this week, I’ve had lots of time to study, clean, bike, and ponder all of life’s big questions, like “what does nutella always taste better in a foreign country?” Since school has only been in session for a few days, I’ll share more about village life. (By Thanksgiving, I should have lots of school stories!)

Village life is comparable to USWeekly’s section of photos of celebrities doing ordinary day-to-day things called “Just Like Us!” Everything I do, everywhere I go, I’m being watched by everyone around me: “She buys tomatoes at the market, just like us!” “She gets water from the well, just like us!” “She chases the cow that stole her pants from the laundry line, just like us!” “She speaks pular, just like us!” (Okay, that is a huge stretch. Pular is the local language that I’m trying to learn. I can greet people and say a few other essential phrases. When I greet people for the first time, it often results in an uproar of shock and laughter – “The porto speaks Pular!!!?!” Porto is the Pular word for white person.) I’ve been told that the celebrity status never really fades.

For the first 2.5 weeks, I paid Halimatou for a dish of whatever she was cooking because there was a gas crisis in the capital and we couldn’t purchase propane tanks for our camping stoves. With limited resources, the rice and sauce dishes leave much to be desired here in my village. And I’m not in a village with a rice bar (that’s Guinea’s version of a restaurant) or gateau ladies (the ladies on the side of the road with friend treats – most of the time it is fried dough/cake, but sometimes they have my favorite – fried sweet potatoes) so I learned to embrace village rice and sauce. When Peace Corps brought the gas tank on the monthly mail run, it was warmly welcomed. I didn’t see a gas tank in his hands, to me it was a giant coffee pot. Each day has an “Iron Chef” twist to it when I cook lunch and dinner. “Today I have 2 eggplants, 2 potatoes, and a pimant. With lentils? With pasta? Which spices?” I have come up with a few good dishes so far. My favorite dish was one I made this weekend – I was feeling a little homesick for Boston in the fall (it is Head of the Charles weekend – at least I think it is) and I had a nice piece of squash from a neighbor, so I did a curry squash soup that was just lovely. I’m also grateful to my mom for bringing us up to a appreciate a simple pasta dish with tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. I feel as long as I have there three ingredients, I’ll never go hungry, and it always tastes like home.

Village life is all about the bike. My first adventure a couple of weeks ago redefined “mountain biking” for me. To my friends back home that enjoy this as a hobby, you are way more badass than I ever knew. The bike ride to Andrew’s, another PCV, site that I thought was going to take 4 hours ended up taking 7 hours. Yes, that is one way. The purpose was to go hiking; I was so sore the next day that the hike was redeemed by the amazing waterfall and the company of 5 other volunteers. Other bike trips I’ve taken include trips to other villages for their market days – not nearly as long as the bike to Buliwell (Andrew’s site.) I hope there aren’t any trips that long anytime soon.

One of my favorite later-afternoon activities here is putting up my hammock on my front porch and reading until the sun goes down. Sounds more peaceful that it really is some days – all the neighbor kids seem to stop by at least three times although they are beginning to get the hint that when the porto is in the hammock, she doesn’t want to color. My recommendation from the mountain is “What is the What” by David Eggers. This story from East Africa (remember, I’m in West Africa!) recounts the true story of Valentino Achak Deng, one of Sudan’s Lost Boys. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. And, if you are like me and ashamed to admit you don’t really know the history of why we’re saving Darfur, it will get you up to speed.

It is Sunday morning and it looks like it is going to be another beautiful day. The rainy season is over and the days are hot but not humid, the evenings are cool enough to want a blanket to sleep. My house is breezy and comfortable. I’m eating a fresh guava with breakfast. Being a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Fouta definitely has its perks. Today I’m working on lesson plans before I climb my phone-service hill to make Sunday calls to the States. Right now it is 8am and I’ve already had 4 visitors and I know the day will bring more so trying to plan a lesson takes a while. There isn’t a “oh, she’s working, better not stop by” mentality or “she didn’t answer the door, maybe she’s showering,” no, there is just a lot of knocking and lots of greeting. It is the Guinean way!

October 10, 2008

2008-11-01T07:29:00.001-04:00

Friday, October 10, 2008

It’s Friday night here in the Fouta – my second Friday in my new home. Village life is quite different from my first 3 months here – for instance, I’m handwriting this entry by headlamp light because there isn’t electricity in the village. To make a phone call, I walk 20 minutes up a hill to (fingers crossed) get reception. The first day I had my new phone number that matches the available service on the hill, I was so anxious to get up there and dial a number. I marched up that hill, got to the spot where others had service, waited – and nothing. No service that day. I was so frustrated and annoyed that at no point did I look out at the view of my village from the top of the hill – it is really quite gorgeous. My compound is tucked away in a hill, I can pick out the school because of the big Peace Corps map, there are green pastured with cows grazing, all sorts of trees, conical roofs of the cooking huts, corn fields, and ladies in brightly colored fabrics working the peanut fields (it is the end of peanut season – I have more peanuts than I know what to do with!) In the distance, I can see other villages. All of this tucked into the mountains of the Fouta. Gorgeous.

The villages here are very very small. For me, I feel like I see more animals that people when I walk to the water pump or phone hill. It has to do with how remote it is here – I’m really out there! I’ve been here 2 weeks and I’ve seen one car. One. And I only saw it because my neighbor, Halimatou, woke me up at 7am last Saturday to show me the tree where the taxi comes on Saturdays to go to Conakry. And that is the taxi service of my village! Tomorrow I’m embarking on my first bike attempt at leaving my village – several PCVs in the area are going hiking. If I want to take part, I’ve got to pedal 4 hours to get there. My neighbors helped me form a list of all of the villages along the way – bike to one, ask someone how to get to the next – I wouldn’t quite describe my sentiment as “excited” for this initial trip, but I’m really looking forward to a weekend with friends. I also need to get somewhere with a real market to load up on things like garlic, potatoes, onions, and fruit of any kind since my “market day” offered tomoatoes, corn, peanuts, pimant, eggplant, and…that’s about it! On Thursdays under the biggest tree, a few women come in to sell their produce. I’ve seen several market days here in Guinea, and my village’s is more like a roadside stand. Actually, the roadside stands here in Guinea seem to offer more than my market. This trip is essential for supplies!

My house is an amazing space. I had no idea what I was going to walk into – but it is open, bright, and a blank canvas for my market searches. It is a very comfortable place, so comfortable that the front room is a favorite with the neighborhood kids. For a couple of hours each day they stop by and draw or practice writing their letters while I study or clean (no one has lived here in two years – lots of cleaning needed to be done!)

School starts Wednesday, “si Allah jabi.” (Si Allah jabi is “God willing” – when you say “see you tomorrow” or “talk to you later,” it is always followed by “si Allah jabi” – if Allah wills it, it will happen!) I’m very very ready for it to start. The two weeks here have been very productive in terms of settling in. My “kitchen” is clean and organized, boxes are unpacked, and I spent a whole day scrubbing the “bathroom” down – but I am ready for students and mathematics. There is a rumor that it might not start until the 20th. I am hoping it is just a rumor; however the fact that not a single other teacher is here in the village and the school looks abandoned makes me thing it might not be a rumor.

