A Long December?

Since arriving back at site in early December, so much has happened. I was in some sort of a rut before, not getting much work done, and quite honestly, not enjoying Siguiri too much. It was a combination of no work to do and no Reid. But now, things have changed. Life seems balanced and days are passing by with lightening speed. In fact, I am unusually busy for a volunteer. And Reid just got an Areeba cell phone (a new provider), so we can hopefully talk easily and more often.

But really the thing that has changed is that things have really taken off with work. I remember Brad, a fellow PCV said that one day things just fell into place for him and work began to take care of itself. Well, I guess that's what happened to me this December. Here’s all that has happened work wise:

*I have started going to the local APROFIG chapter daily to help teach basic computer skills from Windows to Word and Excel. APROFIG is a local NGO that works for the advancement of young women, and they have set up a computer lab where anyone can sign up for classes and pay $15 or 90,000FG (a lot!) for 2 week courses. We are teaching them how to create folders, drag and drop items, how to open up programs, and how to rename files. It's difficult to teach someone how to use a computer when they have never held a mouse before! How do you explain the difference between a single and a double click... in french? Let me tell you, it's a challenge. But my students are so happy to be learning, they appreciate even my broken French attempts to explain simple things like putting a folder into another folder. In addition, they are in the process of setting up satellite internet here, so in January, inchallah, we can start internet classes also, which I will lead!

*My Federation of Artisans have grown energetic again, and they want to start real trainings on business strategies such as accounting and SWOT analysis. So, we are having a BIG meeting next Tuesday to discuss what I have to offer and what they want to learn. They will be a HUGE amount of work once we start that! So many of them don't keep any types of books regarding their earnings or expenses, and so many have no idea how to market or how to expand - it's going to be a rewarding project... if it doesn't drive me to an early grave.

*My Lifeskills counterpart, Moussa Diawara, started a theater group while I was gone that I am apparently president of (such a Moussa thing to do), and we have been going crazy preparing skits to do for SAG’s (the gold mines) International AIDS Week. They made two skits - one with a Imam’ daughter getting married, and he insists on having everyone take an HIV test before the wedding and one where a man is propositioning women, and the first says "no, I am waiting until marriage," the next says "only if I am your only girlfriend and we get tested first," and the last saying, "only if we use a condom"(the three ways to prevent STDs - abstinence, fidelity, and condoms). Our new theater group went to a different village each day with the health team from SAG to teach all different types of people about AIDS. Last night, we even did the skits for the female workers at the mines! I didn’t even know there were females at SAG! It went really well, and it was so much fun (pictures will come soon). Now, AIDS week is over, but we are going to continue our work, hopefully teaching the artisans of Siguiri next. We are also starting a training of peer-educators, meaning that we will extensively train a handful of Guinean youth to talk to their peers about HIV. Because we have so many plans and we have been working so hard, the SAG health clinic gave us a GIANT box of Prudence Plus condoms to distribute and posters to hang up when we teach. Let me tell you, I have so many condoms (multiple thousand!) in my house, it is somewhat embarassing. Anyone need any?

*I have also started SERIOUSLY thinking about my graduate school final paper - my SRP. I am settled and ready (finally, after almost a whole year!) to start the research. It has taken awhile to actually figure out what I want to study, and it has taken a long time to also form strong enough bonds to ask the questions I want to ask. I have sat at my breakfast table each morning brainstorming ideas and thinking of questions for my research. It’s getting exciting! I will keep you posted, probably too posted, I’m sure. (ps - about this, anyone interested in helping me, please let me know, whether you are a fellow volunteer or a professor or just a kind friend)

So, that’s the work side of my life. But that’s not all that happens here. I have also had visitors (my beloved Sarah and Diana), and we partied at SAG last weekend with cool (not sketchy) miners. We had a BLAST hanging out with them - they’re a crazy bunch, and they took pity on us living the village life, so they treated us to prawn and lobster dinners and bottle after bottle of delicious wine (notice, I said bottle, not the boxes us PCVs are accustomed to). They were so kind to treat us to a night of good food, good drinks, and good laughs. As I said, they are a crazy bunch - imagine a bunch of middle-aged South Africans dancing around to heavy German rock like Rammstein, drinking whisky, wrapping everyone's head with red duck tape and then blowing up condoms on their heads. It was a blast. The highlights included drinking delicious wine and beer, watching the South Africains rock out to German music, dancing in circles with (oh, I forget his name), and of course, the GIANT PRAWNS! Pictures will come soon.

We also recently had a wedding in the Bereté family, complete with drumming and dancing. I danced and sang all night with my family, and we had a great time. The best part though was taking a break from dancing, and sharing a giant bowl of rice with the drummers, who were all hilarious men. We sat there, under the full moon, mixing rice with sauce and eating with our hands out of the same bowl. It's really one of my favorite things here in Guinea - sharing a bowl of rice with new friends or my family. I know the hygeine part is a little sketchy - everyone scooping up huge handfuls out of the same bowl and eating and licking their hands and doing it again, but I just love the comraderie of sharing a meal like that. After the meal, we went back to drumming and dancing, and I snuck out early to go to bed.

So, December has been quite eventful around here. But what do I have planned for the rest of the month? How am I going to finish 2006? I have visitors coming the weekend, I believe. And hopefully, we will once again party at SAG and have a good time. I also plan to do A LOT of work before I leave for Conakry for New Years. Inch Allah (with the help of God), all will work out. Thankfully, I have internet again in Siguiri, so please feel free to say hello - I'll get back to you quickly!

Happy holidays to everyone, and I will talk to you again soon!