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!