Other happenings of the two weeks of living in the village – Ramadan ended and my host family took me along to the end of Ramadan fete. There was lots of food and everyone was dressed in their finest things. I’ve learned where to fetch drinking water and where the well for other water is. My neighbor led me to a nearby village that bakes bread; it is a magical little house you can find with your nose – a man bakes the bread in a wood burning oven. The bread is still warm even after a 20 minute walk home. This week I had a neighbor kid help me draw a family tree of the family in the compound. That day I had sat most of the day with Halimatou and Hadiatou, two of the women of my compound. I thought Hadiatou was Halimatou’s mother-in-law, but as we sat there that day making the Kaba (a corn dish) it was revealed that there are 18 children in the family. The women tried explaining but I nodded politely not really knowing what was being explained. Turns out, my landlord has three wives. Hadiatou is the first wife, Halimatou is the second (she has taken me under her wing) and Ejiatou is the third. One of the wives passed a way. Among the four wives, there are 18 children. All three wives work very hard in the peanut fields and in their homes. The first wife is older and none of her six children live in the compound. There are 9 kids from the wives and then a handful of other kids that are in another house.

Without cars or trains, sirens or people out and about on a Friday night, Friday night here is quite, very quiet. For me, still too quite, so I’ve turned into a BBC addict. The past two weeks have been focused on the financial crisis of the world, and I wonder how will it will affect a place like Guinea. Food prices over the past year have increased dramatically because of the price of oil. It will be interesting to see what else happens in the months to come.

october 2, 2008

2008-11-01T07:25:00.001-04:00

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Today is Guinea’s Independence Day – and it isn’t just any Independence Day – it is the 50th Anniversary of their independence from France. I’m a huge fan of the 4th of July’s activity back in the USA, so I was anxious to see what today brought. There were no Guinean flags to be found, no fireworks or patriotic songs, certainly no hotdogs or pink lemonade. It was a day no different than any other day. The only mention of it was a 30 second segment on the BBC. (I later heard that in some other villages, PCVs watched people raise the flag. The BBC mention during the “Focus on Africa” segment was sad yet honest. They reported that although today was the 50th anniversary, there was very little to celebrate, and the sentiment in Conakry was dismal. All of this lack of celebration refers to the fact that Guinea has yet to stand on its own two feet since independence. It was definitely a day to put in perspective how different my home is from here.

Swearing In and Photos

2008-09-27T20:51:00.004-04:00

Tonight I'm writing from the capital; we've been here for three days now. We said farewell to our families (sad!) and have spent a couple of days trying to purchase things for our homes. I move in on MONDAY! I officially passed my French exam (wahoo!) and have been sworn in as an offical Peace Corps Volunteer. We had the ceremony on Friday at the US Embassy. It was a lovely ceremony of speeches and oaths. Dan, our country director, and his wife Julia had a bbq for us at their home. It was a great day to celebrate and kick back before the moving begins.

Since I haven't written much, I'll leave you with another new slideshow - under the "Making Rice and Sauce" is the "First Photos of Guinea" slideshow. Most of my host family, some of practice school (and you don't have to tilt your head this time.)

Enjoy! The next time I'll be online will be in October. I'll have lots of stories of village life and the first days of school.

september 20th, 2008

2008-09-27T19:28:00.004-04:00

September 20th, 2008

From the Market to the Table

(For a visual tour of this blog entry, check out the "Making Rice and Sauce" slideshow on the side panel of the blog - somewhere under my photo)

As a "thank you" gesture to our families, tonight Jesse (my fellow trainee who lives next door, a Amherst MA native) and I made a Guinean meal. I wanted to learn to make the soup sauce since it is my favorite of the sauces; Jesse went for the peanut sauce. We agreed on buying chickens since chickens are a treat. (Note: buying chickens means buying a live chicken, not a neat package in the back of the store!) We also wanted to have an American flavor as part of the meal; since it is Ramadan, it needed to be something easy on the system. We decided on garlic mashed potatoes. Guineans love potatoes, but I have yet to see them mashed.

It began yesterday when we got back from our conference; we went to the market after carefully constructing lists with our respective families. My list consisted of:

3 tomatoes
2 small eggplants
1 bulb of garlic
4 pimant (small peppers with a real big kick)
4 small onions
black peppercorns
2 potatoes
2 mantioch
squash pieces (if available - it was)
cabbage (if available - it wasn't)
1 small can tomato paste
2 maggi cubes (seasoning cube....probabably a lot of MSG - I've eaten so much of this - it can't be good at all!)
1 large sache of vegetable oil
3 kilo of rice
4 bags of charbon for cooking

The market trip was very fun - our first stop was just outside the big market at a stand with several items from the list. The two working were mother and son although she looked young enough to be his sister. They were sweet and even posed for a photo. We went on to find the other vegetables - everytime I asked if I could take a photo, everyone happily agreed. Then kids wanted in on the action. It was fun to have a true market experience and understand prices and the women of the market enjoyed when we could greet them in the local language. We even made it to the peanut butter gridning man - Jesse bought shelled peanuts and took them to him to have the peanut butter made.

The first step in the cooking process was the chicken. Jesse and our two 12 year-old host brothers, Dauda and Yaya, went to buy them while I went to church. As soon as I got back, Dauda and Yaya lit up like two twelve year-olds would who were about to be allowed to kill something. I didn't want to extinguish their excitement by telling them I wanted to kill the chicken, so I let them do the killing. (Yeah right. I was not looking forward to that part at all. I'm fine with the rest...but have no desire kill the chicken.) Dauda and Yaya proudly presented us with the three chickens. Jesse's host mom assisted us with lighting the charbon to boil a large pot of water to help with defeathering the chicken. Once the pot was boiling, we took it off of the fire and then put the chickens in, let them sit for a while, and then plucked all of the feathers off, Dauda's looked perfect and he did it in half the time as I did, but I did it all. The water helps make defeathering easier.

The next step was to help with all of the fine hairs or missed small feathers. We took the chickens, wrapped them in paper, and then put them on the charbon. The paper burned off as well as the leftover plumage. At this point the outside of the chicken was slightly brown. Aisitou helped us with cutting up the chickens properly. All of the parts we would typically use (wings, legs, breasts) were used along with heart, liver, neck, and stomach. I learned how to peel out the stomach lining; the lining had all of whatever the chicken at that day inside.

We cleaned up all the pieces with soap and water and then Jesse and I parted to our families' cooking areas. Time to prepare the sauce.

