Site Visit Week and Mamou

I see that my mom is in the process of adding my letter home to the blog, so I'm not going to write about Forecariah and my homestay. Most of the good stuff is in the letter. Yay Mom!

On Sunday I went from Conakry to Mamou out to another volunteer's site, where we stayed for 3 days. I was really worn out from class and Forecariah and being in a homestay, so I slept a lot. And read 2 books - the Persistance of Memory and Memoirs of a Geisha. She cooked great food for me and I was a happy camper. Which reminds me - mom, can you send Bear Creek Chili Mix? It was delicious.

We waited for the Peace Corps mail run all day Tuesday, thinking that we would hitch a ride with them into Mamou. Well, that didn't exactly work out - we waited all day and finally had made some dinner when the mail run showed up! So we ran around and got our stuff together, threw our pasta into a bag and headed to Mamou. We spent the night at the missionaries' guest house in Mamou. It was so nice. Apparently this man grew up here and when his parents left to go back to the States they left their land to ENOTEF, the forestry school here. Then he grew up, had a family, and 11 years ago they decided to move back. So ENOTEF gave them some land and they have a mini-America there. They let people stay at the guest house for less than 3 dollars a night! And they are really nice and have cute kids - hopefully I'll get to know them since I'll be in Mamou with them for the next 2 years. He took us to the school, where I met my principal and all the important people. I presented them with kola nuts - they are a traditional gift of thanks and respect. It's a little like bringing a bottle of wine to a dinner party in the US...but I prefer wine to kola nuts...

Anyway, I met his whole family and had lunch with them. A lot of family members live in Conakry and are staying with him right now for summer vacation - Mamou is much more relaxed and cooler than Conakry, so I can see why they would want to get out! He has a son at University in Labe, which is a big deal. And all his daughters are still in school or finished, which is rare. He has worked with PCVs in the past and told me he's been trying to get a volunteer in Mamou for 4 years, but apparently the PC had really high housing standards and there was a problem finding a nice enough house. Anyway, he's definitely a wonderful man and I think his family will take good care of me. Their house isn't too far from mine and his wife was really insistent that I was welcome there anytime!

After meeting the mayor, director of etudes, censeur and about a zillion other people, we went to my house. I already wrote a little about it, but it really is nice. I feel super-lucky and look forward to having visitors...I'm happy that I have the extra bedrooms and it seems like people in more remote areas will be grateful to have a place to crash that's not a hut!

Tomorrow I head back to Forecariah with everyone from the Fouta region - there are 13 of us. While it will be nice to see all the non-Fouta people and hear about their sites and also to see my family again, I think I'm going to get anxious for stage to end and the real work to begin. I do need to work on my teaching, French and Pulaar, but now I'm just so excited about my site that I want to get there immediately! We have one week of regular, boring classes and then practice school starts. Both my sisters are participating. For 3 weeks I'll be teaching one 2 hour English class per day and also watching another English volunteer teach. It's supposed to be really stressful and really useful. I think it will be harder for the physics, math and chemistry people because they are teaching in French! At least I can teach in English and explain tricky concepts in French when necessary.

I'm told that there are a bunch of French NGO workers in Mamou and I'm hoping to make friends - it would be interesting to compare US and French NGOs and it would be nice to talk to people who speak the French in France - French here is like English in Kenya - it's not as complex and conjugations just don't happen sometimes. I think it would be funny to show up in France in 2 years - a girl from Wisconsin with an African French accent? What a riot.

I wrote down a few things that I wanted to mention, so here they are in no particular order...

1. Greetings here are really important. I would never go into a store or try and ask someone a question without first asking them how they are doing. And they can go on forever - is there evil? Did you sleep well? How are you? Hilarious. Once I can greet the market ladies in Pulaar they will love me. Plus you get better prices.

2. I love bucket baths. Truly - I felt weird taking a shower the other night. Bathing from a bucket, especially in hot Forecariah, is so nice and refreshing.

3. I cheer every night when the electricity comes on and boo when it goes off. My family has a TV, so we watch the news or bad Spanish soaps dubbed to French when the power is on. My favorite is called Secrets de Famille and I was mad when they switched programs the other night. We also play music and dance - Guineans love to dance and my family loves watching me dance too!

4. The chickens at my house fight sometimes and also run around all the time. We did get a dose of Tamiflu, so mom, don't worry about my getting bird flu and not having the medicine for it! I tried to explain to my family about how we buy chicken breasts, etc. in the US but they couldn't understand. Just like I have a hard time understanding the concept of keeping your chickens and goats in the house and killing them yourself!

5. Guinea is gorgeous. I've said it a million times, but when we travel the countryside there are amazing views and I've loved going for bike rides. It's so lush and green right now.

6. A chimpanzee tried to attack me, but was on a leash. Apparently this chimp doesn't like white girls. My sisters thought it was hilarious, but promised me that they don't eat people. I wasn't totally convinced. Luckily the only chimps in Forecariah are pets and are on leashes. But still! You know you are in Guinea when...

I'm still taking dance lessons with 3 others and am looking forward to finally getting some of the steps down. As my sisters tell me, I'm built like an African, so I might as well learn to dance like one!

Okay, I'm going to sign off, but I have internet again in either next weekend or the weekend after, so please email me updates!