Don't Cry for Me Forecariah!

Hello again from Conakry! We left Forecariah today, after many parties and many tears. This morning, when I came out for breakfast, my host mom, Aminata, was cooking rice and crying. She said she didn’t want me to go. I really had the best family possible – I could not have asked for more. After the Farewell Ceremony, there were more tears, as I hugged to Kouyates good-bye. Mory, my SED trainer, kept reminding me that I will see them in a year when we return to Forecariah to help out with Stage again, and although that helps a bit, I was still not ready to say Au Revoir.

But now, we are all in Conakry, living it up. Air-conditioning, cold beers, papayas, schwarma, etc. On Friday, I will officially become a volunteer, during a HUGE PC Guinea ceremony – 45th Anniversary for Peace Corps and 20 consistent years for PC Guinea. It’s a big deal around these here parts, enough to repaint the entire PC Guinea compound in Conakry, if that tells you anything. It’s kinda like in Europe when a city becomes Europe’s cultural capital for the year, they power wash all the monuments and have great cultural events. You just gotta make sure you’re there for the right time, just like I am here at the right time in Guinea.

I am so excited to head out to site, although it's going to be VERY hard to leave not only my host family, not only the other Forecarians I love, but also my American friends. Why does Siguiri have to be so far away from everyone?! I know it's right for me, but c'mon - I am basically going to be in Mali!

I will be around email for the next week, as I will be in Conakry and then Kankan. Send emails and comments - I will actually respond punctually this time!

week 9

hello again! wow - talk about a great couple of weeks! since site visit, things have gotten a lot more real> i started truly appreciating how good i have it in Forecariah. sometimes class isnt as stimulating as i would hope, but otherwise, i cant complain. hey, when your life is made of mama Kouyate's beans every night, sitting under the mango tree, going to chez vicky for a beer, and that great moment when your fan turns on halfway through the night bc the current came on, you can't complain, right?

let me recap the last couple weeks. the trip beack to forecariah from kankan was an adventure. it was the most horrible bush taxi ride, full of 2 flat tires, an oil leak, an overheated engine, avoiding the gendarmes, and running out of gas. no kidding. and we ran out of gas about 5 km from kindia, a town with a gas station, and the 6 of us GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND PUSHED. i am serious. picture it - guinea heat, long bush taxi ride, almost home, 6 fotes (white folk) and their guinean driver start pushing a car uphill and then have to chase it down the hill, only to have to push it up the next hill. it must have been a scene. finally, we made it home to forecariah, where we can now laugh about how we had a close brush with true disaster.

since being back in Forecariah, life has been good. i have learned how to incorporate more protein into my african diet, which inclusdes a sardine sandwich with cucumbers, onions and garlic a couple times a week. this past weekend was perfect - let me tell you about it. friday night, we had a perfectly guinea-ed down PC party. Saturday, i spent the day under my family's mango tree with reid. and on sunday, i had the perfect date. my man killed me a chicken, and we had a chicken and potato dinner with lots and lots of piment (see pictures). talk about the good life. i am apparently not allowed to take part in the whole chicken killing thing - it's not a woman's place, but Reid did a wonderful job, and i ate well for the evening.

this week has been just some more chilling in forecariah. hanging out at the kouyate house, meeting my new APCD, who seems chill, and preparing for the PCT talent show. you can see pictures of the talent show on the flickr site also.

hope all is well with everyone who is reading this. i love you guys and miss you tons.

i will be in touch again soon!