First, I put the black pepper in the pile, followed by the garlic until it was completely mashed. I coated the chicken with this and then placed in the pot which had hot oil at the bottom to brown the chicken. Once the chicken was browned, I removed the chicken and threw in the eggplant (dpeeled and diced), tomatoes (chopped) and onions. once these were going, i added the tomato paste with water, pimant (piled), maggi cubes, and a little more oil. Then i added the chicken back in and let it simmer for about two hours before adding in the peeled potatoes, mantioch, and squash. this then simmered for another hour or so - sometimes adding water. The passing of time is a funny thing here. There is no setting of timers, just observation of the sun.

While the delicious pot was simmering, I cleaned and prepared the rice and then made the mashed potatoes. At the end of the night was the Ramadan prayers and then the families dove into the meal (you'll notice in the photo the men sitting on one side, the women are on another.) They really enjoyed all parts. I tried Jesse's sauce and it was delicious!

I appreciate the time and energy that goes into cooking here in Guinea. The process of preparing the chicken, cooking, and then doing all the dishes went from noon until 7:00. I was exhausted by the end! And felt disgusting after sitting by that fire under the hot African blaze, handling chickens, chopping veggies in my lap (no cutting boards.) Any kitchen (by kitchen I mean outdoor cooking area) you walk by has all of the ladies sitting, working hard by the fires - and the men are always sitting around. No wonder the women look so weathered and the men look so young.

I hope to post some of the other delicious treats I've had as I try to prepare them at site!

last week of training!

2008-09-18T15:57:00.002-04:00

I'm currently at the training site for my last week of training! I met my principal today and learned more about my school - 136 students in the school - 28 are girls. For now, I have one post for you about the past three weeks. Next week is our swearing in at the captial so I'll have lots of access to post photos. Until then - congrats to the TC Volleyball team on the great beginning to the season!

Monday, September 15, 2008

It has been an eventful three weeks here in Forecariah. For Muslims, the month of Ramadan began. For the Peace Corps trainees, "Practice School" has come and gone. Both helped me to better understand life in Guinea. I feel like I'm finally moving past the inital shocks of food and climate; the fact that I haven't taken a hot shower in over a month hasn't been a thought until now as I'm reading old entries. Now, after two months of life here, some of the realities of Guinean culture and situations are starting to reveal themselves.

RAMADAN
Ramadan is a one-month fast for Muslims that began on Tuesday, September 2nd. Everyone of age (around 14 or older) wakes up before the sun to start their prayers and eat a meal, and then they do not eat again until around 7:15 when the sun goes down. With Ramadan, I've gotten to try some new foods that Guineans cook especially for the Ramadan nightly meal. The first thing they eat when breaking their fast is "buie" - a rice or corn based soup that has lemon and sugar. It is a very mild soup to start things off after a day of not eating. There is also "toah" - a mantioch ball of dough that is accompanied by a very spicy sauce. The meal began the first few nights with dates, which I understand is very typical of Ramadan tradition, however I haven't seen the dates around lately.

During a typical, non-Ramadan evening, my father and mother do the evening prayers together in the living room, however during Ramadan, all of the members of my family of age as well as our family next door pray together outside. Then as a big group they eat dinner together outside. The men sit in one circle, the women in the other. Some families are visting family in Forecariah right now just for Ramadan - they say that fasting in a big group is easier than fasting as a small family in their homes. During the fast, life shuts down in terms of business. Familes are together preparing the meal that they will eat all night long and doing their prayers 5 times a day. One Saturday night when we were without electricity, several of us trainees were at the Peace Corps house and in the through our conversation we could hear the chanting of a group gathered near the house. We sat and listened for a while at the song-like prayers being repeated; it had such a calming meditative effect.

The reason for Ramadan is a that it is a time for Muslims to pray for and consider those who have less then they do. It is a time of piety, altruism, moderation, and sharing. I wonder where in the world are the Muslims with less than the Muslims here; who are the Guineans that I am with praying for? How are they to share when they have so little themselves? How are they to be more modest when they never are excessive?

PRACTICE SCHOOL
For the past three weeks, our training moved to the high school of Forecariah. Students on vacation came everyday from 8 to noon for two two-hour sessions in math, physics, chemistry, or English. Peace Corps tried to simulate the school situation as best they could; from taking attendence the Guinean way to making us discipline kids (the number one issue: cell phones!) Over the three weeks I taught 20 lessons (all in French!) and had over 30 observations done in my room. 30 different pieces of feedback on my French or my teaching! Most days, I had two Guineans - on making a list of everything I said wrong and the proper way of saying it, and the other checking in on my teaching. We would also observe each other's classes to help each other out.

For me, Practice School was really enjoyable and necessary for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel of training. Training had difficult because it is has all been centered on learning a new language for me - and over a month of being in a new environment trying to learn was tough at times. But practice school was something I knew. There was something strangely comforting about waking up extra early, getting to school before everyone else, opening up my classroom, and waiting outside my door for students to arrive. Granted, as they entered, the conversations I could carry on with them were limited, but a warm tone and good intentions got me far enough. Once I started teaching, I had every word I was going to say scripted out, including possible questions students might have and how to respond. Needless to say, preparing for a two-hour session took a long time every night! My classroom French is coming along nicely; the conversational French has much to be desired.

I'll have two years to share thoughts on Guinean educational system; my head is spinning with thoughts on how to make the most of these two years. I should clarify that the goal of Peace Corps (and a good one in my opinion) is not to just fill a job for two years - the goal is to promote sustainability in some way. In other words, I'm not here just to teach math for two years - I need to be working towards how to leave something behind that will live on after I leave. Ultimately, Peace Corps would like to put itself out of business because they've worked with people to help people help themselves (teach a man to fish...) After three weeks of Practice School, I have several ideas of how I can contribute to Guinean education. There is a lot to work with. I feel like education is an afterthought to several other priorities of this country. I'm saying this because of where the students were in terms of what they knew in terms of mathematics. The level is very very low. I've only been there for a short time, so I can't possibly understand all of the reasons behind the lacking education systme here. So I'll being with:

There are no books. Just for a minute, imagine going to school for 13 years without books. As a teacher, I write every definition, etc. on the board and students feverishly write everything down. There is no "note taking" process of delievering a lesson and students deciding what is important to write - as a teaher I'm supposed to put the textbook on the board as students write. The students take SO much pride in their notebooks. Their handwriting is incredibly neat - they underline the word "RULE," "DEFINITION," "PROPERTY," etc. with their red pen and ALWAYS with a ruler. The whole only-underline-with-a-ruler deal slows up the process - because there only seems to be two or three rulers among the class, so they keep passing the ruler back and forth. The same for the compasses and protractors. I taught a lesson on circles and constructions with a compass - but only three or 4 kids had them. My usual "if you don't have a ruler, use your buspass/driver's license/library card" line doesn't quite work here. No books. (And by the way - that defintely means no Wikipedia.) Imagine trying to learn biology without all of the pictures and diagrams in the book. Or physics and chemistry without all of the examples to refer to when you are confused. History with no maps at your disposal. A language without all of the readings and excercises.

