Fall Plans

Hey Everyone! As Labor Day approaches, and I regretfully have no day off from Guinea, I thought I would update you with all of my plans for the fall. September is shaping up to be a busy month, with a lot of traveling (Guinea style) around the country. I hope to make it back to site by the end of the month still in one piece.

During the second week in September, I am off to Pita to see my honey for a couple days. Then, we are headed to Mali-ville, in northern Fouta, to go to Potato Fete. Yes, Potato Fete. From what I gathered, it's a couple day event when we will hike up a mountain and celebrate the potato harvest with music, dancing, and of course, potatoes.

From there, I plan to jump around the Fouta from Labe to Pita to Mamou and back to Pita - a week hopefully filled of successful meetings, un-broken down taxis, and time with Reid.

The plan is to then head to Conakry for my quarterly visit. Every three months, we are allowed a trip to our national capital for medical stuff, admin stuff, free internet, and cheese. Yes, they have cheese in Conakry. Mmmmmmm.....

Then, I am off to Kissidougou to visit another SED volunteer and see her work with the Federation of Artisans there. Oh, and to get my first glimpse of the Forest and to eat pork, which I hear the Christians allow down there.

From Kissi, I am back to site for the beginning of October, where I plan to sleep Ramadan away. I have heard that nobody does much work then, so what else should I do when everyone is cranky and hungry from not eating or drinking all day? I am really excited to experience my first Ramadan, and even more importantly, the end of my first Ramadan in late October.

I hope all of your falls are as jam packed as mine! Enjoy the changing leaves and take a deep breath of cooler fall air for me. Talk to you all soon!

Ps - here's a map to get a feel for how much land I plan to cover (in bush taxis!).