Traded my T for a V

I'm now an offical Peace Corps Volunteer. A simple oath agreeing to defend the US from enemies (both foreign and domestic) and I got the official "V."

Before I write about the last couple days, I'm going to plagairize Cam and copy a blog entry he wrote about our river trip a few weeks ago...

So in Forecariah there is this great river we like to go swimming in. The other day, we went walking for about an hour and a half, crossing a tiny bridge made of tree branches (I nearly killed myself on it) and wading through waist high rice fields (where I nearly lost my sandals as I began to sink into the mud before being rescued by Patrick). By the time we got to the river, we were filthy and tired and ready for what we though would be a relaxing 20-30 minute float down the river. The first 30 minutes definitely were enjoyable, as the fast moving current pretty much just propelled us downstream without too much effort. But then, te river decided that it would just never end, and we could not find the beach where we were planning on jumping out of the river, the beach were we normally jumped in to swim in the river. So, our 20 minute river swim turned into an hour and a half struggle to stay afloat. Every bend in the river we hoped we would find the beach, but at every bend we were disappointed. As the swim dragged on, we began to drift further apart, hearing only our own shouts of “One more bend!” and the occasional bird that cried out in seeming mockery of our desperation. My sandals, which had already sunk in knee deep mud, had already fallen off long before in the river, as I kicked my legs in increasingly futile attempts to keep my head above water that was certain to contain at least 10 dangerous parasites. (Up to this point, I have yet to experience any symptoms of parasites burrowing in my intestinal walls, which is a good sign. Then again, there’s still two years for them to manifest themselves.) Anyways, at the end of the hour and a half, someone finally shouted, “There it is! The beach!” I grabbed my sandals in one hand, and paddled furiously with the other until i finally reached the shallow waters of the muddy strip of land we called the “beach”. Patrick threw himself downonto the sandy mounds as I attempted to regain my breath and my strength. But, at least we had made it out of the water, rather than ending my Peace Corps adventure in the muddy bottom of a Guinean river.”

That sums it up pretty well. Anyway, the last couple days in Forecariah were interesting. First my family through a party for my sister's birthday and my depart. It was a big deal. There was a lot of food and dancing and speeches and a cake. I'm still trying to get pictures loaded so I will let you know when that happens. You'll be able to see me looking hot in a Guinean complet that was a gift from my family.

We then had our official good-bye ceremony at the same place we had the adoption. Sadly, my sister's friend's dad died that morning, so she wasn't there. But my mom, other sister and some other family members were all able to come. There was a lot of crying by the Guineans and it was pretty touching. There were speeches in all 3 local languages by brave trainees (not me!) and another one in French. Then we ate some rice and sauce with our families, drank some Fanta, and got on the bus. We tried to get out of there fast cause it's horrible to say good-bye and then, 10 minutes later, still be hanging around. So we got to Conakry and had some time to shop and hang out.

The affectation ceremony was pretty exciting - it was at the new American embassy. It's gorgeous - cost something like 60 million to build and is insane. It would be a really nice compound of buildings in the US, so it's easily the nicest building in Guinea. Actually, I was surprised that the US would spend so much, since most people can't even find Guinea on a map. I'm wondering if it's because it's a moderate Muslim country...

Anyway, I'm glad, because Guinea is a great country and could use some international support. But I digress. Back to the ceremony. First of all, we had to go through mad security to even be let in. Secondly, we look like dirty little hippies compared to the Embassy staff. I think they get a kick out of us. Third, you could drink from water fountains and the toilets flushed automatically! It was pretty insane. Normally I have to get water, pour it into a filter, wait 3 hours, add bleach and then drink. To be able to drink from a fountain was a real treat. :)

The ceremony itself was nice - speeches by other trainees in local languages again, speeches from government officials and then a nice speech from the US ambassador to Guinea. He seems like a really nice man and people in PC admin think really highly of him. I actually talked to someone afterwards about going back to the embassy to find out more about a career with the Foreign Service, so hopefully I can do that sooner rather than later. I'd like to attempt to figure out if that's a viable option for me. After the ceremony came the snacks. There were little pain au chocolats and cheesy puff things and all kinds of goodies. We gobbled them all up and all felt disgusting later, but it was so good! Sadly, I have no pictures of any of this because we weren't allowed to bring cameras in. Just imagine a bunch of 20somethings making almost no money with no access to yummy food, all wearing Guinean clothes. It was a riot.

After that came the buying spree. My house is empty, so I have to get a lot of stuff. Most things I can get in Mamou, so I didn't have to worry too much. I spent a third of my move in allowance on food and another third on a stove/gas tank, so I don't have much money left. But that's okay - we will make sure to complain so the next group gets more. Inflation is so rampant here that it's hard for the PC to keep up with it. I also bought a cell phone! It's so exciting - you can email me if you want my number, it would be great to talk to you! Or you can send texts - and it's really expensive for me to call out but texts are cheap, so that will be a good way to stay in touch.

Oh, man. I only have 4 minutes left. I'll come back tomorrow or later today and post about the last couple days in Conakry (including a visit from an angel from the US embassy who brought us goodies) and about the trip to Labe and what I'm doing here.

Miss you all!