I had to administer my tests by one of two methods: write the test on flipchart paper the night before and then tape it up to the board or the Guinean method of having all of the students leave the room, write the test on the board, and then have them come in and take the test. They write the test on a piece of paper. There are no handouts, no colored paper, definitely no powerpoints or graphing calculators. At the end of a class, when I want to give homework problems, it is done the same way - I write the problems on the board and students copy them into their notebooks. It is just so incredibly different. I don't thing all of the bells and whistles of technology are what Guinea needs - those are incredible tools for learning and teaching. But they do need books. I am sure of that.

Is it baffling to anyone out there that it is possible that there are education systms like this in the year 2008? Schools without books?

Today, one of our sessions was broken into men's and women's sessions; the women had two local women (one was 62, the other was in her 30s or early 40s) come to discuss what it is like being a woman in Guinea. No matter what topic we were discussing (from birth control and AIDS to Ramadan or politics) everything came back to education. "What's the biggest problem in Guinea" leads back to education. "What do you hope for your daughters" is answered with "university." If the education sytem here in Guinea is struggling, the sytem for girls here is really staggering. This was very apparent even in Practice School - where were all of the girls? For every 6 boys there was a girl. They were at home cooking and helping with the house and siblings. They are on vacation, so three weeks of free education by the Americans in town wasn't a consideration when there were chores to do and meals to prepare. One point of hope for the girls is that more of their mothers went to school now than ever before, so the mothers are starting to consider that math is important. Math may get them to university. So after the chores, girls should do their math. It is a step in the right direction.

For anyone to go to university here, they must pass a test at the end of "terminal" - or "13th" grade. Middle school, or college, is 7th - 10th grade (that's the level I'm teaching.) To go to high school, or lycee (11th, 12th, and terminal grades), they must pass a test at the end of 10th grade called the BREVE. Then to go to university, they must pass a test called the BACH at the end of terminal. The word on the street is that this year 13% of students passed the BACH and are eligable to go to university. Even then, the universities here are not nearly the caliber of university in the states or even the caliber of those in other parts of West Africa. I know it is a big generalization to make, but I'm starting to see a correlation between the education system and the general state of the country. It also makes me think of our own contry and the state of education in many of the big cities. How can Guinea turn their head from education, the world turn its eyes from Guinea, America turn its priorites from urban education?

I'm digressing from where I started.

Two years - I'm obseessed with what my goals should be and how I should run my classroom. What values do I want to leave behind with the students I teach? what do I think I can contribute from my Elyria Catholic/John Carroll/Boston College/Harvard education to teachers here, looking to me as the American for answers on how to improve their schools and classrooms? How can I get more girls to come to school when we're no longer in practice school? How do I begin to convince parents that education is important to their children? I am anxious and excited to get started.

some photos...i hope...

2008-08-23T10:13:00.003-04:00

hello from conakary! we're on a field trip of sorts...a day to find the bank and other essentials.

so i can't figure out how to rotate these...and i only have 5 minutes of time left. so tilt your head :)

1) my host family

2) my african comple

3) my house!!!! how amazing is it! i have the apt on the left. didn't get inside, but i'm imagining good things.

4) my compound from a distance. middle of nowhere, quiet, beautiful...it is going to be like a 2 year retreat. can someone send me some candles?

5) my school from a distance

next time, i'll work on the rotation!

august 20th, 2008

2008-08-23T10:10:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

Before we left for our site visit, Mr. Diaby, the coordinator of our training, told us that this visit was a good time to "reevaluate our committment" after seeing our sites. And after seeing my site, I know that I'm definitely in the right place!
The site visit day was quite an adventure. We departed at 8am and arrived at Bryan's site around 11:30 or so. Bryan is a fellow trainee and will be my cloeset neighbor. When we were 5 minutes away from his site, we saw a couple of white people on the side of the road walking - we stopped to ask them if we were close to his site, and it turns out one of them was the first volunteer to work in his site. She was there in 1999. Amazing luck! She gave us a grand tour of his site and introduced him to all the right people.

We asked how to get to my village and got many different answers and pieces of advice. "The good road is not good for a car because of the rain, so you have to go the other way" was the concensus among most of the men in Bryan's village. "The other way" took about two hours of climbing up the mountain in the Peace Corps car. Every 7km or so, there would be a fork in the road. We'd try to find someone to ask which way to my village. The responses were either: "oh, take the road to the right/left - you're almost there," "you need to turn around and go back the other way for a while, then take the road to the right/left," or "never heard of it." The "never heard of it" responses made me a little nervous. When we got to a point where our driver asked "ou le pont?" or "where's the bridge" when the river was debatable for crossing, I began to wonder if I should laugh or cry. Laugh. Just keep laughing. Somewhere inside I knew we'd get there...eventually! Luckily, everyone in the car, including our driver, had a good sense of humor about the bumpy, long adventure.

When we finally arrived up the mountain to my village, I was completely blown away by what I found. A tiny village tucked away on the side of the mountain - this is going to be my home for the next two years. It was so beautiful. The view of the tropical mountains, the cool, crisp air - I just knew it was right. Although I'll be in the middle of nowhere, it is seriene and calm and so incredibly gorgeous. All I saw on Saturday were a collection of homes and a school. My school. Apparently it is the school for my village and several neighboring villages. No one with a key was around, so I could only look from the outside - but it seems clean and well-kept. Once I get in there, I'll give a real description. Oh - and there is the only full-court basketball court I've seen in Guinea so far in the courtyard of the school. What are the chances!?! I couldn't believe it.
One of the men of the village knew where I would be living and took me to the house. The man with the key was out of town, so I didn't get to go inside. But for now, I'll tell you that the outside was far beyond anything I imagined I'd be living in. I don't want to say more until I figure out why the heck this house was built there, who built it, who lives around me, etc. I am in a compound with two other families, but my house is my own. I have a front porch. I'll tell you that much. And a grapefruit tree in front of the house. At least that's what the best French speaker translated it to be. I'll keep you posted on that one.

The way back down to Bryan's village: half hour. 15km. It wasn't too bad of a road. The tricky part of getting anywhere in the future without the Peace Corps car will be getting from Bryan's village to the main roads. I can bike to Bryan's town, but from his village to the main roads is a little unclear.

I then spent four days at other volunteers' sites. First was Katy's site - she is in a city and has a cute tiny apartment. It was fun to go to the market and eat a dinner that wasn't rice and sauce. She is working on tourism here in Guinea and really knows her way around since she's been here since December. Then I spent two days at a health volunteer's house. He's a Clevelander as well and my other closest neighbor. He has an army of kids that are willing to help with anything - we did a lot of weeding. While we pulled weeds the kids taught me Pular and French, although I don't feel like I'm any better with either language. Tomorrow is my language interview so I tried to write my whole site visit adventure in French to practice. The sentence structure is similar to a third grader's...but better than a first grader's!

