Sous le manguier (Under the mango tree)

So here I am after two and a half weeks at site, still alive, still doing well. To start at the beginning… On Tuesday, September 30th, we rolled into Bissikrima and received a very warm welcome from the town higher-ups (mayor, community organizer). The following two days were huge holidays in Guinea, the first being the end of Ramadan, the second being the 50th anniversary of Guinea’s independence from France. The second day was truly grand – we had a ceremony in the morning where I got to sit onstage with all the very important people in the town. They gave a speech about me in the local language and introduced me to the town. I have no idea what they said, and I just stood up there like an idiot waving to everyone while they got long, drawn out close-ups of my face with a camcorder. Later in the day was the soccer game where it seemed the entire village was in attendance. Of all the important people there, who got to give the opening kick off? None other than yours truly! What can I say? I’m the town celeb.

My hut has been treating me quite well for the most part. I have started to question the strength of my roof what with the leaks and yesterday’s bird incident. Somehow this bird wedged his way through the thatch roof and would not leave my hut. It kept running into the screens, and I’d open one door, and he’d fly into the other (closed) one. By the end, I was screaming at him in English, and I’m sure my neighbors thought I was nuts, particularly since having a bird in their hut wouldn’t bother them in the slightest. I just didn’t want bird poop all over my stuff!

I have two neighbors, Bailo and Saidou, who are extremely helpful and with whom I spend a lot of time. For example, I didn’t know where I could get cell phone service in my town, so Bailo took me to the manguier (mango tree) where one can get service. Everything happens under the mango tree. My friend, a third year volunteer, came to visit me last weekend, and to catch his taxi home, he had to wait under the mango tree. It’s a happening place.

Since school is the whole reason why I’m here, I suppose I should write a little bit about it, although there’s not much to say. On Monday I had a very important meeting with my principal where I found out my teaching schedule for the year. When I left, they told me for sure school would be starting on Wednesday. An official was coming from the capital of our region to start off the year, so we had to be ready. Thus I spent all of Tuesday lesson planning, getting ready, and just being nervous about having 86 kids in my class. Wednesday morning I woke up early, put on my special African outfit, headed out to school only to find that school’s actually not starting until the 20th now. Supposedly. We’ll see what Monday brings…

In communication news… The mailrun came for the first time this past Thursday. It was like Christmas, but BETTER. At 6AM the Peace Corps truck pulled up and gave me four, yes FOUR, packages. I think I am the luckiest girl in Guinea! Our market has very little to offer during the week (and even on Sunday, the market day). Everything seems to be out of season now, so I’ve been eating a lot of bread and “cheese spread”. Anyway, there it was 6:30AM, and I’m dancing around my hut in joy for all the food I’d received. Velveeta, gronola bars, teddy grams, tootsie rolls, wheat thins, goldfish. A big, big, BIG thank you to my Aunt Lori, the Dimonds, and my parents for sending me such wonderful gifts and making my month

Cell phone service in my village is not so hot. C’est la Guinee. I will try to post ahead of time when I will have better service (for example, I’ll be spending Tuesday through Saturday of Thanksgiving week in Kankan where cell phones work) so we can chat. I miss you all very much and will hopefully post again in a few weeks (maybe even some pics). Stay healthy and take care. Much love from Guinea!