Happy New Year

Hello all! I wanted to write one last post before I head back to site tomorrow. Things seem to be mostly back to normal, just a little less busy and a little more of a military presence than usual. This must have been one of the most uneventful coups in history, but much better that than the alternative. I haven’t read of any violence or deaths. Guineans are truly amazing. I spoke with one of my students yesterday, and she said things are calm in Bissikrima, so that is good to hear.

We spent yesterday stocking up on food from Lebanese stores (all the good stuff we can’t get at site — hummus, pasta, cereal, chips, popcorn, tuna, etc), buying gifts for our families back at site (in Guinea you always bring back gifts after a trip), eating at delicious restaurants, and celebrating New Year’s since we won’t get to be together. I’m glad I have a neighbor and won’t be completely alone for the holiday. It is a big bummer that we are missing our Sierra Leone vacation, but the good news is we have two big things to look forward to in January — the new group will be going out for site visit, so we’ll finally get to meet them (at least the ones who’ll be in Haute), and a week-long training with the entire G16 group! I’ll finally get to see ALL the people from my group who I haven’t seen since September 28th.

I’ve got a few last minute things I need to take care of today before I leave Conakry (including one last egg sandwich for breakfast and one last pizza for dinner!), so I’ll end this post here. Happy New Year! May 2009 bring a more stable economy in the US, positive change in Guinea with the new president, and a better season for the Wolverines. Take care and stay warm. Until next time…

A Few Pics from Bissikrima

The ladies of G16 before we swore-in in September.

The river about a five minute walk from my hut. This was taken during the rainy season. It looks much browner now!

At the mosque with my host-mom one of the mornings of Tabaski. My host-mom is next to the woman in pink -- the second woman in from the left.

Bintou, my host-sister in the middle, her daughter Kadi on the right, Fanta on the left, and Gassou in the middle.

This is the path along which I run. You can see how much browner it is now that the rain is over.

This is me and Ben with my neighbor Saidou. We're standing outside the fence that guards my garden/backyard from the livestock.

The hut directly across from mine where Saidou and Bailo live. In the background you see Alhissaine (the little boy)'s house. He's Saidou's brother.

Obviously I forgot to take pictures of my own hut, garden, etc. So the next time I’m back in Conakry I’ll try to upload some of those.

Conte’s funeral is currently taking place. We’re on a less restrictive lock-down today and can start going back downtown tomorrow. If all goes according to plan, we’ll head back to site early next week. We’re observing 40 days of mourning for Conte’s death. A PCV still at site was told this means no teaching for 40 days, so it could be a long few weeks at site…

Merry Christmas!

Hello and merry Christmas! I hope you’re enjoying the snow with your family and a cup of hot chocolate.

We have been busy celebrating here – listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, making paper snowflakes, using anything we can find to decorate the house. It actually feels a little bit like Christmas this morning. While it would be wonderful to be at home celebrating, I’m grateful that I at least get to spend the holiday with other Americans. We’re still having dinner at the director’s house tonight although the new group will not be able to join us.

The military named a new president yesterday, and the people took to the streets celebrating and cheering. Things are still very calm especially given there was a military coup just two days ago, but we’re waiting to see if the sentiment towards the new president remains positive and how Conte’s burial goes on Friday. We’re optimistic that things will stay peaceful and life will get back to normal. For now we’re spending our time hanging out, cooking, watching movies, swimming in the pool, doing puzzles, using the internet, etc.

As I write this Santa is probably landing on your rooftops and laying presents under your trees. I hope he’s good to you! Joyeux noel!

Pics

I forgot to say that you can find pictures of PCVs in Guinea on our Director’s website: http://flickr.com/photos/27636181@N05/     There are some pictures of people from my group on there, and I personally am on the 6th and 8th pages (I think). Check out the G16 pictures — that’s the group I came with in July. We’re all teachers.

Big News

Have you heard? I’m sure it’s all over the news in the States… ha. I kid. It was announced last night that Lansana Conte, the second president of Guinea since independence in 1958 who has been in power for 25 years, has died. The military has taken over and the constitution has been suspended. All of the PCVs are safe in our respective locales, but it’s quite shocking. The gas stations are all closed, and there are very few cars on the road. I know this because I went to see my friend Ashley’s site an hour and a half away from Conakry last night. We woke up this morning to find that Conte had died. Luckily, they decided the roads were safe enough and sent a Peace Corps car to pick us up. So here we are, safe at the compound. Things seem calm, and we’ll be going for a swim later today.

It was great to see Ashley’s site, which is here in the Basse Cote. It is not far from where we trained, so I got a little reminder of those humid nights I spent tossing, turning, and sweating buckets on my foam mattress. It isn’t that hot but just oh so miserably humid. But it is also a lot more lush and green than in Haute Guinee where I live. She has a beautiful view from her front porch, and we sat out there enjoying each other’s company this morning with some of her petits (little helpers). I was so happy to have the opportunity to visit.