We traveled via bush taxi back to training town today - my first Guinean taxi experience. It wasn't even a real experience since the whole taxi was Peace Corps people. My host family seemed genuinely excited to see me and has been feeding me all night, as if I didn't eat while away. It is always nice to go back to a welcoming home!

As of tonight, I have 37 more days of training. After my visit to site, they are going to be a long 37 days! I didn't want to leave. It was so nice to have independence again. But with practice school right around the corner (starts Monday!), I know the days will go by quickly. Practice school is 3 weeks of school with Guinean students - only it doesn't count. It is a free extra 3 weeks of school for students in this town. It is a chance for us to really feel what teaching in Guinea will be like - from the 2 hour classes to teaching in French. My nights will now be spent lesson planning...something I can do!

online again!

2008-08-14T14:45:00.005-04:00

Today I'm writing from Labe, a big city in the Fouta Region of Guinea, and my future regional capital. We left this morning at 830 to begin our drive to Labe and after about 8 hours, we arrived to the current Fouta volunteers warm greetings. I'll be here tomorrow and then off to my village. The drive today was beautiful...the Fouta is lush and cool. I'm anxious to see more! It is also a nice break from training. Our "rest stop" was around noon for....rice and sauce! I'm beginning to really like it! My new favorite treat is the corn they grill on the coals. It reminds me of the corn we feed pigs and cows in the states, but it is delicious.

I hope this will be the longest noninternet stretch. I'll keep writing entries at home and then posting them when I get to the internet...that's why the dates are the way they are. THANK YOU for all of the emails and texts! The texts kept me sane! And I love hearing about what's happening back home. Keep 'em coming.

august 12th

2008-08-14T14:45:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Tonight in Guinea, I've put finishing touches on a lesson on Sine and Cosine for tomorrow. For dinner, I ate rice and leaf sauce. This past weekend, I spent some time learning the ways of cooking the sauce. There are a wide variety of sauces - I like the ones that are tomato based (called "soup sauce") with stewed meat (goat I think for the most part) - I learned how to make "meatballs" of fish and the sauce that goes with them. Lots of onions, green onion, chilli peppers, tomatoes, peanut butter, eggplant, and stewed with some potatoes.

Yesterday I picked up my first "comple" - or African shirt with skirt. My host mother gave me the fabric as a gift and Aisitou and I went to the tailor to have it made. This is to wear to events such as weddings or baptisims. I hear it is best to teach in them as well in order to be respected - or at least the skirts with a button down shirt. I have fully embraced the "mouchoir" - the headwrap with the fabrics from the skirts. With the inability to fully rinse out my hair with the bucket bath, it is really nice to just wrap up my hair each day it in! It is encourage to wear them teaching. It is like a fancy bandana that is considered formal wear. Love it. Hopefully my photos attach and you can see my new African wear.

Tomorrow I begin learning Pular - the language of the Fouta. Just survival language for now since on Thursday, we leave to visit our sites. I'll be in Labe, the biggest city in the Fouta for a few days and in my village for the other days. I am really looking forward to getting out of here for a few days. Rumor has it there is pizza in Labe and I can't wait for the internet! I don't like feeling so disconnected. It is definitely the hardest part.

The part of the trip I'm really looking forward to is getting to see my school and my house. I can start dreaming up how to decorate and envision myself at school. I look forward to the routine of school although it will be another 2 months before school even begins. School begins after Ramadan is over, and it is late this year. So it will be the end of October when school begins. I'm programmed to feel the "school's coming soon" mid-August anxiety, but no August start this year for me! That part is still bizarre for me and hard at times. I just finished The Alchemist for the first time, and the boy and his sheep reminded me of myself and my little sheep in Boston. I really enjoyed the book and recommend it if you haven't read it!

As I type this, I can hear that my mouse has returned. I thought he was gone for good but sounds like he's back. He moved in a week ago. When the sun goes down and I try to sleep, he likes to knock over my math books and do laps around my room. He uses the waterbottles, my bike, and the buckets on the floor as obstacles but he's clumsy and runs into them all the time. Then he tries eating his way through my door and it sounds like someone is trying to break in. I started to leave the door unlocked so he can push his way through. One night when the corant was on, I watched the door open and he left. Tonight at dinner, I looked up from my plate and he was approaching my rice and sauce on the table. I asked him what the hell the thought he was doing, and before I could get my door closed, he must of snuck back in. Damn him.

august 6th

2008-08-14T14:43:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, August 6th

Tonight the "courant," or electritcity, is on, so I had a chance to recharge my computer. It has to be plugged into a voltage regulator that my family has their freezer plugged into, and after a month of living with them, I finally felt ready to inconvience them for a couple of hours and ask them to use the regulator. My host sisters and I watched Amalie while it charged...it was my way of practicing French for the night. I didn't put the subtitles on :) It was a nice way to relax and my host siblings loved it. Little Aminata fell asleep; she falls asleep everynight on the couch or on her dad's prayer mat and no one can wake her up - she's a girl after my own heart.

The courant comes on every few nights. The way you I know it is has been turned on is all of the "petits," or little kids, start cheering and dancing in the streets - they all then proceed to pile into the nearest house that has a television and watch one of the two channels - one is usually Guinean programming (news, other random shows) and the other is a DVD being played - Ttianic in French, some random Jennifer Love Hewitt movie I've never seen, or random Indian films. One night, after nights of bucket baths by flashlight, I was in the bathroom and heard the kids cheering - I flicked on the lights and started cheering with them.

My days are spent in school from 8 to 5 everyday. We have 4 different types of classes - language, technical language (math language), peace corps information (medical sessions on topics such as malaria, dental health, safety sessions, etc.), and cultural sessions. Everyday is a little different, some days seem longer than others. Today, I had 3 French classes and 1 math language class. Then, at 5pm, we novice French speakers have an extra French tutoring session that is one-on-one. I then come home and work on French homework orlesson plans. We are just practicing now; my lessons have to be scripted word for word, which drives me insane. Phrases like "take out your notebooks and try this example" or "what is a 3 digit number divisible by 2" take forever to figure out. We also learn the methods Guineans do math - long division is the one I still need to practice. Subtraction of 2 or three digit numbers is also unique. Guinean education all comes from the French system. I'm learning more about the Guinean education system is and have a better idea of goals to set for myself in teaching in the schools.

On Friday, we received our site assignments. We officially become Peace Corps Voluteers on September 26th, and a couple of days after that we all move to different villages in Guinea. We are all together until then in this village that we are training in. There are four regions of Guinea - each with its own unique characteristics, and each with its own local language. The French is for the classroom only. A couple of weeks ago, we were able to request which region we wanted. I requested the Fouta - the region of Guinea in the mountains. I hear about how beautiful this region is - very tropical and has rivers and waterfalls and many paths to explore. AND is becomes quite cool in the winter. Cool enough to see your breath in the mornings. My host family is from the Fouta origianlly so they have been talking it up big time. There were only 3 of the 9 math placements in the Fouta and I got one of them! My village is near Mamoa, a pretty major town with a bustling market and internet! So this is definitely the longest internet-free stretch of time I'll go through.

