La Vie Est Bonne

My group heads to our homestays in Forecariah tomorrow and won't have internet for at least a month, so this is going to be kind of short so everyone else can get on the computers.

Yesterday I went with some other PCTs to Mamou and it was beautiful. Everyone was so nice and friendly and the country is truly beautiful. The kids are adorable and the mamas are hilarious and we could not have asked for a nicer walk. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the country.

The last few days' sessions have been very long - if I don't use a flip chart for a long time it's okay with me. But today we learned about our homestays and how to act and what to expect...and how to clean yourself if there is no toilet paper. Hilarious. Hopefully that won't happen to me - everyone else seems to be getting sick but I'm still fine! Knock on wood...

I'm really looking forward to finding out where my site is, I'm hoping for the Fouta region, it's the most lush and chilly part of the country.

The food here is good - I've had mangoes, avocados, rice and sauce, oranges and bananas every day so far. Yum! The food selection here is much better than what I experienced in Kenya, which brings me to another point...

I like Guinea more than Kenya. I was going to try not to compare the two, but it's been impossible. Giving Africa another chance was a leap of faith on my part since I didn't have the best experience in Kenya. Guinea is a totally different story. No one has asked me for anything, the Peace Corps does a great job of both training and baby-sitting us, and I'm excited to be practicing my French.

Tomorrow we take a 5 hour drive down to our homestays - wish me luck! I'm sure it will be a huge adjustment and I might not be as chipper as I currently feel once we get there. But I'm safe and happy and have wonderful friends and support.

Please write or email me! And some of you have asked about what would be good in a care package, so here's a brief list:

Trashy magazines
Tuna pouches
Candy/chocolate
Protein bars that won't melt

Wrap it all up so the mice don't get to it! Otherwise I would love just to get a letter and hear about anything you are doing. Gossip, work, whatever.

Love, Jen

I'm here!

After a 25 hour marathon journey from Philly to New York to Brussels to Conakry to Mamou, I'm now staying put for 4 days. Then we all go to an adoption ceremony in Forecariah, where we will train and live for the next 11 weeks.

So far I am ridiculously happy. Conakry is a terrible place, it's like a big slum and is so dirty. But we were greeted at the airport by a bunch of volunteers and they are all really cool. Last night our group of 28 as well as the other PCVs went to the Country Director's house for dinner - he lives on the Peace Corps compound in Conakry, which is a great place. Running water, flushing toilets, resource materials, etc. - what more could you ask for? Today we had some introductions and then took a 5 hour bus ride to Mamou. I'm pleasantly surprised to find that

a. I like rice and sauce, the national dish.
b. The Country Director is a god to the PCVs, which reflects well on him.
c. The attrition rate of PCVs here is lower than in the rest of Africa.
d. More volunteers want to stay here for a 3rd year than anywhere else.
e. The trainees in my class are an extremely cool, very interesting, funny group of people.

If I can't make it here, it's my fault and no one else's. I have all the support and friends I could ask for. Even the volunteers who have been in other places all say that the staff in Guinea is the best! Outside of Conakry it's a beautiful country and I can't wait to explore more of it over the next 2 years.

The bottom line is that everything is great.

Bon voyage a moi!

Hi everyone who reads this -

I just finished my training in Philly with my group of 28. It wasn't nearly as boring as it could have been, although I'm going to have to get used to sitting in a classroom for an entire day...I was restless by lunch.

The PC had a Guinean man who worked with the PC for 18 years come and talk to us. He was one of those really old men who are so distinguished and accomplished that even when he was going off on tangents, all you could do was think about what a great life he's had. He's earned the right to speak tangentially!

The other 27 (was 28 until last night...) are all really great. It's hard to believe I just met them 48 hours ago and I'm currently feeling like they will be a wonderful family and support system in Guinea. We have 9 English teachers and the rest are science and math. This means that (thanks to the school systems teaching us that boys are better at numbers/formulas) we are over half guys!!! Yay! The guys were all very disappointed to realize this. :)

This morning we went to the clinic for some shots and malaria meds. Now it's a 36 hour journey (Philly to JFK to Brussels to Dakar to Conakry), so I'm sure we will be exhausted when we are finally done. We have one night at the PC office in Conakry and then 4 days at an agro-forestry school, where we get more information about what we will be doing, what the rules are, etc. And it's still the government, so I'm sure there will be forms to fill out. They have internet there and I'll be sure to post and let you all know what Guinea is like and if I think I can cut it for 27 months!

Oh, and there are 2 other UNC grads in our group. It's a small world.

Au revoir!

5 hours left at home...

and I should be sleeping. Somehow in all the madness of the past couple days I never managed to get my fricking iPod loaded, so here I am at 1am trying to do it. Very annoying of me, especially since I've been unemployed for over a month now.

The last 5 days have been awesome. Some very wonderful friends were in town for the weekend and I met some new friends too. I did a lot of eating, boating and drinking. Today I went boating, to a pool party and to a barbeque! Last night I closed down a townie bar with some friends...the grumpy bartenders wouldn't even let us finish listening to our juke box picks and kicked us out before 2! I was not a happy camper about that.

Oh, and I'm finally packed. I am sure that I have packed too much. I am also sure that I don't really care and am happy to have my things with me. 100 pounds total (one duffel, one hiking bag, one small purse and one mid-size backpack) doesn't seem like that much given that I'm going to be gone for 27 months.

Thanks to everyone who hung out with me these past days - between the fireworks, boating and bonfires, I couldn't have asked for a better 4th of July weekend.