Men in Guinea are very forward. More than one person in Ashley’s village asked her to give me to them (as a wife — because women are property more than anything else here). Last week Ben’s best friend at site told him, “Il faut me donner Assiatou” (you must give me Assiatou, which is my Guinean name). Ben’s friend wanted to do a trade — he’d give Ben one of his sisters (a 14-year-old), and Ben would give him me. Notice how neither I nor this guy’s sister were at all involved in this negotiation. Lovely. It gets really tiring to deal with sometimes. I also find myself taking up quite an attitude with any man who so much as says hi to me, but I’m enjoying being feisty with Guinean men. When my host mom’s son (age 36) told me he wanted to marry an American, insinuating me, I told him “me too. I want to marry an American, too.” Apparently this wasn’t the response he was expecting. As Ben once told me, Guinean men aren’t sure what to do with educated, independent women, so I’m having fun making them flustered and uncomfortable.

This is off topic, but I’ve been wanting to put this in my blog. When we first moved in with our host families, I started seeing all these big plastic tea-kettles all over. I thought and I thought, but I couldn’t figure out how you would use a plastic tea-kettle — I mean, wouldn’t the plastic kind of ruin the water? Well, I noticed Guineans using them to clean their feet, hands, face, shoes, etc before praying because it’s the closest thing you can get to running water in this country. But I also noticed Guineans taking them to the bathroom. Why? Because, I learned, these kettles are not just used for cleaning yourself before praying; they serve multiple purposes. There’s this thing here called the water method, and you use it if you don’t have toilet paper. So this kettle isn’t just any kettle,  it’s an ”ass-kettle” as I’m sure you can now guess why. They’ve completely grossed me out up until Thanksgiving. I mean, would you want to use something called an “ass-kettle” to clean your hands before you eat? But, over Thanksgiving I caved an bought one, and it is nice to use for washing your hands and feet, and I hope I never have to use it otherwise…

Time for a haircut and a swim! I’ll keep you posted on the political situation. Happy holidays, all

Tabaski

So on December 8th and 9th (and 10th and 11th and 12th…) we celebrated the Muslim holiday Tabaski. I’m not sure of the religious significance, but the main objective of the holiday is to sacrafice sheep and eat good food with family/friends. I’m also still not exactly sure when the holiday officially took place. Originally I was told Tuesday, but the Sunday night before, my host mom told me to be to her house by 9 the next morning to head to the mosque. So, while the service was Monday, I think the rest of the holiday was Tuesday? But, in true Guinean fashion, they spent the entire week celebrating, so who knows for sure. In any case, the ceremony was held in front of the mosque with the men seated on prayer mats in front and the women in back. It was conducted in Malinke (the local language) and Arabic, so I have no idea what was said, but to pray with all those people down on my knees facing Mecca… it was powerful to say the least.

I avoided eating any of the meat that day because I saw plenty of Guineans cleaning sacraficed sheep, and it is not a sanitary procedure let me tell you. I tell everyone in my village that I don’t eat meat because even if it is handled well, it is generally 10 parts bone, one part meat. No thanks. I went back to my family’s house that evening, and we went to this huge ceremony held in the middle of the village right next to the market. They had brought in a dance group from a large town about 100KM away, and the dancing was incredible. They used traditional drums and costumes. I was awestruck. It was one of the coolest things I’ve seen here. My host-mom told me all the names of the dances (ie dance of the strong men). At one point, they came over and pulled me up out of my chair and made me dance in front of everyone. Three months in, and I’ve retained my celebrity status.

Overall the holiday was good fun. Guineans are such warm and friendly. I can’t tell you how many “invitations” I received that week (meaning, come eat with me!).  The holidays here are so fun, particularly Tabaski, because everyone wears beautiful, traditional clothes, gets their hair cut or braided, and is in such a jolly mood. It really puts a smile on my face to walk around my village and see everyone so dressed up and happy.

So that was Tabaski. The students didn’t come to school a single day that week, so I spent a lot of time reading, doing puzzles, writing letters, listening to music, etc. I was very happy to go back to school and have something to do again last week.

Now it’s our (the volunteers) turn to celebrate a big holiday. We’re nearly all here in Conakry, getting ready to make a big Christmas Eve dinner for the trainees who get to come to Conakry for a couple nights to celebrate. They arrived in Guinea on the 4th of December. It’s weird not to be the newest in-country anymore! In any case, we’re planning a big meal of chicken wings, french fries, coleslaw, and all kinds of fruit (pineapples, oranges, mangos, yum!). Banana bread and Christmas cookies for dessert. On Christmas day we’ll go to the Director’s house for turkey and good company. It’s wonderful to see all the other people in my group, most of whom I haven’t seen since I moved to site at the end of September. We’ve been making the most of our time here.

I hope that everyone has an enjoyable holiday and that you get to spend time with your family and friends. I’m thinking of you all in the winter wonderland. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year

Conakry

Hi all! I’m now in Conakry for the holidays… What a trip we had getting here yesterday. The ride itself wasn’t bad (aside from a fellow passenger who was throwing up in a bag nearly the whole way), but it was just surreal to go from my village in the boonies to Conakry with all the people, buildings, noise, and other ex-pats. Using a toilet (instead of my 4″x6″ hole in the ground) for the first time in three months was… weird. And grossed me out a little bit.

I’ll put up a longer post later with stories from the Muslim holiday (Tabaski) that just passed and other tidbits from life here. My phone is still 65655605. I’ll be in Conakry through the 27th, then Sierra Leone for a little vacation, and you can call me again starting January 2nd. Safe travels during the holidays.  Thinking of you all. More to come soon