We took a field trip this weekend to the Cascades. We could swim in the falls and we did so for hours. It was so beautiful and a much needed get-away. For some, training isn't so bad - they're fluent in French and then teaching English. For many of us math and science people, we're nowhere near fluent and then have a whole set of technical terms and verbs to learn - we feel like we're always studying. I think the falls were extra special for us!

Everday is a new adventure and some days I can't believe I'm really here. The hardest part is being so disconnected from the rest of Guinea and the rest of the world. There is no post office to send letters, definitely no internet, and making calls is expensive. The news I hear is in French...sometimes I hear "Obama" in the midst of lots of words I don't understand and wonder what the latest news is. There isn't a newspaper or any sort of publications. The days are marked by whether or not the courant is on, and time is marked by the 5 prayers of the Muslims. Other than that, there is no difference between a Wednesday and a Sunday.

Another speical "treat" has been the Catholic Church here. There are about 100 people that attend the mass each week. It is in French of course, but my friend Jo once said something to the effect that no matter where you go, Catholic Mass is the same, so the language doesn't matter. It still feels like home. The music at Mass was really great - drums and a tamborine and a choir. The priest is French and travels to a few churches here in Guinea. It sounds like the chances of there being a church near my village are slim so I'll enjoy this while it lasts!

july 20th

2008-08-14T14:43:00.001-04:00

Sunday, July 20th 2008

Tonight I'm writing after an excellent weekend at the Barry's. I spent the majority of the time studying and trying to extend conversations beyond "hello, how was your day" - and I'm starting to understand the responses the the "how was your day" rather than just smiliing and nodding politely. One week of language class and living without speaking English at home will is do that. Each weekday, we have 4 sessions of class; Friday, three of the four were language. And while I though the last thing I wanted to do Friday night was speak more French, two of the other volunteers invted me to join them at a cafe where they were going to practice French. I did and I think the espresso the man served was actually espresso, not the instant Nescafe I've been trying to fool myself into believing is coffee. With all of the African coffee I see in the states, I'm baffled at the fact there is no coffee to be found. Someone suggested maybe this was a good time to cut coffee out...I'll work with the Nescafe before that day comes.

Yesterday Aisitu (my 17 year old host sister) gave me a lesson on doing laundry. It involves three buckets, a washboard, and the electric lines hanging in the yard. I hadn't done laundry since leaving Cleveland, so I had quite a few things. The process of soaking, really letting loose on the washboard, rinse, wring, and hang convinced me that all shirts will be worn until they stink or I spill a lot on them, and skirts need to last at least a week. Aisitu did not approve of this idea. It was a beautiful, clear day when we hung the last sock...promising for drying. The rain came about 5 hours later, clothes were still damp. We rehung them this morning, rain came, clothes came down. I don't know if they'll ever be dry again.

I also learned how to fetch the water from the well. I'm spoiled because they get the water to bathe and cook, and the well is in our backyard for when I need to do the fetching. I just need to get my drinking water. That's a process too...Peace Corps gives us these great filters that you first filter the water then bleach it. I have a "water wand" that was a gift that seems too good to be true - with it I wouldn't have to bleach the water. I'm going to wait until I have my own bathroom before beginning that experiment. The bleached water is working quite nicely for now.

One week in and I've been only shown hospitality here. When we walk the streets, people are friendly and when we enter cafes, people greet us as they do each other. Economically speaking, most of the people of this village seem to be doing alright; everyone is dressed nice and have shoes. People find a way to make a living - selling their produce at the market, teaching, sewing, etc. We are seen as rich Americans however the difference I've found so far between being here and one of the few white faces and other places where being white is being on parade is that no one ever asks for anything. There is no need to ever turn people away that are looking for a handout. My justification for this so far is that the only Westerners that ever come to Guinea are NGOs like Peace Corps. No tourism that lead to the idea that western face means possible donation. To them, we're just the "fotes" that are always at school and don't bargin when they charge us too much money at the market. People are always curious about what we're doing, why we're here, etc. And the some kids just can't stop staring. But beyond that, we just go on our way.

While my family has been incredible, it is hard to think about living in this room (that is becoming smaller and smaller as PC gives us more and more supplies - I now have a bike in here with me) for another 10 weeks. We have to let our families know what time we'll be back at night so they can let us in. It is a strange loss of independence and regression to the days of curfews and being on womeone else's watch. One "cross-cultural" lesson was about how in Guinea, no individual is more important than the family, and now we're a part of that. It is fine, just sometimes a little too much.

july 16th

2008-08-14T14:41:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Today is my third day in the village where we are training; it is a smaller town about two hours from the capital. I'm writing from my bedroom of my homestay. To give you an idea of the size of the room, it is about the size of a convent room, minus the entry part with the closet. Enough for a twin bed with a giant mosquito net, a table, two giant water buckets, and my luggage stacked neatly against the wall.

The first activity when we arrived in Forecariah was the adoption ceremony. Before the formalities began, there was...awkward dancing. Guineans love to dance with the Americans. Then, both the mayor and the prefect of Forecariah (both women - rare for Guinean society) gave speeches, followed by the director of Peace Corps Guinea and one of our "trainees." We are then matched with a family for the next three months. I hit the jackpot of families of Forecariah - The Barry Family. (By the way - there are lots of Barrys here. It is like Jones or Smith) It is because my French is so poor that I was matched with them; their seventeen-year-old daughter speaks French and a little English. I call her the mayor of Forecariah because everywhere we go, she knows everyone and is always shaking hands with someone. She and I played basketball with some of the boys; we held our own, She was pretty decent. So she, along with the fifteen-year-old nephew (who lives with them as well) have been helping me out big time. And the rest of the family is fantastic to live with - a sister that is 5 years old and a brother that is 8. They gave me my African name: Aminata. This is the 5 year old's name. AND they have a 3 month old baby that I have the pleasure of helping out with while their mom needs free hands. They also have a 21 year old niece that lives with them. Both the niece and nephew are children of Mr. Barry's deceased siblings.

Their home is very nice and they treat me like a queen. I'm gone most of the day at class but when I'm home, I'm eating some of the best Guinean food - Aisitou, the 17 year old, cooks most of my meals. The typical Guinean dish is rice and sauce. The sauce usually is a fish sauce. When the families are trained to take us PCVs into their homes, they are told we like peanut butter, bread, eggs, and pasta. So breakfast is tea, bread, peanut butter that is so tasty - is very similar to the natural peanut butters in the states, and an omlette of eggs and onion. Some of the other PCVs get pasta for breakfast. Dinner tonight was pasta with onions and garlic and as always, a bowl rice and sauce. All so good! I went for a run today and really felt the past week and a half of pasta and rice all bouncing around.

About the run...I'll begin with telling you that the Guinean soccer players are in amazing shape. They play for hours and hours. When we were in the capital, we saw them doing circuts together after playing. What you don't see is anyone running for exercise. So the sight of two "fotes," or white people, running in the rain today caused MANY stares and lots of comments. The most important part of Guinean culture and trying to integrate into the community is the "salue," or the greeting. The salue goes like this: "Bon soir," "Bon soir," "Ce va," "Ce va bien" - hello, hello, how's it going?, going good. It is never just "hello." So on this run, everyone in the streets was staring and then would yell "FOTE" or salue us - so we had to salue back or it would be rude! The last thing I want to be is a rude American! So we ran along greeting along the way...or being laughed at. We get a lot of stares and giggles in general, so the run was nothing new.

One of many elements of African life that is an adjustment is the time the sun is out. It rises around 6:30 and sets around 7:30. It is always dark in my room. I need a flashlight to take my bucket bath (by bucket bath, I mean that I have a bucket of water, and I stragetically pour it on myself - washing my hair is a skill I have yet to come close to mastering), a flashlight to use the latrine, a flashlight to try to dig out something from my bag, a lantern to study at night. It is dark. Everywhere. People hang out on their porches and chat. Tonight I played a version of "Go Fish" with my host siblings. Pretty chill. It is something I like now but think I'll have to adjust to. Now, I'm so busy all day with classes that by the time I get home, I just want to crash. My head is spinning from language class. But I can't imagine always just wanting to "chill" at night. It is a luxury to be busy, or at least that's how I've lived in Boston!

bonjour from guinea!

2008-07-11T17:21:00.007-04:00

after long travels on wednesday and thursday, we're here and preparing for life in guinea! our four-day stay is at the peace corps headquarters of guinea - a very nice compound where they take good care of us. we were warmly greeted by current volunteers at the conakry airport on thursday morning and spent the day learning about what life in guinea would be like. hearing all the details makes me even more excited about what's to come.

first of all, i am happy to report that all of the PCVs (peace corps volunteers) have told us, without the authorities around which makes it more believable, that they feel really safe in guinea. and they all love it. our director says that peace corps guinea is the quintessential peace corps placement, as we are all headed to huts and villages with no electricity or running water. i guess that's what everyone envisions in their minds when they think peace corps. right now, only 17% of guineans are high school educated. the literacy rate 30%. 51% of people in guinea have access to safe water. that's not running water - just safe water. but overall, the country is very peaceful and friendly according to those we've spoken with so far.

most of our trainers are guineans. i had my language test to day with an elderly guinean man who kept asking me question in french and i kept responding "i don't speak french." he just didn't believe me! finally, he got really serious and told me i was going to have to work really hard if i was going to make it. luckily, there are a few others in the same boat as me. one of the other trainers lived in brighton for a while he did his master's at BU. we joked about the B line. from what i understand, in guinea, time has new meaning - many things are slow, late, delayed - but even he thought the B line was outrageous.

today we got a lot of medical info - learned about how to prepare our water, received a big case of "stuff" to take with us to site. we also had a guinean band come to the rooftop of our house and perform during lunch. lots of awkward american dancing. real awkward. but the band was great - they sang in french and a local language. lots of drums.

this evening i played volleyball on the beach with some locals. did i mention the peace corps house is on the beach? the photo up top is tonight's sunset. amazing, huh? okay, i'll be honest here. the beach here reminds me a lot of revere beach. it is the ocean, it is a beach, i like it - yet you can't swim in it, and it is filled with garbage. they've cleaned up revere a bit - but this beach is trashed. from what i understand, you really can't swim anywhere off the coast of guinea except for some islands off of the coast. oh well...it is still the beach!

on monday we will have our adoption ceremony where we meet our host families and move out of the peace corps house and into their homes for 11 weeks. no internet there, but we'll be in the capital now and then - and hopefully i can give you an update on things. i hope i'll say things like "i leaned how to wash my clothes" and "i learned how to say circle, square, and count to 100." who am i kidding - 100 - i need to know a lot more numbers than that. also, by the next time i write, i'll know what region i'll be in for my placement. each of the current volunteers loves their region, so i guess all are fine. there is a region along the coast. that would be nice.

i'll leave you with a photo of a couple of new friends, larc and ashley, and i - just to prove i'm here :) we really don't get out much to meet people from guinea (lots of meetings all day) - so i hope i have stories of some new guinean friends by my next entry.

one more from the good ol' USA

2008-07-08T22:43:00.002-04:00

over the past two days, i've learned a lot about what the heck i got myself into. i thought i'd share a few details.

1) the flight from JFK to Dakar, Senegal is 8 hours and 15 minutes. from Senegal to Guinea is 1 hour and 15 minutes.

2) there are 25 of us total in the education program. we're either math, physics, chem, or TEFL (teaching english as a foreign language.) and......i'm the oldest one in our group. the median age of a PCV (peace corps volunteer) is 27 ; our group is pretty much fresh out of college. not quite sure where all these late 20-somethings are. but i love the enthusiasm. no one has been in a classroom (with the exception of a couple that have done student teaching.) there are a few that have worked a couple of years. i've negotiated a couple of deals - i'll teach you how to teach, you teach me french. and there is one fellow clevelander (solon.)

3) we'll learn french and a local language. we're in school M - F but have saturdays and sundays to....study french. that's what i'll be doing with my free time!

4) we also have a couple of classes on how to take care of a bike. how to fix a flat, etc.

5) although guinea looks so small on the map of africa, it is just a little smaller than oregon. (FYI - oregon is the 9th biggest state in the US. yeah miss hainley.)

everything else we've been hearing seems like common sense. things like - don't walk home alone late at night or be sure to take your malaria medicine. my dominican republic students will appreciate this...the trainers made a big deal about the yarn we tied on all of our bags so when we are in baggage claim in guinea, it will be easy to identify our bags; they both still have their yarn and say some of the PCVs from the 60's and 70's say they still have their yarn on their luggage. (although luggage from the 60's has to be pretty worn out...but i'll believe them for the sake of the story.) i tied my yarn (which is the same blue color as my cross i wear) on with my hot pink ribbon from our most recent dominican trip. i wish i would have left the ones from the other years!

next post will be from AFRICA.

86 pounds...

2008-07-07T01:23:00.002-04:00

after making some cuts (including my large aveda bottles, contact solution, and all the food - i couldn't sacrifice the graph paper and graphing calculators!), i'm holding steady at 86 pounds of "stuff." what kind of stuff does one pack when moving to africa for two years? some clothes of course, a couple of toothbrushes and tubes of paste, camping hammock and sleeping bag, mosquito net, headlamp, a deflated volleyball, crank flashlight and lantern, a few journals (to double as notebooks), can opener and garlic press, lots of school supplies, and an old-fashioned grade book. the kind where you write the kids names in and record all of their grades. then calculate the grades by hand. i didn't even use one when student teaching. 6 pounds over. not sure what's going to go if they really make me get rid of 6 pounds.

tomorrow (i should say 8 hours from now) i'll be off to philly from cleveland for 2 days of training, and then we'll all be off to guinea via senegal from NYC. i'll be living with a host family for 11 weeks about 70 miles outside of the capital. i'll be immersed in french and left with no choice but to learn to survive! i've had a really wonderful two weeks in cleveland. old friends, boston friends, family friends...everyday was something fun. the last installment of the family and friend fun marathon was tonight - family dinner at mom's - mom's homecooking, uncle danny telling the fountain story, and aunt patty's pies. it was a perfect summer night - sunny, breezy. a nice night to end on.

hopefully i'll have exciting news for you soon from the other side of the atlantic.

last night in boston!

2008-06-24T22:29:00.002-04:00

this is it! the last night in my home for the last five years. the past few weeks have been so bittersweet. they have been joyous yet there is some sadness is saying goodbye.

during the last week of school, we celebrated the math extravaganza...which turned into a celebration of all sorts. my darling advisees and i (along with a few other advisories...) had a last day of school pizza dance party. berdine really did it right. i've been lucky to have visits from friends in the last weeks of boston life. seattle, maine, burlington....lots of good meals and fun days out on the town.

this weekend friends and i went to the vineyard (my first visit) - a day of relaxation that i feel will be few and far between in these next few months. the sun was hot and the water was swimmable (rare in new england.) and last night the convent ladies and stacie threw a farewell soiree that had the rowers, the teachers, the convent, jcu gang, and family. it was fabulous. we even played bags.

tonight i'm now sitting down after a day of packing the truck and sharing imperial pizza (the best!) with the ladies. i just read through many of the cards and letters that friends have given, and, well, i'm overwhelmed with emotion. i'm just so blessed. having some friends help me move today - i would have never been able to do it without them. i never really stop and think about the love i have in my life - i feel like i just float along, doing my thing - but i've been doing it among some pretty kick-ass people. and soaking it all up over the past couple of weeks has just been a blast. so thank you. thank you! THANK YOU!! leaving TC today wasn't easy, saying goodbyes tonight was even harder...but it isn't goodbye really. just "see you later!"

kristin gave me a birthday card this year & included a quote - i tore it out of the card and hung it in my room. it was right in the beginning phases of my peace corps process...and in her card she included the same one...so i'll share with you:

be brave enough to live life creatively. the creative place is where no one else has been. you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. you can't get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing. what you'll discover will be wonderful. what you'll discover will be yourself. -alan alda

i really like this idea of self discovery through hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing. its what brought me to boston, and that worked out pretty damn great.

goodnight boston! i hope to see you again soon.

tomorrow the news is broken....

2008-06-08T21:54:00.003-04:00

the one thing i have yet to do in this crazy process is tell some of the most important people in my life the news that i am not going to be at trinity next year. those people: my students. here's what i'd like to get out tomorrow when i tell them, but might not be able to say it all without getting choked up...so they can read some of it here.

the past 5 years have been such a blessing for me; i have been so lucky to have been able to be a part of such wonderful community of students, parents, and teachers. from the classroom to the court, all of the experiences have made me the teacher i am today. i may have taught you math and how to shoot a basketball or serve a volleyball, but you have also taught me so many things along the way. we pray everyday about being illumined with faith, hope, and love, and you have demonstrated all of these in so many ways. without being witness to these, i don't know that i'd ever be ready to move my life to africa and teach there. undoubtedly, it makes me sad to think about next year - my advisees and how you have come so far this year and how much joy you bring to my days, my students and how much we have done this year and your excitement for math and learning, my players and our 2 -a- days before school starts, van rides, state tournament games, and beach outings, the math wing and no more math extravaganza for me, the dominican trip and how special it is for me to lead you there - this list can go on and on; yet i am so excited about this new adventure that is in front of me.

everyday, we try to instill in you the values in loving one another - it is what we are called to do as catholics, as christians, as members of the human family. we can do this everyday in our schools, in our jobs, within our families and among our friends. you don't need to travel far to do this and i know i am extremely privileged and lucky to be able to pick up my life and move to africa to do my part in serving to make this world a little better (and i get to do it by teaching math!) i hope, at the very least, even if you are angry (which i know a few of you are), you realize that this my way of serving our global community. we all have to do what we can in this world; i can do this (and want to do this) so i have to answer that call to go.

i never imagined i would be in boston for 5 years but am so grateful for these years and for all of you. you are all amazing young men and women and i pray that you are not afraid to do the things you dream of doing in your life, and always remember the lessons of faith, hope, and love you have learned along the way. your heart will guide you in finding the way you can serve - and whether it is in boston, waltham, cleveland, the dominican, or across oceans, i know each of you has the courage to answer that call.

faith, hope, and love. they got you this far. don't stop believing in them and living them out...and living them out LOUD.

peace corps timeline

2008-06-04T21:17:00.002-04:00

many blogs have helped me understand exactly how long this whole process takes; i'd like to return the favor to all of you peace corps applicants out there.

november 7th, 2007 - started my application online

november 28th, 2007 - submitted my application (including all recommendations)

december 21st, 2007 - went to boston office for interview. being a teacher made the interview a breeze.

december 27th, 2007 - was nominated for secondary math -western africa. my four years of high school spanish qualified me for a french speaking country. once upon a time i thought four years of a language would look good for college. never thought it would matter now!

early january - march 2008 - worked hard to get through all of the medical and dental paperwork. it took many visits to the dentist (3) and doctor (4.) and i'm a healthy person! but finally on march 17th, i was medically cleared. dental clearance came much earlier. now i could be officially invited. i thought it would be right after that the invite would come. not so much! it took well over a month before that happened, but the more i hear, that is normal.

april 23rd, 2008 - while i was in the dominican republic with students, peace corps called to ask a few final questions. one was about how i would feel about living in a muslim country (because they said my application seemed very catholic. ha!) i told them i'd be fine. it was then that they let me know the invite would be following soon.

april 29th, 2008 - the invitation packet arrived! the invite was for guinea....guinea?? i had to get out the map. and i had 5 days to accept.

may 5th, 2008 - i call and say YES. i leave july 7th. even today, june 4th, that reality has not quite sunk in, although as we prepare for next year at school, it makes me sad to know i'm not a part of it - especially with my advisory, volleyball, the dominican trip, and next year's pre-calc kids.

overall application process:

a lot of waiting. a lot of paperwork. good luck if this is the route you choose!

the beginning...

2008-05-16T22:05:00.001-04:00

inspired by my dear friend jim (leatoto.blogspot.com) and the class that took over my life this past semester, i'll try my hand at creating a site to help keep in touch with my family, friends, and students.

i'll be moving to guinea on july 7th where i will serve for two years as a member of the peace corps. i will be teaching high school mathematics and doing a variety of other projects.

until then, i'm enjoying the pleasures of take-out indian food and cleveland cavaliers beating the boston celtics on a friday night. there are still 10 minutes left...so i shouldn't get too comfortable.